Niagara IceDogs 2025 OHL Priority Selection Condensed Draft Recap - Dog Pound Podcast - The Armchair GM's Sports Network

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
GM Sports Network.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
This is Rod Mahood, your in game voice of the
Niagara Ice Dogs, and you're listening to the Dog Pound
Podcast on the Armchair GM Sports Network, your podcast source
for all game analysis, team interviews, and up to date
news regarding the Niagara Ice Dogs, over time.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
Ice Dogs, Wind the PRUSI please call.

Speaker 4 (00:53):
Also Jimmy Away.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
It's a power playing hole in the Ice Dogs. Heavy
Scar host sang yeah, first goal as an ice.

Speaker 5 (01:02):
Dog comp stop Shipley, Britchie.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Stock gets into a kill, Thomas Thomas has the ankle
coming in based stop.

Speaker 6 (01:16):
Welcome into our special Dog Pound podcast OHL Priority Selection
Draft live stream right here on the Armchair GM Sports Network.
Thank it everybody that's tuned in live on our arm
share GM Sports Network YouTube channel and those listening when
this episode is released next day on your favorite on
demand audio platform. Brandon Puto here with you to go

(01:36):
over the round one, two, and three picks for the
Niger Ice Dogs in the twenty twenty five OHL Priority Selection.
The Ice Dogs will pick tenth overall coming up very shortly,
and they also have a third round.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Pick to go over as well. In today's show.

Speaker 6 (01:50):
Make sure you give us a follow on x at
Dog Pound Podcast, the Update with all of our Ice
Dogs coverage as well as you can follow us on
Instagram TikTok all that good sort of thing by searching
your arm pareg GM sports that work for all of
our short reels, and great content with all the shows
that we're doing for the OHL playoffs, including the Ohl
and sixty podcast, which brings me to my special guest
co host today. Cam was unable to join us on

(02:11):
this episode, but was able to make a call to
the bullpen and bring in Reese Domani from the Ohl
and sixty podcast is also called Games for the Ice
Dogs on the radio side of things and covers the
OHL pretty extensively. So Reese, thanks a lot for jumping
in today. I'd call you Fernando Rodney or somebody. I
don't know what Detroit Tigers. I don't know many Detroit

(02:32):
Tiger's relieve. I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't
know many relievers of the Detroit Tigers. If they're not Yankees,
I really don't care about them. But regardless of that, Reese,
thanks a lot for joining us, and you know, I
know you and Colin Ward are doing great things over
in the Ohl and sixty podcast, which is now on
the network as well, and then with the Dog Cast
on The Bulldog's Audio Network.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Thanks for jumping in.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Hey, thanks for thanks for having me. It's a draft days,
always one of those days that you circle on the
calendar as soon as it's released and you make sure
you have nothing going on for a few hours on
the Friday and then pretty well for most of the
morning and the afternoon on the Saturday. So no, it's
a pleasure to be here. I remember my draft days

(03:13):
as an intern here back in the I guess it
would have been twenty seventeen draft, twenty eighteen draft, and
twenty nineteen drafts. So it's always a pleasure to come back.

Speaker 6 (03:21):
So we've got a lot of stuff to go over
as far as draft history. We've got a projected lineup
for the Ice Dogs, obviously very early. There's still a
whole offseason to go and with the draft's and things
like that. But we'll kind of talk about the way
the team kind of looks after losing in the first
round to the Barry Colts, their first playoff appearance since
twenty eighteen nineteen season rees which I think ironically was

(03:43):
the last year that you were in Niagara full time,
but we don't have to hear them about that anymore.
But from that standpoint again, Ice Dog's pick tenth overall,
so we will get you the pick as it happens,
and we will make sure.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
To update you.

Speaker 6 (03:55):
We've also got special guests lined up throughout the night.
We're gonna hear from ice UG general manager, West CONSORTI
head coach Ben Boudreau and Director of Scouting Adam Henrich
on the whole draft process, and maybe a few others
as well throughout the night. Kind of see how long
this goes, but rounds one, two, and three will be
with you here tonight. Race general thoughts, first on the
Ice Dogs season that just ended this past weekend. Obviously

(04:19):
going up against a very form of very colts team
that loaded up at the deadline. Looks like they're going
to be a strong contender, not only for a Bobby
or trophy in the Eastern Conference, but possibly going up
against you know, London Knights or Winter Spitfires the old championship.
What did you think of the Ice Dogs? I know
you guys talked about a little bit on the Ohl
and sixty this week. What were your first impressions of

(04:39):
their first playoff series is twenty nineteen.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, first of all, it was it was nice to
see this franchise back in the postseason. You know, we
know how well this building does both noise wile heisen
and butts and seats perspective. It does really well, and
you know, it's so loud when it comes to the
post season here at the Meridian Center. I still remember back.

(05:02):
I believe it was the twenty seventeen to eighteen season.
I think I've told the story before where the goal horn,
the old goal horn that came over from the Jack
had issues. I guess I think one of the horns
died and they just had like a really bad tone
of one of them, so it sounded really poor for
for a number of weeks. And they brought in the
new horn in time for the twenty eighteen playoffs, which

(05:25):
ended in Round two against the eventual OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs.
But you know, in this playoffs, it's when Colin and
I first talked about it at the beginning of the season.
It was just this franchise has to get in and
experience the playoffs again. You know, success is a bonus
if you win around, that's a bonus. So for us,
it was really just get in, Get get Ryan Roebricks

(05:48):
some experience, get Brady Wasslyn experience, get crete, get Zada
into the postseason, get Kevin he into the into the playoffs,
and and just just let them have a taste. You know,
whether you get whether you have success or not is
a different story. But just get them in and and
obviously you were able to do that throughout the first
part of the season, looking like you read, really good

(06:09):
shot to get around and at least get into Round two,
if not for a little bit of a tough second
half or down the stretch. But no, it was it
was there were games that the Ice Dougs had no
business being in that they found ways to get themselves into.
And specifically I'm talking about games too and games A

(06:30):
game five, Game two, you head into the third period,
it's a five to one game. You know it could
easily pack it up. Let's head home and try and
try and win hockey games on home. I just get
back into the series. That wasn't the case. The players
rightfully had something else in mind, so they made it
a game. They got it even it's just Barry had

(06:52):
that a little bit of an extra jump at the end,
and and we're able to come out with a victory.
And then you know, I remember, I think I've told
you this where we were. Colin and I were at
the Civic Center for Game five of the Battalion and
Bulldogs series, and you know, we're keeping tabs on the
Ice Dogs just to see how that's going and if
you can get to a game six, and remember saying, oh, dang,

(07:14):
five nothing, Barry. It's not looking good for the Ice
Dogs at that point. And then we see five to one,
We're like, all right, Niagara got on the board. Nice,
nice like to see that. And then it's five to
two and we're like, hmm, should we turn this on?
But before we could even turn it on, it was
five to three, so like, okay, yeah, we're turning it on.
And obviously weren't able to finish things off. But you

(07:36):
know what, for the group and the entire organization, again,
you got into the postseason. That's step one for the
future success of this club. And again for a couple
of games that you probably shouldn't have been in, they
did really well against the really good Barry Colts team.

Speaker 6 (07:53):
Yeah, and you heard Ice Doug's head coach Ben Boudo
talk about the fight and his team especially, and you
could look at that game two and Barry where they
score three goals.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
In the in the first ten minutes there.

Speaker 6 (08:03):
Yep, get back in that game there, and again they
knew they were the unders going into the series, but
they didn't let that affect them. You know, they self
inflicted wounds of times on and off the ice, but
this team really rallied together. And you mentioned getting that
playoff experience for those guys like Kevin he that have
been here for three years, Ryan robrick ethan Zada, Brady
Wasson getting their first taste of playoff experience, even though
it was only five games, that's so valuable as they

(08:24):
go forward here for a very young roster that is
looking to contend the next two seasons. And co owner
Michelle de Dobblers had come into the season playoffs period
was her message to the to the organization and the
fan base, and they got that. Even though it was
just a little taste two games, it was a big
moment for the franchise. That's you know, still trying to
climb back up.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
Well, well that's exactly it right once he remade the
playoffs last year. The longest drought was was unfortunately here
in Saint Catharine's and you know that's obviously broken now
it's only two year drought, which is actually really impressive
for the league. It's Sarney and Peterborough I think have
the longest and it's two years and Peterborough won the
championship exactly exactly. They're still trying to rebound off of that, right,

(09:05):
So no, that well, hey, that's awesome. The Regina Pats
have been looking to get back to contention since twenty
eighteen when they hosted the hundredth Memorial Cup, right, so
it could be way worse than it is for those teams.
But no, I still I still look back at the
twenty sixteen seventeen Ice Dogs team and the amount of
young talent they had centered around to kill Thomas. You

(09:28):
still had the veterans there, Ryan Mantha, Aaron Hayden, Stephen
Dillan now being a full time starter after backing up
for Ned in that ohl finals run. For them, it
was just you just had to get in. You had
to get those guys that experience to to move to
move on to the years to come and to start
to see success and and David Bell was the head
coach that year, and they were able to get into

(09:51):
the postseason as the eight seed play a very very
tough Peterborough Pete's team that had Dylan Wells in the net,
and you know, they did win a game. But that
playoff experience really helped. And we obviously didn't see a
championship come over the next couple of seasons, which eighteen
nineteen was the year they went for it. But you

(10:11):
need to start that process of winning a championship somewhere.
And for the Ice Dogs this year to just get
into the playoffs, fact that they got to win, I
think it's even a bonus not to say that they
weren't capable of getting a win, But I think there
are those small victories in a series loss that you
have to take and look at as a really good
thing for the future of your player's careers and the

(10:32):
future of the state of the franchise. So you got
to start there. You know what's it sucks to lose
lose in five, It really does. You want to get
that six game. You want to get a third home game,
of course, but for the fans of the Ice Dogs.
They got in, and I know that's what they wanted.
They wanted them to get in. Obviously, they want winning,
they want a championship. I was here for three years.

