Bulls moving

I know it's not general relative but the Belleville Bulls are sold and moving to Hamilton next year😢. The bulls last regular season game is in Oshawa March 23rd

I feel like that is a April fools gag... Makes no sense. I figured Mississauga would be the team moving to Hamilton

Mississauga has a arena Belleville dosn't but we're promised of a new arena from city council (liars) the owner couldn't keep losing $$$$

So with that move to Hamilton I could see Mississauga coming to the east division.

No April Fool's gag, statement is even on the Bulls website:

http://www.bellevillebulls.com/article/statement-from-the-belleville-bulls-hockey-club

I saw it posted from sportsnet before this post. It just seems so strange. No rumors or anything. Just bang. It happened

I'm very sad to see the departure of the Belleville Bulls. It's unfortunate that the City of Belleville did not commit to the hockey club like the City of Oshawa did when they built the GM Centre. Lets face it, if the GM Centre wasn't built there was a very real possibility the Generals could have been on the move as well. The Bulls were in an old building and weren't getting the fan support that they deserve. Fans of the Bulls have to remember that in the end it is a business for the owners and I have a feeling that Mr. Andlauer made an offer that Gord Simmonds couldn't refuse.

It is a little weird that they'll now be the BullDogs...

KHE

Selfishly speaking as a Gens fan, I almost wish we'd already played all of our games against the Bulls this season and didn't still have 2 left. I hope we don't run into a Bulls team now that has a new found inspiration and motivation to play with, knowing that their next 6 games + possible playoff run closes the books on Bulls franchise history (at least for now anyway). Something like 1st overall could still potentially come down to the last regular season game (against Belleville) and should the Bulls play that game rallying around a "last regular season game in Bulls franchise history" kind of thing, it's too bad the pride/conviction/commitment/will to win that comes with that rallying call would be against us. Same with the playoffs. They have the potential to be a very inspired opponent (could even be our 1st round opponent still), knowing that this season's playoffs are the last kick at the can for the Bulls franchise. Those might be very selfish thoughts considering a city and its fans will be losing their team (which is of course unfortunate), but how it might affect our chances this season is something that crossed my mind today in terms of the type of opponent Belleville might be from here on out.

i couldn't agree more with your thoughts generalsfan hope DJ is on top of this.

The Belleville rink is37 years old. How des that compare to the Civic. How is that GMC/downtown revitalization working? At least the shwa had the Mary Street garage sitting there doing nothing. The Belleville move is about money and lawsuits...see Sherry Bassin/the otters and the owner of the oilers. Croc out.

It is very sad to lose your O H L team - I was very involved in petitioning the city to build a new arena - yes the writing was on the wall

No new arena - our GENS would be elsewhere - that's business - and yes it has helped the downtown - it may not be 100 % better but it is on it's way and will be a BIG help with the Holiday Inn Express being built on Simcoe Street it is moving forward and not declining

There are only a few O H L cities that don't have close to 5,000 or more

If the Petes do not turn it around - it is sad to say there future is bleak - they should have gone for a bigger rebuild than they did a few years ago

As someone who saw downtown Oshawa for the first time in 2007, it's improved dramatically in the eight years since the GMC arrived. Of course it's still getting better but having attended sold out events like Jerry Seinfeld and seeing all the local restaurants full before the event plus the flow of students during the day @ Coffee Culture, Jimmy Guaco's, etc. , it's becoming a pleasant place to hang out.

That is great to hear. Best of luck in the playoffs.

very very poor tribute to the Belleville Bulls, who have been in the east for 34 years against Oshawa. A brief mention in the 3rd period during the play, not acceptable. I dont think Oshawa realizes how big of a deal this is. Very sad to see. 2nd closest rival needed better send off.

Slight chance Bulls knock off Barrie and face Gens in 2nd rd.

core33 wrote:very very poor tribute to the Belleville Bulls, who have been in the east for 34 years against Oshawa.  A brief mention in the 3rd period during the play, not acceptable. I dont think Oshawa realizes how big of a deal this is.  Very sad to see. 2nd closest rival needed better send off.

Slight chance Bulls knock off Barrie and face Gens in 2nd rd.

Sorry for the Bellville Bulls fans but the Belleville Bulls players as they hit the jackpot there going to be playing in a better arena than the Yardman arena

Has anyone else thought/found it somewhat .. I don't know weird, that the Bulls are moving because of their arena and its capacity, while the Plymouth Whalers are moving to an arena in Flint, that only hold 700 more people then Yardmen. I don't know where I'm going with with this, I just think Belleville could have been sustainable with a little more support.

I really believe this is an F U to the city from the Bulls owner, as he just finally had enough with the city and their unwillingness to provide a new arena. Such a sad thought that the Ontario Hockey League will not have a franchise in Belleville anymore. Anyone else think Hamilton moves within 5 years.. Cornwall Bulldogs ? Cornwall Bulls ? Maybe Belleville builds an arena by then an they move back to Belleville lol.. Just spitballing here.

It's not out of the realm of possibility that the league goes back to Belleville with a new arena in place. Look at St. Catherine's. It might be 5 years, it might be 10 years, it may be more but the league has shown that it would revisit a market with a new arena in place ... or in the case of North Bay, they didn't even build a new one, they just refurbished the old one.