In CHAMPIONSHIP style
The Hamilton Bulldogs stage a thrilling third-period charge to win the OHL crown, 5-4, over Sault Ste. Marie
That lonely banner hanging from the rafters at FirstOntario Centre is about to get some company.
Just three years after moving here from Belleville, the Hamilton Bulldogs defied the odds by beating the country’s top-ranked Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on home ice Sunday, to earn their first Ontario Hockey League championship and a berth in a Memorial Cup they bid to host.
More than 8,600 were on hand to witness the first local team in more than four decades hoist the J. Ross Robertson trophy.
In the wake of the game, Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer called the crowd one of the difference makers: “Hamilton, the fans, they are so proud of their city,” he said. “They came in numbers and hopefully we made them proud today.”
The 5-4 come-from-behind win was a fitting end to a six-game series in which every matchup — discounting the empty netters — was decided by a goal. This thing was close. And even that will come as a surprise to most.
The Bulldogs, who knocked out the Ottawa 67’s, Niagara IceDogs and Kingston Frontenacs en route to the final, were the heavy underdogs going into the best-ofseven. They didn’t seem destined to win — not after the recordsmashing season the Greyhounds had.
Yet, they did, even if, at the outset of Sunday’s matchup, it didn’t look like it was in the cards.
For the first time in the series, the Greyhounds dictated the pace in the opening frame. They got on the board first — Cole MacKay was left all alone in front to bury a rebound — and Soo goalie Matthew Villalta stopped all 11 shots he faced to give his side a 1-0 advantage heading into the first intermission.
Nothing changed after the break. The Bulldogs came out slow, again, and within a couple of minutes the Greyhounds doubled their lead — only this time it was Boris Katchouk, the league’s top playoff scorer, wide open on the doorstep.
Then, the espresso kicked in. In the second half of the second, Brandon Saigeon and Mackenzie Entwistle scored to make it a 2-2 game, and for exactly 13 seconds the Bulldogs appeared to be in control. But a scuffle behind the Greyhounds net left them short-handed and Barrett Hayton put the Soo back out front on the power play.
Sometime between that goal and the start of the third, the Bulldogs regrouped. Riley Stillman, who was a man on a mission in the final frame, tied it up a little more than eight minutes in — the first of three straight Hamilton goals. Playoff MVP Robert Thomas tallied next, followed by Nick Caamano, who dove to fire the puck into the empty net.
A marker by Jordan Sambrook with 45 seconds to go couldn’t spark a Soo comeback. By then they were done, their incredible campaign over on Hamilton ice.
“That’s why hockey is such a great sport, because any day in any given moment, anyone can win, especially with a bunch of young men who work hard and are talented and care about one another,” said Bulldogs coach John Gruden. “The Soo is an incredible opponent and it feels that much better, because in order to be the best, you have to beat the best and now we have to go and do that in Regina.”
The Saskatchewan capital is the next stop on the Bulldogs itinerary. That’s where they face the host Pats — the WHL team that outbid them for hosting duties — in the opening game of the tournament Friday.
In the wake of the win, after pictures were snapped, trophies kissed, and errant helmets and gloves cleared from the ice, Saigeon, a Grimsby native, tried to articulate what it felt like when he heard the final buzzer.
“I was so tired,” he said. “But it was just unbelievable. Winning it in front of these fans with these teammates and to get the job done tonight is unbelievable.”
Ben Gleason, meanwhile, said there were no words to capture the feeling. He left it at this: “It’s going to be one hell of a night.”
The Bulldogs are just the third Hamilton team to win the Robertson Cup after the 1962 Red Wings and the 1976 Fincups. Both of those squads went on to win the Memorial Cup.
They are also the only club to win a championship at FirstOntario Centre since 2007, when the American Hockey League Bulldogs captured the Calder Cup.
Notes: Kyle Dubas was in Hamilton for the game Sunday. The newly promoted Maple Leafs GM is from Sault Ste. Marie and got his start with the Greyhounds.