Back to the Drawing Board: IceDogs Special Teams a Tale of Two Stories - Dog Pound Podcast - The Armchair GM's Sports Network

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
This is Rod Mahood, your in game voice of the
Niagara Ice Dogs, and you're listening to the dog Pound Podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
On the Armchair GM Sports.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Network, your podcast hourse for all game analysis, team interviews,
and up to date news regarding the Niagara Ice Dogs.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
Over Time, Ice Dogs, Wind the Brush a Pace, also.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Jima, It's a power play gol Many Ice Dogs.

Speaker 5 (01:01):
Heady Scar host sang for school as an ice Dog,
Trump Stop Shipley.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Gritchie Scar gets it to a kill.

Speaker 4 (01:09):
Thomas Thomas has the ankle coming batop.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
And Welcome into another episode of the Dog Pound Podcast,
the official podcast of your niag Or Ice Dogs. Probably
you write you by Global Pet Foods, where pets are
unannihially part of the family and their three Great nag
Or region locations. Thank you those that are tuned in
on our YouTube version. On the video platform, make sure
to hit like kid, subscribe to smash that Bell, and
thank you to those that choose to listen to us
on your favorite on demand audio platform or audio peeps
out there. Thank you very much for your dedication as

(01:41):
well on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you listen to your
podcast at make sure to give us a follow on
x AT Dog Pound Podcast The update with all of
our Ice Dogs covered as well as on Facebook, Instagram
and TikTok for our short reels and content by searching
the Armchair GM Sports Network. Brandi Kuto and Christian Simmons
are with you to discuss the most recent stretch of
games for the nag Or Ice Dogs and some notable players.

(02:05):
Some highlights we've got for you guys. We've got interviews
as well with Ice Dog's head coach Chris Parch and
defenseman Liam Spencer after scoring his first goal in the
Ontario Hockey League this past weekend, and we'll look ahead
to the upcoming games as well for the Ice Dogs.
So with said Christian again, I think it's important for
us the day before Remembrance Day. We're both wearing poppies
on today's show. Always great to honor those that have

(02:27):
served and paid the ultimate price for us to have
the ability to do what we do every single day.
The veterans and everybody that is served, thank you very
much what you've done for our country. That we're not
gonna get political here, Christian, but I think it's more
now than we have ever before being proud Canadians and
showing off our poppies. I think it's very important. So
I want to say before we get going with the

(02:47):
show and everything, everybody go buy your poppy and show
your support. It's a very important day tomorrow and all
month as well, for Remembrance Day and sort of Remembrance Month.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:56):
No, it takes two seconds to go out there and
get a poppy and show your support, and in the
easiest way possible. You know, there's there's lots of ways
that you can say it. Uh, you know, I can
be thankful for those who have served, but to show
it on my chest on my left side, you know,
over my heart every day, that's that's the best way
to do it. So I'm I'm glad to be here

(03:17):
today wearing a poppy and support of those who have
served for this great nation. And I'm honored to be
here today. I wouldn't be on this podcast. I wouldn't
be breathing if it wasn't for some service.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
Fend.

Speaker 4 (03:29):
My grandfather was actually a Air Force, a member of
the Air Force, so have some lineage as of servicemen.
So for me, you know, this month is always special
to my family, to my mother's side in particular, but
just to the nation as a whole. You know, a
very important time for us to acknowledge, you know, those

(03:52):
who have you know, paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
So to you, to your families, those.

Speaker 4 (03:57):
Who have served actively or not, thank you, thank you
so much for your service from both of us here
at the Dog Prown podcast. But yeah, just a fantastic
way to pay tribute with a poppy on your on
your chest.

Speaker 6 (04:10):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
I actually found one of these lest we forget armbands
as well that you can find some some of the
members that are handing out poppy sometimes have those as well,
so you can also find the wrist bands, which I'm
proud to be wearing as well. And again make sure
you have those those backings on those poppies because they're
they're still you know, still trying to find the perfect
way to keep them on. But again, very important and

(04:34):
I hope that everybody shows their supports not just tomorrow,
but you know the rest of the month and leading
up to it as well. It's always great to see
everybody with those on. So yeah, there's also legions in
the Niagara region. Go to a legion your local branch
and show your support there. I know they're accepting donations
and you know, non perishable food items, but also financial contributions,

(04:58):
so get involved that way.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
They also have tons of poppies.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
You know, if you're looking for a poppy, you can
find them at gas stations, grocery stores, corner stores and
obviously legions as well, so I wanted to mention that
as well, you know, find your local legion and show
your support for sure.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
And the Ice Dogs did a great job with the
pregame ceremony against Ottawa, honoring those that have served that
are with us that aren't no longer with us, and
as well with the the Lincoln well In Band as
well performing during the intermissions.

Speaker 6 (05:29):
Did a great job with that as well.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
And I know there are some games coming up this
week that are going to be honoring as well. Around
the Ontario Hockey leagu Kitchener does an amazing job Kingston obviously,
you know, with the military there. The Ice Tugs actually
played there one year and I had the opportunity to
be there for Kingston's Remembrance Day ceremony and it was incredible,
so great to see that from around the league and

(05:53):
just a you know, it's a little little bit of
gratitude that we can show for those that have paid
the ultimate price.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
For sure.

Speaker 4 (06:00):
Even Kingston has military jerseys, which I think should be
a staple around the league. If I had my way,
I think every single team should have some camouflaged uniform
that you know, shows support for the troops. I think
it'd be a little bit difficult though, if you had
two teams playing each other both in camouflage. I'm not

(06:20):
sure how that would work. But I do love to
your point what they do in Kingston. They have fantastic
jerseys to show support and you know, maybe poppy color
jerseys or even a poppy on a jersey. I've seen,
you know, some teams around, you know, the junior ranks.
You know some in British Columbia and even here in
Ontario have you know, jerseys with poppies actually on them, right,

(06:42):
And you know, I think that's also really special. So,
you know, not just a month of hockey. This is
a month you know, a lot bigger than sports. You know,
it's a monumental point in time for you know, some families,
and you know, I'm just glad to be a part
of it, you know, glad that we can, you know,
take this platform that we have and you know, continue

(07:02):
to raise awareness for you know, a fantastic cause and
movement that is Remembrance Day and Remembrance Month. And you know,
I'm happy that we can get on this podcast and
even mention it. You know, it's an honor, you know,
to be you know, somebody representing our community and you know,
the Niagara Ice Dogs in a positive way, and you know,
to be you know, another voice for some of those
veterans and some of those people who don't have this

(07:23):
kind of a medium, you know, to tell their stories
and you know, to to raise awareness for their cause.
So yeah, definitely very proud, you know to be here,
like I said, and you know in the public eye,
you know, come Rememberance Day.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
Absolutely the Ice Doug's had some Remembrance Date jerseys in
the past. We'd love to see those come back as well.
Great stuff there from the Niagara Ice Dogs this last
weekend with everything that they did there for the Remembrance
Day games. So Christian will move past that a little
bit now getting into the games and themselves. And before
we even got to the game again, it's the viral

(07:58):
moment that's been going around and for you that that
are listening in audio, I'm sure you've seen the video everywhere,
but if not, you can just look up Ice Dog's
mascot and old boy, did we have one heck of
a moment.

Speaker 3 (08:13):
Against Ottawa.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
And again, full disclosure, as I put out in in
a social media post, that this was actually the backup Bones,
the gentleman who typically plays Bone.

Speaker 6 (08:22):
This reverse angle kills me every time.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
This is great.

Speaker 4 (08:25):
Yeah, Like if you're if you're listening on the audio,
you're you're missing out here. We're we're currently watching it
break down this place on rebeat, like you know. The
funniest part for me is that they had a second angle,
Like it's like just killed, Like the people knew this
was gonna happen, and like people had like a tight

(08:45):
shot on this guy to watch him like this one
is just just great, right boom boom, and then like
he gets right back up like full credit, uh to
the backup Bones, doesn't skip a beat, gets right back
up on his two sleds and continues with.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
The the wave of the flag.

Speaker 4 (09:05):
But yeah, just just so hilarious event that occurred on
Thursday night.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
Watch this just not and stop it's great.

Speaker 6 (09:16):
But yeah, the original Bones was day to day.

Speaker 1 (09:20):
I guess we can call him should be back for
the next game, and he's coming back to quite the
story that everybody thinks it was him, but the backup
Bones he might be in concussion protocol, so I'm not
sure if he's gonna be able to uh to back
up if there's an ebug needed again for the mascot world.

Speaker 3 (09:35):
But uh, he's week to week. Yeah, he's he's on
L T.

Speaker 7 (09:39):
I R.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
That, you know, mascot head on. I guess it just
gave him a blind spot and just ran into the net.

Speaker 3 (09:47):
You know what, I will relate.

Speaker 4 (09:49):
I've been in a mascot costume before, and I'll tell
you know like I have, and it's it's it's difficult
because of you.

Speaker 6 (09:57):
You can't talk well.

