Ottawa Senators majority owner Michael Andlauer has sold the Brantford Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League to current Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman and his family (as per CHCH News). Andlauer bought the Bulldogs back in 2015 when they were the Belleville Bulls, he moved the club to Hamilton where they went on to win the OHL Championship in 2018 and 2022. The Bulldogs were then moved to Brantford in 2023 due to the Hamilton arena (First Ontario Centre) undergoing extensive renovations and several disagreements between the city and the Bulldogs.
No official announcement has been made as of yet, but one is expected on Monday after the OHL Board approves the sale (as per TSN’s Darren Dreger). A press conference is expected to happen sometime in the middle of next week.
Once it is official, it raises a lot of questions about whether the team will stay in the city of Brantford, the Bulldogs home for the past two seasons. Brantford has information listed on the city’s website that outlines plans to build a $140MM sports and entertainment center that would presumably house the Bulldogs. The website mentions that construction could start this year, with 2027 as the target date to open up a new facility. However, with a new ownership group coming in, those plans could change. Hyman’s father, Stuart Hyman, is a developer in the Toronto area and is expected to be part of the ownership group along with his son.
Brantford is too big a city to NOT have an OHL team IMHO. 91,000 people. Bigger than Sarnia, Owen Sound, Sudbury, Saginaw… And it’s where much of the Gretzky family still lives.
Hamilton, a city of 800,000 could definitely use an NHL team though…
Greater Sudbury got population roughly 165,000