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Niagara IceDogs 2023-24 Off-Season Thread

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bobber said:
In other words money trumps all other factors when an owner decides to sell the team. No consideration to the community or fans as long as there is a big bag of cash sitting in front of someone.
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thats what happened in North Bay 20 years ago MONEY TALKS
 
bigsportsfan said:
He has no OHL experience. He was the owner/GM of the Brantford Jr. B and Jr. A teams until this season. He sold both franchises in the summer.

The Jr. B team was a disaster as their best season was 13 wins out of 50 games. Over nine seasons, their winning percentage was .221.

His Jr. A team had only one season above .500 and their total regular season winning percentage over the 5 seasons he owned the team was .320. (one season in Milton and four seasons in Brantford)
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In other words #SELLTHETEAM!
 
bobber said:
In other words money trumps all other factors when an owner decides to sell the team. No consideration to the community or fans as long as there is a big bag of cash sitting in front of someone.
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Money is always the motivator. Take a look at professional sports. How many owners do you think to have the knowledge.

Where the owner here went wrong is not with buying the team but thinking that he could the team.

Many owners do this mainly because having a sports team in their portfolio sounds good.

As to his buying, then, the same question that is asked about Springer comes into play. Was he the only offer for the team? Then the owner has 2 possibilities close down or sells to the only offer on the table.
 
beastintheeast said:
Money is always the motivator. Take a look at professional sports. How many owners do you think to have the knowledge.

Where the owner here went wrong is not with buying the team but thinking that he could the team.

Many owners do this mainly because having a sports team in their portfolio sounds good.

As to his buying, then, the same question that is asked about Springer comes into play. Was he the only offer for the team? Then the owner has 2 possibilities close down or sells to the only offer on the table.
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There are different kinds of owners in sports. Some with no knowledge. Some that care about the team and put knowledgeable people in charge because they actually care about the brand on and off the ice. As far as offers in the OHL I am sure they can find a bunch of people willing to buy into a franchise easily. Niagara has a great fan base. They deserve to have a team in the area. It's really a no brainer. The owner has to give a crap about the people paying the freight and let knowledgeable people run the team.
 
bigsportsfan said:
Who? The IceDogs? In two years, only 6 players from this year's team can return, plus 3 OA's. Most of the team is 18, 19 or 20. They are not a young team. Sure Roobroek and He are good but they need a lot more players than that to have a good future.
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I think this is a really disingenuous take. Granted there are a lot of issues with the team, ownership mostly, but this is an intentionally negatively biased take.

Niagara has 11 guys who have touched the ice this year alone who will be eligible without being overage.

They'll have 3 overagers, and 2 imports.

They'll have another high pick in this years draft. Between this coming draft class and next, that's another 6-8 players on the roster in 2 years.

The current crop of 16 year olds is quite solid.

Do I trust this owner to build a proper contender? No. But there will certainly be high level talent of all ages on the team in 2 years.
 
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bigsportsfan said:
A new owner would be amazing. I don't think you realize how bad things are here in Niagara. We have no real GM and only a handful of scouts. The local media complains because he won't talk to them. Fans are always in the dark about the teams plans or the reason for trades. The current owner tries to save money anywhere and everywhere. He doesn't care about wins. He cares about making money. I think almost anyone would be better.

The team cannot be moved as they have a lease until 2033 or 2034 so a new owner moving them is not a concern. Once the lease ends, its likely the IceDogs will only be getting 2000 fans per game and the current owner will move the team anyway. Attendance in 2019 (the year before COVID) was 4907/game. Last year under the new owner the team attracted 4065/game. Today, the average attendance is 3462/game.

The new owner is killing the IceDogs. People here in Niagara are starting not to care. Many former season ticket holders no longer even follow the team. If a new owner does not happen soon, the IceDogs will be irrelevant in Niagara. Its that bad.


Hopefully. Your right the core is very good, they just need to build around those players. I am not sure if the owner/GM has the ability to do that. If he would just spend the money to hire a decent GM, I think that would help a lot. But at this point he is not willing to spend the money.
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I'm VERY surprised 67Camaro isn't on here telling you guys what a great organization you have. According to him Niagra the way it's being run now is the model organization for the whole league.
 