Speaker 4 (10:00):
Exactly for me, that's that's like like the worst twenty
minutes of my life.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
I I can't. I can't be annoying and obnoxious come on,
but no.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
Like all all relate to this guy, like it's tough,
like when you have because like your your vision is
hindered and you have to like you're either looking up
or you're looking down, like there's very rarely a mascot
costume where the eye cutouts are directly aligned with your eyes,
like you have to be like the perfect mascot size.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
I don't even know if these kind of people exist.

Speaker 4 (10:30):
It's like a weird height, you know what I mean,
Like you're like a five six and a half kind
of thing. So I can understand what happened here. My
condolences to you. I'm glad that he's wearing a mask,
you know, for public embarrassment. Nobody knows who he is,

(10:51):
so that's or she, So that's that's fantastic. But yeah,
just what a way to start the weekend, right, Yeah,
I went.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
Viral for I don't know if that's exactly the way.

Speaker 6 (11:04):
That you want to, but it was.

Speaker 1 (11:06):
It was entertaining, nonetheless, but it.

Speaker 6 (11:09):
Picked it up like it oones went worldwide that night, so.

Speaker 4 (11:13):
Far down everybody posted it worldwide for the night, mister phones.

Speaker 3 (11:19):
That's it. It's like he's a show dog, traveling man.

Speaker 4 (11:23):
He's he's internationally famous like air.

Speaker 1 (11:28):
Bud right or lastly or something you know, like Lassy
or the dog that found his way home?

Speaker 3 (11:35):
Have you heard that story?

Speaker 6 (11:37):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (11:37):
That is I cried man. I cried watching that movie.
And there's a book too. It's incredible. We're going way
off the rails. Just hey, go read hey that book
telling you it's a good one.

Speaker 6 (11:52):
But yeah, just uh.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
We had to open with that because we had so
many people asking about what sort of happened there. So
to back bones, you know, better luck next time, is
all I'll say.

Speaker 3 (12:05):
That's it. Better luck next time. Maybe sharpened the skates.

Speaker 4 (12:07):
I don't know, like something something needs to change, but
still like this vision. Irol moment a lot of fun
and and I think, you know, those are kind of
the moments that you know, make hockey special.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
You know you're gonna remember that, right and.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
You know, as embarrassing as it might be, it's you know,
for me, I'll never forget, you know, being here doing
this when Bones ran into the post.

Speaker 3 (12:30):
So you know, it's a it's a milestone moment.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
So we're gonna start off with our Ice Dog's feature
player interview, brought to you by the Nagardentri Clinic, creating
after Smiles in the Nagaraga for twenty five years. Here's
Liam Spencer after scoring his first career Ontario Hockey League goal.

Speaker 6 (12:45):
Well, Liam, that was a long time coming for you.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
I know you would have rather been a win, But
to get your first put that goes into the net
in the Ontario Hockey League, I'm sure've been waiting a
long time.

Speaker 8 (12:53):
Oh yeah, it was awesome. It's been a few years
since I scored a goal, so it was nice getting
the monkey off the back there.

Speaker 6 (12:59):
Yeah for sure.

Speaker 1 (12:59):
And coming over from London, coming from a great program
with the Hunters and coming into a room here getting
a full time opportunity.

Speaker 6 (13:05):
How much have you welcomed that?

Speaker 1 (13:07):
The ice time and being able to play in a
full time role here in Niagara.

Speaker 8 (13:11):
That's awesome. It's a lot of learning. I learned a
whole lot in London. Obviously a great team winning the
cup there behind some great players, So coming here and
using what I learned from them and trying to put
that in my own game has been great.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
And Noah Reid coming over last week, you obviously have
familiarity with him as well, So what was that initial
reaction like and having a guy with a familiar face
down here.

Speaker 6 (13:33):
How much is that nice for you?

Speaker 8 (13:34):
I was pretty I was pretty excited. Sorry, we were
roommates for a bit last year, so hearing him come
to Niagara was pretty great.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
And for you were with a London team last year
that obviously went all the way and got into some
games with them and the experience. So what are you
trying to tell the guys in that room about the
process every single day of what it takes to be
a team that is battling for an OL chamis you
have Amorial Cup.

Speaker 8 (13:58):
You know it's all about March. Can win, you can
lose here, get these one point games like we did,
but it all comes down to March and further. So
we're just trying to make it there and go for
a push.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
And what is Chris barchask from you the coaching staff
and sort of what he's looking for in your play
style as you move forward here?

Speaker 8 (14:17):
He made it pretty clear he wants a heavy, hard
game from a guy like me being bigger in this
league and trying to be physical, and you know, give
my team a boost when I can't.

Speaker 6 (14:28):
Who's gonna get that puck from family?

Speaker 8 (14:30):
I'll probably give it to my mom. I think she's
here tonight, so I'll probably give it to her right now.

Speaker 3 (14:34):
Awesome.

Speaker 7 (14:35):
Describe the adjustment to a new team here.

Speaker 8 (14:41):
We're running a lot of the lot of the same
systems learning learning curve wasn't too big. It's it's been
pretty good Bartch Obviously, it's from around where I'm from,
so I kind of knew the name. Wasn't too hard
to get to know him, and the guys have been great.
It's a great room in there, so it's not too
hard of an adjustment.

Speaker 6 (14:59):
All right, Christian.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
And there was Liam Spencer on the post game following
his goal against the Ottawa sixty sevens. Again, guy that
came over from the London Nights more of a rugged,
bruising defenseman, but it seemed like he was that was
a long time coming for him. He played a couple
of seasons before playing, you know, somewhat regularly last year
with London.

Speaker 6 (15:17):
He had would have been in Mississauga before that.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
Getting a full time opportunity here with NAG or something
that obviously that he had had wanted and the team
wanted to give him in that respect. So it was
just nice to see a guy that has been waiting
so long for an opportunity like that and doesn't really
get a lot of accolades offensively and in the limelight.
For a guy like him to score I know it
meant a lot to.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
Him for sure.

Speaker 4 (15:39):
I mean, in any time you get the monkey off
your back, it's a really good feeling. I mean, it's
tough to come to the rink and be the one
guy who you know doesn't have one up there on
the in the g column.

Speaker 3 (15:48):
So good for him to get on the board.

Speaker 4 (15:50):
And you know, had another point that night as well,
So a two point performance for mister Spencer.

Speaker 3 (15:56):
And you know, he brings so much to this team.

Speaker 4 (15:58):
You know, he's a defensive asset for sure, and it's
nice to see him contribute on the offensive side of
the puck. But yeah, you know it doesn't have to
deal with any of the locker room banter.

Speaker 3 (16:07):
I'm sure it's all behind him now.

Speaker 4 (16:09):
So good for him, and hopefully that puck finds a
mantle somewhere in his living room and in his family
home for many years to come. But I guess we're
gonna yeah, there it is right there, a nice, nice
photo of him, And.

Speaker 3 (16:23):
Like you said, comes from a team, through a couple.

Speaker 4 (16:26):
Of teams where you know, he was kind of in
and out of the lineup, you know, didn't have you know,
that permanent role, but he still he comes from organizations
with tons of experience, so you know, beyond the goal,
you know, he has a lot to him that he
brings that. You know, I think the organization is really
proud of and you know, for a guy like that,
it's just it's really nice to see him, you know,
get rewarded in that way to you know, get his

(16:48):
first Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
I did like what he said to Christian about it's
all about March and further and trying to make it there.
He wants to play a hard, having heard and heavy
game and you know they run a lot of sort
of the same system that he said he did in London.
So he said it's been a smooth transition for him
coming down. The guys have been great and he loves
that Noah Reed's now there as they roomed together in
London a bit last season as well, so it seems

(17:10):
like he's fitting in well with this core. Chris Bark said,
he's a likable guy in the room, you know, a
character guy and again, I think a lot of things
outside of the box score, Liam Spencer brings as positive
assets to a team that's trying to learn what it's
like to be a competitive team.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yeah, like like you, like you said, you know, to
hear a guy like that talking about March already, that's
that's exactly what you want from a player like that,
you know. And of course to be reunited with no Reed,
that's always going to be special. You know, they played
together in London, so they know each other really well,
and you know that makes these transitional periods for a
guy like no Read a lot easier. And you know,
if we want to talk about him as well, he

(17:46):
had a great weekend too, got his first as an
Agria ice dog. So maybe Liam Spencer's been you know,
cooking no red dinner at home. You know who knows.
You know, those two kind of back together for the
first time. Here is we'll take a look. Actually, if
you're watching on the video platform, there's Noah Reads first.
What a beauty comes flying down that left side and

(18:08):
buries one just right upstairs, top right.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
A beautiful goal. But back to.

Speaker 4 (18:14):
Liam Spencer before we move on. I think it was
just a great weekend for him. A great guy, great
character and you know, like he said, it's about March
and you know, to have him, you know, start to
feel comfortable here as we get deeper into the season,
that's that's only going to be a good thing for
the naig Riis.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
Talks absolutely, So congratulations to Liam Spencer, sixty eight games
his OHL career and he's got one on the board now.
Said he's going to send it home to his parents,
so actually said that they were in the building that night,
So we probably got a candidate right to him there.
So hand it off, hand it off right there and
then so again maybe hopefully the floodgates will open for
Liam Spencer and we don't have to just talk about

(18:56):
him having one career goal. And again, just been a
really valuable asset that Frankie Vola has brought in since
the early early part of the season here from a
team that has such championship pedigree. So all those things
that we kind of mentioned about his mindset that I
think it's great to have for a young team like
the Ice Dogs. But I don't know if there's anything

(19:16):
else you wanted to mention there, Christian, but yeah.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
Maybe maybe just quickly in Eerie, he had some opportunity
as well, you know, like he I thought he had
a solid offensive weekend. You know, there was a couple
of passes he made to Rollbrick his offensive game is coming.

