The Brantford Bulldogs are playing in front of full houses in their new home. Matthew Piatek wonders if there would be advantages to playing some “home” games at Hamilton’s FirstOntario Centre.
Brandon Taylor photo
Peterborough Petes’ Quinn Binnie pokes at a rebound against Brantford Bulldogs’ Cedricson Okitundu and Noah Roberts during OHL action on Nov. 12, 2023, at the Memorial Centre in Peterborough.
Clifford Skarstedt Examiner file photo
We’ve seen residents across Brantford, Hamilton and beyond meld at the Civic Centre, suggesting an expansive fan base. A two-city solution could yield a more broadly engaged fan base, Matthew Piatek writes.
The Brantford Bulldogs are playing in front of full houses in their new home. Matthew Piatek wonders if there would be advantages to playing some “home” games at Hamilton’s FirstOntario Centre.
I was 11 years old walking down the halls of the Brantford Civic Centre and drawing inspiration from old Brantford Alexanders team photos.
Looking up at guys like Bob Probert, Dave Gagner and Shayne Corson on the walls en route to the dressing room, I reflected and thought to myself that these were the type of NHLers I wanted to be some day. These starry-eyed ambitions were frequent reflections as I suited up for Brantford Church Hockey League games with St. Mary’s. By that time, though, the Alexanders had become the Hamilton Steelhawks and then the Niagara Falls Thunder.
Here we are 35 years later and Brantford once again boasts a proud OHL franchise. This time, an OHL team’s transition moving on the 403 westbound instead of eastbound. The team’s successful transition has been a function of circumstances, a successful and kind businessperson embracing “the underdog,” a motivated municipal government, a welcoming community and a resilient and expanded fan base.
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Peterborough Petes’ Quinn Binnie pokes at a rebound against Brantford Bulldogs’ Cedricson Okitundu and Noah Roberts during OHL action on Nov. 12, 2023, at the Memorial Centre in Peterborough.
Clifford Skarstedt Examiner file photo
A candid and respectful assessment could surmise that both Brantford and Hamilton have struggled with supporting sports teams historically, and despite a proven record of athletic excellence. This isn’t a criticism of the communities, only a backdrop to the enthusiasm and embrace of a collectively reinvigorated fan base.
Sport is capable of uniting and strengthening communities — not just within but across. The very best example I can think of is Nelson Mandela’s transformational leadership in attempting to bridge post-apartheid divisions through rugby at the 1994 World Cup hosted by South Africa. I am not suggesting comparability to the Bulldogs here, of course, only the power of sport at full scale and scope.
Positive outcomes can cascade outside of a team and especially when they represent a community or communities. I believe the Bulldogs are a case in point; from Michael Andlauer as stalwart owner and genesis for a positive culture, a front-office with a progressive vision, a coaching staff embracing the holistic development of young adults, and a top shelf support staff. The team’s values manifested in the Bulldogs Foundation and its great work in enriching the lives of children and youth in the greater Hamilton area (GHA).
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This leads me to the idea of a two-city solution for the future Bulldogs once a firm three-year commitment to Brantford ends. Why not the GHA Bulldogs, with time split in some form between Brantford and Hamilton? The Minnesota Twins reflect the twin-cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul and the broader state. The Green Bay Packers used to split time between Green Bay and Milwaukee.
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We’ve seen residents across Brantford, Hamilton and beyond meld at the Civic Centre, suggesting an expansive fan base. A two-city solution could yield a more broadly engaged fan base, Matthew Piatek writes.
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We’ve seen residents across Brantford, Hamilton and beyond meld at the Civic Centre, suggesting an expansive fan base. A two-city solution could yield a more broadly engaged fan base. Socioeconomic benefits could accrue across both communities. The Bulldogs could secure a firm rightsized commitment within a revamped FirstOntario Centre targeting a greater number of weekend concerts. Potential OHL concessions could be made in accepting the Civic Centre as an acceptable longer-term venue when viewing seating capability and experience across facilities in aggregate.
Brantford could focus on prudent expenditures for an existing arena and accrue more predictable net economic benefits instead of a capital-intensive investment in a new arena with more uncertain returns. In some respects, the Civic Centre is the junior hockey equivalent of the old Chicago Blackhawks Stadium (nicknamed the Madhouse on Madison). That’s an environment to embrace and one the players like playing in. It is also one where fans will travel to experience the atmosphere.
Likewise, a bolstered and impressive FirstOntario Centre would draw fans from a wide area and provide expansive seating capacity. Details will undoubtedly complicate the feasibility of this idea. Nevertheless, some hybrid option should remain on the table with diverse thinking caps attempting to shape the idea into feasible form.
As a current Hamiltonian and longtime Brantford resident, perhaps I am biased toward an inclusive decision rather than a definitive side. Perhaps I don’t have rose-coloured glasses on and instead embrace a wider lens with an idea holding real socioeconomic weight. In either case, there’s an opportunity to unite our communities and the historical legacy of the Brantford Alexanders and Hamilton Steelhawks four decades later. The Bulldogs transitionary “Tale of Two Cities” can be the junior hockey version of Dickens’s “epoch of belief” — an agent for socioeconomic resurrection for our collective communities.
Matthew Piatek lives in Hamilton. He is a director in an energy and climate practice with a Fortune 500 company.
