The Bradford Vasey Juniors were founded in 1971 as they joined the South-Central Junior "D" Hockey League. The league soon became the Central Junior "C", then the Mid-Ontario Junior "C", and finally after merging with the Georgian Junior "C" league became the Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior "C" Hockey League. Their team's first championship was the Junior "D" OHA Cup in 1973. They won the All-Ontario Junior "D" title by defeating the Mitchell Hawks 4-games-to-1. That summer, the SCJDHL was promoted to Junior "C" for the 1974–75 season, and changed their name to the Bradford Blues for the 1975–76 season. In 1980, Bradford won their league and went all the way to the Clarence Schmalz Cup All-Ontario Final. In the end, they lost out to the Leamington Flyers 4-games-straight. In 1986, they made it all the way back to the All-Ontario final only to lose to the Norwich Merchants 4-games-to-3. The team changed its name to Bradford Bulls for the 1988–89 season, in which they immediately struck gold; they won their league and then followed it up with a 4-games-to-2 series victory to defeat the Hanover Barons to win their only ever Clarence Schmalz Cup. The Bulls won the league again in 1998, but did not reach the All-Ontario Final. The Most valuable Player of the playoffs was Noah Bell, who was drafted into the Ontario Hockey League a year later by the Sudbury Wolves.
Bulls' Logo
The Bradford Bulls were bought out towards the end of the 2005–06 season by a local party who owned an independent Junior "A" travelling team known as the Toronto Rattlers, though technically a Toronto-area franchise. The Rattlers toured the United States playing games in junior hockey tournaments and against college teams from 2004 until 2006. A number of alumni received US college offers and Russian-based player Kirill Tulupov, who made his presence known in North America by touring with the Toronto Rattlers, was taken by the New Jersey Devils in the third round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.[1] The new ownership group believed that combining the operations and management of the thirty-five-year-old Branford franchise with the experience of the Toronto Rattlers would earn the Bradford franchise a move up to the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League, but when the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) turned down the request the team walked away from the OHA's version of Junior "A". The Bradford franchise adopted the nickname of the now disbanded travelling team, and the Bradford Rattlers became a member of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL).
2006–07
The Bradford Rattlers first game in the GMHL was against the South Muskoka Shield on September 15, 2006, in Gravenhurst, Ontario. The Rattlers dismantled the Shield, winning by a score of 10–1. Andreas Goetz picked up the team's first Junior "A" victory in net. Their first home game was on September 17, 2006, against the Toronto Canada Moose, a 5–3 win.
On September 24, 2006, the Bradford Rattlers became the last undefeated team of the GMHL's inaugural season, moving to 5–0–0–0, defeating the (until then undefeated) Richmond Hill Rams by a score of 3–1. The winning streak lasted until October 15, 2006, 10–0–0–0, as the Rattlers picked up an overtime loss to the King Wild, but still had yet to lose a game in regulation. On January 21, 2007, the Rattlers had compiled a 27–0–0–4 record before playing the Deseronto Thunder. The Thunder were leading 5–2 but Bradford came only to lose for the first time in regulation by a score of 6–5.
The Rattlers finished the season in first place, earning a bye into the league semifinals. Their semifinals opponent was the Deseronto Thunder. The Thunder won the first two games of the series. The Rattlers pulled themselves together and won the next four games straight to play in the league finals. The finals were against the league's second seeded King Wild. The Rattlers started with a 2–1 victory but the Wild won the second game 6–3 to even the series. The Rattlers came back and won the next game 5–0 while the fourth and fifth games went to overtime with Bradford winning 2–1 and 4–3, respectively. The Bradford Rattlers won the first ever Bob Russell Cup as GMHL Champions.
The Rattlers faced the WHA Junior West Hockey League's New Westminster Whalers for the short-lived National Junior Hockey Alliance's "Alliance Cup," the only year in which this competition was contested. The Rattlers swept the series 3-games-to-none.
2007–08
On December 30, 2007, the Rattlers hosted the Moscow Selects All-star team in an exhibition game. The Selects won the game by a score of 8–4. This was the second game of seven that the Moscow team played against different GMHL clubs.
