Ex-Rangers enjoying historic run with the Hamilton Bulldogs
Steeltown squad heads to the OHL final with a perfect 12-0 playoff record
HAMILTON Arber Xhekaj was at a loss.
The former Kitchener Rangers defenceman, now plying his trade with the Hamilton Bulldogs, looked to captain Colton Kammerer for guidance after the Bulldogs swept the North Bay Battalion this past weekend to win the Bobby Orr Trophy as Ontario Hockey League Eastern Conference champions.
“I didn’t know what to do,” said Xhekaj, who played parts of three seasons for the Rangers before being traded to the ’Dogs this past January. “I’ve never really won any trophy like that before.”
Some teams consider it a jinx to lift any trophy other than the one representing the overall championship. In this case, the Bulldogs handled the hardware, but didn’t hoist it.
If all goes well, the Steeltown squad will get that chance in the OHL final against either the Flint Firebirds or Windsor Spitfires. Flint currently leads the best-ofseven Western Conference final, 3-2, with Game 6 slated for Tuesday.
Whoever emerges will be underdogs against Hamilton in the championship.
After all, the Bulldogs are on a historic run.
The team is 12-0 after sweeping three playoff rounds in the east and have now won 22 consecutive games since March 25.
No club has ever run the table in the playoffs since the OHL switched to a 16-team format in 1999. The London Knights came close twice going 16-2 in 2005 and 2016.
“To be playing hockey going into June is a special feeling,” said Bulldogs bench boss Jay McKee, who coached the Rangers from 2016-20, before being dismissed. “It’s an amazing group of kids and staff from the top down. I’ve been grateful to be a part of this.”
Ask McKee about the secret to success and he points to the players.
There’s skilled scorers, deadly defencemen and great goalies. But, paramount to that, is the entire team’s commitment to a 200-foot game.
“They don’t bat an eye, they just play,” said McKee. “Their level of intensity, focus, preparation and discipline to game play doesn’t change. I think all of that really revolves around the culture and leadership that is put in place here.”
Xhekaj, an overage player from Hamilton, has seen that too.
“It starts with the coaches and them getting everyone to buy in,” he said. “We’re a highly skilled team and we have a lot of scoring, but it’s the fact that everyone buys into our system and everyone plays for each other.”
Besides being perfect in the playoffs, Hamilton is 47-3-1-0 in 2022.
McKee, who had a 14-year career in the NHL and made it to the Stanley Cup final with the Buffalo Sabres in 1999, has never experienced anything like this.
Neither has Xhekaj.
Yet despite the colossal success, the club remains grounded.
“We’re pretty calm after games,” said Xhekaj. “We’re not jumping around. It just feels like we’re not done yet. Everyone knows what the goal is and we want it bad.”
The chance to cap the campaign as champs and move on to the Memorial Cup isn’t lost on the two former Rangers.
“I’m not trying to think about it too much,” said Xhekaj, a Montreal Canadiens prospect. “But to be playing for your hometown and going out with a win in your last OHL year would mean a lot.”