Belleville Hockey Heritage Stories
Building the Belleville McFarlands
The Belleville McFarlands were already the most popular thing Belleville had ever produced but after winning the Allan Cup, their fame grew to new heights in the Quinte area. Many of the players now called the city home and they said that the hospitality that they...
Sophomore Bulls Look for Playoff Berth
After nearly making the Playoffs with a record-setting run as an expansion team, GM-coach Larry Mavety was crystal clear in what he planned to do for an encore in the 1982-83 season. He expected the second-year Bulls to continue to buck tradition and immediately...
Bulls Charged Through Inaugural OHL Season
1981-82 After claiming their historic first OHL win against the Kingston Canadiens, the expansion Belleville Bulls were looking for more. They got it quickly, winning their second game when captain Dunc McIntyre tipped in the winner to give the home team a 4-3...
Belleville McFarlands win national championship
1957-58 While some stayed in Belleville to work during the off-season, it was clear in training camp that manager Drury Denyes was the busiest person on the team during the summer. Denyes had experienced a taste of success the previous season when the Macs had an...
Quinn was the Bulls’ first scoring star
1981-82 With Dan Quinn, there was never any question that he would be a dominant player in the OHL. But as the Bulls' first ever draft pick first overall in the 1981midget draft would Quinn become dominant in time to help the expansion Bulls? As a rookie, Quinn put...
Bobcats make a big impression in their first season
1972-73 When the Belleville Bobcats opened training camp in the fall of 1972 for their first campaign in the Metro Jr. B Hockey League, they had plenty of new faces around…along with a few familiar ones. The Bobcats were moving on from the Eastern Ontario Jr. B loop...
McSorley made his first impression in Belleville
1981-82 Marty McSorley needed to make a quick impression and he had a pretty good idea how to do it. More than 70 players were suited up at the Bulls' first training camp before their inaugural season in 1981 and McSorley -a free agent invitee - would have to give...
The birth of the Belleville McFarlands
1956-57 When Floyd Crawford took the call from Drury Denyes, he more or less realized that his hockey career was pretty much finished. Crawford was a former Montreal Canadiens prospect that – like everyone else who played on his senior team in Northern Quebec – still...
Macs World Champs!!
In 1959, the Belleville McFarlands won the World Championship of Hockey in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The team had won the Allan Cup in 1958 in Kelowna, British Columbia. As Canadian champions, they were entitled to represent Canada on the World stage. Following their...
Marc Crawford searching for another championship
When Marc Crawford accepted the associate coaching job with the Ottawa Senators, he saw it as a chance to get back into the hunt for a prize that he’s been chasing for more than two decades. Crawford was looking for a chance to win the Stanley Cup again after guiding...