President
and Governor Glenn Stanford officially announced the launch
of the Hamilton Bulldogs Foundation, which will act as
a new charitable arm to the organization replacing the
Bulldogs Youth Fund. The Foundation will provide financial
assistance to non-profit groups and support educational
and community programs.
The mission of the Foundation is to enrich the lives
of children and youth in the Greater Hamilton Area
through the assignment of tickets, cash donations
and gifts in kind. By doing so, it aims to promote
the creative interactive programs involving education,
physical fitness and personal well-being. Some of
the these programs include Read with the ‘Dogs,
Agree to Read, Courage to be…ME, Advice from
the Ice, Operation Tickets, Pink in the Rink, Holiday
Toy Toss, Closest to the Net and Dinner with the ‘Dogs.
Dr. Marie Bountrogianni, Minister of Intergovernmental
Affairs and Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal
by Premier Dalton McGuinty, was named as the first
member of the Bulldogs Foundation Board of Directors.
The Foundation was formed using the unique talents,
resources and capabilities of the Hamilton Bulldogs
players; families, employees, ownership (shareholders)
and NHL affiliate Montreal Canadiens, as well as
local corporate and community partners to achieve
social and economic gains.
|
Montreal
Canadiens Executive Vice President and General Manager
Bob Gainey has named Julien BriseBois as General Manager
of the Hamilton Bulldogs.
BriseBois, who turned 30
on January 24th, 2007, is currently the youngest current
General Manager in the American Hockey League. The native
of Greenfield Park, Quebec became the Canadiens Vice
President of Hockey Operations on July 24, 2006. Originally
joining the Canadiens organization on September 1st,
2001 as Director of Legal Affairs and was promoted to
Director of Hockey Operations and Legal Affairs in July
2003.
His duties include all
aspects of contract preparation and negotiation, salary
arbitration, player transactions, the interpretation
of the National Hockey League’s Collective Bargaining
Agreement and League Rules and assessing their impact
on day-to-day operations. Prior to joining the Canadiens
organization, BriseBois was practicing at the law firm
Heenan-Blaikie. He is a graduate of the Université de
Montreal Faculty of Law and earned a Masters’ Degree
in Business Administration at the John Molson School
of Business, and is a member of the Quebec Bar, the American
Bar Association and the Sports Lawyers Association.
In his first act as GM,
BriseBois returned both Don Lever and Ron Wilson to their
respective positions as Coach and Assistant Coach within
the organization.
Lever became the sixth
Coach in Bulldogs history on July 28th, 2005, was signed
by BriseBois for his third season with the club. In his
first two seasons, the 54-year-old native of South Porcupine,
Ontario posted a regular-season record of 78-69-3-10
(.528). Last season, he led the Bulldogs to a 16-6 post-season
record and a Calder Cup Championship; the first in the
history of the club.
Previously to the Bulldogs,
Lever was an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues
for two seasons (2002-2004) and spent 12 seasons in the
Buffalo Sabres organization. Don began his coaching career
as a Sabres assistant in 1987-1988. He then served as
Coach of the Rochester Americans from 1990-1992, before
returning to Buffalo as an assistant for the 1992-1993
campaign. In his first season with Rochester in 1990-1991,
Lever won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL
Coach of the Year.
During his playing career,
Lever played for Rochester in 1985-1986 and 1986-1987,
winning the Calder Cup in the role of player-coach in
his final professional season. In 1,020 NHL games with
the Vancouver Canucks, Atlanta Flames, Calgary Flames,
Colorado Rockies, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres,
Lever accumulated 313 goals, 367 assists, 680 points,
and 593 penalty minutes.
Ron Wilson, a 51-year-old
native of Toronto, returns for his fifth season as an
assistant coach with Hamilton. He was an American Hockey
League assistant coach for four seasons (1996-2000) with
the Springfield Falcons, and two seasons (2000-2002)
with the Saint John Flames, winning the Calder Cup in
the first of his two seasons with the Flames. Wilson
replaced Jim Playfair as Coach of the Saint John entry
during the 2002-03 season. Ron played 14 seasons in the
NHL with Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues and Montreal
Canadiens, registering 326 points (110 goals, 216 assists)
in 832 games.
|
