WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION 1976-1981
The Birmingham Bulls played in the World Hockey Association from 1976 to 1979 and the Central Hockey League from 1979 to 1981. The Bulls played their home games at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center.
Prior to being in Birmingham, the team was known as the Ottawa Nationals and the Toronto Toros. The Birmingham Bulls’ name has been used for other hockey teams such as the Birmingham Bulls of the East Coast Hockey League and the Birmingham Bulls of the Southern Professional Hockey League.
The Toros had been modestly successful on the ice since moving to Toronto before the start of the 1973–74 season and had drawn fairly well by WHA standards. However, onerous lease terms at Maple Leaf Gardens led owner John Bassett to move to Birmingham.
After the move to Birmingham, general manager, Gilles Leger coached the team for a few games until Pat Kelly was brought in to coach the bulk of that first season (1976–77) in Birmingham. In the 1977–78 season, former Minnesota Golden Gophers coach Glen Sonmor was hired to lead the team as head coach and general manager. Sonmor organized a very physical and aggressive team that was the most penalized in the league for their rough play. They set a team record for penalty minutes that stood for decades in all of professional ice hockey.[citation needed] They were often called the “Birmingham Bullies”, a play off of the nickname “Broad Street Bullies” that the Philadelphia Flyers had earned years earlier, whose own record for penalty minutes the Birmingham Bulls had broken. This new approach to being the bullies debuted on a Thanksgiving Day game in Birmingham against the Cincinnati Stingers. That game started with ten players in the penalty box within the first minute of play. The Bulls won 12–2 and the game was dubbed by a newspaper as the “Thanksgiving Day Massacre”. This was the only one of the three WHA Birmingham Bulls teams to qualify for the WHA playoffs. Facing Bobby Hull and the Winnipeg Jets, who went on to win the championship, they were eliminated in the first round. During Sonmor’s tenure as general manager, he successfully negotiated the first “cross-league” player trade with the NHL in a deal with the Detroit Red Wings.
The Bulls were not included in the NHL–WHA merger of 1979 After the WHA ceased operations in 1979, the Birmingham Bulls joined the Central Hockey League, playing during the 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons. The CHL team included returning coach John Brophy, and six players carried over from the previous season’s WHA team, including Paul Henderson, Pat Riggin, Rick Adduono, and Dave Hanson.
EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE 1992-2001
The Birmingham Bulls were a minor professional ice hockey team in the East Coast Hockey League from 1992 to 2001. Their home arena was the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center.
The team moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey and was renamed the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies in 2001. After the 2005 season, the franchise was sold to a California investor group and became the Stockton Thunder, affiliated with the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL.
In the early part of 1991, Art Clarkson flirted with the idea of bringing professional hockey back to Birmingham. Clarkson, who owned the Birmingham Barons, knew of the popularity of the Bulls from the World Hockey Association days. In the summer of 1992, the first Cincinnati Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League relocated to Birmingham and were renamed the Bulls.
Bruce Garber was the team’s first coach. The New Jersey Devils were the Bulls’ NHL parent club. The Bulls finished 30–34, just missing the playoffs. After the inaugural season, Phil Roberto was named coach. He was familiar with Birmingham from his playing days with the earlier team. The club affiliated with the Florida Panthers. Roberto stayed with the team through the 1994–95 season. The Bulls made it through the second round of the playoffs each season. During the 1995–96 season, the Bulls changed coaches three times. Roberto was replaced by player-coach Jerome Bechard, and Dennis Desrosiers finished the season as head coach.
Prior to the 1997–98 season, Clarkson sold his interest in the team. Charles Felix became the primary owner. Dennis Desrosiers was let go after the 1999–2000 season. They lost 18 of their last 20. The Bulls were forced to forfeit games, due to using ineligible players. Following the 2000–01 season, dwindling attendance and poor performance, owner Charles Felix sold the team to NBA owner George Shinn of the Charlotte Hornets. He relocated the team to Atlantic City, NJ, naming them the Boardwalk Bullies. The team won the Kelly Cup in their third season. They franchise would eventually relocate again to Stockton, California in 2005 and then Glens Falls, New York in 2015.
