Hamilton’s top hockey club can now boast being the best in Canada for the first time in franchise history.
The Bulldogs claimed top spot in the Canadian Hockey League’s (CHL) latest rankings, posted Wednesday.
Riding off the high of clinching the East Division Championship after beating the Erie Otters Friday night, the Dogs have bettered their No. 2 ranking in the country from last month.
Hamilton has already broken its previous record for wins in a season – 43.
They’re up to 46 with five games to play, five wins better than the Windsor Spitfire’s 41 so far in the 2021-22 season.
The squad went 12 and 2 in March with goaltender of the month Marco Costantini playing to a perfect 9-0-0-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL) record with a 1.03 goals-against average and .960 save percentage.
Hamilton’s best outing in franchise history came during the 2017-18 when they won the OHL championship and went to the Memorial Cup that year.
They would lose out in the semis to the Regina Pats.
The Dogs’ worst OHL season was their first in the league picking up just 25 points in 2015-16.
Next up are the Ottawa 67’s on the road Friday.
Sunday’s matchup against Peterborough is potentially a first-round playoff preview against the Petes.