The Thunder Bay Bulldogs were a Junior "A"

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team from the Port Arthur section of

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. They were a part of the

Superior International Junior Hockey League The Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL) is a junior A ice hockey league and a member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and Hockey Canada. The league operates in the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of M ...

History

The Thunder Bay Bulldogs, sometimes referred to as the Port Arthur Bulldogs, were founded with the inception of the

. Both the 2001-02 and 2002-03 season were winning seasons for the Bulldogs, with the 2002-03 season having them finish in second place overall. Despite a record of 31 wins, 15 losses, 3 ties, and 3 losses in overtime, the Bulldogs were unable to displace the Fort Frances Borderland Thunders for the 2003 Bill Salonen Cup. In 2003, their crosstown rivals, the

Fort William North Stars The Thunder Bay North Stars are a Junior ice hockey#Junior A, junior A ice hockey team from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. They are a member of the Superior International Junior Hockey League. History After the fall of the Thunder Bay Flyers in 200 ...

, started picking up momentum. For two seasons, the Port Arthur squad dominated while Fort William tried to keep up. In 2003, the Bulldogs fell apart while the North Stars began a season that would leave them in 2006 as three-time defending league champions. From 2003 until 2008, the Bulldogs never had more than 15 wins in a season. In 2008, it was decided that the Bulldogs should fold into the

Thunder Bay Bearcats The Thunder Bay Bearcats were a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. They were a part of the Superior International Junior Hockey League. History The team was founded in 2001 with the Superior International Junior Hock ...

franchise. Dropping from three to two Thunder Bay clubs was done in an effort to resurrect the Thunder Bay Kings Midget AAA program that had to cease in 2007.

Season-by-season results

Playoffs

*2002 ''Lost Semi-final'' : Fort Frances Borderland Thunder defeated Thunder Bay Bulldogs ''4-games-to-3'' *2003 ''Lost Final, Lost Dudley Hewitt Cup round robin'' :Thunder Bay Bulldogs defeated Fort William Wolves ''4-games-to-1'' : Fort Frances Borderland Thunder defeated Thunder Bay Bulldogs ''4-games-to-1'' :Fourth and eliminated from Dudley Hewitt Cup round robin *2004 ''Lost Semi-final'' :

defeated Thunder Bay Bulldogs ''4-games-to-none'' *2005 ''DNQ'' *2006 ''DNQ'' *2007 ''DNQ'' *2008 ''Lost Quarter-final'' :

defeated Thunder Bay Bulldogs ''3-games-to-none''

External links

Thunder Bay Bulldogs
{{SIJHL Defunct Superior International Junior Hockey League teams Sport in Thunder Bay