In franchise history, there are three Bulldogs teams that went on deep playoff runs. These runs took them to the third round of the BCHL playoffs and while they came close to the finals, the team didn’t advance any further.
Their first deep run was in 2001 when the Bulldogs were located in Burnaby. Their second deep run was in 2010 and Alberni Valley’s third deep run was in 2013. Each Bulldogs team had their star players and also met an opponent they couldn’t get past.
For this article, I will examine these three playoff runs and look at the key players during these runs. I’ll chart their opponents through the run and talk about what happened the following season.
Before that, I wanted to look at several players from the 2021-22 Bulldogs roster. These are the players important to this year’s team.
2021-22 Bulldogs
Bulldogs general manager and head coach Joe Martin built a strong team for the 2021-22 season. Led by Josh Zary, the team’s top four scorers have more than 40 points each and their top nine scorers have scored more than 20 points each.
Between the pipes, Hobie Hedquist is the number one goalie and his stats land him in the top five for all BCHL netminders this season. Behind Hedquist is Hayden Dunford.
While Hedquist is the workhorse, Dunford is the reliable backup. He came over from the Caledonia Corvairs of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League last November.
This Bulldogs roster has a solid group of goal scorers, steady defensemen, and a solid goalie tandem. As such, Alberni Valley is one of the top teams in the Coastal Conference.
The 2001 playoffs
Before their move to Port Alberni, the Bulldogs played four seasons in Burnaby. During the 2000-01 regular season, the Burnaby Bulldogs finished first in the Mainland Division with a record of 37-19-4.
Because of the playoff format, the Bulldogs played an elimination round against the Langley Hornets and won in five games. Burnaby received a bye in the quarterfinals before falling to the Kyle Greentree-led Victoria Salsa in seven games in the semifinals.
During the season, Burnaby’s top scorer was Milan Gajic, who notched 98 points in 50 games. In the playoffs, the ‘Dogs number one scorer was Tyler Dufour with 18 points in a dozen games. Burnaby’s number one goalie that year was Dan Meneghin with a goals-against average of 2.54 and a .910 save percentage in the post-season.
The following season, Burnaby finished third in the Mainland Division and faced the South Surrey Eagles during the 2002 elimination round. The Eagles won in five games and the Bulldogs relocated to Port Alberni.
The 2010 playoffs
After several seasons in the Gateway to the Pacific West Coast, the Bulldogs finished first in the Coastal Conference with a 45-12-1-2 record.
The Bulldogs didn’t play in the conference quarterfinals and instead started their playoffs in the semifinals with a six-game series win over the Nanaimo Clippers. The Powell River Kings defeated Alberni Valley in the conference final in seven games.
During the season, Alberni Valley’s top scorer was Mitch MacMillan with an eye-popping 93 points in 59 games. Dave Dziurzynski was the team’s leading scorer during the Fred Page Cup playoffs with 19 points in 13 games.
Alberni Valley’s number one netminder in 2010 was Frank Slubowski with a 2.44 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage in the playoffs.
In 2010-11, Alberni Valley finished sixth in the Coastal Conference and met the Langley Chiefs in the quarterfinals. However, Langley swept the Bulldogs in four games.
The 2013 playoffs
The Bulldogs’ next deep playoff run was in 2013 after finishing third in the Island Divison with a 29-20-2-5 record.
During the best-of-five division semis, Alberni Valley topped Nanaimo in five games. In the best-of-five division final, the Bulldogs dumped the Grizzlies in five games.
Alberni Valley’s run ended in the Conference final when the Surrey Eagles swept the Bulldogs in four games. The Eagles moved on and won the Fred Page Cup against the Penticton Vees.
In the 2012-13 season, Evan Tironese was Alberni Valley’s top point-getter with 57 points in 51 games. He led the way during the post-season too with 13 points in 14 games. The Bulldogs’ top goalie was Jay Deo, who finished the playoffs with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage.
The following season, Alberni Valley finished fourth place in the Island Division and lost in seven games to Victoria in the semifinals.
The 2022 playoffs
After a long pause, the BCHL playoffs return this spring after COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the last two post-seasons. The last time to Bulldogs made the playoffs, in 2020, they were swept by Nanaimo.
In the 2020-21 pod season in their home rink, the Bulldogs finished in second, behind Victoria, with a final record of 11-5-4.
The 2021-22 Bulldogs team has already punched its ticket to the Fred Page Cup playoffs and looks poised for a deep run, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in Port Alberni in nearly 10 years.
