Small Things in the Process for the IceDogs - Dog Pound Podcast - The Armchair GM's Sports Network

Episode Transcript
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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 on the Armchair GM Sports Network, your podcast hourse
for all game analysis, team interviews, and up to date
news regarding the Niagara Ice Dogs.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
Over time Ice Dogs, Winford Brush a.

Speaker 4 (00:54):
Pill also Kim It's a power playgel Many Ice Dogs.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Headley Scar host sang for school as an ice Dog,
Trump Stop Shipley.

Speaker 5 (01:07):
Gritchie Scar gets it to a kill.

Speaker 4 (01:09):
Thomas.

Speaker 6 (01:10):
Thomas has the ankle coming in Bato.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
And Welcome into another episode of the Dog Pound Podcast,
the official podcast to your nag Or Ice Dogs, probably
brought to by Global Pet Foods or Pets are unnaily
part of the family and their three great nag Or
region locations and Nagara Falls Von Hill on Scott Street
in Saint Catharine's. Thank you those that are tuned in
on our Armchair GM Sports Network YouTube channel. In the
video for make sure to hit like, hit subscribe, and
smash that bells the update. With all of our video
coverage here on the net, We're going thank you to

(01:41):
our loyal audio listeners and your favorite on demand audio platform.
Brandonck Put on Christian Simmons are back with you to
discuss another week for the niag Or Ice Dogs. A
very tough week for the Ice Dogs, a couple of
big time opponents that they played against this weekend. We're
gonna break it all down for you guys with some
highlight clips. We're also gonna hear from my Ice Dog's head
coach Chris BArch as well as star forward Ryan Roebrick

(02:03):
as he's leaving us for the cochl USA Prospects Challenge
this week, a great opportunity for him out in Alberta.

Speaker 7 (02:10):
And as well.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
We'll discuss sort of the week ahead for the Ice
Dogs and go over some weekly statistics. Another a little
bit of breakdown that Christian has regarding the team right now.
Make sure to give us a follow up on x
at Dog Pound Podcast to stay up today with all
of our Ice Dogs coverage. We'll have some fan polls
for next week's big end of month show. We'll have
GM Frank Frank Evila on as well as Captain Kevin.

(02:31):
He will be doing a ticket giveaway as well, so
you're not gonna want to miss our big end of
month recap next week and Teddy Bear Toss this Sunday.

Speaker 7 (02:37):
We'll be doing some question rink as well.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
So with all that out of the way, Christian, how
are you feeling this week?

Speaker 7 (02:45):
Other than a bit tired?

Speaker 3 (02:46):
Oh yeah, Drane Man, long week, but a good week.
A long week of hockey is always a happy week
for myself. I love being around rink, so I'm a
little bit of a sadist in that way. I like
to be in hockey rinks even when I can barely
open my eyes. So yeah, no, good week. I'm gonna
throw it right back to you, Brandon, how are you feeling?

(03:07):
And then I got a question for you? Have you
ever seen the movie Thunderstruck?

Speaker 1 (03:12):
This is a loaded question, so I'm gonna say I'm
doing well, maybe other than I'd feel a lot happier
if the ice Dog's picked up four points this weekend.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
But yes, so that's where I was going with this.
Have you ever seen the movie Thunderstruck? For those of
you who are listening and watching right now, if you've
ever seen it, comment down below give me your best
reference from that movie. It's a basketball movie, but starring
Kevin Durant and a kid and something happens where this

(03:46):
kid meets his idol, Kevin Durant, his favorite basketball player.

Speaker 6 (03:51):
He meets him, walks up to him, Katie.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Katie signed my basketball, and as Kevin Durant is signing
the ball, he's holding the other side of it. They
exchanged some words and magic strikes. All of a sudden,
Kevin Durant cannot play basketball and the kid has Kevin
Durant's skills. It was a complete reversal. Now where I'm

(04:15):
going with this is, I think Bones needs to hit
the post again.

Speaker 6 (04:22):
He's gotta go flying into that post again.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
I think, I think if I may something changed when
he ran straight into that left post bar All of
a sudden, the Ice Dogs can't score their snake bitten
and we saw it in Barry this week. They had
tons of chances. They outshot that team. And then, of
course Branford is just a different piece. But I wanted

(04:45):
to open the show with that today. I thought it
was an interesting reference. If you've seen that movie, let
us know down in the comment section. But yeah, like
another tough week, another tough week, but some positives in there.
This isn't gonna be another incredibly negative show. We got
a lot of positives to take away. I thought the
Barry game was great. I thought there was some good
goaltending this weekend. Jurmalenko continues to be sharp, you know,

(05:10):
up in the upper half, the upper echelon and save percentage.
So I'm doing good. I'm excited for the future over
the next couple of weeks.

