‘It’s a new season’
IceDogs preparing to renew rivalry with Peterborough in first round of the playoffs
The Niagara IceDogs finished the Ontario Hockey League regular season with three straight losses, but it didn’t take long for their head coach to put those setbacks in the rearview mirror to stay.
Once a team with 14 rookies defied pre-season predictions by clinching a playoff berth in a rebuilding year, Dave Bell immediately set his sights on Thursday night’s Game 1 of the quarter-finals against the Peterborough Petes.
“I could care less what happened last week, it’s old news,” he said before taking the ice for a team practice Tuesday morning.
While the playoffs are the socalled “second season” in sports, preparing to play must-win hockey has become commonplace for these IceDogs. Bell said the team has been in “100-per-cent” playoff mode for the past month as it was locked in a battle with three other teams for the final three playoff berths in the Eastern Ontario.
A down-to-the-wire race almost had to be extended for the IceDogs and the North Bay Battalion. While the Ottawa 67’s and Sudbury Wolves had already clinched, only a Battalion loss to the Kingston Frontenacs in the final game of their respective seasons prevented a play-in game for the eighth, and final, spot.
That qualifier would have been played Tuesday night in North Bay, which had home ice by having more regulation wins in league play.
Instead of spending Monday preparing to play that game, which would have their fourth game in six days, the IceDogs were able to celebrate by getting together for a team meal at The Keg in St. Catharines.
The meal, courtesy of IceDogs owners Bill and Denis Burke, was a reward for keeping the franchise’s remarkable playoff run intact. Since relocating to Niagara from Mississauga, the IceDogs have yet to miss the playoffs and, along with the reigning Memorial Cup London Knights, are the only OHL team to qualify for post-season play 10 years in a row.
“It was outstanding, a great meal, a great night,” Bell said. “It was very generous of the owners, a very, very nice night.”
Now that the main course has been enjoyed and the dishes cleared away, it’s time for dessert which, in the IceDogs’ case, is the playoffs. Bell is hoping the team can get as many helpings as possible.
“It’s the playoffs, they’re awesome, I love the playoffs,” he said. “It’s a new season, a new experience for the guys.”
At the outset of the season, the team’s playoff hopes appeared dim. After losing the nucleus of a team that won the Eastern Conference championship last season, some pundits predicted the IceDogs or, more accurately, the IcePups, would be lucky to win 10 wins in the first year of a rebuilding phase.
However, Bell, promoted from assistant coach in the off-season to replace Marty Williamson as the team’s bench boss, wasn’t about to lower expectations just because he had a rookie-laden lineup lacking experience playing at the major junior level.
“Every team when they drop the puck in Game 1 they plan on making the playoffs, whether it’s 14 rookies or a load of good veterans,” he said.
Peterborough enters the playoffs as the top seed in the east and third overall in the league after compiling a 42-21-2-3 record. During the regular season, the Petes went 3-1 against the IceDogs in head-toplay.
Niagara, in comparison, went 23-35-6-4 in league play finishing eighth in the conference and 17th overall in the 20-team loop.
Niagara’s coaching staff doesn’t intend on changing things up from the first season now that the second season is about to get underway. Tuesday morning’s practice covered the same ground and emphasized the same points that onice sessions have throughout the campaign.
“We just focus on our game, just all the aspects of the game,” Bell said. “There’s no trickery, just focusing on tightening up our game plan.”
Ryan Mantha will be back in the lineup after sitting out the final two games of the regular season serving a suspension for fighting. The status of players recovering from injuries remains uncertain.
“Everybody is still day-to-day,” Bell said. “We probably won’t know until game time who’s in and who’s out.”