Hamilton, Ont. – An Ontario Hockey League season like no other drew to a close on June 15th, a Wednesday night at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton as the Bulldogs hoisted the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL Champions, defeating the Windsor Spitfires by a score of 6-1 in Game 7.
The Bulldogs scored in each of the first and second periods before lighting the lamp twice in the third to lead 4-0. Windsor’s Alex Christopoulos ended Marco Costantini’s shutout bid with 6:22 left in the third before the Bulldogs tacked on a pair of empty netters, with Avery Hayes completing a hat trick to close out the Bulldogs’ second OHL Championship.
Captain Colton Kammerer accepts the J. Ross Robertson Cup from Commissioner David Branch after a Game 7 #OHLChampionship victory for the @BulldogsOHL 🏆 pic.twitter.com/jJQpbti39r
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) June 16, 2022
Mason McTavish scored a pair of goals for Hamilton while Logan Morrison, who earned the Wayne Gretzky ’99’ Award as OHL Playoff MVP, picked up a pair of assists to give him points in all 19 of his postseason outings.
Marco Costantini turned aside 26 shots as the Bulldogs outshot the Spitfires 31-27. Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play.
The Western Conference champion Windsor Spitfires see their season draw to a close as overagers Daniel D’Amico, Louka Henault and Andrew Perrott played in their final OHL contest. Windsor played to a postseason record of 15-10, eliminating the Sarnia Sting, Kitchener Rangers and Flint Firebirds to reach the OHL Championship Series. OHL regular season scoring leader Wyatt Johnston led the OHL Playoffs with 41 points (14-27–41) in 25 games.
The Hamilton Bulldogs were the third team in OHL history to start the playoffs with a perfect 12-0 record before dropping Game 1 of the OHL Championship Series in overtime to Windsor. The Bulldogs went 16-3 in the postseason, eliminating the Peterborough Petes, Mississauga Steelheads and North Bay Battalion before besting Windsor in seven games, coming back from a 2-1 series deficit.
Bulldogs captain Colton Kammerer, who has been sidelined with an injury since Game 2 of the series, donned his equipment to accept the J. Ross Robertson Cup from Commissioner David Branch. The Bulldogs won Game 7 in front of a crowd of 11,779, a new Championship Series record in modern OHL history (post 1980).
The Bulldogs advance to represent the OHL at the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia set to begin in Saint John, New Brunswick on Monday, June 20.
GAME CENTRE