(10:54):
I fully am aware of what this Ice Dog's fan
base is looking for. You know, the job's not done.
It's two Eastern Conference championship banners up there, but there's
no OHL championship banners up there. So I know what
they want. And this is step one. This was step
one to just get in and get the experience for
that core group that we've mentioned.

Speaker 6 (11:11):
Yeah, and when you're building back up from the bottom,
it's hard. It takes a couple of years, right Like
it just doesn't happen overnight, especially when you're rebuilding a culture,
rebuilding an organization from the bottom up. It's going to
take a few seasons. And again they're still trying to
figure out exactly, you know, what that positive culture is
going to be like. Obviously with the things going on
off the ice, it's something that they're trying to improve
on and you want to see them get better as

(11:33):
they move forward. But this is all learning experiences on
and off the ice for this organization from top to
bottom about what it's going to take to get back
to being a year and a euro competitive program. We
hear Rod Mahood, who's in the room with us right
in the corner there, shout out to Rod, but the
great Pa announcer of the Ice Dog says, be loud
and be proud for your now or Ice Dogs. And
that's what we're trying to build back into here with

(11:54):
this community and with this team, because we know how
passionate the fan base was. We saw, even though it
was only two games, they came out and came out
strong knowing that the Rice dogs Are backs were.

Speaker 1 (12:03):
Against the wall.

Speaker 6 (12:04):
So they've just been they've been almost more excited for
it than anybody else here in the building. So yep,
it's nice to be able to give back to them,
even though it was just a little bit of a
taste there. But the fan base is obviously something that
you know has been been through it with this team
the last five.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
Years as well.

Speaker 3 (12:19):
Yeah, I mean, we we fully know about that. Brandon.
You're a Buffalo Sabers fan, I'm a Detroit Red Wings fan.
We both have the longest playoff droughts in the NHL
right now.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
Good times.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
Not Los Angeles Angels bad in Major League Baseball. They're
they're on a pretty tough stretch right now. But yeah,
it's you know, you think back to some of the
slogans that the Ice Dogs have had in the past
and you know, make them see Red or if Ned
made a huge say make them see Ned. Right one
last Jack? Yeah, yeah, back to Jack exactly exactly. The

(12:51):
Bourne Ready in the twenty eighteen nineteen season will give
a shout out to Jordan Mussa for that when she
did a phenomenal job on the graphics side and on
the on the pr side, communication side for that. So yeah,
it's it's you know, it's it's a building that you
want to have fifty three hundred fans in because it's
not like any other building around the Ontario Hockey League,

(13:12):
you know, as as modern as it is, and you know,
it might not have those old quirks that some of
those older buildings have, like the Bay Shore or the
Civic Center or the Old Jack had, but it's it's
it's not the same as the other nineteen ranks around
the league. When there's fifty three hundred fans in here,
and it's it's something that I still look back on.

(13:34):
I'm like, man, that was that was unreal. You know
game I can't remember if it was Game one or
Game two against Oshawa in that second round when Jason
Robertson scored an overtime winner. Like, the reaction from the
crowd after that goal was You're not gonna get that
anywhere else, and it I I want to see that
back here. As much as you know, Colin and I

(13:55):
are heavily involved in the Bulldogs organization and the entire
OHL as a whole, There's there's something about Niagara and
that's why I live here too. You know, there's something
about the Niagara Ice Dogs and the Meridian Center that
you know, you'd want to see success for these guys.

Speaker 6 (14:09):
Yeah, the league talks about it being such a great,
a great franchise that they want to be successful once
again because it was one of one of their most successful.
For so many years, they had missed the playoffs in
their franchise history since moving from Mississauga, YEP up until
that nineteen twenty season. I guess you could say that
got cut short. You look at the last two seasons
and obviously they had the twelve win season two seasons

(14:31):
ago and then last season seventeen wins, finishing last bost seasons.
This season obviously got off to a tremendous start, first
place in the Eastern Conference for a little bit, even
made the CHL Top ten power rankings, and then we
talked about the tail of two seasons and the season
after the trade deadline, we knew that the hard thing
for them to do was not do anything. Yeah, that's
exactly what they did. They gave up two thirds for
Blake Erosmith in December, but that was really the only

(14:52):
move they made. They moved out Mason Ray, they moved
out Andrew Vermulin, but they were able to really know
that this young corps was something that they had to
build a round, and this wasn't their year to push
all the chips in and that was very smart by
the management staff, knowing how tough the the East would
have been this season. So I think that they made
the right choice in that sense, and they end up
finishing seventh in the in the Eastern Conference, which, again

(15:15):
going into the season, you take that as a win,
but because you kind of had new expectations where you
were at the first half of the year. If they
would have started out bad and ended up working their
way up to seventh, you'd say it was successful season.
So regardless of that, you look at you know, they
won twenty nine games in the last two seasons combined,
and then they win twenty nine this season. So it's
a step in the right direction and where you have

(15:36):
to go when you're building back up.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yeah, absolutely, you're spot on with the you know, you
get to first or second in the conference and it'say.

Speaker 6 (15:44):
Oh, unrealistic expectations. Even also on the show all year
we're beginning.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah, you know, you kind of get a little bit
ahead of yourself and it's like, yeah, this is this
is awesome. But when you look at the process overall
and the window for winning for the ice Dog is
it really wasn't this year. You know, if it was,
we would have seen all your picks gone for a
bunch of stars to be brought in and probably don't

(16:11):
have that losing streak down the stretch and you're probably
do have home ice in in round number one. But yeah,
you get those high expectations, so you get excited, right
and in a market where you haven't had playoff hockey
in a while, that excitement is justified, but also you
have to bring it back down to reality, and where
this team finished is right where a lot of people
expected them to finish again at the end of the day.

(16:32):
They were hot to start and then they fell off
as the season went along, But that's right where they
a lot of people thought they would finish. It's where
I thought they would finish, in either the six, seven
or eight spot. And you just want again, you just
wanted to taste. You wanted to taste of the playoffs,
and they got it.

Speaker 6 (16:47):
Yeah, absolutely, and again this group's going to be better
for that moving forward and not pushing all their chips
in maybe winning a round or two and then having
to do a full reset again. I think they knew
that this young core is very bright. Are gonna have
to have some work doing the off season, and we'll
get into that a little bit. There's definitely gonna be
some holes to fill. But you talk about some of
those those top end players, you definitely don't want to

(17:08):
get rid of those guys, and you're gonna have to
make a decision on Andrew Wisik, who would be an
over ager as well. So realistically, the defenseman you have
coming back right now are Jack Brody, Callum Shanowski, Matthew Virgilio,
Jesse Was or Joey Wastlin Darcy the Watcher. So you look,
and there's gonna be at least two to three whole
openings on this decor going into the offseason, and just

(17:30):
you know, they don't have the luxury of seeing a
Matthew Schaeffer at the top of the draft of them
to be able to go after, so that might be
something that they look at in the second or third round.
They don't have a second round pick this year, but
you know, a move's probably gonna be coming at some point.
Some teams maybe trying to unload some guys. But when
you have so many over agers're gonna make some decisions
as well.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
Yeah, for sure. And it's it's I have a funny
feeling it'll be a h I guess a buyer I
guess it'd be a buyer's market kind of. I don't know. Whatever,
the best way there's I think it's gonna be a
fire sale in the Eastern Conference next year, I guess that's
the best way to put it. With the amount of
teams that went in to try and win a championship,
this year. I mean I can count five just off

(18:10):
the top of my head. You're thinking of Brampton, You're
thinking of Kingston, Barry Sudbury for some reason, you know Branford.
I wouldn't say they went all in. They got Tommy Budnick.
They sent Noah Roberts for four picks, which kind of
they robbed Studbury on that one. You think of the
Aushawa generals who are gonna have to sell because their
pick cupboard is empty. It is empty. So there are

(18:33):
gonna be a lot of players available next year, specifically
in the Eastern Conference. But yeah, if you don't get
a high end defenseman here on day one of the
priority selection, there's really no reason to panic. There's gonna
be plenty of opportunities to get those guys via trade
if you choose to go that route, because a lot
of teams are gonna have to sell a lot in

(18:54):
order to try to get back to relevancy and back
to contention in the coming years.

Speaker 6 (18:59):
At Reace, we'renn to take a quick commercial break before
the Ice Dogs come back on the clock. Sues just
making their pick at number seven, So stay right here,
we'll be right back and we'll have When we come
back from commercial, hopefully we will have the ice Dogs
pick for you. So stay right here, but right back
on the Dog Pound Podcast, the official podcast of your
Niagara Ice Dogs.

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Speaker 8 (22:43):
This is Alex Asidor and h Ryan Robert, This is
Ivan Galian Office, Matthew Joe, my name is Jack Brody
and the And this is the dog Pound Podcast, the
official podcast of the Niagara Ice Dogs.

Speaker 6 (23:07):
Welcome back to the dog Pound Podcast, the official podcast
of your niag Or Ice Dogs. Probably brought to buy
Global Pet Foods where pets are unnily be part of
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Region locations, Brand Putawa and Riese Domani are back with you,
continuing our night to one live stream here for the
twenty twenty five OHL Draft. The Ice Dogs are about
to be on the clock, So I'm gonna start playing

(23:27):
the epic music that's gonna be playing. Well, I'll slowly
turn it up when the Ice Dogs do get on
the clock. Flint just picked with the eighth overall pick.
Kingston is about to pick at nine. They're on the clock,
and then Niagara will be making their first round selection
here coming up shortly. All forward so far so not
a single d which was pretty much to be expected

(23:47):
right now. There weren't many de ranked that high, but
we should start to see some here coming in the teens.
But I did hear that after the third it was
kind of a crapshoot with this draft. Wasn't like clear cut,
you know number, These guys are gonna be the top five,
these guys are gonna be the top ten.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
It was almost like pick. It was almost a just
who he.

