Time to embrace Bulldogs owner
Two titles in 11 years make him ‘best thing to happen to hockey in Hamilton:’ Foxcroft
IN THE MIDDLE of a swarm of Hamilton Bulldogs’ players, coaches, staff, families, girlfriends, media and probably a few people who just figured getting onto the ice during a championship celebration would be a lot of fun, stood the owner.
With an Ontario Hockey League championship cap snugly in place and a huge smile taking over his face, he pulled out his phone and, rather than taking selfies, pointed it away from himself and started shooting a video of the excited crowd in the stands.
“Look at these fans,” Michael Andlauer said Sunday afternoon. “It’s awesome. What a feeling.”
Owners buy sports franchises for all kinds of reasons. For some it’s ego, for others financial reward, an outlet for their competitive urges or any number of other motivations.
There’s no doubt that some of those drive Andlauer to some degree, too. But seeing him standing there on the ice enjoying the fans enjoying the moment — and at other times over the years — he comes across more like a big kid who just loves his toy.
Having just won his second championship in 11 years in two different leagues, he is this city’s most successful owner in recent history. Yet more than a few times you couldn’t
help but wonder if he was a masochist for staying with it.
“He has not been appreciated as much as he should be appreciated by the city of Hamilton,” local businessperson Ron Foxcroft says.
Back in 2003, Andlauer walked into a meeting with a collection of local business people who’d saved the AHL Bulldogs from extinction a few years before, and offered to buy them out. Having lost more than a few bucks over the previous couple years, they were ready for the offer. Foxcroft was one of them.
“It was like an angel from heaven,” the whistle magnate says.
Andlauer kept the franchise in town as the Montreal Canadiens — of which he became a part owner — first built their farm team into a champion and then ran it into the ground, leaving him with a loser that made drawing crowds a tough sell. Along the
way he built a pro-style lockerroom, bought a new scoreboard, and upgraded the sound system. Not to mention, hosting an outdoor game. All of which cost him money. To help the Bulldogs win the Calder Cup in 2007, he used his own cash to pay for a couple impactful veterans, when salaries for players on farm teams are typically covered by the NHL overlords. When it worked, he then paid for replica championship rings for every fan who’d attended the final game.
Despite all this, the city appeared ready to squeeze him out a few years ago, by giving the arena lease to a group trying to bring the Erie Otters here. That ultimately didn’t happen, but it was a close call. Even as this was going on, rumours persisted that the Habs would build an arena in Laval and move the farm team back to Quebec. Which they ultimately did.
However, the logistics company founder has always vowed to keep a team in Hamilton. So before the baby Habs could bolt and leave him empty-handed, he bought the Belleville Bulls and moved them here. That done, he spent money to build up the front office, add more scouts, bolster the training staff and change the colours to something more Hamilton-ish.
He also pushed the work of the Bulldogs’ Foundation, which provides breakfasts for hundreds of students in disadvantaged areas of town every day. Kids that are much like he was once upon a time, as a less-than-privileged son of a single mom in Montreal.
After all this, when Andlauer came forward with a proposal to match the city dollar-for-dollar to build a new arena that would cost him millions, he never even heard from anyone at city hall until a story highlighted the silence.
It all makes for a complicated story. He hasn’t been ignored or spited, but he hasn’t exactly been properly appreciated either. Yet, rather than getting discouraged by every slight — real or perceived — he seems to get more enthusiastic about his team and his adopted city.
Those nearly 9,000 yellow Tshirts fans received at Game 4? They were his idea and his cost, because he wanted Hamilton to look good for people tuning in to Sportsnet’s coverage across Canada. Same with the rally towels on Sunday.
So, is it ego? He doesn’t love doing interviews, so a desire for the spotlight seems unlikely. Is personal financial enrichment the goal? No doubt he wouldn’t mind if his team turned a healthy profit, but not sure that’s happening, so probably not. Is it a competitive outlet, then? That’s probably closer.
Eleven years ago when the Hamilton Bulldogs won the Calder Cup he stood alone on the catwalk high above the ice watching the stressful final seconds tick down. On Sunday as the Bulldogs won the OHL championship, he counted down the final minutes — again, rather tense moments — from the press box with general manager Steve Staios. Basically clinging to each other, he quips.
Looking, both times, more like a fan than a multimillionaire owner.