The Bradford Bulls are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL).
History The Bulls were announced on February 23, 2012, by the GMHL. They are the namesake of the old Bradford Bulls Junior C team that which became the Bradford Rattlers. The Ratters and Bulls play out of different arenas in Bradford, but gave the Rattlers a geographical rival.
The Bradford Bulls first regular season game was on September 16, 2012, in Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario. The game was on the road against the cross-town rivals the Bradford Rattlers. The game resulted in a 6–2 loss for the Bulls but had its first goal in franchise history scored by Clint Zumer, and assisted by Justin Tucker. On September 26, 2012, the Bulls would pick up their first franchise victory defeating the Lefroy Wave at home, 9–7. Donald Oldreive made 41 saves to pick up the victory.
On March 26, 2013, the Bradford Bulls won the GMHL playoffs in a 4-games-to-1 series victory against their hometown rival and defending champion Bradford Rattlers. The Bulls finished the regular season in first place in the South Division, fourth overall and three points out of second. They faced the Knights of Meaford in the first round and swept them 3-games-to-none. In the second round, they swept territorial rival Alliston Coyotes 3-games-to-none. Instead of a division final, the league elected to do a divisional crossover and the Bulls had to face the second seed from the North, the Temiscaming Royals. The Bulls took the series in a four-game sweep and were set to face the Rattlers in a "Sidewalk Series" as they knocked off the first seeded Seguin Huskies. Although the Rattlers gave the Bulls their only loss of the playoffs, it was not enough as the Bulls took their first league title after only two years of existence.
Season-by-season standings Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts Regular season finish Playoffs2012–13 42 20 20 0 2 182 195 42 8th GMHL Lost Division Semi-finals2013–14 42 32 6 — 4 226 109 68 4th GMHL Won League2014–15 42 12 29 — 1 144 221 25 5th South-Central Div.15th GMHL Lost Conference Elimination 2015–16 42 25 13 0 4 226 168 54 4th Central Div.12th GMHL Lost Division Quarter-finals2016–17 42 19 20 0 3 181 172 41 7th of 10, North Div.14th of 21, GMHL Lost Division Quarter-finals2017–18 42 28 14 0 0 235 165 56 5th of 12, South Div.9th of 21, GMHL Lost in Division Semi-finals2018–19 42 18 20 0 4 194 181 40 7th of 10, North Div.15th of 22, GMHL Lost in Division Quarter-finals2019–20 42 29 12 0 1 180 140 59 3rd of 10, North Div.6th of 23, GMHL Lost in Division Semi-finals2020–21 Lost season due to COVID-19 pandemic2021–22 38 25 9 0 4 154 109 54 3rd of 10, North Div.6th of 19, GMHL Won division Quarters, 2-0 (Rockhounds)Won Division Semi-finals, 3-2 (Bradford Rattlers)Lost division finals, 0-4 (Temiscaming Titans)2022–23 42 31 8 0 3 250 117 65 3rd of 9, North Div.5th of 16, GMHL Won division Quarters, 2-0 (Northumberland Stars)Won Division Semi-finals, 3-0 (Durham Roadrunners)Lost division finals, 1-4 (North York Renegades)2023–24 42 26 16 0 0 267 118 52 2nd of 8, North Div.5th of 15, GMHL Won division Quarters, 2-0 (Northumberland Stars)Won Division Semi-finals, 3-0 (Durham Roadrunners)Won Div Finals 4-0 (Renegades)Lost League Finals. 1-4 (Bradford Rattlers)2024–25 42 14 26 0 2 167 213 30 8th of 9, South Div.13th of 15, GMHL Lost Playin GAME, 0-5 (Richmond Hill Rampage)2025–26 42 11 30 0 1 102 196 23 7th of 8, South Div.12th of 14, GMHL Lost Siv Quarter, 0-2 (Durham Roadrunners)
Playoffs 2013 Bradford Bulls defeated Toronto Canada Moose 3-games-to-1 in division quarter-finals Orangeville Americans defeated Bradford Bulls 3-games-to-1 in division semi-finals 2014 Bradford Bulls defeated Knights of Meaford 3-games-to-none in division quarter-finals Bradford Bulls defeated Alliston Coyotes 3-games-to-none in division semi-finals Bradford Bulls defeated Temiscaming Titans 4-games-to-none in crossover series Bradford Bulls defeated Bradford Rattlers 4-games-to-1 in finals Russell Cup Champions 2015 Orangeville Americans defeated Bradford Bulls 6–5 (game) in Conference Elimination Round 1 2016 Oshawa Riverkings defeated Bradford Bulls 3-games-to-none in division quarter-finals 2017 Parry Sound Islanders defeated Bradford Bulls 3-games-to-none in division quarter-finals 2018 Bradford Bulls defeated North York Renegades 2-games-to-1 in division quarter-finals St. George Ravens defeated Bradford Bulls 3-games-to-none in division semi-finals 2019 Ville-Marie Pirates defeated Bradford Bulls 2-games-to-1 in division quarter-finals 2020 Bradford Bulls defeated Bancroft Rockhounds 2-games-to-1 in division quarter-finals Bradford Rattlers defeated Bradford Bulls 3-games-to-2 in division semi-finals
League award winners Marshall Uretsky Award An annual award "to the player who is adjudged the most valuable player (MVP) in the regular season" Tomi Taavitsainen 2014 Tyler Fines Award An annual award "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the GMHL" Zan Hobbs 2015 Sergei Bolshakov 2014 Devon Gillham 2013 Louis Ricci Award An annual award "to the forward who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest ability at the position" Tomi Taavitsainen 2014 Al Donnan Award An annual award "to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position" Sergei Bolshakov 2014
Notable alumni Sergei Bolshakov
References
External links Bulls Webpage GMHL Webpage