Speaker 6 (24:09):
Felt, who you felt would fit in your room. There
wasn't like a Again, we could see from three on to
maybe fifteen, these quote unquote draft experts could be quite
wrong with their draft boards.

Speaker 3 (24:21):
Well, and that's the thing, and I think that's where
your pre draft interviews really play a role in what
player you take. And this obviously is maybe a little
bit more relevant as tonight goes on, once you get
into the second, third round and then tomorrow morning, fourth, fifth, sixth,
and seventh. But those pre draft interviews is where you
really get to know a kid. And all of these

(24:42):
kids are talented, there's no question about that. They've got
enough skill to play at this level. But are they
good guys? Are they good guys off the ice? Do
you want them in your locker room? If the answer
is yes, then you're gonna take that guy over somebody
who seems like he's a little bit too arrogant, like
he's playing for himself, like you're not really a huge

(25:03):
fan of his character. Right, that's where those details come
into play, where the for sure stars are gone. Now,
let's try to find the skill guys that can that
can help us, and and if they're great guys off
the ice, we are more likely to take them than
other guys who are available.

Speaker 6 (25:20):
Yeah, that's a great point. It's about the fit. Do
they fit in the room, do they fit on the ice?
Do they fit what you need? As far as an organization,
what type of players are looking for. Alex Koulaman goes
to the Kingston fronten Necks, which is the son of
former Toronto maple Leaf nicolaikulhim and make you feel really old.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
There's a name.

Speaker 1 (25:35):
And the Niagara Ice Dogs are on the clock.

Speaker 6 (25:37):
So we're gonna get their pick here shortly, should hear it,
you know, coming up very shortly here, So the Ice
Dogs are on the clock at tenth overall, all forwards
have gone so far, technically six centers and three wingers,
but again that could all change when they get to
their respective teams.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
But Toronto Toronto kids are starting to get picked. After
the first three outside of Toronto, the last six have
come from some GTHL team. We've got the Red Wings,
the Titans Junior Canadians and the and the Don Mill
fly DoD Mill's Flyers with the last two picks.

Speaker 6 (26:09):
Yeah, last to first round picks for the Ice Dogs.
Brady Watt. We hear the clapping now, so pick should
be coming in for the Niagara Ice Dogs. Brady Woslin
went fourth overall to the Ice Dogs last year and
then the season before that, the Ice Dog selected Ryan
Roebricks second overall and Ethan's out of fifth overall, so.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
Give us a second here thingness Suspats.

Speaker 6 (26:44):
Ryerson Edgar is the newest Niagara Ice Dogs from the
York Simcoe Express with the tenth overall selection the twenty
twenty five OHL Draft from Holland Landing, Ontario.

Speaker 3 (26:57):
Thirty two games, he's got sixty points, thirty three goals,
twenty seven assists. Another center, a guy that's probably gonna
again end up on the wing in in year number one.
That's just the uh, just the way things go. But
you know, for for the Ice Dogs, they've got a
nice solid forward group right now. You know, I think

(27:19):
we were talking beforehand that you know, a d might
be a might be a good option. Now, just looking
at the future, you might want to get that next
stud defenseman for your organization. But I also think it's
tough to ignore a guy that scores thirty three goals
in thirty two games. So for the Ice Dogs, this
guy's got a lot a lot of room to grow. Obviously,
five ten seven, he's got a full full summer to

(27:42):
grow and get a little bit stronger coming into training
camp in the fall. But but for the Ice Dogs,
I think this just makes your forward group that much deeper.
It it helps you in the in the dog days
of January and February when you start to make the
playoff push, and you know that's post deadline. So whether
you've cleared space for the young guys, whether you've added

(28:04):
to kind of help mentor these young guys, I think
this is a This is a solid pick for the
Ice Dogs. He's going to be part of the all
name team one day. Ryerson Edgar, I love that name.
But yeah, I think I think this pick works out
really well. And again it goes back to character. If
he's a good character guy and you want him in
the room, then that trumps everything. You can teach him

(28:26):
how to play hockey at this level, but you can't
teach him to be a good person. So so well,
of course we'll find that out when he when he
comes to the Meridian Center and we meet him for
the first time. But yeah, I solid pick for the
Ice Dogs here at.

Speaker 6 (28:38):
Ten, Yeah, I like it a lot so far. Again,
all centers have gone and even Brayden Bennett goes to
the Sudbury Wolves at eleventh. Overall, continuing the string of
forwards here and again solid stats the season sixty points
in thirty two games, thirty three goals for a York
simco team in the OMHA. Again, we'll have to wait

(28:59):
and see, but that's the Ice Dogs pick until the.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
Third round after music.

Speaker 6 (29:03):
For that I do not have an entrance to music
for the head coach, but unfortunately I do have his
graphic though, so hey, there we go. We're pleased to
welcome the head coach of the niag Or Ice Dogs,
mister Ben Boudreau, to the episode and to the live stream. Coach.
Thanks for coming on. I know if you know this,
it's a bittersweet because you don't want the season to
end as it did last week. But at the same time,

(29:24):
you're going to be adding another name to your lineup
card here with Ryerson Edgar, and we're gonna learn more
about that young man as we go forward, and you'll
probably meet him tomorrow. But again, does a day like
this excite you from a coaching perspective for when you're
adding some young guys to your junior hockey team.

Speaker 9 (29:40):
Well, one hundred percent, And even before we get to
the hockey portion, I was really thinking, you guys are
going to introduce.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
Me Ah John Cena.

Speaker 9 (29:51):
Walk in music here sorry, I pulled that up on
my phone, legendary.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
I thought you guys were going to tee that one.
I actually next year, I'll make sure I have. Yeah. Yeah, Sorry.

Speaker 9 (30:04):
We just ended up, you know, completing our first round
pick for next year, which is really exciting. I just
got a text from a really trusted family friend who's
also a general manager in the Junior A Loop and
he said, great kid, great family, and unreal pick at ten.
So you know, you watch the Ohl Cup, you see
a lot of things, but the biggest attribute to this

(30:26):
guy that I think is going to add to the
lineup is the fact that he shoots right. Having never
met him, never spoke to him yet, which is always
something that you look forward to. But just the fact
that I think he had thirty three goals and thirty
two games of you know he's going to go in great.
But you look at the left side, Kevin he and
Ryan Rubric, I mean, those guys are pretty sure on

(30:49):
their left side. So to be able to get somebody
that shoots right and can compliment that right side is
I just think is a really really really big pick
from the management here to add to the organization.

Speaker 3 (31:00):
Yeah, when you talk about centerment, a lot of organizations
will kind of push them to the wing and you know,
let's easy into the league. Are you kind of under
that same philosophy? Are you if you played center, we're
going to throw you right into the fire.

Speaker 9 (31:12):
Well, I mean, you know, it's it's tough until you
get to know everybody, but I mean it's it's a
lot easier to play the wing at sixteen years old
than it is to play center. And you know, there's
a lot more defensive responsibilities. I mean, the game you
have to worry about so much more. Where you know,
a guy like Ryan Rubrick, you know, spent two years
playing the center and as a young kid coming in
wanted to go to the wing. And obviously it's stuck

(31:34):
setting twenty eight goals forty one goals. I mean, you know,
you move into the wing, found a position, so you know,
to have versatility. Matthew Parris was a centerman that you
ended up pushing too the wing that became, you know,
a viable centerman and when you need someone to take
face offs, they're there. So I think in having that versatility,
you know, as a right shot to be able to
play both, I mean, you've got still when you look

(31:54):
at the lineup, you've got Max Creed and kell Yanov
and Zada and Acidorian and you know, all these guys
can still play the middle for next year. And that's
before you add any European picks or anything along those lines, right,
and see what the market's like for a lot of
these other teams too.

Speaker 1 (32:09):
So you know, just the fact that to have a.

Speaker 9 (32:12):
Verse, versatile forward on the right side, you know, it's
whether he plays the middle or on the right side,
I think is really important. And then when you look
at you know, the power play, I mean you look
at all the top scorers on the power play, alex Asidorian,
Kevin he Ryan, Rubric Brady was and Ethan Zoda. Oh wait,
they all shoot left you know. And then the only
other guys that are that are forwards, uh you know,

(32:34):
is is Matthew Parris. And you know, the versatile It's
tough to run five lefties on a power play. And
that's something that you know, we we had in year
one and and year two, even though we you know,
finished a pretty atop the league. You know, it's great
to have that that versatility when you can have righty's
and lefties. So just the fact that he shoots right

(32:55):
is a huge addition to this organization. The fact where
you know his character traits are well known the hockey
community is first and foremost before the fact you know
he can skate, shoot past, doesn't matter what he has
in his hand. You know, coming into this organization of
this community, were starved for obviously some great character kids.
And I think just based on what I've heard from
him so far about him without ever having a conversation,

(33:17):
it makes you really excited to meet this young individual.

Speaker 6 (33:20):
Ice Dog's head coach Ben Boudros with us on the
live stream again. The Ice Dogs just picking Ryerson Edgar
Center from the yorksim Co Express with the tenth overall pick.
The Ice Hugs will pick again in the third round.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
Coach.

