Niagara Icedogs 2024-25 Season, Part I

[dogs777]

When you look at the Central standings, I bet a lot of people would haved guessed in the preseason that the order would be flipped upside down

Definitely expected and still do Brampton Barrie to be 1,2 the rest was/is up in the air

 

[Dogs Enthusiast]

A shame

It really is a shame. It will take a while to get the average person interested again. I ran into a friend last night and he asked me about the Dogs and he said he just read a story in the news about our excellent team. So there is some renewed interest in the team but its going to take several months before people come back.

 

[Leviathan899]

As soon as he stops making OA trades for a loss is when we should stop recognizing them. Ignoring it doesn’t mean it didn't happen.

I can’t stand DD but to be fair, trading for a 19 year old isn’t the same as trading for an OA. Niagara got a year out of Bryant plus the opportunity to flip him. Ptbo gets him for rest of the season and that’s it.

VanVliet has been very good in the defensive zone for Niagara imo. And the upgrades to the D as a whole has made the team much, much, much better.

Bringing in Brauti was the best move Niagara has made in 5 years.

Bryant surprised by trade (updated) | BP Sports Niagara

The Niagara IceDogs dealt captain Gavin Bryant to the Peterborough Petes for two draft picks. Photo: OHL IMAGES. The Niagara IceDogs solved their overage logjam, dealing captain Gavin Bryant to the Peterborough Petes Tuesday. The IceDogs will receive a third-round selection in 2026 (Guelph) and...

www.bpsportsniagara.com

With no disrespect to the Petes, but what a terrible thing for the IceDogs to do to Gavin Bryant in his OA year. He IS NOT impressed!

Gavin, given the captaincy last year, played injured, out of necessity and character, for all but a handful of games last season and delivers a career year (62GP – 21G – 54pts). He had to endure the worst of seasons; remained positive before and after every game; has off-season surgery; attends every function to promote the upcoming season; is among one of the most respected captains in IceDogs’ history; launches Gav’s Corner and DDD rewards him by discarding GB to the last place Petes.

The IceDogs had smarter OA options to move on from then Gavin Bryant. No class Darren! Not surprised only Walters clients will play for you.


Niagara IceDogs Captain Gavin Bryant Launches 'Gav's Corner' - Niagara IceDogs


Read the story above.

I do agree moving him to Ptbo should have been absolutely last option. If it’s true they didn’t consult Bryant about it before, that’s bad. But it’s DD, he’s a clown.

 

[Leviathan899]

I think Sam does have a lot of inside information about the IceDogs and it frustrates him to see how bad things really are with DD at the helm. Some of you may think the team is doing well now so everything is good. But that couldn't be further from the truth.

The IceDogs asset management is horrendous. If a GM of any other team made the moves that DD has made, they would be fired. We don't even have our full compliment of picks and yet the IceDogs have been out of the playoffs for 4 seasons. We should be full of 2nd and 3rd round picks.

Most of the early players they draft belong to one agent, which restricts the pool of talent. They won't draft U.S. players and they barely use the import draft.

The in-game experience is nothing like it was under the Burke's and attendance is plummeting.

Now I will admit that things have improved a little this season. DD has brought in a solid coaching staff and it appears he is spending a little more on the players this season. The in-game experience seems to have slightly improved over last season and the summer fan fest at least shows he is trying to win the fans. But DD still has a long way to go (doing real media interviews and being honest with the fans would help).

I am enjoying the winning this season but to be honest, I am extremely worried about the future of the IceDogs here in Niagara. Sometimes once a team starts losing fans, it snowballs and the team can't be saved.

Can you elaborate on the in-game experience? I haven’t been to the meridian centre in a few years now.

How is this a surplus of picks? It's basically the bare mininum number of picks a team should have for any give draft year. There is no surplus of picks to acquire high-end talent (this year or next year) without severely crippling this franchise long term. Please take some time to get the facts before posting

ICEDOGS DRAFT CAPITAL
25: - , 3, 4, 4
26: 2, 3, 3, 4
27: 2, 3, 4, 4
28: 2, 3, 4



This is a surplus…that allow teams the flexible to add high-end talent to compete for championships if they choice to do so.

BRAMPTION DRAFT CAPITAL
25: 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5
26: 2, 2, 3, 3, 5
27: 3, 4, 5, 5
28: 2, 2, 5

BRANTFORD DRAFT CAPITAL
25: -, 3
26: 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5
27: 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5
28: 3, 4, 5

KINGSTON DRAFT CAPITAL
25: -, 3, 4, 5
26: 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5
27: 2, 3, 5, 5
28: 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4

SUBBURY DRAFT CAPITAL
25: 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5
26: 3, 3, 4, 5, 5
27: 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 5
28: 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5

You could package all those 2nds and 3rds, plus a young guy like Galiyanov to go for it this year, and then next year or year after unload guys like He, Czata, Roobroeck, Brauti for picks.

 

[Dogs Enthusiast]

Can you elaborate on the in-game experience? I haven’t been to the meridian centre in a few years now.

They got rid of the company that provided the roving camera crew and the popular announcer/hostess. Concessions got more expensive and less variety.

Lots of little things are gone.

 

[Dogs Enthusiast]

Flores in net, Paris still out.

 

[three dog night]

Two goals for Leshko including the game winner has the Icedogs shade Oshawa 4 to 3 .He also scored twice for the Dogs before 2,748 fans at the Meridian Centre. Next game tomorrow night in Sarnia.

 

[dogs777]

Tough next 3 games coming (based on our performances this year)

 

[knowescape]

Except for one large group in Sec. 116 there will not be a big crowd tonight.

This is to be expected. The actual attendance looked under 2,000 again which means a significant loss of income.

 

[three dog night]

Two goals for Leshko including the game winner has the Icedogs shade Oshawa 4 to 3 .He also scored twice for the Dogs before 2,748 fans at the Meridian Centre. Next game tomorrow night in Sarnia.

Acutely attendance 2,788 in the box score

 

[knowescape]

Acutely attendance 2,788 in the box score

Got to look around the building, place was sad.

 

[Dogs Enthusiast]

Got to look around the building, place was sad.

True, similar to last season.

On the plus side the people who are attending are really into the game. Good solid hockey fans and not just there for a night out.

How do you get a diving penalty when you were interfered with and tripped? That was crazy,

 

[Dogs Enthusiast]

Coach Ben talking about the OA decision:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849848156701458594

 

[knowescape]

True, similar to last season.

On the plus side the people who are attending are really into the game. Good solid hockey fans and not just there for a night out.

How do you get a diving penalty when you were interfered with and tripped? That was crazy,

I disagree that it was similar to last year. There is a noticeable decline in physical attendance and this is especially troubling if indeed it was a voucher night. Before anyone goes off on me for being there myself, I did not pay for a ticket, I got it free.

To answer your other question, there are two components two an Unsportsmanlike Conduct - Diving. The first is where there was no penalty to the opposing team, the player dives and attempts to sell conduct that never happened. That wasn't the case last night. The second component is embellishment, where yes, the player was the victim of a foul, but then attempted to make it look worse than it actually was. So yes, Sennecke got called on the interference but Czata oversold the reaction. I don't blame him, sometimes it takes theatrics to get the attention of the officials, this time it was a bit too blatant, honestly.

 

[Dogs Enthusiast]

I attend most every home game for the last 10 plus years. Last year there was several times when there were fewer people in attendance than last night. I am talking early in the season.