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SPHL 2017 - present
Sixteen years after the Bulls left Birmingham, Art Clarkson decided it was time to bring hockey back to the Magic City. In 2016, Clarkson's application to the Southern Professional Hockey League was approved for expansion and the Bulls returned to the ice. The team made a deal with the city of Pelham to call the Pelham Civic Complex & Ice Arena the new home of the Birmingham Bulls.
The resurrected version of the Bulls dropped the puck in 2017 wearing their familiar Bulls logo on in the center of white jersey. Former ECHL Bulls captain, Jamey Hicks was named the first head coach of the team.
In the Bulls second season in the SPHL, the team set a league record by winning the most games in a row from the beginning of the season by opening the new year 11-0. The team would go on to win 39 of their 56 regular season games, giving the SPHL Bulls their first trip to the post season.
Birmingham fell short of a championship in the SPHL President's Cup Finals in 2019, losing to in-state rival the Huntsville Havoc.
The 2018-19 team was awarded several SPHL honors including Josh Harris as MVP, Mavric Parks with Goaltender of the Year and Jamey Hicks being awarded Coach of the Year. The Bulls had 4 players selected to All SPHL teams as well as 3 players and coach to the SPHL All-Star Team.
Bulls captain, Craig Simchuk retired after the 2018-19 season to become the Bulls' assistant coach under Jamey Hicks.
A few weeks prior the 2019-20 season, Bulls owner Art Clarkson passed away leaving a professional sports legacy in the greater Birmingham area.
The 2019-20 season was canceled with ten games to play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jamey Hicks retired as head coach prior to the start of the 2020-21 season. The team named Craig Simchuk head coach moving forward.
In 2021-22, Simchuk brought in former ECHL Bulls player, Kevin Kerr as his associate head coach to develop and implement an new system of Bulls Hockey.
The team would again find success in 2022-23 by clinching a post season berth and taking the team to its second appearance in the SPL President's Cup Finals versus the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs. Roanoke spoiled a Bulls comeback in game 4 with an overtime win to secure the championship.
Despite the loss in the playoffs, Craig Simchuk was named SPHL Coach of the Year.
The 2023-24 Bulls again reached the post season under Simchuk and Kerr by winning the William B. Coffey Trophy, which is awarded to the regular season champion. Birmingham was knocked out of the post season in the first round but received nine season honors from the SPHL including Carson Rose as MVP, Hayden Stewart, Goaltender of the Year, 4 All SPHL selections, and Simchuk being awarded is second consecutive Coach of the Year.
AWARDS & HONORS
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Carson Rose - 2024
Josh Harris - 2019
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Jacob Barber (F) - 2018
ALL SPHL TEAM
Carson Rose (F) - 2024
Drake Glover (F) - 2024
Hayden Stewart (G) - 2024
Nikita Kozyrev (F) - 2024 (2nd Team)
Michael Gillespie (F) -2023
Tayor Brierley (D) - 2023 (2nd Team)
Logan Nelson (F) - 2021 (2nd Team)
Matt Fuller (D) - 2020
Josh Harris (F) - 2019
Mavric Parks (G) - 2019
Garrett Schmitz (D) - 2019
SPHL ALL ROOKIE TEAM
Nikita Kozyrev (F) - 2024
Tayor Brierley (D) - 2023
Carson Rose (F) - 2022
Garrett Schmitz (D) - 2019
Jacob Barber (F) - 2018
COACH OF THE YEAR
Craig Simchuk - 2024
Craig Simchuk - 2023
Jamey Hicks - 2019
GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR
Hayden Stewart (G) - 2024
Marvic Parks (G) - 2019
Kevin Swider Leading Scorer Award
Carson Rose (F) - 2024
Logan Nelson (F) - 2021
Equipment Manager of the Year
Ray Pack - 2024
Ray Pack - 2019