In 2007–08, the Rattlers challenged their 31-game record for regular season games without a regulation loss, but came up short with a still impressive 28-game streak with a 5–3 January 6 loss to the Deseronto Storm. The Rattlers did, however, set a new league record for regular season games without a regulation loss across multiple seasons with 38. This also marked the end of the longest winning streak in GMHL history of 27 straight wins.
The Rattlers began the 2008 playoffs against the Toronto Canada Moose, whom they swept. They then defeated the South Muskoka Shield 4-games-to-1. In the league semifinals, they swept the Elliot Lake Bobcats and in the league finals they swept the Innisfil Lakers to win their second straight Russell Cup.
2008–09
On January 5, 2009, the Rattlers played against Kazakhstan's Torpedo UST-Kamenogorsk Under-18 squad in Shelburne, Ontario. At one point leading 5–0, the Rattlers played a lot of their younger players in the second half of the game. The final score was 6–5 for Bradford.
The Rattlers finished the 2008–09 season with the second best record in the South Division and third best in the league. In the playoffs, the Rattlers first met the Toronto Canada Moose. After winning the first two games, the Moose came back and took game three and four of the best-of-five series to force a decisive game five. The Rattlers overcame the potential upset and won the series 3-games-to-2. In the division semifinals, the Rattlers drew the Deseronto Storm. The Rattlers took game one, but in game two and three the Storm took control. The Rattlers had to win game four to prolong the best-of-five series, and succeeded with a 5–1 victory. The next morning it was announced that the Deseronto Storm protested the result of game four due to a roster violation by Bradford. Upon review of the league, the result of game four was overturned and the Rattlers were disqualified from the remainder of the playoffs.[2]
2012–13
The 2008 championship passed and in the four following years four different teams would claim the Russell Cup as GMHL. In those four years, the Rattlers failed to reach the finals in each of those years. The 2012–13 led to the Rattlers turning in the league's first undefeated season with a 42–0–0–0 record. There would be a black mark on this season though when the Rattlers competed in the league's showcase tournament in Bracebridge, Ontario, in late 2012. They turned in a less than stellar performance and were ejected from the tournament, along with longtime rival South Muskoka Shield, for a brawl and an off-ice altercation involving crowd members and ejected players that caused a police investigation. The Rattlers perfect season allowed them a date with the eighth seeded Lefroy Wave. Sweeping the Wave in three games extended the Rattlers winning streak to 45 games. They played the Bobcaygeon Bucks next, sweeping them in three games and extending their streak to 48 games. In the South Division final, the Rattlers faced the Orangeville Americans and swept them in four games. The series victory gave them a record of 52–0–0–0 so far that year. The perfect streak was snapped the very next game in the league final by the Temiscaming Titans 7–6 in overtime. Bradford would win games two and three to extend their record for streak of games without a regulation loss to 55 games before that streak was ended in regulation in game four by the Titans. The Rattlers would win games five and six and the series to claim their third Russell Cup.
Season-by-season standings
Season
GP
W
L
T
OTL
GF
GA
Pts
Regular Season Finish
Playoffs
