Hamilton Bulldogs owner surprised to learn team needs to find new home for two years
The owner of the Ontario Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs says he was as surprised as anyone to learn over the weekend that his team would need to find a new home for at least two years. In a letter to the fanbase, Michael Andlauer said he knew renovations were being made to FirstOntario Centre, the home arena of the Bulldogs. However, he insisted he was told the team would be able to stay in place while the renovations took place.
"This weekend, I was as surprised as you are that the Bulldogs are going to be forced to leave our home at FirstOntario Centre for the upcoming two seasons. We had been told that the renovations would occur in a manner that would allow hockey to continue."
"We 100% support the renovation to our arena, in fact, we have been calling for significant and necessary improvements for years. Our fans, community and sponsors deserve a facility that is as high quality as our two-time OHL Championship Bulldogs."
"I had hoped, however, to have the opportunity to speak to you first with this shocking and unexpected news and come to you with a solution to the short-term location change. Unfortunately, other parties had different plans and chose to share the news prematurely."
"We 100% support the renovation to our arena, in fact, we have been calling for significant and necessary improvements for years. Our fans, community and sponsors deserve a facility that is as high quality as our two-time OHL Championship Bulldogs."
"I had hoped, however, to have the opportunity to speak to you first with this shocking and unexpected news and come to you with a solution to the short-term location change. Unfortunately, other parties had different plans and chose to share the news prematurely."
Andlauer said he is 100 percent committed to finding a solution that will allow the Bulldogs to play in Hamilton, he just needs some time to figure it out.
Over the coming weeks, my number one job is to find a home arena for the team for the upcoming two seasons. I know that we can find a solution that is convenient for our Bulldogs community and allows our players to continue with great Bulldogs hockey!
The Hamilton Bulldogs were once an AHL team. However, that cclub was purchased by the Montreal Canadiens and moved Temporarily to St. John's NL, and then to Laval, QC. The current OHL Bulldogs were once located in Bellville, but mved to Hamilton in 2015.
Finding a temporary home won't be easy for ownership. Let's hope the team can return to FirstOntario Centre as soon as the work is done.
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