Speaker 3 (19:31):
All right, it's coming. You can see it, you know.

Speaker 4 (19:33):
And I think this style of Niagre Ice Dogs play
under the new coaching staff is really going to benefit him.
You know, he's not exactly a you know, burning you know,
burnt speed, burning guy who's gonna kind of come down
the wing.

Speaker 7 (19:48):
You know.

Speaker 4 (19:49):
He plays a very strong positional game. And I think
with the way that the Ice Dogs break into his zone,
you know, get pucks in deep, get possession and set
up for a guy like that who has a big
presence at the blue line, I think it's really gonna
benefit him. And we saw it this weekend, you know
with the goal, the assist and then again an ear.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
He was making plays.

Speaker 4 (20:07):
You know, there were some opportunities where he was able
to hit some scene passes. You know, he had opportunities
that really came his way. So I think, to Frankie
Vola's credit and the coaching staff, they've really picked a
guy that's gonna slide into this kind of DNA that
they have.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
That they're kind of cooking up in Niagara.

Speaker 4 (20:25):
And I think he's a perfect fit on the back end,
and I would expect that, you know, the offense is
going to continue. So I wanted to mention that as well.
Wasn't just kind of a flash in the pan against Ottawa.
He had a pretty solid weekend as a whole. You know,
he played, he played well offensively.

Speaker 1 (20:41):
Confidence is everything right, that's it, and then it's it,
you know, snowballs from there. So Liam Spencer's gonna get
our dog Biscuit of the Week, by the way. We're
gonna give that away, by the way. This week brought
you by Global Pet Foods in their three great Niagaregian locations.
Liam Spencer gets our dog biscuit for a Player of
the Week this week for the Ice Dogs, even though
again it wasn't the week that they would want as

(21:02):
a team as a whole, only picking up one to
four points. Again, in a long sixty eight game season,
we have to take these weeks and just you know,
sort of just let them go because it's part of it.
And back to the drawing board is the name of
this this week's episode. So that's sort of what the
Ice Dogs are going to do, especially drawing with that
power play. So Christian, let's let's get into the games

(21:22):
themselves again. We're not gonna sit here and go over
the entire box score and everything.

Speaker 6 (21:26):
I'm gonna pull.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
I'm gonna pull some stuff up to play for you
guys on the video version as we're kind of talking
through things. But the Ottawa game did hurt a little
bit Christian because this was a game where the Ice
Dogs had that lead late in the third period, just
was not not able to hold it with Ottawa tying
it with the goal tender pulled after the Ice Dogs
had taken the lead with two forty five left in

(21:49):
regulation on Kevin He's goal after Ryan Robrick had tied
the game. So the Ice Dogs had themselves a great
third period comeback after what was, you know, a typical
Dave Cameron game against the Ottawa sixty seven as a
low scoring affair, not many penalties at all, only one
penalty power play in the entire game for both teams combined,
So the referees put their whistles away in this one.

(22:10):
But again, when you have a lead with forty seconds left,
and we'll hear from Chris Bartsch a little bit later
about his comments on the on the game, but you
got to be able to close those out, and you know,
the Ice Dogs going through again. He talked about wanting
to get that out of the way now as opposed
to in March.

Speaker 3 (22:25):
Yeah, and I.

Speaker 4 (22:26):
Think for the Ottawa game, like you said, when you
play a team that's coached by Dave.

Speaker 3 (22:30):
Cameron, you can't make mistakes.

Speaker 4 (22:32):
You know, if you have momentary lapses of focus or
you know, lapses of positioning, they're gonna make you pay.
And you saw that in the third period. You know,
the Ice Dogs were up, you know, they had the lead.
They score that goal and then I don't know what
was it, it was, yeah, two minutes here I got
it was literally exactly two minutes later, Jaspercuda scored to

(23:00):
break it, you know, to tie it up, and then
they score again obviously an overtime to win it. But
I think that for me is the big one. If
if you are winning, you take the lead with three
minutes left against a team that you know is structured,
that you know is not going to give you opportunities.
If you get a chance to potentially send a game

(23:21):
to overtime or to win it, you know down the stretch,
you have to take advantage of that.

Speaker 3 (23:25):
And I think for me that was the big one.

Speaker 4 (23:27):
Obviously, you know, from the game as a whole. You know,
there's some things that kind of stand out. You know,
in the second period, they got out shot, they got
dominated in the second period, and you know, giving momentum
back again to a team that's you know, very structured,
a very talented, and very organized. You know, it's not
a recipe for success, but I do think there is
some positives here from this game. You know, the power

(23:50):
play only went over one, they did win, they did
win the faceoff dot so that's exciting as well. It's
been a strong point so far for the Ice Dogs.
And of course they they closed out the game, you know,
relatively well. They scored two goals in the third period,
they won the third period when it mattered. They just
they couldn't hold on late. And you know, of course
overtime is overtime. You know things are going to happen.

(24:11):
You know, you can't you can't always win. You know,
they had some chances and you know, you give up
one on one and on your goaltender to a great player,
he's going to score. So you know, you get the
one point at home, you know, not what you want,
especially against the team that you're kind of competing with.
You know, at the top of the Eastern Conference in
the Autawa sixty seven, so you know, definitely gonna want

(24:32):
to have that one back, but it could be worse.
You know, you could have gave it up, you know,
two points to you know, a conference opponent. So like
you said, nice to shake off the rust now, you know,
you know here in November, you know, there's still lots
of time, you know, kind of closing in on that
twenty game mark. But you know, in another light, you
have to look at it this way, like a third

(24:53):
of the season is almost over. So I don't know
how long that that saying really applies, Like how much
longer are we going to say, Wow, you know it's
the beginning of the year, cause it's it's really not.
You know, we're we're ten games away from the halfway point.
So I think you know, some of these mistakes are
are are crucial, They're critical, and you know, closing out games,

(25:14):
you know, down the stretch in the third period and
in overtime. You have to be able to win those
games because you know, come playoff time and come you
know late season, you know, in January and in February,
like those are games that you have to win. You know,
you give up a point down the stretch, and if
you take a look at the standings right now, you
know Ottawa and Barry Niagara are separated by four points.

(25:37):
You give up a point, you know, in February, like
that's gonna sting. And you give up a point in
the playoffs, that's called a loss.

Speaker 3 (25:46):
It doesn't matter if you got a point.

Speaker 4 (25:48):
You know, if you lose a playoff game in overtime,
you still lost the game. You know, they take a
game in the series. So I think, yes, lots of positives.
Liam Spencer, you know, it gets two points. I thought
Cole Cooks he as well in this game. I will
mention had an opportunity in the top six. He played
a fantastic you know, sixty minutes of hockey and then

(26:10):
some sixty two sixty two minutes. But I think just
just kind of the waight ends right. You know, you
have to be a little bit more you know, accountable.
You know, at the end of the game, you can't
let a team like Ottawa tie it up with with
two minutes left. You know, you got to find a
way to hunker down and really take care of business

(26:30):
as things, you know, approach that final horn. So that that,
for me is my analysis of the Ottawa loss. Some
positives in there. Liam Spencer played great, got some solid
goaltending as well. Cole Cooks he looked good. Noah Reid
up on that top line had an assist as well.
But yeah, got to close out those games late, man.
That's that for me. It's the killer, Like to lose

(26:52):
a game like that, Like you they tied up with
two minutes left and then they score in overtime. It's like, like,
it's just it hurts. It hurts, you know, it really
hurts to lose one like that, especially.

Speaker 1 (27:03):
When you put when you put three goals on Ottawa,
you're like, wow, we're doing a pretty good job here,
you know. Yeah, and just not to be able to
come away with it again. We're gonna get into the
power play and the penalty kill and that sort of
thing a little bit later on in the show today.
But again, the Ice Dogs still sitting first in the
Central Division, but the Barry Colts are nipping at their heels.
And I know the Ice Dogs do have two games
in hand on Barry right now, so technically they're still

(27:23):
in the lead within the division. But again when you
let points slip away there, and then we'll talk about
the Eerie game. Like, these are just opportunities that if
you look back later in the season where they're behind
Barry by two or three points, you might look at
this weekend and say, you know, this was a missed opportunity.

Speaker 4 (27:38):
Yeah, that's exactly what it is, right, because you lose
a game to Ottawa, which is an Eastern Conference rival,
and then you lose to Erie, which is, you know,
a team that you should be beating in the East.

Speaker 3 (27:50):
And we'll get into the Eerie game.

Speaker 4 (27:52):
You know, I know I've been stereotypically just really angry
on this show, but that Eerie game was a It
was a great hockey game.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
I thought I had some real chances.