Speaker 6 (33:30):
Last year was kind of your first process in this.
I know you had spoken to us. This has kind
of been your first draft process last season. What did
you learn from that process that you're going to take
with you going into this draft process as far as
you know, getting to know the guys, as far as
how this it's a long two days here and it's exciting,
but again it's going to be a long time before
you get guys on the ice once again. So how

(33:51):
do you kind of level yourself at your excitement and
know that there's still a lot of work to be
done in the off season.

Speaker 9 (33:56):
Oh, I remember, you know, the excitement Max Creed and
Brady was and was a surefire, you know, future superstar
in this league and hopefully the NHL as well to
projected first rounder next year and top ten obviously, you know,
and the excitement of going to draft him and then
seeing them on the ice, and I thought Max creating
Brady wasn't were the two standout players in the camp.
And you know, you see, Brady was instead of a

(34:19):
franchise record for most assists, it's a third year in
a rowsa rookie has come in instead of franchise record.
And Max Creed, I mean, you know, I think he
had eleven goals in the first twenty some odd games,
you know, going up to Christmas obviously kind of you know,
fell off a bit. But I mean, these these two
sixteen year olds came in and had an impact for
our organization right away. And you know, I know, we

(34:39):
don't have a third round pick, or we don't pick
again until the third round, so that first round pick,
if he can even come close to bringing the impact
that any any rookie here or any first year players
come over the last two three years and been impactful
on a team that should be older, that should be stronger,
that should be faster, you know, a little bit of
better for a young guy to come in. It's exciting

(35:02):
because the young guys have had impacts and I think,
you know, just based on where we're at as a team,
he's going to be given every single chance to have
success with us. So you know, it just matches up
with everything that we're we're thinking right there. He's a
he's a great kid. Like I said, the characteristics just
so on my phone blew up here within the last
five time minutes, just based on our pick. Makes you

(35:22):
very excited to meet him and his family learn more
about him. But as far as hockey, I mean, yeah,
we just ended, but you can't wait to get a
going here with you know what what we have in future?

Speaker 3 (35:32):
Say when when does? And obviously when probably when you
meet him and start to have those conversations. But the
expectations for for the summer for a brand new guy
that you just drafted, is that immediate as soon as
you talk to him and be like, hey, we drafted
you for this, We've laid out sort of a plan
for you. Is that like within the next week that
starts that process.

Speaker 9 (35:52):
To be honest, we've I didn't know who we had
until ten minutes ago, right and you know, every as
soon as I knew it, I said, you know, the
two VIPs and the theater room right now, we've got
to go give some insight too over there. But you know,
when when we finish here, it's you know, this is
a great moment for for any kid to get drafted today.
I mean, that's what they work about it. It's the
pressure is on them. It's a moment that they should

(36:14):
be able to enjoy with their family. They're loved ones,
there's no question. And then you know, the excitement comes
down and then you get to kind of roll in
and meet everybody and you know, see what the organization
and the people you know in the organization facilities. I mean,
it's a really really exciting time. So you know you
want to do step A, then step B, then step C.
You don't want to you know, skip any kind of
steps in that process because again it's it's not until

(36:36):
late August until training camp starts, and there will be
a million things that happened before that, so you know,
enjoy enjoy it right now, get excited. You know, can't
wait to see you know, the young kids at rookie
camp and see where we're at with everybody, and like
I said, take it one step out of time. And
you know after that, the priority for any young player,
whether you're nineteen twenty or whether you're fifteen entering the
league is you know, how how can you get your

(36:58):
body in shape to be at the very best once
the season rolls around.

Speaker 6 (37:02):
And I know you haven't had a lot of time
to reflect yet, coach, just the season ended last week.
But you know, when you look back at what you
guys accomplished this year, he talked about, you know, playoffs
period was the number one goal going in the season.
You know, you had the development of some of your
great young players. Kevin he got drafted, became your captain.
You had Ryan Robert take a big step. It's going
to be all the eyes on him next year as
well as Brady Wassl and Ethan Zod is going to

(37:24):
have his name called this June. You have that young
nucleus that you're gonna have to continue to build around
obviously losing some some pretty significant over ageres and Losco,
Van Vleid and Flores, But just how excited are you
for what's to come for this organization and getting that
taste of playoffs and the fan base and the community
was so excited for those two games, and you talked

(37:45):
about it at you know, at length about how proud
you are to be from this region and just in
general as you've had time to kind of reflect, one
looking back on it and two looking ahead to what's
to come.

Speaker 9 (37:57):
Yeah, looking back, you know, I mean, I mean you
can focus on some of the negatives or you can
really highlight a lot of the positives. And there were
positives and there were negatives, there's no question. Just before
even get going, I mean, the support from the community
has been unbelievable. I mean, starting with the mayor of
Matt Cisco, just personally, I mean, he's always given me
words of encouragement, met with me throughout the year just

(38:18):
to talk. And he's a season ticket holder fan that's
always been watching. And so you have the support of
the mayor, the city, you know, the constituents for the businesses, downtown.
The same thing for me personally. We've had a family
hockey school here going into our forty third year that
my dad started in eighty two. So you know, everybody
that we've met along the way you see out in
the community. I've got young kids in the hockey rink,

(38:39):
whether you're picking up at Tim Horton's. I mean, people
love to talk about the ice dogs, and you know,
the part of the process, so it started last year,
was you know, when I took over, you know, fifteen
games into the season, we talked about kind of stripping
it down and starting from square one. We did, and
we saw us trade away Zachary Lavoy and you know
as Soba lev and those guys in order to gain

(39:00):
draft picks to get better in my first full season,
and we did. We use some of those draft picks
to go and acquire no E Van Vliet and Sean
Doherty and you know, we made some moves to get
Jack Browdy obviously, and so you know, some of the
things that the management did in year one really paid
dividends in year two. And that's part of the process
is you know, getting these young guys, putting them in
a position to have success. And you could see how

(39:22):
much Zoda and Rubric and Galliano played in year one
in our struggles and how successful they were obviously in
year two, and then you know that boils over into
year three and then year four, and that's what happens
when you have a young nucleus and so Galliana, let's
turn in eighteen. Maybe one of the more underrated players.
Ethan Zoda is a projected fiftieth overall. I mean, Ryan
Rubric maybe the second overall NHL draft pick, if not

(39:45):
the first, you know, I mean, his ceiling is incredible.
Kevin coming back as a nineteen year old, should he
not make the NHL, which we all hope he would,
but you know, crazier things have happened. You get sent
down back to your OHL team. I mean some of
the al ways that we still have, and you got
Weisik and Browdie and Virgilia and Chinowski, and you got
your European spots available. I mean, you keep doing these steps,

(40:09):
and that's what progression is. And when you outline a plan,
year one might be painful, year two is going to
be better, year three is going to be the best,
or year four, that's when everybody is in bloom and
that's when your your window that's cyclical, a little bit
comes in and.

Speaker 1 (40:23):
You say, now we're in a position to win.

Speaker 9 (40:25):
Now, the young guys that we've molded with the character
are going to be in a position to dominate at
eighteen and nineteen years old, you know, before they get
into their pro careers here. So you know, I think
we're on track with with where we're at on the
ice and going from twelve wins in year one of
the d Dobbler ownership into seventeen wins in year two
and now obviously and then we had twenty two before

(40:47):
the Christmas break, which which was a franchise record and
obviously the tale of two seasons, and we.

Speaker 1 (40:52):
Only won seven after that.

Speaker 9 (40:54):
But yeah, we're taking steps and I think that's the
biggest thing to take recognition of. And amongst those steps
came a lot of first this year was you know,
franchise record before Christmas, first time that we swept a
northern road trip, we had two players or first time
we had somebody drafted, and I think in six seasons,
Kevin he we had two players signed to NHL contracts.

(41:17):
We had I think eight players minimum reached their personal
best statistically this year. You know, Flora is he I
know't yeah, Kevin he with Points and Rubric and Zoda
and I mean you know the Virgilio and Browdie and
you know the list goes on and on for guys.
So I mean, these are all guys that you're getting
back with your with your nucleiss So it makes it

(41:39):
very exciting just to know that you're you know, you're
taking steps and if you can drown out some of
the negativity, the noise that's been made about the off ice.
I mean, things are things are really good to be
an igor ice dogs as far as the talent pool
that we have, and you know, my job is to
lead them water, lead them to the water and hopefully
they end up drinking it.

Speaker 6 (41:59):
Ice Dog's head coach Boudrus with us. Reci'll give you
the final question for the coach for we let him go.

Speaker 3 (42:03):
Yeah, I mean you mentioned if Kevin he's back, if
he doesn't make the NHL. Obviously we want to see
these kids succeed. That's essentially at the end of the day,
the jobs of the coaching staff front office is to
get these kids to the next level. I know, Gwelph
Storm fans have been frustrated over the last couple of seasons.
They lose Patrus to Boston, Luchenko starts in Philadelphia, obviously
comes back, but yeah, again, the grand scheme of things

(42:25):
is it starts on a day like today where you
do develop these guys hoping they get to the next
level sooner rather than later. So personally, how much pride
you take in just that part of your gig is
to get them to the next level. Well it was.