Mcnotloilersfan said:
I think this is a really disingenuous take. Granted there are a lot of issues with the team, ownership mostly, but this is an intentionally negatively biased take.

Niagara has 11 guys who have touched the ice this year alone who will be eligible without being overage.

They'll have 3 overagers, and 2 imports.

They'll have another high pick in this years draft. Between this coming draft class and next, that's another 6-8 players on the roster in 2 years.

The current crop of 16 year olds is quite solid.

Do I trust this owner to build a proper contender? No. But there will certainly be high level talent of all ages on the team in 2 years.
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If the owner only acts as a GM then things are not that bad. You can have a mediocre GM with a good coach, and it will still work. it is worse to have a crap coach and mediocre GM.

If you get a coach who can get the most out of his players and develop what he has you will do well.

Ben has the pedigree, and if he is half as good as his dad, you are in great hands. If the owner gives him what he wants this is a team that can compete.

Interesting fact about Niagara ONLY 3 PLAYERS (excluding goalies)WERE DRAFTED LATER THAN THE 4TH ROUND. Personally, I would love to have a team like that with a good coach.

As it stands you only have an opening to draft 2 defenceman this spring unless trades are made.

Depending on how much Bruce and Ben can get out of the players, I think they could become a pain in the assets for teams going to Niagara. A good finish for them would be 8-9 at the conference.
 
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beastintheeast said:
If the owner only acts as a GM then things are not that bad. You can have a mediocre GM with a good coach, and it will still work. it is worse to have a crap coach and mediocre GM.

If you get a coach who can get the most out of his players and develop what he has you will do well.

Ben has the pedigree, and if he is half as good as his dad, you are in great hands. If the owner gives him what he wants this is a team that can compete.

Interesting fact about Niagara ONLY 3 PLAYERS (excluding goalies)WERE DRAFTED LATER THAN THE 4TH ROUND. Personally, I would love to have a team like that with a good coach.

As it stands you only have an opening to draft 2 defenceman this spring unless trades are made.

Depending on how much Bruce and Ben can get out of the players, I think they could become a pain in the assets for teams going to Niagara. A good finish for them would be 8-9 at the conference.
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The issue with the GM is coughing up assets in years where there is zero chance for contention. Had they held onto assets like a normal team, next year, they could justifiably trade for a couple high impact dmen who are 18 or 19.
 
Mcnotloilersfan said:
The issue with the GM is coughing up assets in years where there is zero chance for contention. Had they held onto assets like a normal team, next year, they could justifiably trade for a couple high impact dmen who are 18 or 19.
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This is a team that will need to just make the playoffs and then go for a top 4 in the 2025 year. Mississauga, Barrie and possibly Brantford are going to be strong next year. I think the team you have, at least on paper and with good coaching, will surprise teams.

I also think that with Bruce as a sounding board and Ben coaching things are going to get better.
 
Mcnotloilersfan said:
The issue with the GM is coughing up assets in years where there is zero chance for contention. Had they held onto assets like a normal team, next year, they could justifiably trade for a couple high impact dmen who are 18 or 19.
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Ride, Wycisk, and Podrekar is a very good group of 18 yr old D imo. Bringing in Federkow and Sobolev as OAs is looking smart.
 
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beastintheeast said:
This is a team that will need to just make the playoffs and then go for a top 4 in the 2025 year. Mississauga, Barrie and possibly Brantford are going to be strong next year. I think the team you have, at least on paper and with good coaching, will surprise teams.