Speaker 4 (28:01):
They played great, they got out shot, but we'll talk
about that later. But you know the three game losing
streak that you find yourself on now, you know, North
Bay a Central Division matchup, Ottawa a conference rival, and
then Eerie, a team that you should beat in the East,
and it's like, well, there's six points that you know
are important, you know, down the stretch and you know,

(28:22):
like you said, now you're tied with Barry, you know,
at the top of the central and they were I
don't know, two weeks ago, they weren't even in the picture.
So you know, you can see the trajectory now, and
it's a little bit concerning. You know that Barry's going
like this and Niagara's going like this, and you know,
Branford just continues to soar. The teams in the West

(28:42):
have looked fantastic, like Windsor and Kitchen or just you know,
tearing it up. London is starting to, you know, to
find their game. Berry's finding their game, and it seems
like Niagra is not finding their game, you know, and.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
It's that's concerning.

Speaker 4 (28:56):
Obviously there's positives there, but you know, to to I'll stop,
all right, I'm not gonna get too carried away, but
I will say a three game losing streak when other
teams are really putting together some solid hockey is never
a good thing. So I think, you know, definitely points
left on the table.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
But what are you gonna do. It's hockey.

Speaker 4 (29:16):
We got more games next week, you know, we got
Kingston and uh, you know, we got who else is
next week?

Speaker 3 (29:24):
There you go, that's another way.

Speaker 4 (29:25):
That's a big game against Ottawa so two games coming
next weekend.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
But yeah, just it's.

Speaker 4 (29:30):
It's never a good feeling when you leave points on
the table.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
Especially when you had a five game winning streak, and
then now you're you're trying to reel from that now
and trying to start another streak. Right, and the Erieters
only have six wins all year have been against the
Ice Dougs. And again they're they're a Western Conference opponent,
but the Ice Dogs play them more than any other
Western Conference opponent because of their geographical location, which.

Speaker 6 (29:54):
Again the neighbors.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
That's a whole other discussion about why I think there
needs to be a realignment because Eerie and that earn
in the same conference even though they literally are next
to each other.

Speaker 4 (30:03):
I don't know why Erie is in the West, Like
that doesn't make any sense, Like you look at everybody
else here. We got it pulled up right now for
those that are watching in the video, Sarnia, saganaw Gwell
Flint to London, Owen Sound, Kitchener windsor all north of
the qwie W and then Arie, let's turn around, let's
go across the border, like why but yeah, has nothing

(30:26):
to do with Ice Dog. So it's not exactly that's
that's a rest Domanian Colin ward ohl in sixty bit.
So we'll let them do that. But I like, it
just doesn't make any sense to me. I I'm right
there with you. I don't know why. Uh yeah, Erie
should be like you could take you could take Sudbury
and put them in the west and put Erie in

(30:47):
the east, you know what I mean.

Speaker 6 (30:49):
Like, ye, there's a lot there's.

Speaker 3 (30:51):
A lot of North Bay in the West you could put.
You could put any of those teams like that.

Speaker 6 (30:59):
Divisi.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
Yeah, yeah, I guess so.

Speaker 4 (31:02):
And you know, I would be happy if you put
North Bay in a different division at this point because
they're playing well too. You know, another team that's kind
of on an uptick, so a team that we lost
to in the Central Division. Part of the losing streak.
But yeah, like you said, you know, when you when
you take a five game winning streak and follow it
up with a losing streak, it's kind of like, well,

(31:24):
I mean that was that was fun, but what are
we what are we doing now?

Speaker 3 (31:28):
Kind of thing?

Speaker 4 (31:29):
Right, It's like, well, it's like that like a like
a so so feeling, you know what I mean. It's
like a bitter sweet or it was like that was great,
and then it's like, well, no, let's let's just go
ruin it now, you know, because why would we stay
happy for an extended period of time.

Speaker 3 (31:45):
So but but again, it's part of the game.

Speaker 4 (31:48):
You know, you're you're not gonna win sixty eight games,
uh straight in the ohl.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
It's just not going to happen.

Speaker 4 (31:54):
With how competitive things are today and the way hockey
as a sport is trending, it's a tough game. You know,
these are not games to win, so you know you
kind of have to take it, you know, game by game,
week by week, and that's what we're gonna do. We're
gonna move.

Speaker 6 (32:06):
Forward and we're going to take a quick break.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
On today's show, we're gonna come back or we're gonna
hear from Ice Dog's head coach Chris Barts. We're gonna
give you some highlights from that eerie game as well
a little bit of analysis there and recap sort of
the overall stats from the weekend and going forward into
that Ottawa and Kingston road trip upcoming this weekend.

Speaker 6 (32:23):
So stared here right.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
Back on the Dog Pound Podcast, the official podcast of
your NIAG or ice Dogs probably bright to buy Global
Pet Foods where pets are undinily part of the family.

Speaker 6 (32:31):
Right back after this, did you.

Speaker 9 (32:32):
Know that the Global Pet food stores in the Niagara
region are all independently owned by members of the local community.
We believe that pets are truly part of the family
and are a source of joy in everyday homes around
the world. Yet that living loving experience usually doesn't happen
all on its own, but takes extra effort to create
and maintain. And we want you to know that the
owners and staff at Global Pet Foods are always there

(32:54):
to help you keep it going anyway we can, because
we believe. Proud show sponsor of the Dog Pound podcast Ask,
the official podcast of the Niagara Ice Dogs, we hope
to see you at one of the following locations across
Niagara thirty six forty three Portage Road in Niagara Falls,
one sixty Highway twenty in font Hill, as well as
four hundred Scott Street and Saint Catharines. Global Pet Foods
where pets are undeniably part of the family.

Speaker 5 (33:22):
Are you an employer looking to hire? Let the Nigro
Employment Health Center save you valuable time and money. By
making your hiring process easier. Their services include free job
postings in house and on our website, filled job vacancies
quickly and efficiently, access to a bank of potential employees,
reduce employment costs, and financial incentives may be available to

(33:43):
offset the cost of new hire training. Check out their
websites at EHC dot own dot CAA or call nine
zero five three five eight zero zero two to one
for more information. The Nigro Employment Help Center helping people
find work since nineteen eighty three. This Employment Ontario program
is funded by the Government of Mountario.

Speaker 9 (34:00):
Wild Bill's Auto Repair is your local center for auto
maintenance and repair in the Niagara region. Since twenty twelve,
wild Bill's Auto Repair and Body Shop has been helping
customers stay safe and confident on the road knowing their
vehicle is in top running condition through the garage's services.
Located at seventy eight sixty eight oak Wood Drive in
Niagara Falls, the garage started as a tribute to the

(34:20):
owner's father, William Robert Hunter, who passed away continuing the
same community spirit and high level of service which customers
can expect from him back at Hunter's Auto Repair. Their
multi award winning Auto Shops earned the trust of the
Niagra community with its fair treatment of all customers who
can feel confident they'll get trustworthy advice and repairs during
their visit. Their experienced crew loves meeting new people and

(34:41):
looks forward to forming a lasting partnership for the care
of your vehicles. To find out more or to book
a service, contact them today at nine oh five, three
five eight seven eight six eight or Wildbillsauto dot CA.
Wild Bill's Auto Repair helping customers stay safe and confident
on the road since twenty twelve.

Speaker 5 (35:00):
Tell Flooring is Niagara's specialty flooring and design company. They
take great pride and provide elite customer service and support
with a beautiful showroom, great pricing, and a wide variety
of truly unique products. JNL Flooring is your specialty flooring
and a core batique shop. All of their products are
environmentally friendly and responsibly produced, so you can feel good
about your flooring choices. Their goal is to build authentic

(35:23):
relationships based on honesty and integrity that they foster with
respect and authenticity. Offering a unique and wide range of
quality products presented by a knowledgeable, impatient team. They simplify
the process to make your life easier and to make
your home more beautiful. Visit them at forty four to
twenty four Montrose Road in Niagara Falls, or find out
more at jail Flooring dot com. If you think you

(35:46):
can get a better deal anywhere else. You don't know
Jack at Jail Flooring.

Speaker 3 (35:53):
He's Ryan Robert.

Speaker 6 (35:54):
This is Ethan Zidier, This is Ivan Galiana, this is
Kevin he and this is.

Speaker 4 (35:57):
The dog Pound Podcast, the.

Speaker 10 (35:59):
Official podcast with nagre Ice Dogs.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
And welcome back to part two of today's Dog Pound
Podcast episode. Brenick put on Christian Simmons back with you
here on the official podcast of your nag or Ice Dogs.
Probably you're bat to by Global Pet Foods, where pets
are unnapally part of the family. They're three great nag
or region locations.