Speaker 9 (42:38):
You know, it's really emotional when you lose, you know,
your last game of the season. And I've only been
lucky enough in my professional career to win the last
game of the season once with the championships, and so
you know, when you when you have to say goodvice,
it's really tough. But it's it's because you build relationships
with these these kids, the staff members every single day,
going through the grind, the ups and down, sharing the

(42:58):
highs and lows. And one of those players, Andre Losco,
came over from the queue. But he's bela Russian. I
mean he's without his mom and dad, you know, any
family members. You know, he's got a girlfriend. The kid
is just an unbelievable human being, salt of the earth,
and for everything that he gave us, ended up fifth
in the OHL and power play goals. I mean, we
wouldn't be the team we were without him. And we

(43:19):
knew that Seattle was in the building all year. We
met with their guys and had no idea if he
was going to sign, but knowing you know, the difference
between signing his NHL contract because his window was closing
or you know, forcing the inevitable, what do you do?
You know, the NC double A he never signed an
option with and so he's looking at you know, is
my time in North America done because he didn't sign

(43:41):
his NHL contract or is he going back home to
Belarus and the unknown? And you know, our season ends up,
you know, losing out in the first round, and he
still has no indication what he wants to do. So
you know, a very heartfelt hey, we're going to follow you,
we love him, support you. Only to find out the
next day that he signed a his first NHL contract
for three years, and just knowing what it means to
him and his girlfriend and his family after being through

(44:03):
the battle, those are moments you can't replace. And I
mean you know, to I shed a tier. To be honest,
I'm not trying to make it seem anything more than
it is. But you're happy for the kids because you
know what's on the table and you know how they're
you know, at least their journey is going to start,
and it's a great head start in life. And you know,
working with Dan Pie Stanley Cup winner every single day,

(44:24):
you see how the journey starts and then it's up
to them.

Speaker 3 (44:26):
To take it.

Speaker 9 (44:27):
But everywhere you go, you say, that's a Stanley Cup
winner and Dan Pie and no matter where that kid
Losh Goo or you know, Kevin Key, it doesn't matter.
They're not going to take those accomplishments away from them.
And you know that's their next step is to make
the NHL, but to get them to that place to
sign the contract. I mean, those those two stories with
Kevin and Andre this year are probably some of the

(44:49):
more special ones. And you know it's because you know,
we watched Kevin get drafted and first one, and it's
going to be the same thing with Ethan's odda to
see him drafted fifth overall and go from the watch
list at the start of the year to all of
a sudden, you know, he could possibly be a late
first rounder, as you know, just an incredible thing. And
you share these stories with these kids, so it's really

(45:09):
really exciting, you know, to see the possibilities of what
could be anybody that dawned Niger Ice Dog's jersey, and
there's a lot of those stories. So for me, I
take a lot of pride and seeing the personal achievements.
And we've said team success will bring individual success, and
we had a successful team this year on the ice
so it's good to see some of those individual rewards
get to pass on to the kids.

Speaker 6 (45:30):
Yeah, and you talked about breaking the last dealing with
Kevin he and you guys are able to do that
now just spiraling, you know here snowball effect with Roebrick
and Zada Wastl and Crete maybe as well so with
that Ice Dog's head coach Ben Boudreau. Ben, thanks so
much for the time, not only today for the great insight,
but all season long, you know, coming out after you know,
some tough games and some great moments. It was you know,

(45:53):
an in interesting season season to say the least. But
really appreciate your time, your honesty and you're always one
two uh, there you go. There's your John Cena exit
exit music as well. But uh, coach, thanks a lot.
And final words, what's on the dock at to see
this off season golfer?

Speaker 1 (46:13):
What are you gonna be doing with the kids?

Speaker 9 (46:14):
To be honest, Uh, I mean The Masters is on
right now, so it's great watching it from the couch.
But I I don't like being stagnant. I want to
stay involved in in the game as much as possible.
I've I'm working for a company that's got me going
to four different places in the States, Den Versus Lake, Nashville,
Virginia Beach do some presentations on hockey. I'm headlining as

(46:36):
a speaker conference for a local real estate company, Revel,
you know, in a in a couple of tuesdays, I'm
doing a Brock presentation with TJ over there. So we
got hockey schools lined up. It's uh, you know, when
the one thing is it's like, oh, do you want
to rest? No, I am born to be involved in hockey,
and I they said, you know, I remember being asked

(46:57):
a question, well, you want to get to the NHL,
what do you want to do? And I said, I
don't care if I'm a janitor. I just wanted to
get there at one point, and you know, it's because
it's feel extremely lucky to be fortunate to do what
I do for a living. But that's it's not because
it's something that you're being forced to. This is a passion.
And when when you work like this in the industry,

(47:18):
I mean, you never consider it a day day of work.
I'm not sure what's that saying. What's come on?

Speaker 3 (47:22):
Help me out? When uh, you never consider you work
a day. Enjoy what you're doing. You never work a day.

Speaker 9 (47:27):
And that's that's what Hey, good wingers right there. I
appreciate you guys. Help you, we got you. But that's
that's what I got lined up. But I'm not gonna lie.
I got some golf plans there too.

Speaker 6 (47:38):
The journey never stops and uh yeah, the fire, the
fire is always burning. So uh, coach, thanks so much,
Enjoy the summer and look forward to seeing this team
back on the ice in the fall.

Speaker 9 (47:47):
You're telling me appreciate having me.

Speaker 6 (47:49):
That was Ice Dog's head coach Ben Boudreau here with
us on the OHO Draft live stream again. Uh, very
exciting times for the Niagara Ice Dogs' take quick commercial
break or come back, and we're gonna get more reaction
as we go forward here on the draft shows. Just
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Speaker 1 (51:15):
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Speaker 10 (51:17):
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Speaker 3 (51:19):
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Speaker 10 (51:21):
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Speaker 6 (51:38):
Okay, so we have to pick, but it was hard
to hear. Cayden Bell, right defenceman. We called it there
you go, Here we go, right defenseman five foot eleven
from Scarborough, Ontario from the Don Mills Flyers U sixteen.
Caden Bell is the newest Niagara ice dog.

Speaker 3 (51:54):
Shoots right. I know he's a defenceman, but he shoots right.
So yeah. He had a good season for the Don
Mills Flyers. He had twenty nine points, ten of those
were goals in thirty two games. He was a Junior
Canadian in twenty twenty three twenty twenty four, moving over
to Don Mills in twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five.

(52:17):
I love the pick. You know, we talked about how
much we want a defenseman, but I want an experienced
defenseman for this Ice Dogs team. Next year. You still
need to have that next group come up through the
system five to eleven. So he's got a little bit
of height at fifteen years old, you expect him to
get I mean he's point seven to five away from

(52:37):
six feet. I fully expect him to get to six
feet come August or September. But yeah, I love the pick.
I think I think this worked out really well for
the Ice Dogs in this in this first day of
the draft. They get they get a right shot up front.
Now they get a right shot on the back end.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
Right shots are always valuable. It's just seems like left handers.

Speaker 6 (53:00):
In baseball, there's yeah, yeah, they're just even if you're
not a very good left handed reliever, your value because there.

Speaker 1 (53:08):
Just aren't as many. Yeah, the same thing with right
shot defense. We've see in the NHL.

Speaker 6 (53:11):
How many times in the trade deadline do we see
you know guys that you thought, wow, you can get
a draft pick for that guy because he's a right shot.

Speaker 3 (53:17):
Yep. Yeah. And that's the thing, like a lot of
people say, well, when was the last Daily Cup champion
that you saw that had all one sided shot on
the on their team. Well, the two thousand and eight
Detroit Red Wings had all left shot defenseman. Now Nick
Lincherm was on that team, so it's a little different.
But yeah, it's it's not common as much as we

(53:42):
would think it would be. So I again, I can't
say enough good things the Ohl Cup. He had eight
points in seven games, split between goals and assists four
and four. And he's got a little bit of an edge.
Thirty two penalty minutes in thirty seven games. I mean
that was two years ago, but they this year was
more eight and thirty two, so that's a little bit

(54:02):
more more disciplined. Might have been something that he looked
to work on coming into the draft, but I like it.
I think the Ice Dogs. I think the Ice Dog's got.

Speaker 10 (54:11):
It right here in round three.

Speaker 6 (54:12):
Yeah, again, that's what we were looking at defense in
this area because that's kind of where they've gone the
last few years. If you're based off of their strategy
with going with a defenseman in the second and third round,
and that's definitely something that the Ice Dogs will look
at and maybe he's able to crack the lineup. If not,
you know, seventh eighth defenseman, or starts somewhere else. We
see how many times we see guys, you know, take

(54:34):
a year to develop or marinate, either in the OJ
or the GOJHL or one of those leagues like that.
You know, whether that's gonna be the case for Caden Bell,
We'll have to wait and see. But you don't have
to rush them in, which the Ice Dogs have had
to do with the last couple of years worth of
draft classes because they were rebuilding their roster from top
to bottom.

Speaker 3 (54:53):
Yeah. Yeah, you can go somewhere and get the reps,
get normal reps, play on the top pairing, second pairing,
whatever the case might be. Maybe get some power playtime.
The big thing for a lot of these young guys
are just getting the reps, and whether it be here,
whether it be somewhere else, won't really make a huge difference.

Speaker 6 (55:11):
Ryerson Edgar and then most recently with their third round
selection forty ninth overall right, defenseman Caden Bell. And we're
pleased to welcome on our second guest of the evening tonight.
Head coach Ben Vujo joined us earlier, and now we're
pleased to welcome on the general manager of the Niagara
Ice Dogs Wes CONSORTI Wes, thanks a lot for joining
us today. I know tonight and tomorrow are going to

(55:32):
be definitely exciting but hectic days for you and your staff.
First off, you know, do you enjoy the draft process.
You've been through now three of them here in Niagar.
You know, are these kind of days that you circle
on the calendar as a you know, exciting days.

Speaker 4 (55:45):
Yeah. I think it's super exciting just for the players,
you know, full marks to the scouting staff all their
work throughout the year, so it's a nice payoff, and
you know, for their friends and family, Like these guys
aren't just playing for themselves. They got a lot of
people back home and a lot of buddies following them
all the way up and to see, you know, the
payoff for them as well on Friday Saturdays is pretty enjoyable.

