Blue-collar blue line
IceDogs will replace mainstays with a committee of committed players
The Niagara IceDogs have some large skates to fill on their blue line.
Ryan Mantha, 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, and Aaron Haydon, 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, both played oversized roles for the IceDogs last season and have moved on.
How oversized? Mantha scored 17 goals and had 41 assists as a defenceman. Those 58 points were good for second on the team behind left winger Johnny Corneil with 62 points. Mantha’s assist total led the team. His 317 shots led the entire league.
Haydon played 278 Ontario Hockey League games over four seasons. He was the player with whom no opponent wanted to tangle and a presence on the ice and in the locker room .
“I don’t expect one guy to fill Mantha’s shoes,” said Billy Burke, the IceDogs’ head coach. “He was everything for us. He played 30-plus minutes a game. He’s one of the best captains I’ve ever seen.
“Aaron was a leader for us. You don’t replace them, but we think the group is a year older and a year more experienced.”
Mantha, the captain, was drafted by the New York Rangers in the fourth round in 2014. He didn’t sign with the Rangers, but his monster season last year changed his status. He signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Edmonton Oilers in the spring.
Haydon was picked in the sixth round of the 2014 draft by the Dallas Stars. He has retired from hockey and will be using his OHL academic scholarship at college in Michigan this fall.
IceDogs general manager Joey Burke retooled the defensive core on the eve of training camp with trades for two veterans, Zach Shankar and Elijah Roberts
Shankar was acquired from the North Bay for a fifth-round pick after playing in 165 games over three years with the Battalion. The 6-foot, 198 pound native of Prescott, Ont., south of Ottawa, was voted the Eastern Conference’s best bodychecker by a wide margin in last season’s coaches poll.
Roberts was acquired from the Kitchener Rangers in return for a second-round selection in the 2020 OHL draft and third-round picks in the next two drafts.
The 5-foot-10, 171 pounder was a victim of a logjam on the Rangers blue line. He had seven goals and 25 assists in 124 games with the Rangers and was a member of Team Canada’s under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup team in 2016. He is considered one of the better skaters in the OHL.
“Bringing in Shankar and Roberts really helps shore things up,” Billy Burke said. “We envision more of a defence by committee this year. We don’t need to have one guy who will log 30 minutes a night.
“All of our D-men can play in this league. It will be more balanced. Mantha or a Haydon were two great overagers. This year it will be more of a group effort.”
Some of the returnees on defence include Justin MacPherson, Johnathan Schaefer, Will Lochead and Liam Ham. Billy Constantinou, the team’s second-round draft choice from the Toronto area, is also expected to play a role.
Niagara fans have been spoiled over the past decade with defensive stars such as Alex Pietrangelo and Dougie Hamilton, both top 10 NHL draft choices, but the team’s head coach said don’t sell the new group short.
“I know we’ve had some great defensemen come through here, but I’m impressed the defencemen we have in camp,” he said. “All our returning players have made a step over the summer. Constantinou is coming in and proving himself so far as a young guy.
“With the younger players, it is going to take some time. The closer you get to the net, the less room there is for error. It is hardest for rookie goalies in this league. Rookie defencemen are next.
“I don’t want to say it is easy for rookie forwards — it’s not. But if they make a mistake, they have the defense and the goalie to cover it up. If a defenceman makes a poor read in his zone or a bad pass, it’s pretty obvious.”
One of the most interesting players on the roster is Lochead.
Lochead joined the IceDogs from Ridley College after he was invited as a free agent to camp two years ago. Burke said the coaching staff knew next to nothing about him.
“He was a real longshot to make it,” Burke said. “He just kept competing and basically willed himself onto the team. Our defensive core was stacked that year with Vince Dunn and Blake Siebenaler, so we moved him to forward.
“He became a fourth-line energy player. He played an agitating role. He excelled at that.
“Last year, we moved him back to his natural position. He did a great job adjusting. That’s hard to do. He had to learn the league as a forward in his first year. Then he was basically a rookie again last year and had to learn the play defence.
“Willy is in outstanding physical shape. He can skate all day. He’s hard to play against. He is strong. His compete is through the roof, whether it is in practice or games. He’s fearless out there.
“His puck skills are improving. He can make that crisp first pass. He can fake a shot at the blue line and get the puck through.
“We are going to have a mobile group on defence. Times have changed. If you are 6-foot-5 but can’t skate and can’t pass, you can’t really play in this league anymore.
“I would rather have a six-footer who can skate, battle and compete. This league, more than ever, is about speed and skill.”