I also think that with Bruce as a sounding board and Ben coaching things are going to get better.
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Can we have Bruce and his group buy the team from DD for what he paid for the team and have DD buy Brantford from Michael Andlauer. This will eliminate the uncertainty of a weak owner in Niagara
 
Dog Fan said:
Can we have Bruce and his group buy the team from DD for what he paid for the team and have DD buy Brantford from Michael Andlauer. This will eliminate the uncertainty of a weak owner in Niagara
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Bruce is bit old to front a group that will invest and recoup $21M
 
dirty12 said:
Ride, Wycisk, and Podrekar is a very good group of 18 yr old D imo. Bringing in Federkow and Sobolev as OAs is looking smart.
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objectively I disagree on that trio. Ride hasn't taken a step forward, his decision making is hit and miss. Podrekar has tonnes of skill, I just haven't seen him put it all together yet. As of today, I can't see any of them being higher than a bottom pair on a contender.
 
Mcnotloilersfan said:
objectively I disagree on that trio. Ride hasn't taken a step forward, his decision making is hit and miss. Podrekar has tonnes of skill, I just haven't seen him put it all together yet. As of today, I can't see any of them being higher than a bottom pair on a contender.
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I think Ride and Wycisk have taken big strides forward this season; and, can be a top half first pair next season. Prodekar should be a pretty good #3.
 
Dog Fan said:
Can we have Bruce and his group buy the team from DD for what he paid for the team and have DD buy Brantford from Michael Andlauer. This will eliminate the uncertainty of a weak owner in Niagara
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Yep👍 Bruce and Rankin
 
Mcnotloilersfan said:
I think this is a really disingenuous take. Granted there are a lot of issues with the team, ownership mostly, but this is an intentionally negatively biased take.

Niagara has 11 guys who have touched the ice this year alone who will be eligible without being overage.

They'll have 3 overagers, and 2 imports.

They'll have another high pick in this years draft. Between this coming draft class and next, that's another 6-8 players on the roster in 2 years.

The current crop of 16 year olds is quite solid.

Do I trust this owner to build a proper contender? No. But there will certainly be high level talent of all ages on the team in 2 years.
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Your post is very misleading. The IceDogs have four 16 year-olds and two 17 year-olds on the team. They now have another 17 year-old in Charlie Burns, who was called up from Jr. B since Vandenberg was traded. The other players you are referring to are callups, like 8th round pick Eric He, 9th round pick Darcy Dewachter and 13th round pick Rafek Dianov. It's unlikely any of them will make the team full time.

Then you go on to say that they will have 2 imports and 6-8 players coming in from the U16 draft. Every team will have imports and players coming in from the draft. Although to be fair, DD has largely ignored the import draft, selecting only one player over two import drafts. It's unlikely he would ever draft two impact imports.

My point was that this is an older IceDogs team and that they are not young at all. In 2 years time, who knows if they will be better or worse than this year as the majority of players from this year's team will no longer be playing in the OHL.
 
bigsportsfan said:
Your post is very misleading. The IceDogs have four 16 year-olds and two 17 year-olds on the team. They now have another 17 year-old in Charlie Burns, who was called up from Jr. B since Vandenberg was traded. The other players you are referring to are callups, like 8th round pick Eric He, 9th round pick Darcy Dewachter and 13th round pick Rafek Dianov. It's unlikely any of them will make the team full time.

Then you go on to say that they will have 2 imports and 6-8 players coming in from the U16 draft. Every team will have imports and players coming in from the draft. Although to be fair, DD has largely ignored the import draft, selecting only one player over two import drafts. It's unlikely he would ever draft two impact imports.

My point was that this is an older IceDogs team and that they are not young at all. In 2 years time, who knows if they will be better or worse than this year as the majority of players from this year's team will no longer be playing in the OHL.
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There was nothing misleading about my post, you're simply doubling down on a bad take.

We absolutely know this team will be better in 2 years because of the quality of those 18/19 year olds then compared to now.

Burns started in Junior B because the team started with 2 better 19 year old goalies.

Every team has later picks who make it later in the career.

Its weird that you tried to argue my point about the U16 draft. Of course every team gets players from there. I'm painting a picture of how easily the roster 2 years from now will be filled out.
 
We are 11 points out of a playoff position with a lot of decent players that will not be around when we become competitive. Leaving our 16 and 17 year olds out of the conversation, Who can we trade for assets? #SELLTHETEAM
 
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