Belleville Bulls The Belleville Bulls are a junior ice hockey team , founded in 1981 based in Belleville , Ontario , Canada . The teams plays in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League . History . The Belleville Bulls started in 1979 as a Junior Tier II team in the OHA . In their second season in 1980 – 81 , the Bulls won the Tier II title , defeating the Guelph Platers in the league finals . The Bulls then competed in the national championship for the Manitoba Centennial Trophy hosted in Halifax , Nova Scotia losing in the finals to the Prince Albert Raiders . On February 2 , 1981 the OHL granted an expansion franchise to the city of Belleville and the ownership group of Dr . Robert L . Vaughan & Bob Dolan . Dr . Robert L . Vaughan remained an owner / co - owner of the team for over 20 years until he sold the team in 2004 to Gord Simmonds . Dr . Vaughan was awarded the Bill Long award in 1993 for distinguished service to the OHL . In 1983 Belleville hosted the OHL All - Star Game , known then as the OHL Chrysler Cup . The Bulls reached the OHL finals in 1986 versus familiar foe from their Tier II days , the Guelph Platers . The Platers won the series in 6 games . In 1995 and 1996 the Bulls lost in the semi - finals to the Guelph Storm . The 1999 season would be one for the memories when the Belleville Bulls would win it all . The Bulls defeated the London Knights 9 – 2 in game seven of the OHL championship series at the Yardmen Arena to win their first J . Ross Robertson Cup . The Bulls competed in the 1999 Memorial Cup , hosted in Ottawa versus the Calgary Hitmen , Acadie - Bathurst Titan & Ottawa 67 ' s . Belleville finished 3rd , losing to Ottawa 4 – 2 in the semifinal . In the 2005 – 06 season the Belleville Bulls celebrated their 25th anniversary in the OHL . The team also hosted the annual OHL All - Star game for the second time , on February 1 , 2006 . The Bulls set a season - best record of 102 points earned during the 2007 – 08 regular season . In 2007 – 08 the Bulls made a trip to the Memorial Cup by virtue of Kitchener winning the Western Conference , and being the host , Belleville would get in as the OHL representative . The Bulls would lose the semi - final game 9 - 0 against the hosting team , the Kitchener Rangers , who would eventually lose to the Spokane Chiefs in the championship game . Championships . Leyden Trophy East Division Regular Season Champions Bobby Orr Trophy Eastern Conference Champions J . Ross Robertson Cup Championships : 1999 Memorial Cup Appearances : 2 Coaches . Larry Mavety coached the Belleville Bulls for 14 seasons . He is second only to Brian Kilrea for amount of time coached with an OHL team . Lou Crawford was groomed by Mavety to replace him behind the Bulls ' bench . Lou Crawford is the brother of NHL Coach Marc Crawford . Their father , Floyd Crawford , was team captain of the 1959 World Champion Belleville McFarlands . Former coaches Lou Crawford and Shawn MacKenzie both had brief NHL careers . George Burnett briefly coached with the Edmonton Oilers . James Boyd is the only former Bulls player to later coach the Belleville team . " ( Multiple years in parentheses ) " Team records . < br clear = " all " > Season - by - season results . Regular season . Legend : OL = Overtime loss , SL = Shootout Loss Uniforms and logos . Bulls Uniforms Arena . The team has played all homes games at the Yardmen Arena ( capacity 3 , 257 ) for the existence of the franchise . The Yardmen Arena is part of the Quinte Sports Centre which is composed of the Yardmen Arena and the Wally Dever arena which is home to the Belleville McFarlands , an OHA Senior team , and is also used by minor hockey teams .