(56:09):
Making phone calls and just being a part of their
hockey journey and it's just nice to see. It's just
part of the circle of hockey and we're just happy
to be a part of it.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
How much do you enjoy seeing the guys come into
the facility, big smile on their face, they put on
the jersey the hat for the first time. How much
fun is that? Maybe the best part of the whole
process is just to see that.

Speaker 4 (56:32):
Yeah, I think, you know, when they first get drafted,
I think it's a different feeling from when they actually
come in and they see the room and then you know,
some have some haven't. But just to get a feel of,
you know, the community around the team and you know,
meeting all the staff and the scouts and some of
the players maybe stopping by, but I would think it
sinks in a little bit more, just giving a little

(56:54):
more comfort. But yeah, it's great just to see and
the excitement. You can really see it. It's nice to
see the parents and and whoever they want to bring.
It's it's just nice to see and it's just an
exciting time for them, and we're just happy to be
a cog in the and the wheel for them.

Speaker 6 (57:10):
Nigrece Dog general manager West contorties with us WES. I
know that the season just ended last week, so it's
you know, still still fresh. But now as you look
ahead to the off season, how how did you assess
the season? Obviously, some some things went well for you,
some things didn't, especially in the second half, and you know,
trying to work through some some on and ice on

(57:30):
and off ice things that your organization has continued to
try to work through and build. When you're building up
an organization from the bottom up, as you've done the
last two seasons, how much do you view this as
a successful season and how much more do you obviously
have to do in the off season because the you're
losing some key players and you know that there will
be probably some moves that you'll have to make to
round out a roster and to be a competitive team

(57:52):
next season.

Speaker 4 (57:53):
Yeah, I mean, anytime you lose is tough, no matter
if it's in the finals, the first round, you know,
it's it's uh. Seeing the look on the guys faces
after we were eliminated is a very hard thing to
do and hard. It's just a hard day for everybody,
no matter which round. And yeah, I have some good
spots throughout the year. I thought, you know, some good

(58:15):
individual success from a lot of guys. You know, we're
happy to see some guys move on and sign deals
and the guys returning. There's a hunger there, there's some
more experience, there's you know, more preparation, that they know
they need to take. So yeah, I think it's just
a good time just to reflect for these guys, Uh,

(58:36):
take some time off. Well some can, some can't with
the U eighteens, but yeah, we're just you know, trying
to build off this year obviously, try to make it
you know, even a game further next year, or a
round further or two rounds further. It's always something that
we're very conscious of and you know, it's just good
to get the playoff experience for our young guys and

(58:59):
see what we can do next year.

Speaker 3 (59:01):
Number ten take take Ryerson, Edgar Centerman five ten one
five seven. What was so intriguing about him at number ten?

Speaker 4 (59:08):
Yeah, I mean we had him ranked higher, So I
mean someone we kept an eye on throughout the whole year,
someone that we kind of thought would be in that
range for us, and as we saw the picks you know,
knocking off, he was someone just getting closer and closer
and compliments our team. While high end skill, great shot,

(59:29):
good instincts, you know overall, you know, a good player
who can come in and make an impact in major
junior and someone that I think the community is going
to be excited to see and I think our current
players too will appreciate the high end skill level that
he's got to, you know, just to compliment what we

(59:52):
already have up front.

Speaker 6 (59:53):
Yeah, on the right shot, which is obviously coveted as well.
Can move from center to wing left to wait and
see there. But I was just talking about for the
break West, about the projected lineup and how your kind
of depth chart is working out. You've got nine or
ten between the seven, eight and now nine draft classes.
How big and important were these last three draft classes

(01:00:15):
for the organization when you bring in so many guys,
the the the Roe Bricks, the Zadas, the Wastln's, the Creeks,
the Hotlesses, the Aerosmith that you got in the trade
is an O seven and then you know bringing in
an O nine here in Edgar, Like, how important was
it after you know, trying to go for it that
first year, you guys were here to really rebuild and

(01:00:35):
build through the draft to make sure it's a stable
organization year in and year out.

Speaker 4 (01:00:39):
Well, I you know, it's the only way is through
the draft, and it's your own guys. You know, you
get them in here when they're young, you can really
see who they are right away and get get to
know you know, what makes them tick early on and
how to adjust to that, and you know, get them
involved in the community right away, get their schooling in

(01:01:01):
right away, just make them feel a part of the team,
and then the whole team concept right away as a
first or second year guy whenever they do come in.
So we've been very fortunate to have high, high end
talent players coming in this organization. You know where we
picked with Ryan and Ethan and Brady and Max and

(01:01:24):
it's been it's been a good thing to see and
their success. And we're hoping that the next wave can
come in and recognize you know, when they do come
in how you know, I want to say how hard
it is, but just how you know, what kind of
work you got to put in. You know, the guys
that already hear like they they work and they off
the ice and on the ice, it's it's there. You know,

(01:01:46):
they want to take it seriously. They want to make
to the next level, and you know this is the
environment to do it.

Speaker 3 (01:01:51):
When you when you look at Ryerson and and realistically
any player that you're looking to bring in through the draft,
you can teach them how to play the game of hockey.
You can teach them how to skate and play nag
or ice dog's hockey, But when you look at the
person for any GM, how much does that go in
to the decision to take somebody?

Speaker 4 (01:02:13):
Yeah, I mean character drives your room. Being a good
teammate his paramount and and players recognize if you're not,
and when you are, people gravitate to you. We've seen
it with numerous guys, especially our young guys, and these
are the guys that you can can win with. And
you know, we feel we have a group in there

(01:02:34):
right now with our core that can make that jump,
and we feel he's a Ryerson's right there with him.
And I would be pretty excited to sit down and
see Ryan Rubrick and Ethan's at and Brady Watson in
the dressing room. So that's something that not many teams
can say they got and anyone coming in like these

(01:02:55):
are big time guys and and just to see them,
you know, every day and and they're what they do
every day is would be pretty important to me.

Speaker 6 (01:03:03):
You've been very busy over the last three seasons on
Night One with first, second and third round picks, no
second this year, so was picking Caden Bell with your
third round pick forty ninth overall because you didn't have
a second Did that sort of change the philosophy, change
your style and really hone in on that third round
pick of being somebody that addressed a need or just

(01:03:24):
best player available? Kind of what were you guys thinking there?

Speaker 4 (01:03:27):
I did think that more d would go earlier, But
you know, Cait and Bell were happy to have great
hockey player, good defenseman, mobile, makes good decisions, shoots, right,
I mean that's important to us. That's just the way
it is. But yeah, we're again that's a someone we
thought would be off the board a little earlier, but

(01:03:48):
we're more than happy to having a night ice dogs
Jersey for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:03:52):
Sorry.

Speaker 6 (01:03:53):
Reese quickly follow up to that about Cad and Bill
had an opportunity to play at the Ohl Cup, Like,
how much stock do you put in the those guys
being able to go to a big tournament like that?
Did did you see guys stocks kind of rise from
that tournament, because again it's only a small sample size,
but it seems like it's the biggest tournament of the
minor hockey year as opposed to their their seasons. But

(01:04:13):
when when a guy goes and plays at a tournament
like the Ohl Cup and you get a better look
at him, you know, in a in a high pressure
tournament like that. Does that kind of weigh in your
decision as well?

Speaker 3 (01:04:23):
Well?

Speaker 4 (01:04:23):
I would use caution with you know, you know, using
a tournament like that to make a decision on a guy.
I mean a lot of these players have played ninety games,
eighty games, and you gotta be careful going into that
and making a snap decision or recency bias or anything
like that. And that's just you know, the body of
work from the scouts throughout the year. Two three bad

(01:04:45):
games isn't gonna in our opinion, change a change a
draft position, you know, by numerous spots or rounds on
a guy like these guys that played a lot of
hockey and the body of work is what's important. So yeah,
and especially a team like it, it's like they you know,
finals every turn and almost and lots of games and
long season for them. But yeah, body work has been

(01:05:08):
outstanding for him pert year. So I'm just happy to
see that.

Speaker 3 (01:05:11):
How have you been able to adjust the way you
think based off of the fact that guys can go
to the NC double A. Now a lot of guys
people out there on social media saying, oh, what if
the guy has gone after two years when he can
go to college at eighteen? Like how how big of
a change is that in your philosophy as a general manager,
the fact that they can go to the States.

Speaker 4 (01:05:31):
Now, yeah, I mean it's just got to almost adapt
or die to it. You have to accept the change
the landscape you're going to see. I think older players come,
you know, come in, which may shrink some roster you know,
roster spots. You know, kids saying that they will go
to the NC double A. That's great, fantastic. I totally

(01:05:52):
support that. But the avenue is major junior first. So
you know, if players want to say that, you know,
I'm going to school, I'm going to that, we are
totally fine with that. You know, it's a great path.
I was an NC double A player, and I think
it's an amazing opportunity for these guys to be able
to play major junior. If the NHL route, you know,

(01:06:12):
plan doesn't go to plan, they have the opportunity to
go to the n Cuba, which is fantastic. So there's
lots of ways to look at it. But the main
driver is, you know, the CCHL is the place to
play for these guys if you know, if they want
to go to the n C Double A after because

(01:06:34):
that's what schools are looking for as well.

Speaker 6 (01:06:36):
And last question for you here Wes general manager of
West CONSORTI the Niagara Ice Dogs. You talk about Day
two coming up tomorrow. We've seen that you guys have
signed players that maybe you took on later in Day
two and making sure that you know, even though that
players might not get taken on night one here, that
doesn't mean that they might not become impactful OHL players.

