Scott Radley: Hamilton Bulldogs will call Brantford home ... for a while

The Hamilton Bulldogs are heading to Brantford.

For three years, anyway.

The long-rumoured temporary move - pending approval from Brantford council which is expected to arrive on Feb. 7 - will see the Ontario Hockey League team set up shop in Wayne Gretzky's hometown this fall while the renovation of FirstOntario Centre is underway.

It'll keep the team close enough to Hamilton to remain on the radar and to draw fans from here so it won't lose all the momentum it's built since arriving in town eight years ago, while also allowing the players to remain with local billets and probably remain at Ancaster High School.

It feels right when I go to the rink and I see the sign that says 403 Hamilton Brantford,'" says Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer. If we're not welcome to play in Hamilton, at least we go to Brantford."

This has been bouncing around the hockey rumour mill for some time. Mostly because the options were limited.

The Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena was the only possible option in town but Andlauer says the tiny building isn't acceptable for this level of hockey in 2023.

The league wouldn't allow it," he says.

He also considered Brampton, following the lead of the Canadian Elite Basketball League's Hamilton Honey Badgers who moved there a couple months ago, but decided against that as well. Which is probably smart considering its recent record as a junior hockey town.

In the final four years the Battalion called the Powerade Centre home (2009-10 to 2012-13 before moving to North Bay), the team finished last in attendance, twice averaging below 2,000 fans a game. That was for a home team. One can only imagine what it would draw for a temporary place filler.

This will still be a challenge for the Bulldogs, though. Because with the move to Brantford, Andlauer's team is going from the largest arena in the OHL to what will be the smallest. And one of the oldest.

The just-under-3,000-seat Brantford and District Civic Centre was built in 1967, and while new seats were installed a few years ago, much remains intact from that time.

The scoreboard is circa 1967," he says. The concessions are none."

That last part isn't entirely true. There are some concession stands but nowhere near what's acceptable for the OHL. As a result, he says both he and the city will be putting money into the place to bring it close to today's league standards.

It has supported a team before, though.

Back in 1978, the Hamilton Fincups moved down the highway to become the Brantford Alexanders, playing out of this building. They remained there for six years before returning to Hamilton as the Steelhawks. During that period, the franchise pumped out 29 future NHLers including Ric Nattress, Allan Bester, Shayne Corson, Mark Hunter, Rick Wamsley and Bob Probert.

A couple months ago as rumours of this move were swirling, the city's mayor told The Brantford Expositor that it was about more than just being a temporary home.

We would be given an opportunity which we have not had in years to demonstrate that we can support an OHL team," Kevin Davis told the paper. That's the great opportunity in all of this."

While construction of FirstOntario Centre is only supposed to take two years, Andlauer - who has publicly expressed his displeasure with the level of communication from those in charge of renovating it - thought adding a third to the deal would be prudent.

I don't anticipate this being done in two years," he says.

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