The Belleville Bulls were a junior ice hockey team, founded in 1981 and based in Belleville, Ontario. The team played in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team relocated to Hamilton, Ontario, at the end of the 2014–15 OHL season.
History The Belleville Bulls started in 1979 as a Junior Tier II team in the OHA. In their second season in 1980–81, the Bulls won the Tier II title, defeating the Guelph Platers in the league finals. The Bulls then competed in the national championship for the Manitoba Centennial Trophy hosted in Halifax, Nova Scotia losing in the finals to the Prince Albert Raiders.
The Bulls played homes games at the Belleville Yardmen Arena, that is part of the Quinte Sports Centre including the Wally Dever Arena. The Bulls used a black, red, gold, and white colour scheme. Their original logo was a standing bull until 1998, replaced by an angry bull with a hockey stick in 1999.
On February 2, 1981, the OHL granted an expansion franchise to the city of Belleville and the ownership group of Dr. Robert L. Vaughan & Bob Dolan. Dr. Robert L. Vaughan remained an owner/co-owner of the team for over 20 years until he sold the team in 2004 to Gord Simmonds. Dr. Vaughan was awarded the Bill Long award in 1993 for distinguished service to the OHL.
In 1983, Belleville hosted the OHL All-Star Game, known then as the OHL Chrysler Cup.
The Bulls reached the OHL finals in 1986 versus a familiar foe from their Tier II days, the Guelph Platers. The Platers won the series in 6 games. In 1995 and 1996, the Bulls lost in the semi-finals to the Guelph Storm.
The 1999 season would be one for the memories when the Belleville Bulls would win it all. The Bulls defeated the London Knights 9–2 in game seven of the OHL championship series at the Yardmen Arena to win their first J. Ross Robertson Cup.
The Bulls competed in the 1999 Memorial Cup, hosted in Ottawa versus the Calgary Hitmen, Acadie–Bathurst Titan and Ottawa 67's. Belleville finished third, losing to Ottawa 4–2 in the semifinal.
2004–05 George Burnett was hired to become the head coach and general manager of the Belleville Bulls by a former high school friend, and team's new owner Gord Simmonds. Barclay Branch followed Burnett to Belleville and served as Burnett's assistant general manager and director of player personnel all eleven seasons. Burnett's assistant coach for his entire eleven season tenure in Belleville was Jake Grimes, a former player with the Bulls. Belleville native Jason Supryka was an assistant coach for eight of the eleven seasons, and a conditioning coach for the other three seasons. In Burnett's eleven seasons with the Belleville Bulls, he coached 748 games in the regular season and earned 365 wins, won four division titles, and one Memorial Cup appearance in 2008.
For the 2004–05 OHL season, Burnett took over a team that had finished last in the league in the previous season. His hiring was after the Bulls took part in the OHL draft, choosing John Hughes first overall. The Bulls were led by top scorer Marc Rancourt with 26 goals, 52 assists, and 78 points. Burnett also found two other twenty-goal scorers in Evan Brophey (25), Cody Thornton (23), and the emergence of two future NHL-ers in rookies Matt Beleskey and Shawn Matthias. Burnett led the club to a 29–29–6–4 record, earning 68 points, and seventh place in the eastern conference. In the playoffs, Belleville faced the second place Peterborough Petes. The Bulls lost the first three games by scores of 0–5, 2–3, and 1–5. Burnett and the Bulls pulled out a 4–3 overtime win in game four, but lost the fifth game by a score of 1–4.
2005–06
Burnett took over the full drafting responsibilities for the 2005–06 OHL season, and drafted Bryan Cameron in the first round. Cameron scored 20 goals as a rookie, and John Hughes led the team in scoring with 28 goals, 54 assists, and 82 points. Also emerging as a rookie was sixth round draft pick P. K. Subban. Goaltender Kevin Lalande played in 50 games, winning 24. Burnett improved the Bulls record to 32–28–5–3, earning 72 points and seventh place in the conference, and facing the second place Brampton Battalion in the first round. Belleville split the first two games by 3–2 overtime scores, then two in a row by scores of 1–3 and 3–4 in overtime. After winning game five 3–2, Burnett and the Bulls lost game six 2–5 on home ice.
2006–07 The 2006–07 OHL season was Burnett's third season of rebuilding, and continued improvement on previous seasons. Burnett solidified the team with OHL draft picks Shawn Lalonde and Marc Cantin on defence, and goaltender Edward Pasquale. The offence was bolstered by acquiring Tyler Donati, whom Burnett previously drafted with the Oshawa Generals. Donati led the team with 54 goals, 75 assists, and 129 points, winning the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy as the league's best overage player. Rounding out the offence were Shawn Matthias with 38 goals, Bryan Cameron with 33 goals, and Matt Beleskey with 27 goals. Burnett had a strong debut from rookie Eric Tangradi, drafted in the previous season. Off the ice, Andrew Gibbons was the OHL's humanitarian winner of the Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy. Burnett led the Bulls to the east division title and the Leyden Trophy with a 39–24–0–5 record, earning 83 points and second place in the conference. In the playoffs, the Bulls faced seventh place Ottawa 67's in the first round. After losing the first game 3–4 in overtime, Burnett and the Bulls won four consecutive games by scores of 5–4, 3–0, 4–2, and 4–3 in overtime. Burnett's Bulls were well prepared for the second round, and swept the fourth place Oshawa Generals in four games by scores of 7–5, 5–2, 6–4, and 5–2. The Bulls faced the sixth place Sudbury Wolves in the third round, and eastern Conference finals, and Burnett coached his ninth straight playoff victory by a 3–2 score in game one. Four of the next five games went into overtime. The Wolves won game two in overtime, 2–3. Burnett pulled out a 2–1 overtime win in game three, only to see the Wolves win the next three games by scores of 2-3 in overtime, 1–4, and game six 3–4 in triple overtime.