(01:06:56):
So how do you guys kind of work away at
that and when you do take a guy, for example,
as an eleventh, twelve, thirteenth round pick, that you still
give them enough encouragement to say, hey, you know, we've
signed some guys that you can look on the current
roster or the last couple of seasons that have been
signed and do become a HL players, And that you
just have to be ready to go whenever your name
is called. If you know, a knock on wood, injuries

(01:07:19):
don't happen, but they do, and you have to sign
players and make sure that they're ready to go, even
if they are guys that are taken later on day
two as opposed to the guys that go in the
top three rounds.

Speaker 4 (01:07:29):
Yeah, I mean it's it's a busy day tomorrow for sure.
Again going back to the work discouts to it throughout
the year, it's just kind of shifting through guys and
maybe see guys go a little further down that you think.
It's just a lot of just managing your lists and
seeing what's there. And it's an important time for them
too as well. You know, it's it's an exciting time

(01:07:50):
for them to any any round you're drafted, and I
think is you know, a privilege for these guys. So
busy day for sure, can get a little tense for
some guys for sure, But we're just going to trust,
you know, the work that's been put in all year
and and hopefully we see some guys that we have
in our in our range where we're picking and don't

(01:08:11):
have to do too much shuffling.

Speaker 6 (01:08:12):
Ni Grice Dock General Manager, Wes CONSORTI West thanks a
lot for joining us, you know, enjoy the rest of
the process here and I know you've got some work
to do in the off season as well, with with
maybe a couple moves and things like that, you know,
try to get out on the golf course a little bit,
hit the links, but the cap down, put the cap
down and enjoy yourself a little bit, because we all,
you know, put our heads down during the hockey season.

Speaker 1 (01:08:34):
But you know, really appreciate your time.

Speaker 6 (01:08:36):
Appreciate your time during the season for our monthly chats
with the general manager and uh, you know, best of
luck going into the off season.

Speaker 4 (01:08:42):
Yeah, happy, happy to you know, talk for a few
minutes and whatever you guys need.

Speaker 10 (01:08:47):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:08:48):
The future for the organization starts today, you know, the
teams that either didn't make the playoffs or or got
knocked out in round one. The twenty five twenty six
season starts today. Well realistically it started the day after
they stopped playing hockey, but in terms of events on
the calendar, this this starts the next season. This is

(01:09:08):
when you start to look ahead and start to plan
what your sixteen year olds mean to your team and
where they're gonna fit in. And and obviously when we
talked to Ben Budo, he said, I've only known this
guy for ten minutes that we were drafting him. So
you know, obviously got a little bit of research to do,
but it starts now. Ben said, he doesn't stop. It's

(01:09:30):
a continuous process throughout the entire season. I know Wes
is gonna be the same way. It's it's an it's
an important time for every franchise, but specifically for the
nagar Ice Dogs to get back to a winning culture
and get back to a constant appearance in the Ontario
Hockey League playoffs. So overall, they got the right shots,
they got a guy up front, and they got a

(01:09:52):
guy on the back end. I think it's a successful
day for the nag Ice Dogs franchise right now.

Speaker 6 (01:09:57):
Yeah, not having a second you kind of have to
adjust things there, and like you mentioned, a right shot
forward and a right shot defenseman, two guys that are
gonna obviously look to crack the lineup right at a
training camp. But again, you want to make sure there's
enough competition there where you don't have to throw sixteen
year olds in the lineup, which they've kind of had
to do over the last two or three seasons with
the rebuilding team. But Rece you know, I'll give you

(01:10:20):
final thoughts here as the Ice Dougs go into the
off season. We've talked about that length there over the
last three hours. We really appreciate everybody that's tuned in
either at some point or for the entire episode today.
But you know, as they go in the offseason, they're
gonna have to make a few moves here to really
round out this team, to make it to increase what
they did this year making it to the first round

(01:10:41):
of the playoffs and losing in five games as this
number seven seed. But if they don't want to go
through such a long losing streak like they did in
the second half of the year, what would be your
you know, outlook on the team as they head into
a very important offseason for a lot of their building
young core.

Speaker 3 (01:10:58):
Stay healthy. I know that out of a lot of
people's control, but that'll be a big thing. But I
think I think for them it's just, you know, kind
of try and block out the noise. I know there's
a lot of stuff obviously going around about some stuff
that's happened off the ice and the cultural review that's
going on, but honestly, don't even focus on that. You're

(01:11:19):
you're here to play hockey and that's it. You're obviously
here to be an ambassador for the Niagara Ice Dogs organization.
You're here to be in the community and and try
and make an impact off the ice. But in the
grand scheme of things, you're here to try and advance
yourself in the in the profession of hockey. And and
for these guys, well again one stay healthy, but to
stick to a plan. I think if you start to

(01:11:42):
deviate from what you originally had play doubt, then you
get into issues. So I think just stay the course.
You've got talent here there, there's no reason why this
team can't be in the playoffs next year. And to
be honest, compete for home ice. You got your you.
The Eastern Conference is gonna be wide open. Everybody knows
that it's it's gonna be a fire sale next year

(01:12:03):
in the Eastern Conference. A lot of teams are gonna
look to offload players, and if the Ice Dogs can capitalize,
that's that's obviously a benefit. But you don't necessarily have
to because the one seed might be up for grabs.
Brantford will be there. I think that's the only one
that's guaranteed. Because Ashwa's gonna sell, Brampton's gonna sell Sudbury. Okay, yeah,

(01:12:26):
who knows, But but you have teams that have to
sell next year and the Ice Dogs don't. They don't
they don't have to buy, but they don't have to
sell either. You know, it wouldn't surprise me if they
brought in another piece, But I think they have any
opportunity in the world next year to get home ice
in the first round of the playoffs. So you have
to come up with a plan. Coaches have to relay

(01:12:49):
the message clear enough to the players, and then you
have to stick to the plan all season long and
not and not deviate from it. And I think this
franchise will be fine.

Speaker 6 (01:12:56):
A couple of retooling moves here in there, and we'll
see what the offseason brings. We saw them revamped the
Decorps last offseason, and going into this season we might
not see maybe the complete overhaul, but definitely you know,
a couple guys to come in there to replace the
big shoes to fill of Noah van Vliet, Owen Flores
and the newly signed Andre Losch of the Seattle Krack

(01:13:16):
in which all those three gentlemen the best as they
move forward into pro hockey. But again they got a
taste of it in that first half of what success
could be like, and then he went through the trials
and tribulations of the second half. I think this is
gonna We're gonna look back on this season as an
important moment for everybody in the Niger Ice Doogs organization
of going through that success, going through that failure, and

(01:13:37):
coming out, you know, on the better side of it
the next couple of years, because again, this franchise and
this fan base has been dying to see a team
really go far with the Ice Dogs organization, and the
last three years of drafts have been fun to see
them kind of progress in that. But the twenty twenty
five OEHL Draft here for the niag Or Ice Dogs
live at the Meridian Center. We've got Ice Dog's director

(01:13:59):
of scouting, Adam Henrich with us. Adam, the draft just ended.
Exciting a couple of days, stressful couple of days, but
culminating what you guys have, all the work that you've
done this season. How happy are you with the whole
draft process, how it went your third time here and
Niagara doing this and with what you were able to
bring into the organization.

Speaker 10 (01:14:19):
Well, I think this year was different right, because we
had a first round pick where we had to you know,
make some big decisions, right, and we weren't sure you know,
up until draft time. He was in a fall into
our lap, right, So we were you know, we were lucky.
We were really happy to get Ryerson. You know, I've
watched him throughout the year. You know, there's a players
at the times we thought he could go you know
second or third overall, you know, or he could have

(01:14:40):
gone past us. So when he sort of fell into
our lap, like this is the player we need, right,
and you know watched him. He's a you know, a
two way skilled centerman, you know, right handed shot. You know,
he competes, you know, score, you know, does a little
bit of everything, right, So something different than what we've
had last few years to Brady and Ryan, you know,
adding that down the middle. So we were really happy

(01:15:00):
about that. And then you know, we didn't have the
second round pick, and then we got you know, Caden
Bell in the third right, just you know, he was
you know, we had him rated as a first rounder,
so you know we'd get a potential first round pick
as a you know, third rounder on the back of
their point score like that listen, our picks that we
had were guys that were were good, We're best available,

(01:15:22):
and that's what we went for, right and you know,
guys who could score goals, Guys who could provide from
you know, offensive firepower players that we've had like the
last few years, or to continue on with this team
right scoring goals, you know, competing two ways. And I
think you know, he looked at our first five, six,
seven picks that that's what we sort of you know,
went after. And you know we instant we got lucky.
We made made those decisions.

Speaker 6 (01:15:44):
Yeah, and you look at the roster now with adding
you know, a guy like Ryersonegger and katean Bell could
make the team right at right away, that's gonna be
nine or ten guys from the last three draft classes
that you guys have developed and grown into Niagarais dogs
from the seven's, the eights, and the nine. So what
have you seen from those three draft classes? And how
important was that from an organizational building standpoint to make

(01:16:06):
sure that you have that homegrown talent that's going to
lead your team throughout multiple years.

Speaker 10 (01:16:10):
Well, I think that's the thing too, Right, we've seen
the past, what's made it successful right, and I think
we've had that young fire power and we added to that.
That's the way I see it, right, best player available, right,
you know, trying to you know, you know, recognize players
who could you know, in all different departments. But you know,
like I said, kids score, goals, can point, produce, you know,

(01:16:32):
hunger in the pock, you know, competing stuff like that,
And that's what we got here too. You know, this
is Michael Tang at one hundred and fifty points sixty
five goals this year, like another guy who was you
know late, you know, and I you know, I used
to coach all these kids, so I know them, you know,
and I'm very confident Tyler Lee. Same thing. I mean,
that kid led Ontario and scoring. We get them the
sixth round trade of the Double A teams got them

(01:16:53):
in the first reund. Like sure, you know, people might
say stuff about the sizes and that, but I you know,
I knew this kid comes to the OHL in a
year or two. He's a hell of the player, right,
So you know, I was confident in that and I
could walk away saying, you know, we made the choices
that were best for the team, and with what we
saw the last few years, and I think it's only
going to be better.

