The Windsor Bulldogs are a defunct semi-professional and amateur
senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
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. The team played in the City of
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
,
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 and participated in the
International Hockey League and the
OHA Senior A Hockey League
The OHA Senior A Hockey League was a top tier Canadian Senior ice hockey league in Ontario from 1975 until 1987. The league was sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and competed for the Allan Cup ...
prior to the IHL.
History
The creation of the Windsor Bulldogs in 1953 coincided with the folding of the
Ontario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...
's Junior "A"
Windsor Spitfires
The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975β ...
. Although no Spitfires made the direct jump to the Bulldogs, eventually five members of the team did eventually play for the Bulldogs.
In 1955, the Windsor Bulldogs made it to the OHA Senior league's final, but were put down by the
Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen in five games. The Bulldogs were showing their worth by only their second season.
The 1959β60 season saw the Bulldogs make the final again. Windsor ran into their local rivals, the
Chatham Maroons
The Chatham Maroons are a junior ice hockey team based in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL). The Maroons were the 1970 Western Ontario Junior A Champions and 1973 Sout ...
and were defeated in six games. The Maroons went on to win the
Allan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...
as Canadian National Senior A Champions.
The next season, the Bulldogs made it back to the finals to fall to a different opponent. The other finalist was the
Galt Terriers and Galt took no prisoners sweeping the series in four games. Again, their opponents went on to win the
Allan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...
.
The 1961β62 season was a different story. In the final, the Bulldogs drew the
Chatham Maroons
The Chatham Maroons are a junior ice hockey team based in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL). The Maroons were the 1970 Western Ontario Junior A Champions and 1973 Sout ...
. The series went the distance, but the Bulldogs pulled out game seven and won the series in seven games to win their first
J. Ross Robertson Cup
The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and ...
as league champions.
In the
Allan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...
Eastern final, the Bulldogs could not make it past the
Montreal Olympics
Montreal ( ; officially MontrΓ©al, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
.
In 1962β63, the Windsor Bulldogs repeated as Robertson Cup champions as they swept the
Chatham Maroons
The Chatham Maroons are a junior ice hockey team based in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL). The Maroons were the 1970 Western Ontario Junior A Champions and 1973 Sout ...
in four games.
Everything went right for the Bulldogs and they found themselves in the
Allan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...
Finals against the
Winnipeg Maroons
The Winnipeg Maroons were a minor League baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, which played in the Northern League from 1902β1942. Their home field from 1906 to 1922 was Happyland Park, which had a seating capacity
Seating ca ...
. In a low scoring series, the Bulldogs defeated the Maroons in five games to clinch their first and only Allan Cup as National Champions.
Riding the wave of success, the
Allan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...
champions committed to join the
International Hockey League along with the
Chatham Maroons
The Chatham Maroons are a junior ice hockey team based in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL). The Maroons were the 1970 Western Ontario Junior A Champions and 1973 Sout ...
for the 1963β64 season. After a mediocre losing season, the Bulldogs ceased operations.
Season-by-season results
References
{{IHL (1945β2001)
Defunct ice hockey teams in Canada
Ice hockey teams in Ontario
International Hockey League (1945β2001) teams
Sport in Windsor, Ontario
Senior ice hockey teams
Ice hockey clubs established in 1953
Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1964
1953 establishments in Ontario
1964 disestablishments in Ontario