Speaker 6 (36:28):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
Those that are tuned in on our video version on YouTube,
make sure to hit like kid, subscribe and smash that
bells the up to date with all of our video
coverage on the network. Thank you Christian for the hand
signals there, and for those that are listening on your
favorite on demand audio platform, thank you very much for
continuing your dedication over there and make sure to give
us a follow on x at Dog Pound Podcasts for
all of our Ice Dog updates, and on Facebook, Instagram

(36:50):
and TikTok by searching your arm share GM Sports Network
for all of our great reels and content. So Christian
continuing on here again the Iceage on. We picked up
one of four points this weekend, still sitting first place
in the Central Division, two games in hand on the
Barry Colts. Before we get the Ice Dog's head coach
Chris Bartch and his postgame thoughts following the Ottawa game,
just recapping some of the stats from this weekend. Liam Spencer,

(37:12):
as we mentioned in segment one, had a goal and
assist on the weekend. Riley Patterson had a goal and assist.
Ryan Robrick a goal and assist. Noah Reed, as you mentioned,
scored his first goal as an ice Dog as well
as picked up a primary assist on the play in
the game as well. Robrick also led the team with
six high danger scoring chances on nine shots, Kevin He

(37:34):
had six on eleven, Noah Reed had five high danger
scoring chances on six shots, and Hayden Reed had seven
high danger scoring chances on nine shots. So those were
the leaders in the danger scoring opportunities. As far as
the faceoff wins, Riley Patterson went twenty three to forty three,

(37:54):
Ethan Zata went twenty of forty, and Hayden Reed went
seven of sixteen. Ladyslavyr Blanca was thirty two of thirty
six in his start. Charlie Robertson was fantastic in that
eerie game, went forty three of forty seven. Overall, as
a team, the Ice Dogs had fifty nine shots on
net eighty four against zero for seven on the power play,
which we'll get into as an issue here, eight for

(38:15):
nine on the penalty kill, and they won fifty two
face offs lost fifty six. So anything you want to
mention from the player stats or the team stats from
this weekend, wow.

Speaker 4 (38:26):
Well it's like anything I want to met that was, like,
I like it. This guy works for Points Streak. He
had like a full, detailed like paragraph of stats there.
So yeah, yeah, we'll talk about power play not now,
and we can get into that, but yeah, like that's
obviously gonna stand out. It's gonna jump off the page
and kind of hit you in the forehead. So that
one sucks. But Rollbrick love it, you know, creating those

(38:49):
high danger scoring chances. That's his job. So you know,
if he's doing that, he's doing a good job. You know,
he's putting himself in spots to score, and you know
it's paying off, you know, in an eight game point streak.
So you know, I'm happy to see that huff for
Ryan Roebrick and slowly climbing, you know, back up to
the top of the point scores on this Ice Dog's
team is you know, we have it now pulled up

(39:11):
on the screen for our video viewers.

Speaker 3 (39:13):
Will narrate here quickly while we have it up.

Speaker 4 (39:15):
Kevin, he leads the team with twenty one, Roebrick with nineteen,
Relly Patterson eighteen, Ethan Zada thirteen, and then Ryerson Edgar
with just fourteen games played, will be.

Speaker 3 (39:26):
Coming back as well.

Speaker 4 (39:27):
He has twelve points and I guess we can mention
it quickly. Ryerson Edgar, you seventeen World Challenge champion. He's
coming back with some hardware, a gold medal in between
those those top and bottom teeth. Fantastic for him. There
he is and all of his glory. Where's Waldo find him?

Speaker 3 (39:46):
Do you know where he is? In the picture.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
I found Panda, but I didn't find I found Edgar
and so go to like the h the trophy. Yeah,
straight up, he's in the gap.

Speaker 6 (39:57):
Oh, I see him there he is.

Speaker 3 (39:59):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (40:00):
So for you know, you audio listeners, we're just talking nonsense.
But the pictures pulled up, you can see them. They're
fantastic for him in his young career to go and
experience that on you know, the international stage, and you know,
so that's great. I mean again kind of going off
the rails here and obviously for Penned as well. So
gold medal coming back, well, we'll be happy to welcome

(40:21):
them back home, but definitely nice to have them come
back with some some hardware. I mean, it's always sad
when you, you know, see some some of your representatives
and one of your players and one of your staff
members go away for a couple of weeks, but it
was worth it. They're coming back with a gold medal,
so we'll accept it. But back to the statistics. I

(40:42):
think I'm liking what I'm seeing from Roebrick and I
think he's kind of the catalyst. We've talked about him
a lot on this show, and I think that's gonna
continue you know, nothing's gonna change. We're gonna keep talking
about Ryan Roebrick because it's his draft year. He's supposed
to be at the top of the leader boards for
this team. He plays pivotal moments. You know, he's kind
of that lead trigger man on the power play. And

(41:03):
you know when I hear that he had you know,
he led the team and you know, high dangerous scoring
chances this weekend and still had points. You know, and
and you know, we'll watch some of the clips from
the ear game. The guy could have scored you know,
a couple more. So you know, it's good to see
him producing and see him kind of finding his legs.
As far as some of that other stuff, a lot

(41:24):
of it went over my head. Was there anything else,
Brandon that you wanted to mention for like the team stats,
like obviously the power play, but.

Speaker 6 (41:32):
They shot eighty four to fifty nine this week?

Speaker 3 (41:34):
Yeah, like that that's the kind of stuff that has
to stop.

Speaker 4 (41:37):
But like and you know what, like the Eerie game,
they get blatantly outshot and I thought they still played
a good game. And we've we've talked about this before,
Like a shot is is just a shot? Yeah, Chris
BArch has mentioned it too, you know in some postgame
remarks like you could shoot the buck from center ice
and register a shot, like it really doesn't change a
whole lot.

Speaker 3 (41:57):
So you know, yes, the numbers are kind of concerning.

Speaker 4 (42:01):
You know, when you get out shot by thirty across
two games, it's it's not great. But I think, you know,
especially in Eerie, the game where they really got out shot,
they had chances they could have won that game. You know,
they played great offensively. You know, Robertson had some incredible saves,
and you know, we'll get into that, but I think
for me that the shots aren't as aren't as bad.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
What was the did you say there was a plus
minus one?

Speaker 1 (42:26):
No, they the penalty kill was eight of nine against Eerie.
But again, we're gonna get to the Eerie game.

Speaker 4 (42:33):
Short, we'll get to the Erie game. But yeah, I
thought there was at minus one in there.

Speaker 6 (42:36):
Sorry, no, just face off wins.

Speaker 3 (42:38):
Just face off. And that's another one.

Speaker 4 (42:40):
They won the face off department, so good good there too,
And that's another big part of this team.

Speaker 7 (42:46):
Right.

Speaker 4 (42:46):
You got guys like Ethan's outa, you got guys like
No Reed, you got guys like Galianov like these guys,
you know they win face off Riley Patterson. You know,
if you you have kind of that core up the middle,
you expect them to win face offs, and that's what
they're doing. So that's a positive takeaway.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
I like it. We're staying positive.

Speaker 1 (43:02):
So we're going to get to Ice Dog's head coach
Chris bartch here with Inside the coaching Room is always
brought to you by the nagar Employment Health Center, helping
people find work in Nagresince.

Speaker 6 (43:09):
Nineteen eighty three.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
Here's what the Ice Dog's head coach had to say
following the team's overtime lost to the Ottawa sixty sevens. Well, coach,
I know that wasn't the ending that you wanted in
pretty exciting third period, But from a coaching perspective, what
do you want to tighten up there?

Speaker 7 (43:23):
You know, just again guarding elite. But overall, to be honest,
they're very structured, refined, played very tight to their system.
So for us as a group, I was actually happy
with the overall process. You know, it's exciting for the fans,
so hopefully they enjoyed it. But yes, we would like

(43:44):
the additional point. But again, if you look at process.
We've got no complaints.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
Very much a low scoring game, and you knew that
coming in against the Dave Cameron team. You played against
him when your NHL career when he was an NHL assistant,
So I'm sure it's nothing new to you of what
type of style he likes to play with his team
as a coach. And through two periods it was a
very low scoring game there. So what do you tell
the guys when it's low scoring like that and just
continuing to play the play the process and continue to

(44:10):
do the right things even though the puck isn't going
in the net.

Speaker 7 (44:12):
Yeah, again, it is a chess match. When I played
at that level against Dave, my job was a little different.
But yeah, no, we knew what we were coming into.
We knew that they were, like I said, going to
be consistent, play with play within themselves, play within the
system or their system, and they're gonna they're going to force.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
Us to make mistakes.

Speaker 7 (44:35):
So it was, you know, the least amount of mistakes
you know really at the end would probably uh you know,
create or prevail to be a winner. So for us,
we knew that we had to be tight with respect
to how we were going to play with them within
our structure.

Speaker 1 (44:50):
I know you probably haven't had much time to look
at the film yet, but what did you see on
that line change there that resulted in them scoring that goal?

Speaker 6 (44:56):
To go ahead goal?

Speaker 1 (44:57):
It seemed like Kevin tried to get the puck deep
and then year D got caught the other way?

Speaker 6 (45:01):
Was that in between a line change? What was going
on there?

Speaker 7 (45:03):
What I'll say is this, I haven't seen video yet. Okay,
well we'll assess then and we'll discuss as a group tomorrow.

Speaker 6 (45:09):
Gotcha.

Speaker 1 (45:11):
Obviously it was exciting for Roebrick to get on the board,
but again, that full two hundred process with him is
something that you're working through and making sure he does
all the refined small details in his draftier scout. You're
looking for a complete game from him, so for him
to be able to get rewarded, did you see him,
you know, engaged in those other little small details to
have him earned that opportunity.

