A spirited affair on a nostalgic night at CAA Arena ended based on the slimmest of margins for the Belleville Senators.
The Manitoba Moose ruined the Sens Belleville Bulls Tribute Night on Saturday with a 1-0 blanking, fuelled by Thomas Milic’s 32 save shutout.
Both teams came out flying in the opening period, with the gold-clad Sens hemming the Moose in for about two minutes at one point after a powerplay.
Samuel Fagemo took advantage of a powerplay on a Belleville delay of game penalty by ripping a diagonal pass over Sens sticks from Brayden Yager glove side on Leevi Merilainen at 16:06.
There was lots of action in the second frame as well, but neither team could find the net, even as multiple powerplays and quality chances were in play.
Manitoba had perhaps the best opportunity in the period, with a puck looping over a fallen Merilainen and coming perilously close to the Sens goal line that was saved in the nick of time by a sliding Cam Crotty.
Fagemo’s goal continued to hold up through another Belleville push in the third period and the Moose split the weekend set.
The result didn’t dampen the spirits of some 3,700-plus fans, many decked out in Bulls black, red and gold in honour of the 2007-08 squad that won 48 games and earned 102 points during the season before embarking on an OHL Final run and a trip to the Memorial Cup in Kitchener.
One of the many familiar faces returning for the special occasion was assistant coach Jake Grimes.
Grimes, who had the bonus of being a player for the Bulls from 1989-92, described the Sens tribute of the Bulls and another nod to the city’s hockey history as ‘respectful.’
“The entire organization of the Sens has been fantastic from the start, guiding us through everything,” he said in an interview on the B-Sens broadcast.
“We got to meet players and talk to players. They are working at their own level and to make the time for us is really good.”
“It’s always a good feeling to come back to Belleville…it’s such an amazing place to play and live and you feel a lot of love.”
Reflecting on the Bulls record-setting campaign, the current University of Guelph coach said he was proud of how the team was built and how close-knit the group was.
“It was incredible because we are not near bigger centres, we were not considered a superpower in terms of where the high-profile US kids and the Toronto-area kids were going to,” he explained.
“We did it in an honest way, where Gord Simmonds (team owner) and George Burnett (head coach/GM) went about the business of building a hockey team the right way.”
Another Bulls alumnus in attendance, Steve Tracze, acknowledged his days on the old Yardmen Arena ice in the mid-1990s as being special to his life.
“It was a time I will always remember. Two seasons in a row, we made it to the third round of the playoffs and were essentially four wins away from making the OHL final,” he said.
Alumni in attendance included Mike Murphy, Keaton Turkiewicz, Shawn Lalonde, Andrew Self, Geoff Killing and captain Matt Beleskey, along with Randy Rowe, David Silverstone, Justin Lemcke and Andrew Ming from other eras.
Several video messages from past member of the 07-08 team were also played on the big board at CAA Arena from the likes of Eric Tangradi, Shawn Matthias, PK Subban, Nick Pageau and head coach/GM George Burnett.
The classic gold Bulls jerseys will continue to be auctioned off until next Sunday, April 5 and all the money raised from that, and a Chuck-a-Puck fundraiser will go toward the Belleville Minor Hockey Association, who bear the Jr. Bulls moniker to keep the legacy of the Bulls alive.
As for the Sens, they get set to play two must-win games in New York State on Easter Weekend, versus a team they are chasing (Rochester Americans on Friday at 7:05 p.m.) and a team that is chasing them (Utica Comets on Saturday at 7 p.m.).
