Scott Radley: A banner night for the new Bulldogs

Last time the Hamilton Bulldogs celebrated a championship at their home opener, team owner Michael Andlauer triumphantly carried the trophy to centre ice, serenaded by the roars of the crowd.

It was such a fun moment. So why was the cup already perched on a table when the banner-raising ceremony began on Saturday night rather toting it out again?

We've Superglued it back together," he laughs.

Yup, there was some vigorous celebrating going on during this short offseason. Enough that when Andlauer came into the office one day recently, the bowl was dangling rather sadly off to the side, perilously clinging to the neck.

You gotta do something," he told the staff.

They did. As the pregame festivities carried on, it stood proudly in the centre of everything. Upright and looking no worse for the wear. Though it will need some more-permanent work soon.

It was front and centre during the banner raisings, the chants of Let's Go Bulldogs' as they rose, the flame throwers, the flashing cellphone lights in the crowd, the fireworks, the video tributes and the fans wearing chunky replica rings as real ones were given to the players.

The whole show was terrific. They should do this every year.

Seeing the banners get raised was such a good feeling," says Avery Hayes. We worked so hard for it last year. It was an emotional, emotional night to start but it was good to get the two points."

Oh yeah, there was a game to be played, too. Which turned out to be a showcase of some of the guys who made the entire pregame show possible.

In a 5-3 win over the league's top team, the Oshawa Generals (hey, even though it's early someone has to be in first), Hayes - who had 41 goals last year - had a hattrick, last season's goalie of the year Marco Costantini made a number of ridiculous saves and Patrick Thomas had a goal and a sensational behind-the-back assist.

A Xhekaj even won a fight. Not Arber. The dominant defenceman from last year is trying to win a spot with the Montreal Canadiens. Instead it was his little brother, Florian, who's already showing signs of carrying on the family tradition of being an unpleasant guy to play against.

This is a team that's clearly not in a rebuild despite the championship. It's still competitive. And this is without a number of NHL draft picks who are presently injured. This group is only going to get better as those guys start to return.

We're a really good team again," says alternate captain Lawson Sherk. We're a bit of a younger group but we've still got a lot of talent on this team and a lot of skill. Apart from the skill and talent, we're a really determined team so I think we can have a really good season."

Good enough to have another trophy presentation before next year's home opener? We'll wait a while before dipping our toes into those kinds of predictions. But it'll win its share of games.

As for this evening, the J. Ross Robertson Cup survived. Even so, lifting it was not advisable. In fact, while posing for a photo, Andlauer absentmindedly grabbed the arm of the trophy only to suddenly remember and release it right away.

It's hanging by a thread," he laughs.

It's not the first time a Bulldogs' celebration has been hard on the big mug. In 2018, a player took it golfing and placed it on his golf cart. Only to see it promptly fall out and get flattened on one side.

I won't name the player," Andlauer says.

Fair enough. Whoever it was, it cost the owner $4,000 to get the trophy banged back into shape.

A small price to pay for a night like Saturday.

Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com