Speaker 6 (01:17:14):
Yeah, and without having a second does that sort of
change the mentality of what you kind of have to do.
I know you were happy that Bell fell to the
third round, for you had him ranked as a late
first But when you're going through, sitting through the whole
second and you've got the nerves of wondering, Okay, is
somebody gonna take your guy when you don't have a
pick in the second round? Does that sort of change
things or is it just kind of the whole process
that you guys work through it.

Speaker 10 (01:17:33):
Does I think it makes it a little complicated. But
I think with this draft, everyone knew there was you know,
one to ten and then ten to forty, right, so
anyone and you saw there's players you know, able a
kid got tosen today by a team, Like there's players
that weren't on the board that you didn't even think about.
So I think that was the specialty of this year's draft.
You know, there was kids that some teams would have

(01:17:55):
taken the fourth roun some kids that might not even
be taken same player, right, So it's would you like,
who'd you recognize? Who'd you know? Projection stuff like that,
and that's what made it fun. You had to really
work hard to know your picks and you know, believe
in who you took, right.

Speaker 6 (01:18:09):
So, and then talking about some of those guys you
take on day two, it's not just about the guys
on day one, but you mentioned a couple of those
guys with later round picks, and those players could get signed.
You look at some current Niagara Ice Dogs that are
later round picks that do get signed. You look at
guys like Darcy to Watch or Finn Moffitt raphic dayana.
These are all guys that even though they were taken
later on day two, they're still guys that end up

(01:18:30):
being signed and end up you know, playing roles for
the Niagara Ice Dogs. So how important is that from
a developmental standpoint that you're making good picks later on
that could get signed if things happen.

Speaker 10 (01:18:39):
Yeah, I know, really important, right. I think that's you
know what we recognize. We also know we have a
roster and there might not be potential spots, but as
it gives these kids a chance of coming and earn
their stripes, earn their spots, right, make an impact. And
I think you know, when you draft players you're like, hey,
can they step in? Can they not? You know where
we projecting them. That's what we did as well today, right,
But I know, and I go back because I'm looking

(01:18:59):
at even our goalie right like these are you know,
he was a top two or three goalie. We got
solid hockey players who you know, can change a team,
you know, at any given time, right when they're ready.
And that's why, you know, I go back to the Kevin.
He's the Wahs and the Rubrics and the Max Creeds,
like we're just we're just going with it. Like in

(01:19:20):
a year or two, this team, he's tough to stop,
you know what I mean, So even next year, right,
So I'm really yeah, happy with it.

Speaker 6 (01:19:26):
Yeah, Ivan Galliano was one of your favorites as well.
You said it was the first round pick. You quickly
mentioned there Connor Haffner the only goaltender you took this
season or this ohl draft, fifth round ninety fifth overall
out of the Upper Canada Cyclones, which I believe is
Max Creaks, same team. So you probably got a good
look at him there. But what did you like from him?
And how important you know, building up through the goalies

(01:19:47):
again because obviously that's kind of been something that they
have to do. With Floras graduating and knowing that you
have Matt Humphreys in the pipeline and now with Connor Hafner.
How happy are you with those two goaltenders he've been
able to take the last two years.

Speaker 10 (01:19:58):
It's really happy. Cons guy who was size, he competes,
you know, he's very steady. Back then, you know what
with me as a goalie, you know, we try to
box our goalies four or five and we really liked him.
Connor was one of them and we got him. You know,
he carried that Outawa team. You know, he worked really hard,
but didn't have all the firepower. You know, he made
a lot of big says. We watch him throughout the
year and like you know, like I said to me,

(01:20:19):
he was a top top goalie and we got him.
So yeah, yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:20:23):
And then lastly, so going through the process now Ryerson Edgar,
what do you think the fans and that are going
to be excited about him? A guy that maybe center,
maybe wing, tenth overall pick going to be added to
this roster with this young nucleus. What would you tell
the Ice Dougs fan base, ab But what do you
expect from tenth overall pick Ryerson Edgar Rise.

Speaker 10 (01:20:41):
He can do everything right. He competes, he could score,
he can make plays, he can play the wing, he
can play center, you could skate. He's smart. So we
have a dynamic right handed forward. We're in the previous years.
You know, we've got a lot of lefties. You know,
you know we got a good writing right and I
think I said he can do everything and it's gonna
you know, he's in a coming away and contribute. He's
not shy. He gets to that. He makes plays the

(01:21:03):
lead on his team, and you know it's gonna he's gonna.
That's gonna translate to this league.

Speaker 6 (01:21:08):
Niger Ice Dog's director scouting Adam Henrich. Adam, thanks so
much for taking the time to join us. An exciting
time for you. Maybe you'll get a weak break, but
then you're right back into twenty ten draft class. But uh,
congratulations on a on a nine draft class and look
forward to seeing.

Speaker 1 (01:21:21):
What's to come.

Speaker 10 (01:21:22):
Thanks Brandon, appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (01:21:23):
Back with Ice Dog's third round pick Cayden Bell Cayden
uh don most flyers, UH, good season for you guys,
made the Ohl Cup. Uh first off what was your
impressions of the way that your draft season went.

Speaker 11 (01:21:35):
I mean, I think I had a pretty good draft season.
At the start of the year, we we won the
Titans Tournament tournament, and we had a pretty we had
we dipped in the uh the silver Stick, and then
after that we came back to when the Marley's Tournament,
the Oakville Tournament, and then I feel like we had
a pretty good gad momentum going into the Ohl Coup,

(01:21:57):
but it didn't it didn't.

Speaker 1 (01:21:59):
End well for us.

Speaker 11 (01:22:00):
So I mean we had a pretty good season.

Speaker 6 (01:22:03):
Yeah, mixed feelings when you don't win the last game, right,
but uh, for you personally, you know, solid season, almost
the point of game over a point a game as
a defenseman, and then showing off a good tape in
the Ohl Cup. What did you think you took a
big step in your game this year that you know
made you a third round pick.

Speaker 11 (01:22:17):
I think my shooting was pretty good this year and
my skating ability. I feel like I could use my
use my feet to get a round players and I
think that's what makes me better than everyone else.

Speaker 6 (01:22:32):
And I know that you quickly said that you are
aware of Brady Wastlin and Matthew Humphries. Has anybody else
from the team reached out yet? And how much you're
looking forward to, uh to meeting all the guys.

Speaker 11 (01:22:43):
I mean, Ryan Rubric texted me Ethan Zada uh and
Kevin he Uh seemed like really nice guys and can't
wait what's for next?

Speaker 6 (01:22:54):
And everybody talks about you being a right shot defense
and which is something that's very coveted, Uh, you know
what for the fans and that what's your play style
and what are you hoping to bring here?

Speaker 11 (01:23:02):
I think I'm a high Q defenseman that could uh
bringing a lot of energy and uh, really good power
play guy, and I could be physical sometimes.

Speaker 1 (01:23:11):
What's one what's your favorite team?

Speaker 3 (01:23:13):
And two?

Speaker 1 (01:23:13):
Who's the defenseman that you kind of look up to?

Speaker 11 (01:23:16):
My favorite team in the NHL? Yeah, I would probably
be the leavest. Obviously. I tried him out of my
game after cal mccarr. He's just a super dynamic defenseman
and all around just amazing.

Speaker 6 (01:23:30):
And did you go to OHL games growing up? Like
is there is there a team close to you that
you tried to catch a lot of games?

Speaker 3 (01:23:37):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (01:23:37):
You know, have you been following the league?

Speaker 11 (01:23:39):
I've been following the league. But I haven't had the
chance to go to a lot of OHL games. But
I've been to Niaga a few times. I've been to
bram Or, Mississauga. Yeah and yeah, and uh yeah. I
think those are the games I've been to.

Speaker 6 (01:23:54):
What's been your impressions on NAGRO when the few times
that you've been down here and now just you know,
first impressions of seeing the ring, seeing the dressing room,
everything else, meeting everybody from the management side. How has
this kind of a first impression, first experience been for you.

Speaker 11 (01:24:08):
There's really a super nice people and great organization, gray facility.
Everything's going well.

Speaker 6 (01:24:15):
That's Caden Bell, third round pick of the Niagara Ice
Dogs of twenty twenty five OHL Draft Kaiden. Congratulations, welcome
to Niagara and look forward to seeing on the ice.

Speaker 10 (01:24:23):
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (01:24:24):
That's gonna wrap it up. Thank you everybody that tuned in.
Once again, make sure gives follow on Exit Dog Pound
podcast as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok by
searching the Armchair GM Sports network.

Speaker 1 (01:24:33):
But for reester medium, my name is Brandon k. Puto.

Speaker 6 (01:24:35):
The Ice Dog's two picks Tonight, Ryerson Edgar Forward from
the York Simco Express with the tenth overall pick, and
then forty ninth overall in the third round Caden Bell,
right shot defenseman from the Don Mills Flyers.

Speaker 1 (01:24:48):
That's gonna wrap it up.

Speaker 6 (01:24:48):
Enjoy the rest of draft weekend, enjoy the rest of
the OHL playoffs, and we'll talk to you again very
soon right here on the Dog Pound Podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:24:54):
Have a good night.

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Niagara IceDogs 2025 OHL Priority Selection Condensed Draft Recap - Dog Pound Podcast

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Niagara IceDogs 2025 OHL Priority Selection Condensed Draft Recap - Dog Pound Podcast