Bulldogs Announce Inductees For Wall Of Fame

Published on January 15, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release


HAMILTON, ON - The Hamilton Bulldogs announced today that the club will induct Scott Howson, Bill Sturrup and Brian Swanson as the first members of the Hamilton Bulldogs Wall of Fame prior to their game against the Lake Erie Monsters on Friday evening.

Howson became the Bulldogs' General Manager in 1996 when the Edmonton Oilers moved their American Hockey League affiliate from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Hamilton, and one of Howson's first orders of business was the hiring of fellow Wall of Fame inductee, Bill Sturrup, as the team's public address announcer. In his first season with Hamilton, 1996-1997, the Howson-built Bulldogs advanced to the Calder Cup Finals before being beaten by the Hershey Bears. In his last two campaigns as Hamilton Bulldogs General Manager in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003, Howson's teams advanced to game seven of the AHL's Eastern Conference Finals and to game seven of the AHL's Calder Cup Finals, respectively. Howson, who also served as the Edmonton Oilers' Assistant General Manager during his time with the Hamilton Bulldogs, was hired as the General Manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets in June 2007, a position he continues to hold today. Howson will be honoured at a home game later in the 2008-2009 season.

Sturrup is a former AM 900 CHML radio broadcaster and Hamilton Bulldogs Public Address Announcer. In addition to his outstanding coverage of the club as a member of the media, Sturrup also served as both an off-ice official and as the 'Dogs' public address announcer beginning in the team's inaugural season of 1996-1997 until shortly before his passing on January 16th, 2007. From his seat at ice-level between the home and away penalty boxes, Sturrup not only announced goals and penalties, he also introduced special guests, the on and off-ice officials, the visiting team and the home team for 11 seasons. In a pre-game ceremony on October 6th, 2006, the Bulldogs, in conjunction with the City of Hamilton, honoured Sturrup by naming the press box at Copps Coliseum "The Bill Sturrup Press Box". Prior to tomorrow's game, Sturrup will be represented by his wife Kathy as he will be formally honoured with a special ceremony.

Swanson played in 183 games for the 'Dogs from 1999-2002 and accumulated a total of 179 points (71 goals, 108 assists) along with 64 penalty minutes. He was the Hamilton Bulldogs' all-time leading scorer until Corey Locke eclipsed his mark of 179 points on December 29th, 2007. The former Hamilton centre won the Bulldogs' Most Valuable Player Award in back-to-back seasons, sharing the award with Paul Healey in 2000-2001 and winning it again in 2001-2002. Swanson also won the Molson Cup Award in 2001-2002, the Bill Sturrup Award, formerly the Hamilton Bulldogs Fans' Choice Award, in 2001-2002 and the Flamboro Downs Workhorse of the Year Award, formerly the Pearson-Dunn Player of the year Award and the Partsource Sparkplug Award, in 1999-2000. Swanson is currently playing professional hockey in Germany and will be honoured at a home game later this season.

The Bulldogs will continue the celebration of their 1000th regular season game at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow evening when they host the Lake Erie Monsters at Copps Coliseum. Fans can listen to every 'Dogs game on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, TALK 820. Fans can also listen or watch at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com by clicking on the 'AHL Live' or 'TALK 820' icons on the Bulldogs website. All regular-season radio and online broadcasts will begin with a pre-game show 30 minutes prior to each scheduled game-time.

Tickets for all Bulldogs home games are available at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, any Ticketmaster outlet, online at www.ticketmaster.ca or through charge-by-phone at 905-527-7666.

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