Speaker 6 (05:20):
But yeah, just.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
Another couple of losses. Brandon, what do you think? Have
you ever seen Thunderstruck? You haven't seen that movie?

Speaker 1 (05:25):
I have not, but you reminded me that I have
to pull up the video of this because Bones did
return this week. Yes, nope, and I'm gonna mute it
because it's too loud for the rink.

Speaker 7 (05:36):
But there you go. Bones is back and he gave
some props to the net.

Speaker 6 (05:41):
Yeah, yes, he is. He is back. I think that
wasn't good enough. That's just it's he's got to hit it.
You're gonna run into it. Man.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
I was wondering if backup Bones was gonna be laying
in the net and then he was gonna come and
like save him or something, help.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Them up get like do some resuscitated to resuscitative measure
measures or.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
Something CPR so standard or regular bones, whatever you want
to call him, is back and he showed love to
the net returning from that viral clip a few weeks ago.
But you are right, Christian, that feels sort of feels like,
you know, the Ice Dogs have been running into the
post lately with the results in November again, they haven't
scored the first goal since that October thirty first win

(06:20):
against the Brampton Steelheads. We're gonna get into sort of
I guess the we're not. We already did a postgame
show for the Bramford game, so we're just gonna touch
up on some things that you wanted to point out
on a highlight reel and things like that. But again,
that Barry game definitely had a lot more positives, and
to me, again, nobody's gonna want to hear about it
when you're going through a seven game losing streak. But

(06:41):
that was the Ice Dog's best game, I would say
since that October thirty first last win that they had
against Brampton. They controlled the pace of play a lot,
They outshot the Colts. They got down four to one,
but that really wasn't the whole story, and then they
almost ended up coming back and tying it late in
regulation with the two goals they got in the third,
and then almost tying it to you know, as clock

(07:02):
was expiring in the crease there. But again, this Verry
teams a team that they're gonna have to play a lot.
They've already played them twice and both games came right
down to the wire. If you remember, the Ice Dogs
had that six five loss in overtime because they had
a lead and very came back on them. So again
we talked about it going into the week, Christians, these
were going to be two sort of benchmark games for them.
We know what Branford is and at the time of

(07:24):
recording this, there might be in the middle of making
another big trade to to really make.

Speaker 7 (07:27):
Themselves the class of the OHL. So still undeas.

Speaker 6 (07:30):
Trading to this team.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
It can if somebody answer me this question, who is
trading good players to the Branford Bulldogs still.

Speaker 7 (07:39):
Hither giving up assets?

Speaker 3 (07:41):
What's going on with that? But anyways, continue, I didn't
mean to cut you off.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
But I'm gonna I'm gonna pull up this this clip
that you put together, Christian, and we're just gonna kind
of go through some of the some of the things
that the ice dogs will need to clean up.

Speaker 7 (07:54):
Here.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
You know that Bowdwan clip when he skated around the
entire zone and then ripped it. You know that to
me really stood out from the the very game.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Yeah, there's a couple of clips in here, and I
created this real, this little compilation with the Frasen mind.

Speaker 6 (08:10):
Little things, little mistakes.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
There's things kind of in and around and this one here,
the Colbo Dwin goal.

Speaker 6 (08:15):
There's a missed assignment.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
There's two wingers, both going to the left e, not
really sure where they're supposed to be. You see it
again here he comes up top. One winger goes one way,
the other guy follows him, and all of a sudden,
Bodwin has a wide open pocket just right up top,
you know, at that high slot area. This one here,
you gotta get the puck deep. You got to get
the puck deep. You turn it over at center. A

(08:38):
two on one goes the other way, and good players
aren't gonna miss good opportunities.

Speaker 6 (08:42):
And that's what happens there. They score this one here.

Speaker 7 (08:45):
I was a minute into the second period, by the way.

Speaker 6 (08:47):
Yep. Yeah, again like starting on time.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
We've talked about it and just making sure that that
puck gets deep. That's a little thing that good players
can do, if you know, they they make sure, you know,
make sure that you get that pucking deep right there,
you know, if one one, two on one the other way.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
And like I said, like I can't even blame Robertson
on that, to be honest.

Speaker 3 (09:07):
Like, no, And those are opportunities that Barry's gonna score.
Here's another one. They come across the line five wide,
who's coverage Assin right on the back door, getting a
little bit lost in coverage. You know, keeping your head
on a swivel in the defensive zone is something that
is really important.

Speaker 6 (09:22):
And if you can't do that, you're gonna get caught.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
Like look at this four Ice dogs all facing the puck,
nobody watching behind them, and Achison sneaks into that soft
spot he buries it. So just a couple of things
from that Barry game as we moved to the Branford one.
Here just another one, Like I know that's Roebrick, he's
not a defender, but you gotta put some pressure on it.
That's Merrek van Acker. He's got eighteen goals this season.