1971–72
30
16
12
2
—
168
144
34
4th SCJDHL
Lost semi-final
1972–73
29
20
4
5
—
175
99
47
2nd SCJDHL
Won League, won OHA Cup
1973–74
30
23
3
4
—
208
106
50
1st Central G1
Won League, lost CSC SF
1974–75
31
23
6
2
—
223
100
48
2nd Central G1
Won League, lost CSC QF
1975–76
32
17
10
5
—
159
132
39
4th Central G1
Lost final
1976–77
28
17
8
3
—
175
147
37
3rd Central G1
Lost final
1977–78
32
18
13
1
—
175
145
37
3rd MOJCHL
Lost final
1978–79
32
16
12
4
—
—
—
36
3rd MOJCHL
Lost final
1979–80
40
33
6
1
—
298
136
67
1st MOJCHL
Won League, lost CSC Final
1980–81
36
24
12
0
—
247
142
48
2nd MOJCHL
Won League, lost CSC QF
1981–82
40
34
5
1
—
328
154
69
2nd MOJCHL
Lost semi-final
1982–83
36
29
7
0
—
221
138
58
1st MOJCHL
Won League, lost CSC QF
1983–84
33
22
11
0
—
185
137
44
2nd MOJCHL
Lost quarter-final
1984–85
35
26
7
2
—
247
123
54
1st MOJCHL
Won League, lost CSC QF
1985–86
34
31
2
1
—
314
137
63
1st MOJCHL
Won League, lost CSC Final
1986–87
34
30
4
0
—
278
121
60
1st MOJCHL
Won League, lost CSC SF
1987–88
34
20
13
1
—
216
164
41
3rd MOJCHL
Lost final
1988–89
36
27
9
0
—
266
143
54
2nd MOJCHL
Won League, won CSC
1989–90
34
20
13
1
—
193
150
41
2nd MOJCHL
Lost final
1990–91
34
17
15
2
—
—
—
36
4th MOJCHL
Lost semi-final
1991–92
34
16
14
4
—
163
172
36
4th MOJCHL
Lost semi-final
1992–93
38
17
14
7
0
196
178
41
3rd MOJCHL
1993–94
40
26
13
1
—
229
188
53
2nd MOJCHL
Lost final
1994–95
36
27
9
0
—
—
—
54
2nd GMOHL
1995–96
44
26
17
1
—
220
159
53
3rd GMOHL
1996–97
36
20
15
1
—
198
193
41
4th GMOHL
1997–98
36
24
10
2
—
202
138
50
1st GMOHL
Won League
1998–99
36
21
14
1
—
188
170
43
4th GMOHL
1999–00
36
21
13
2
—
178
174
44
3rd GMOHL
2000–01
36
16
15
3
2
155
150
35
5th GMOHL
2001–02
36
4
28
1
3
91
210
12
8th GMOHL
2002–03
36
19
8
4
5
164
159
47
4th GMOHL
Lost quarter-final
2003–04
36
15
18
3
0
142
146
33
6th GMOHL
2004–05
40
19
14
5
2
144
127
45
5th GMOHL
2005–06
42
14
23
3
2
148
205
33
7th GMOHL
2006–07
42
37
1
—
4
266
121
78
1st GMHL
Won League, won Alliance Cup
2007–08
42
37
4
—
1
314
110
75
1st GMHL
Won League
2008–09
43
34
6
—
3
284
132
71
3rd GMHL
Lost quarter-final
2009–10
42
34
6
—
2
273
150
70
3rd GMHL
Lost semi-final
2010–11
42
26
14
—
2
239
178
54
4th GMHL
Lost semi-final
2011–12
42
31
6
—
5
221
127
67
3rd GMHL
Lost semi-final
2012–13
42
42
0
0
0
301
95
84
1st GMHL
Won League
2013–14
42
30
8
—
4
230
116
64
6th GMHL
Lost final
2014–15
42
31
11
—
0
238
136
62
3rd South-Central Div. 7th GMHL
Lost Division Semi-finals
2015–16
42
29
11
0
2
219
145
60
3rd Central Div. 9th GMHL
Lost Division Quarter-finals
2016–17
42
28
14
0
0
254
185
56
4th of 10, North Div. 8th of 21, GMHL
Lost Division Quarter-finals
2017–18
42
31
11
0
0
222
124
56
2nd of 9, North Div. 5th of 21, GMHL
Lost Division Finals
2018–19
42
35
6
0
1
259
133
71
1st of 10, North Div. 2nd of 22, GMHL
Lost Division Finals
2019–20
42
27
13
0
2
230
148
56
4th of 10, North Div. 8th of 23, GMHL
Postseason cancelled
2020–21
season lost due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22
38
31
5
0
2
230
190
93
2nd of 10, North Div. 3rd of 19, GMHL
Won Div. Quarterfinals, 2-0 (Lynx) Lost div. semi-finals, 2-3 (Bulls)
2022–23
42
38
2
0
2
270
97
78
1st of 9, North Div. 1st of 16, GMHL
Won Div. Semifinals, 3-0 (Titans) Won Div.Finals, 4-1 (Ville-Marie Pirates) North Division rep to Russell Cup finals (see below)
2023–24
42
38
3
0
1
294
101
77
1st of 7, North Div. 1st of 15, GMHL
Won Div. Semifinals, 3-0 (Titans) Div Finals, 4-0 (Lynx) Won League Finals, 4-1(Bulls) Russell Cup Champions
(*) Standings incomplete.
Russell Cup Finals
National Championships (GMHL North and South and Western)