Speaker 7 (45:30):
Yeah, you know what, We are constantly helping and supporting
him played that two hundred foot game play, you know,
details away from the puck. You know, tonight he scored
a goal a foot from the net when he's normally,
you know, firing it from forty feet out. So again
he's getting the hard areas. He's using his size, using
his strength, and again we're just continually pushing and supporting

(45:53):
and developing him into that two hundred foot player.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
I have to ask about Liam Spence, so that's a
long time coming for him to get his first career
Ohl goal. He's been to wait in a couple of
years for that, a guy that's more of a rugged defenceman.
But how happier you've seen number forty nine get that
first buck.

Speaker 3 (46:07):
Believe or not.

Speaker 7 (46:08):
We had a long discussion as an entire team this
week in video about Liam not scoring, so I think
he was very relieved to put that behind him. Yeah,
I know what, He's a big man, a big personality,
brings a lot of positive to the dressing room, well
liked and well respected. It's great to see him, you know,

(46:28):
be rewarded for the work he's put.

Speaker 1 (46:30):
In and you're moving monks up the lineup. Seemed like
he was with a couple of different different lines tonight.
Seemed like you he had earned a little bit more
ice time. What did you see from him to play
with a couple of different lines tonight.

Speaker 7 (46:41):
You know what, I think there's a few of them,
and it's nice for our young kids to see that
they're starting to push up in the lineup. Yeah, monks,
he's got skates that fit him now. He was wearing
skates that were about half the size to a size
too big. So that's first and foremost, so I think
he probably felt comfortable. But no, his his work away
from the puck, work on puck, just you know, the

(47:01):
attentiveness to the detail within his game. For check, he
was great, you know, engaging hard areas, doing a lot
of things that support that line or any line that
he was on. I thought, you know, Hagar had a
great performance as well. He he shirted, you know, I
think on the fourth line, and then he ended up
in the top two and playing some big minutes first

(47:22):
and the third. So for us, you know, we want
these players to keep pushing the envelope. We want these
players to be a big part of our team now.
And then also again we're developing for the future.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
And then lastly, a lot of learning lessons in this
game specifically and with the lead late you've got the
goal there, they've got the goaltender pulled. You have a
chance at the empty net, and they come down and
score the other way. So what's the message when you're
that close to victory but being able to put it
away and tighten that last bolt to finish off the game.

Speaker 7 (47:47):
Yeah, you know, I think it's one of those things
where for me, I learned a lesson. You know, my
emotions got me with respect to call him a time
out probably the end of second I probably would have
liked that time out the end of the game. But
also to you know, how we play within our structure,
you know that situation and environment five on six, you

(48:08):
know again two on one details, keeping players at the outside,
not giving up those Grade a's or back doors, and
just you know, again sorting through details, you know, walking
through analyzing, and then you know, constantly making corrections to
maybe mistakes that were made. You know, like we talked
about in our coaches room. You know, you'd rather make

(48:29):
some of those mistakes now than in March.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
Go one penalty the whole game, you know what. I
loved it.

Speaker 7 (48:37):
I loved it. Yeah, they let the men play, which
was refreshing, But I think it was a great hockey
game for everyone in the building.

Speaker 1 (48:49):
There was ice Dog's head coach Chris BArch Christian. He
mentioned a lot of things, even took criticism for himself
for taking the time out late in the second period.
Could have used that late in the game when the
sixty seven's were trying to even the game up. So
he always said, it's always gonna be a chess matcher
playing against a Dave Cameron run team. We know that
they had to play within their system and force us

(49:09):
to make mistakes. I think my biggest takeaway from it
was that he mentioned Ryan Robrick getting to the hard areas.

Speaker 6 (49:16):
He meant, like the way that he scored that goal.

Speaker 1 (49:18):
We don't have the video for you, but he was
right in the crease, jamming away at it was able
to get that game tied, going to the dirty areas,
And for him playing that two hundred foot game and
continuing to build into what scouts want in his NHL drafty.
They want him to be able to score from many
different ways and play a hard game, not just be
able to score from the perimeter. So I think for
Ryan Robrick, him mentioning him and being able to be

(49:40):
rewarded with a greasy goal like that that he's not
typically known for. That's just another element that I think
we're going to see him develop into this year.

Speaker 4 (49:49):
Yeah, and the other thing for me on that goal
was the emotion that he displayed afterwards. We don't have
the video, so we can't play it, but when he
scored that goal, he celebrated like he really he.

Speaker 3 (49:59):
Went down to one knee and he was happy, he
was he was riled up.

Speaker 4 (50:04):
And for me, those are the kinds of things that
you want to see from a guy like that, right
you know, when he you know, rips one from the
point and you know, you know, confuses everybody on the
ice with that quick release, Like that's one thing, but
like you said, to kind of get to those dirty areas,
to be out front, kind of mucking it up with
you know, some of the other guys down in the crease.

(50:24):
And then you know, when he scores, to display some
emotion like that really kind of shows you that he cares,
you know, that he that he wants to win. And
you know, those are the things that you want to
see from your superstar forward, you know, not just you know,
the pretty stuff, but the dirty stuff as well.

Speaker 3 (50:38):
And he was right there for that as well.

Speaker 4 (50:40):
So and then yeah, I thought the time out conversation
was pretty funny with Chris bartch for sure. I think
it's you know, a twenty twenty hindsight, right, like you know,
you're always gonna say, oh, I wish you know this,
or I wish that. But second period was a mess,
like they got out shot sixteen to seven, Like the
timeout was necessary, Like they they score in that third

(51:00):
period twice to take the lead, probably because they settled
down in the second period. You know, I think it
could have got out of hand. They could have given
up given up four in the second period and then
all of a sudden, you know, there's no need to
call a timeout at the end of the game. So
I I think the Chris Bart's time out, you know,
that was It's nice to hear him kind of owning

(51:22):
up to that, but I don't think it was the
worst call in the world. And then you know, to
kind of talk a little bit about road brick. Yeah,
for sure, I think that's big takeaway for me, you know,
just that you know, he's really developing that two hundred
foot game.

Speaker 3 (51:35):
And you know.

Speaker 4 (51:36):
Again on this one, just Cole cooks you that looked
great in the top six too, So I want to
mention that about the Ottawa game, but yeah, I I
love the way that he analyzes games as well. I
will say, like you know, when you talk to Chris BArch,
the way that he communicates things, it's it's impressive, you
know for a guy that you know, when you know

(51:56):
he was a player, was was more of a gritty
kind of physic.

Speaker 6 (52:00):
I don't expect that.

Speaker 4 (52:01):
You don't expect it right to be into the x's
and o's, but he's very engaged with you know, the
intellectual side of the game and you know, the the
hockey intelligence is there, and you know, the way that
he breaks things down, and you know the way he
talks about, you know, reviewing footage and you know, getting
to the little areas and winning these minor details away
from the pockets.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
It's very encouraging.

Speaker 4 (52:23):
And you know, I love I love listening to his
interviews for that reason because he has a very analytical
approach to hockey as a whole, which is surprising.

Speaker 3 (52:31):
Like you said, you don't expect that.

Speaker 6 (52:32):
Yeah, he doesn't get too low on things. You know,
he don't never get too lose.

Speaker 1 (52:36):
It's you know, it's got to work through some six
on five processes that he talked about, keeping players the outside,
sorting through details out on the ice, and again, as
I mentioned in the first segment, rather make these mistakes
now than in March. But again, this team is still tried.
There's been so much turnover and so much change with
trades and signings, and like this team is still even
though we're two months in the season. I don't even

(52:57):
think that they completely know who they are yet as
an identity from top to bottom in this lineup. So again,
once Noah Reed gets a few weeks under his belt,
you know some of these other players coming back as well,
I think that it's just gonna take a little bit
of time for the full cohesion of this unit to
see sort of what the management and the coaching staff
has in place for these guys. But again, has always

(53:18):
great stuff there from Chris BArch so Christian. To end
the show today, again, we're gonna put some highlights up
on the screen for you guys watching on the video version,
and audio will try to narrate it as best we
can for you guys. But again, the eerie game, We're
not gonna again, it's one game We're not gonna look
at it to in depth as far as a lot
of the negatives. Again, going taking nine or giving Eerie

(53:40):
nine power plays is not something that you want to
be able to do on a gamely basis. But they
did kill off eight of the nine that Eerie did have.
But again, for a team that you face more times
than not, they're basically a division rival, even though they're
a cross conference team because you play them more times
than you do any other Western Conference opponent or even
some Eastern Conference opponents other than the Central Division.

Speaker 6 (54:01):
Like pulling up the.

Speaker 1 (54:02):
Chance pack here that Christian put together, it's it's just
like you look at the box score and you say,
you know that they absolutely got smoked, But I think
there were.

Speaker 6 (54:10):
Chances in this game.

Speaker 1 (54:11):
Is as you kind of wanted to bring up, that
the Ice Dogs had every opportunity to win and be
a part or at least take a point in this game.