2007–08 In the 2007–08 OHL season, Burnett had his most successful regular season as a coach in terms of most wins and points, and led the Bulls to the most wins and points in a season in franchise history. Burnett led the Bulls to a record of 48–14–4–2 and 102 points to win another Leyden Trophy, and finish first overall in the eastern conference. Burnett use Belleville's first round draft pick to select future NHLer Tyler Randell. Burnett's offence was built around Matt Beleskey who led the team with 41 goals, 49 assists, and 90 points. Burnett also had 20–goal seasons from Bryan Cameron (41 goals), Shawn Matthias (32 goals), Eric Tangradi (24 goals), and Keaton Turkiewicz (23 goals). Burnett made mid-season trades for forwards Jan Mursak and A.J. Perry, and veteran defender Nigel Williams. Goaltender Mike Murphy led the league with 36 wins, and a 2.24 GAA, winning the OHL Goaltender of the Year award. In the first round of the playoffs, Belleville faced the eighth place Peterborough Petes. Belleville won the first game 4–1, then lost game two 4–5 in overtime. Burnett's team won the next three games by scores of 4–3, 3–2 in overtime, and 7–1 to win the series in five games. Belleville swept the seventh place Barrie Colts in the second round, by scores of 7–2, 5–1, 2–1, and 3–2. In the third round, Burnett's Bulls faced the third place Oshawa Generals. Belleville won the first three games by scores of 3–2, 4–3, and 5–2. Burnett's team rebounded from a 1–2 loss in game four, with a resounding 11–0 victory in game five to win the eastern conference finals in five games, and win the Bobby Orr Trophy. Burnett reached the J. Ross Robertson Cup final for the second time in his coaching career, as the Bulls faced the first place team in the regular season, the Kitchener Rangers. Burnett's team lost the first three games by scores of 2–5, 2–5, and 3–5. Belleville won the next three games by scores of 5–4 in overtime, 2–1, and 6–3. Burnett was denied his second OHL championships, as Kitchener won the seventh game by a score of 4–1.
Burnett and the Bulls qualified for the 2008 Memorial Cup as the OHL representative, since the Kitchener Rangers were already guaranteed a berth as the host team. This would be the second Memorial Cup coaching appearance for Burnett, after coaching the Guelph Storm to the 1998 Memorial Cup final. Burnett and the Bulls faced the Spokane Chiefs in their first game, losing 4–5 in overtime. Belleville won their second game 6–3 versus the Gatineau Olympiques. Burnett's team faced the Kitchener Rangers in the final game of the round robin. Belleville prevailed with a 4–3 overtime win, with goaltender Mike Murphy making 54 saves. Burnett's team finished the round-robin in second place, and faced the Kitchener Rangers again in the semifinal. Burnett's team was overwhelmed in the rematch, losing 0–9, as the Bulls finished the tournament in third place.
2008–09 Burnett had a large group of returning players for the 2008–09 OHL season, and looked to repeat the success. Burnett drafted Stephen Silas in the first round to add to defence. Eric Tangradi led the scoring with 38 goals, 50 assists, and 88 points. Bryan Cameron also contributed 37 goals, 44 assists, and 81 points. P.K. Subban had 14 goals, 62 assists, and 76 points on defence and was a +47 in plus/minus rating. Goaltender Mike Murphy improved on the previous season by leading the league with 40 wins, and a 2.08 GAA, to win the OHL Goaltender of the Year award again, in addition to the Dave Pinkney Trophy for the team with the best goals against average, and the CHL Goaltender of the Year award. Burnett led the Bulls to the best record in the eastern conference at 47–17–2–2, earning 98 points and a third consecutive Leyden Trophy. Burnett and the Bulls faced the eighth place Sudbury Wolves in the first round. Belleville split the first two games at home by scores of 3–1 and 1–2, then won the next two games on the road 3–1 and 2–1. Sudbury won game five 6–2 on home ice, but Belleville closed out the series at home in six games with a 6–1 win. Burnett's team faced the sixth place Niagara IceDogs in the second round, and won the first two games in overtime, by scores of 4–3 and 5–4. After losing game three 0–2, Belleville had two straight 5–2 victories to win the series in five games. Burnett's team returned to the eastern conference finals for the third consecutive season, and would face the second place Brampton Battalion. Belleville lost the first two games by scores of 2–4 and 2–7, then split the next two games winning 6–2, then lost 3–4. Burnett coached a 3–2 double overtime win in game five to extend the series, but lost game six 4–7 on the road.
2009–10 Burnett began a rebuilding process for the Bulls in the 2009–10 OHL season. In the OHL draft, Burnett used his first pick to select local Quinte Red Devils goalie, Tyson Teichmann, followed up by centre Michael Curtis. Also drafted were Scott Simmonds (son of owner Gord Simmonds), and Malcolm Subban (brother of P. K. Subban). The Bulls struggled on offence, as the top two scorers were defencemen Shawn Lalonde with 13 goals, 43 assists, and 56 points; and Stephen Silas with 4 goals, 45 assists, and 49 points. Luke Judson scored 29 goals, and rookie Michael Curtis scored 19 goals. Burnett's team finished with a record of 20–40–2–6 and 48 points, placing last in the eastern conference and missed the playoffs.
2010–11