(09:44):
You can't let him walk into that high slot and
rip one.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
So for me, I think that one is one that
you're Malenko in that game is probably the only one
that he'd want back out of the five that Branford scored.
And that was shorthanded as well. Like like, that was
a big momentum shift in the game because the Ice
Dogs were on a power play, they could have got
the lead and then all of a sudden Branford score shorthanded.
They have a three on two the other way, and
as you mentioned, Van Acker, the Chicago Blackhawks prospect, makes

(10:08):
no mistake on it.

Speaker 6 (10:09):
Yeah, and just you know Ethan's on it.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
Just he's he's coasting down the left side, Kevin he
the trailer and then Roebrick. It's a triangle of guys
around van Acker. And when you're you're on the power play,
there's got to be some urgency to get the puck back,
you know. He can't have that much space, you know,
to kind of walk into the high slot and fire
one in shorthanded. So for me, that was just a
little one. You see here, you know, another great angle

(10:31):
from your TV, just all kinds of space, you know what.
I think it was offside. I think Ed Burke holder
color commentary for the Ice Dogs also.

Speaker 6 (10:41):
Thought it was offside. So, I mean, this is a
gray area.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
I'm not gonna speculate. What's done is done. They called
it a goal, so but for me, it's just little things.
It's little things. You're that close. You know, you play
a great game offensively, you out shoot Barry, have all
kinds of opportunities to win that game, and there's just
these little things like you get the puck deep there,
a two on one doesn't go the other way. You know,

(11:07):
maybe it's a a four to three game or a
three three game, and then it's it just it makes
it makes everything so much different, you know, when you
get caught with these mistakes. But that's that's what happens,
right when you make mistakes against good teams, they're gonna
make you pay for it. So again, I don't want
to get negative here. Barry game was fantastic. That was

(11:28):
you know, we talked about this off camera. We talked
about it, you know a little bit during the game
back and forth you know in our text chains like
that was a fantastic hockey game. They played great, they
deserve to win, They outshot Barry, they came all the
way back. They completely dominated the third period like it
wasn't even close, you know, So I think it's again

(11:49):
it's just you know, it sucks that that's that's the result.
And then Branford, of course, just a totally different level
of hockey. It's like an AHL team. And you know,
we heard Chris Bartsch talk a little bit about that postgame.
So just like little things, little things being responsible with

(12:11):
the puck, putting the puck in the right areas, and
you know, you start to clean things up here.

Speaker 6 (12:16):
I think this team is trending in the right direction.

Speaker 3 (12:19):
Let's say that, you know, just three wins in the
last ten, a seven game losing streak, two of them
coming in overtime, so they're not all regulation losses.

Speaker 6 (12:27):
But it's still just it's.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
Just unfortunate, you know, it's unfortunate that this is the
way kind of the cookies crumbling right now. And I
don't know, man, I feel a little bit cursed. I
feel a little bit cursed. All the teams that I'm
covering right now are all on losing streaks. So don't
come for me in the comments. But I will say,
just another tough weekend for sure. The Power play continues

(12:53):
to struggle. But you know, that was another thing for
me this weekend. But yeah, just I liked the effort
against Barry. I will say that a solid game.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
We talked about things they needed to improve on. They
needed to start really getting a lot of shots on
net and out shooting some of these teams. They did
that against the Barry Colts. You see it on the
screen there if you guys watching in video, they outshot
Berry thirty nine to twenty one. The power play they
did get one, they went one of seven. But I
will say if you actually watch the game, the power
play against the Berry Colts was better. There was more urgency.

(13:24):
They were moving it with more authority. It wasn't sort
of like the passive power play that we've seen, you know,
in the past, where you know they're just trying to
set up a play and they're all just kind of
standing still. The Ice Dogs had a lot of a
lot of authority. They were they had urgency on the
power play. They were moving it around, as I mentioned,
and again they didn't necessarily capitalize. But I did like

(13:45):
some of the strides that they were taking on the
power play. But again, when you're still at you know
under twelve percent now last the Ontario Hockey League. It's
hard to find positives on that, but you can tell
that they are trying to work through some things and
they're trying to implement that box system and the defensive
zone that they tried to do against Branford. But again,
when you're playing against a team like that, it's basically
an American Hockey League team, it's hard to get to

(14:06):
get those things implemented right away. But it's something that
might take them a month or so to fix some
of these problems that they're having in their own end,
and then as well on the special teams unit on
the power play. But you know, it was again a
four to three loss. They didn't pick up a point,
but this very game was very encouraging in a lot
of ways, and the crowd was very engaged in this

(14:27):
game as well. And just a few, as you mentioned,
little mistakes here and there cost them two or three
goals in this game and that was the difference.