Speaker 4 (54:18):
Yeah again, you know we're kind of hopefully watch back
the first couple again and like, yeah, here's a great
one here. Riise Necker plays it ahead a little cross
pass from Roebrick. I love that, you know, you see
Robrick kind of getting up in the rush. He makes
a nice play. This is what I was talking about.
Spencer feeds Roebrick little one time or that one could
have went in. Look at this just right off the crossbar, like.

Speaker 6 (54:39):
A two man advantage.

Speaker 4 (54:40):
Yeah, like, what are you gonna do this one? Like
I'm gonna have nightmares about this one. Look at this
monks right out front. Yeah, just right through the crease.
For those of you on the audio platform, we're just
taking a look here at some chances that the Ice
Dogs had. And you know, I just love that play
from Ryisnecker there though. You see the way he kind
of gets up in the rush and starts that play.

(55:01):
That's that's what Central Scouting is looking for, you know
when they rank him so highly. So yeah, I think
for me that's the big thing, big takeaway from that
eerie game is that you know they had chances.

Speaker 3 (55:12):
You know, they had lots of chances.

Speaker 4 (55:14):
And you know they lose a game where yeah they
were out shot, and you know, Robertson played great, and
we'll show some of those as well. And you know,
here's some of the goals. Riley Patterson comes in nice
little right back to the forehand.

Speaker 3 (55:26):
Just how you doing. Thanks for coming No earlyden not
a chance to stop that one.

Speaker 4 (55:32):
That's a beautiful little play there, And like, I love
to play for me than Zada on the boards, Actually
he starts the whole thing. You know, op ice is Patterson.
But Zata makes a nice play. He tosses one up
the wall, and.

Speaker 1 (55:45):
This team handed, they almost get more better opportunity shorthanded
than he do on the power play they do.

Speaker 4 (55:52):
It's because of their personnel, right Like, they have guys
that can play, you know, in defensive roles but also
have offense capability. And you know, I think, and there's
another guy right there and Noah Reed who has you know,
the offensive capability and you know, the ability to score
and you know also kind of shut it down defensively.
And you know, we'll take a look at his goal here.

(56:13):
But to your point, Brandon, like on the penalty kill,
they absolutely have the ability to do a little bit
of both, right, Like, they can create offense, but they
can also create defense because of the personnel that they
have out there. You know, when you got Ethan's out
of killing penalties and Riley Patterson killing penalties and Noah
Reid and the occasional Ryan Rodbrick appearance on a penalty

(56:35):
kill unit. Like those guys are also goal scorers, you know,
so it's exciting when you have a group of players
that can score.

Speaker 3 (56:41):
And then of course Charlie Robertson will.

Speaker 4 (56:44):
Play this pack here, which is you know, his twenty
twenty five twenty six montage clip. This is going to
be on a YouTube video somewhere later. Like look at
some of these saves right across that one time er
on the back door.

Speaker 3 (56:56):
That's that.

Speaker 4 (56:57):
Thanks for coming out front. Another soft spot, no problem
at all. You got the rebound as well. That was
a fantastic stop. And then I think there's one coming
up at the end of this pack that well I
really wanted to talk about. But this one here another
just very controlled right right out at the top of
the crease. Does a great job to manage the pipes,
doesn't give up too much.

Speaker 6 (57:17):
That pub.

Speaker 4 (57:19):
Yeah, does a great job to lay down. This is
the one that I just I lost it. Look at
this just nope, not this one. That's the next one.
Excuse me. It was in the third their score, sorry,
excuse me. The second period. It's a cross pass eerie
working it. And then look was wide open net and
you know with the blocker like that's that's a you know,
all Ohl, you know, one of the best in Ontario,

(57:43):
you know, kind of goaltending moments where you know, you
show off just an incredible display goaltending. So I think
defensively the Ice Dogs weren't great in erie they got
bailed out by their goaltender. But offensively they were great.
They had chances, they just didn't bury them. So it's
kind of a weird symmetry of you know, that eerie
game of having you know, bad defense, good offense, but

(58:05):
great goaltending. It's like weird, you know, but you also
kind of got Goaliad you know, early it and made
some great saves that you know, didn't make the highlight pack.

Speaker 3 (58:13):
But I think, you know, what are you gonna do?

Speaker 4 (58:16):
You know, And then when you look at the box score,
it's like kind of hard to believe, like, wow, they lost.

Speaker 3 (58:20):
Five to two.

Speaker 4 (58:21):
Like so it's yeah, of course, but again, like the
box score is never gonna tell the full story. And
I think that's why I wanted to narrate some of
those clips. That's why I wanted to bring them into
the show and hopefully that it will become a permanent
staple when we do some of these video podcasts just
to show some of those. But I thought it was important,
you know, give Charlie robertson his flowers. The guy stood

(58:42):
in his head, and of course the chances were plentiful.
And you know, I still will, I will not be
able to understand how Monks did not score that all
right out front.

Speaker 3 (58:54):
That one was hair wide.

Speaker 1 (58:55):
And he'll have nightmares about that one for a while. Absolutely,
But again, still a lot better hockey player than I
ever was, so.

Speaker 3 (59:02):
That's for sure.

Speaker 4 (59:03):
You know what, Like I, I suck, So I can't
talk in a negative light about any of these guys.
They are all very good hockey players. And that's the
reality of the OHL is. You know, guys are gonna
have bad games, but doesn't mean that they're bad hockey players.
These guys are all elite, elite hockey players that are
playing at levels that you know, we've just we've never

(59:24):
seen before.

Speaker 3 (59:24):
So what do we got here?

Speaker 1 (59:26):
We got to power play within the the un Hockey League.
And again the Ice Dogs row for seven on the
power play. And again we don't want to sound like
beating a dead horse here with you know what what.

Speaker 6 (59:37):
The struggle struggles have been there pretty much all season long.

Speaker 1 (59:40):
Again, they they had they had gotten a little bit
better as of lates, but again when you're third from
the bottom here at thirteen point nine, I think they
were upwards. I think their highest was about sixteen and
their lowest was like nine. So yeah, and they're kind
of stabilizing at that thirteen point nine percent. The only
team's worst were Eerie who they they only allowed one
on nine on in that game, and then Gwelph at

(01:00:02):
twelve point seven. Sudbury's really skyrocketed back up after a
being at like nine percent after the first couple of weeks.
Branford has just been out of this world at forty
one point zero percent, leading the Ontario Hockey League in
that sense. But again for Niagar's sake, Christian, they just
they have to get this thing worked out here again.
They they've been trying that five forwards. They tried with

(01:00:23):
the defenseman as well. We've kind of seen a rotation
to defenseman tried in that spot with with Frolov and
Raisenecker and even Blake Barnes when he's in the lineup.
So again, like I think it's just something that they
this is back to the drawing board here for them.

Speaker 4 (01:00:37):
Yeah, it's just gonna be like a never ending project
for Chris BArch, you know, I guess it's good like
he's got some stuff to work on. But yeah, it's
it's hard to believe, you know, with a team that
has so much talent that the power player just can't score,
you know, to be third poorest in percentage in the
Ontario Hockey League is hard to believe.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
But in Erie, they did mix it up a little bit.

Speaker 4 (01:01:00):
Gallian, I've got some time on that top power Play
unit alongside the four superstars of Patterson, Roebrick, Soda and He.
So that that was an interesting unit I thought, and
you know, hopefully they're gonna kind of keep mixing it up.
You know, that's again another five forward unit that just
has not been able to score. And again they got
scumped an Eerie. They got scumped in Ottawa. It's an

(01:01:22):
zero for seven weekend on the power Play. So yeah,
I mean I will continue to say this. I think
fro Lov should be on the power Play. I think
Blake Barnes when he's in the lineup, has you know,
an aptitude to be on the power Play. It's it's
more about you know what, what kind of you know,
defensive game are we going to expect from Blake Barnes.
You know, at times there was a few shorthanded goals

(01:01:43):
that went the other way, and you know sometimes you
you know, can you concern you know, you concern yourself
over things like that. But yeah, it's like, this team
is way too good to be scoring on a power
play thirteen percent of the time. Like it's it's just
an inexcuse usable, gaping hole in the statistics for a

(01:02:03):
team that's just way too good. You know, there's no excuse,
right if you don't have superstars, if you don't have
goal scorers, you don't have a forty one goal scorer
from last season on the power play, Like okay, you know,
we can we can rationalize, we can say, you know what,
like we don't have the personnel. You have a thirty
goal scorer, you have a forty goal scorer, you have

(01:02:25):
two twenty goal scorers. You got some of the best shots,
best passing, best vision in the Ontario Hockey League. So
to be scoring at thirteen point nine percent is just
not good enough. So it's gonna they're gonna gel it's
gonna come you know, and you know, there's no real
panic here because again they have the talent. It's just like,

(01:02:45):
you know, when they do start scoring, you know, how
nice is it gonna be to score three power plays
gold in a game?

Speaker 3 (01:02:50):
You know what I mean? Like you go zero for
six in erie.

Speaker 4 (01:02:53):
If you score on half of them or even one
of them, you know, it's a different game or two
of them. So I think for me, that's it exciting
and in a sense that you know, when they finally
do piece it together, we're going to expect, you know,
maybe some of these losses to turn and turn into wins.
So I think it's important though, you know, special teams
is always really important. You want to make sure that

(01:03:14):
you're capitalizing on those opportunities.

