Rebuild continues
New IceDogs head coach sets 40 wins ‘realistic’ target in second year of rebuild
Year 2 of a rebuild with the ultimate goal of bringing the Memorial Cup back to St. Catharines for the third time and first time since 1960 officially gets underway Saturday night in Hamilton.
That’s where the Niagara IceDogs, with a new head coach behind the bench and a new captain on the ice, will open the 68-game Ontario Hockey League regular season against the Bulldogs.
The IceDogs have never failed to make the playoffs since relocating to the region following the 2006-07 season, and Billy Burke doesn’t intend to see that impressive streak end in his first season as the team’s bench boss. Hardly. “Our goal is 40 wins and to be in the hunt for the division,” he said. “We don’t want to be a mediocre team, we have high goals for ourselves, but I definitely feel they are realistic.”
Burke’s optimism is based on more steak than sizzle, given that returning players include 14 rookies who last season helped the team prove pundits wrong by making the playoffs.
After losing a core of veterans from a team that won the Eastern Conference championship two years ago, many suggested the IceDogs would be hard-pressed to win 10 games. Instead, they finished 23-35-6-4.
Burke, who was promoted to succeed Dave Bell after seven seasons as an IceDogs assistant, pointed out the returning players all had opportunities to play and develop at the OHL level. He said that can only help the team moving forward.
“Being an 18-year-old dominant team I definitely feel we are ready to make that next step and try to get to the top half of our conference.”
More reason for optimism? During the off-season the IceDogs made some trades to bolster the blue-line, and all the top forwards are back from last season.
“Akil Thomas is ready to make the jump, and multiple other guys who have proved they can score in this league,” Burke said. “Matthew Philip back and healthy is like another trade for us.
“I definitely think all the guys are motivated to have success this year.”
In his rookie season Thomas, 17, scored 21 goals and collected 27 assists in 61 regular-season games. In his freshman campaign, Philip, 18, had 11 goals and 10 assists in 45 games before breaking his left collarbone.
Johnny Corneil, 20, who led the team in scoring with 31 goals and 31 assists in 67 games last year, is back for a fifth and final season with the IceDogs.
Corneil, appointed the 10th captain in franchise history, is being counted on to fill the leadership void created by the departure of his predecessor, Ryan Mantha.
Burke stopped just short of calling Corneil getting the ‘C’ a foregone conclusion. On Corneil’s captaincy: “I couldn’t justify naming anyone else.”
Corneil, a fourth-round pick, wasn’t expected to make the team, but he never stopped working and impressing the team.
“He’s a great story for guys,” Burke said. “He wasn’t a first-round pick who was the star from Day 1, he had to come in be a healthy scratch his first year and work on the fourth line and really start as a penalty killer and work his way up and get more and more ice time.”
Corneil’s longevity with the team also tipped the scales in his favour when the time came to name a new captain.
“He knows exactly what we expect. It’s great to see him, the way he interacts with the fans and the young kids look up to him,” Burke said. “He understands that, he appreciates that, and he realizes there’s a lot more to playing on the IceDogs than just showing up and playing on a Thursday night.”
Top draft picks, including forward Philip Tomasino, taken in the first round; and defenceman Billy Constantinou, the team’s second-round selection, distinguished themselves at training camp and during the preseason.
Adjusting to competing at the OHL level, where they are going against faster, stronger and more-experienced players, is just one hurdle draft picks have to clear. Burke said they also need to get used to living away from home for the first time and starting Grade 11 at a new school, leaving all of their friends behind.
“It’s a major adjustment,” he said. “It’s very difficult on them, but I think all of our draft picks and rookies who are with us now have proven that they are here for a reason, and mature beyond their years.”
“They seem to be handling everything in stride off the ice.”
Speaking of needing to make an adjustment, Burke, the son of team owners Bill and Denise Burke and the brother of general manager Joey Burke, is getting used to being the one who has the final say behind the scenes.
While he prepared for the position of head coach with a six-year apprenticeship under Marty Williamson followed by one season under Bell, something happens when “head” replaces “assistant” as the adjective before the word coach.
“No matter how long you’ve been here, you’re still a rookie head coach,” he said. “There are things that I need to learn and I will obviously have a learning curve.”
Burke is feeling pressure, but he said that comes with the territory.
“Yeah, there’s a little bit of pressure, but there’s pressure on everyone in the organization, on every player,” the 31-year-old Newmarket native said. “Whenever you’re in a competitive, sports environment, there’s always pressure.”
Burke said being surrounded by “great coaches” a strong leadership group in the dressing room will ease the transition from long-time assistant to first-time head coach.
“I’m very lucky as a rookie head coach to be surrounded by great people. In terms of pressure, it’s no more than anywhere else in the league.”
His approach to coaching is preparation by having a plan in place for each practice and every game, and the process for returning the IceDogs to Memorial Cup contention can be summed up in seven words: “Be better today than we were yesterday.
“And we will be better next week than we are today,” he said.
Burke was asked in an interview earlier this week whether a five-game losing streak would take his focus off the plan.
“I wish you had asked me about a five-game winning streak, but I don’t think we can panic when things aren’t going well,” he said. “If that happens, we will deal with it, we will try to identify what the major cause is and we will do our best to correct it.”
Burke doesn’t think cranking up the volume and reading the players the riot act is the way to go when the team is struggling.
“I definitely think if things are going bad, it’s not going to help any by me screaming at the guys,” he said. “No one wants to play with a gun to their head or squeeze the sticks too tightly.”
Burke is a firm believer that evenkeel approach — not to take too much from a win or read too much into a loss — respects the ongoing process.
“I mean if we win five games in a row, we’re not going to have a parade down St. Paul Street,” he said. “We’re still going to be doing video and making corrections, just like we would if we had lost five games in a row.”
The IceDogs open the home half of their schedule with back-to-back games against the Erie Otters, Friday, Sept. 29; and the Peterborough Petes, Saturday, Sept. 30. Faceoff for both games is 7 p.m.
The Otters are the defending OHL champions while the Petes are the team that swept Niagara in the first round of the playoffs last season.