Speaker 3 (01:03:16):
And it's it's gonna come, It's gonna come.

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
And when I look at it, their second place in
the conference with a thirteen percent power play, can you
imagine what they would be if they had a twenty
percent power play? You know, I'm not saying that they'd
be undefeated in regulation like Branford, but maybe they'd be
closer to that than falling out of out of second
place in the conference.

Speaker 3 (01:03:33):
And yeah, well, what's Barry's power play.

Speaker 1 (01:03:36):
Barry's part where they ranked to have the penalty killup
right now, let me let me switch.

Speaker 4 (01:03:40):
It, Yeah, Barry, because I'd be curious to know, because
Barry's on an upswing, right, David playing fantastic like kayshawn
Ahison is is like league. Yeah, so there you go.
When your power play's working, you win games. There's six
to two oh win to two in their last ten,
right like and of course, of course you know they

(01:04:01):
have maybe just as many superstars as we have. I
don't know if they have more, like you know, maybe
that that's that's a conversation to have with, you know, Mike,
Mike in the booth from Barry.

Speaker 3 (01:04:14):
We could get into a debate.

Speaker 4 (01:04:15):
But I don't know that Barry has got a better
top six, you know, I don't know that Sorry has
a better top six winsor Owen sound you know, of
course Branford is like a machine. But you know, I,
like I said, like, you know, Nigre could be up there.
You know, they could be on a you know, six
two oh and two stretch. You know, they could be

(01:04:36):
a seven to one to oh team you know over
the last ten like the London nights and you know,
with a twenty three point two.

Speaker 3 (01:04:42):
Percent power play.

Speaker 4 (01:04:43):
So yeah, I just wanted to pull that up, you know,
sorry to pull you away from the penalty kill, and
we'll look at that as well. We'll take a look
at the other side here. But yeah, I just I
thought that that was something I wanted to just mention.
Is that, you know, when your power play's working, you're
winning games. You're winning hockey games, especially when you have
seven chances in a week to score and you don't
score any of them. You know what I mean, Like that,

(01:05:04):
that's the difference between winning and losing. Is you know,
we flip over here the penalty killed. Brandon pulled it
up here. Yeah, penalty kill looks great.

Speaker 6 (01:05:14):
Fifth place in the league.

Speaker 4 (01:05:15):
Yeah, fifth place in the league, eighty three point one percent.
It's it's crazy that this is like the dynamic, like
what's going on?

Speaker 3 (01:05:25):
You know what I mean? It's that for me is
like it's just a chaos. It's chaos right now.

Speaker 4 (01:05:30):
And it kind of speaks to your point that you
mentioned earlier in the first segment that you know it's
still early in some respects, Like yes, maybe we're approaching the.

Speaker 3 (01:05:40):
Twenty game Mark.

Speaker 4 (01:05:41):
You know, we're getting close to the halfway point of
the season, but it's early in the sense that these
players are still getting to know each other. There's a
lot of new line combinations, and you know, once all
that stuff gets ironed out, you know, we can expect
this team to be great. You know, they have the
penalty killing, they got the scoring, they got the goaltending,
they got the coaching. Like it's there's a lot there,
you know, to be happy about. And of course apparently

(01:06:03):
kill has been a bright spot. But yeah, I just
I don't know. It's power play man. They got to
figure that out for sure, But hopefully they'll get We'll
get there.

Speaker 3 (01:06:12):
They'll get there.

Speaker 4 (01:06:12):
There's a lot of talented guys on that team, so
I'm not concerned at all.

Speaker 3 (01:06:17):
It's gonna come.

Speaker 1 (01:06:19):
So as we look ahead, Christian, before we wrap up,
they've obviously got the Ottawa Kingston trip coming up. They
know what this Ottawa team is capable of. They just
played them last week, so a good time to get
a rematch against against these guys. I guess Kingston another
you know, well coached team undertroit Man. You know, two
very very pro like systems there. So the Ice Dogs

(01:06:39):
are gonna have to, you know, find a way. They
were able to to beat Kingston the last time they
played them, when when Kingston came down to Niagara. So
I think when you look at it, and then you've
got Branford and Barry coming in the week after two
home games, two big home games. Obviously we'll we'll talk
again after the the Ottawa Kingston trip next week, but
and looking ahead to those the Branford and Barry games,

(01:07:00):
can't look too far ahead, even though those are two
very important games, measuring stick games. Right, the Ottawa Kingston trip,
you know, long long bus ride. You know those guys
that it's in the back to back as well. They
got to play on Friday at seven and Kingston and
then at three o'clock in Ottawa the next day, so
a quick turnaround, like you know, that's more than a
back to back. It's like back to back in half

(01:07:22):
the time. So yeah, they'll get Sunday off to rest.
But when you look at it, Ottawa Kingston coming up,
you know after a week where you just had a
chance to beat Ottawa and you and then the lost
eerie like again when you won five straight lost three, Uh,
they got to get back in the win column here
because then Branford and Barry are right up there.

Speaker 4 (01:07:39):
Yeah, it's it's like it's like, uh, you wake up
from a nightmare and there's another one the next night,
right Like Kingston, Ottawa, Brantford and Barry is a tough
stretch like those are those are games that aren't gonna
be easy to win. And you know, I think now
with Ryerson Edgar coming back, like there's no excuses, like
you got to win these games. You know, you don't

(01:08:01):
want to turn a three game losing streak into a
seven game losing streak. You gotta find a way to
be Kingston. You know, that quick turnaround is gonna be tough,
Like I can only imagine, you know, finishing a game
at nine to ten and then you know you gotta
get on the bus and you know, make the trip
to Ottawa like you know, and then play.

Speaker 3 (01:08:18):
An afternoon game like that. That's a tough stretch of hockey.

Speaker 4 (01:08:21):
But you know, those are the kinds of weekends that
you know, show the character of your team. You know,
if you can find a way to win, you know,
two games on the road in Kingston and then turn
around the next night and play you know, a very
well coached team in the sixty sevens, and if you
pull out four points in a weekend like that, that
really speaks to your character.

Speaker 3 (01:08:39):
And then of course, like you said, not to look
too far.

Speaker 4 (01:08:41):
Ahead, but you know, Branford and Barry also very formidable
foes and those will be tough games.

Speaker 3 (01:08:47):
So I think this is an.

Speaker 4 (01:08:49):
Important couple of weeks for the UGA Ice dogs. I
think they need to try and you know, keep some
points here. You know, you look at it. They got
you know, two divisional opponents and one conference so sorry too. Yeah,
Kingston all conference games, yeah, all conference games, and then
you know Barry, you know, their arrival.

Speaker 3 (01:09:10):
At the top of the Central Division.

Speaker 4 (01:09:12):
So there's a lot of points, important points, you know,
on the table and you know, hopefully we can find
a way to pull some to the home side. So
I think this is you know, an important stretch like
you said. But yeah, man, that that weekend and Kingston
and not what it was going to be brutal, but
Ryerson Edgar coming back, so reinforcements are on their way
from Nova Scotia.

Speaker 1 (01:09:33):
Absolutely, So I don't know he got any final other
final awards, Christian, but that's it.

Speaker 3 (01:09:39):
Final remarks. Boy, I don't know. I think we're good.

Speaker 4 (01:09:43):
Maybe one last just again just emphasizing Remembrance Day tomorrow,
big day. Be sure to go out and grab a
poppy and show your support for your servicemen. You know,
we wouldn't be here today without them, So I think
that's a great way to close it out. Also, Blake
Barnes officially signed this past week, so just quickly sneak

(01:10:04):
that in there as well. Nice to have him a
full time ice Dog for the remaining weeks of the season.

Speaker 3 (01:10:10):
But that's it for me.

Speaker 6 (01:10:12):
I think that's a great way to end it.

Speaker 1 (01:10:13):
Yes, Blake Barnes signing his full time contract with the
niag or Ice Dogs, so I expect to see him
in the lineup at some point soon. So that's gonna
wrap it up for another episode of the Dog Pound Podcast,
the official podcast of Your niag or Ice Dogs. Probably
right to buy Global Pet Foods where pets are unnatally
part of the fame. There three great Niagara Region locations
in Niagara Falls, Fon Hill and Scott Street in Saint Catharine's.
Thank you those that tuned in on our video version

(01:10:34):
on YouTube. Make sure to hit like It, subscribe, smash
that bell as Christians pointing two right now, and thank
you again to those dedicated audio listeners as well at
dog Pound Podcast on x for all of our updates
on Ice Dog's content, and on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
by searching your Armchair GM Sports Network. So for Christian Simmons,
my name is Brandick. Putto yes, go buy your poppy
for Remembrance Day tomorrow and we'll talk to you again
following the Ottawa Kingston trip next week. You're listening to

(01:10:56):
the Armchair GM Sports Network.

Speaker 9 (01:11:02):
You don't

All Episodes

Back to the Drawing Board: IceDogs Special Teams a Tale of Two Stories - Dog Pound Podcast

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Ruthie's Table 4

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Back to the Drawing Board: IceDogs Special Teams a Tale of Two Stories - Dog Pound Podcast