Speaker 3 (14:33):
So yeah, and that's it seems like we've been talking
about this for a couple of weeks now. It's little things.
We know this team has the talent. That's definitely not
a problem. You know that that the Nigriis Dogs have.
They have the kind of personnel that can make plays.
So it's it's just about, you know, finding a combination

(14:57):
of system and talent and discipline and talent that that's
going to help you win hockey games. And I think,
you know, we're seeing some players really make strides. You know,
Ryan Robrick, we talked about it last week. His two
hundred foot game is starting to come to life. You know,
Ethan Zoda is starting to look a little bit like
himself again on the PK. Noah Reed is sliding into
this lineup very well as well. You're a Malenko starting

(15:19):
to play fantastic as well. And of course Captain Kevin
he As currently showcased on the video version right back
on the goal sheet. Love to see that from the
captain showcasing that speed. So some of the things are
starting to come back together. We start to see the
team fining offense, and you know, for the last couple
of weeks it's been a bit of a struggle.

Speaker 6 (15:40):
You know, we haven't really seen you know, that offense.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
There's a goal from Roebrick there just kind of a bouncer,
but get the buck to the net.

Speaker 6 (15:47):
You know, those are the kinds of things that happened.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
What's that that Wayne Gretzky saying you miss one hundred
percent of the shots you don't take are just a
weird shot from the half wall. Robrick throws it on goal,
takes a bounce off a very Colts defender and it's
in the back of the net. So you know, just
little things like that. And then this one just right
off the face off right Smith just I think he

(16:11):
very well deserved. He's been playing some great hockey. So
you see some of these positives, right, like some of
the guys in the bottom six are stepping up, they're
scoring Roebrick, he continue to play strong hockey. I think,
you know, still waiting for Ryers and Edgar to kind of,
you know, unpack a little bit of his luggage. Maybe
some of it's still left in Nova Scotia. But you know,

(16:31):
when when he starts to come to life, I think,
you know we're gonna see victories here. It's just it's
a slump. It's a slump. Teams go through slumps. It's
gonna happen. I mean, Branford is gonna lose, all right,
winsor is gonna lose, so is Kitchener. Good teams lose
games sometimes it's hockey. It's a toss up, you know,

(16:52):
it's in the truest sense a coin toss at times,
you know, so you have to take, you know, in
a game at a time, you have to take the
positive and shride. And Chris Bartch is fantastic at that.
So we know that he's gonna have this team ready
for Peterborough and Kitchener next weekend. But no breaks, right,
I mean next weekend isn't going to be any easier.
That's a Peterborough team that's on a three game winning streak.

(17:13):
They've been solid, and we know who Kitchener is, so
it's it's encouraging.

Speaker 6 (17:19):
Though. I thought the Barry effort was solid. You know,
even in the Branford game.

Speaker 3 (17:22):
There were some things in there, like you know, they
had some solid puck possession. I think there were some
shifts where they pressured a team that looks impenetrable at
times in the Branford Bulldog, So I think, you know,
definitely positives in there.

Speaker 7 (17:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
I really liked that you mentioned Ray Smith because he
had he had a breakaway in the game as well
against against Barry, like he's using his speed, he's using
his body to create those chances. Like I've really liked
what I've seen from Ray Smith as of late. And
then got rewarded there late in the game on the
nice tie up by Ivan Gallianov on the faceoff dot
and just just turned and ripped it and beat Ben herreviiks.
So you love to see that from from number forty three. Well,

(18:00):
we'll say there was one more thing I wanted to
to bring up from from this weekend because I think
it was, you know, just showing that this team, you know,
has has the bite when they need to play with it.
We go and this was the hit from ethan Zada.
It was this was a massive colich the fans like
it was one of those collective o's as Schneid came
along here.

Speaker 7 (18:19):
Boom and absolutely just got a piece of them.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
And then obviously body Stewart comes to the aid and
and ethan Zada he's right there to drop the gloves,
right Christian. And that's you know, if you make a
hit like that, you better be ready to answer the bell.
And ethan Zada is never shy from answering the Bell.
His dad, Mike Zada, I'm probably sure has taught him
how to how to stick up for himself in those situations.
A big guy himself, So it's a I love to
see that from Ethan Zada as far as you know,

(18:46):
just momentum shifts in the game and when they can
possibly do they're down two nothing in this game at
that time, and he just comes across and just gets
a piece of sneed.

Speaker 7 (18:54):
Luckily, he did.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
Come back in that game for the Barry Colts, so
it was nice to see. But he did leave the
game momentarily. But that was just a big, big collision
in Ethan Zada. That's something else that he brings to
the game. It's not gonna show up on the box
box score hopefully wind from that, but you know, I
don't know if they considered that a high hit or not,

(19:16):
but it was just another another big part of the game.
Both players received fighting majors I think ten ten minute
misconducts and Stewart actually got the instigator on the fight.
So that was just another part of the game. I
wanted to mention because it's not going to show up there.

Speaker 3 (19:32):
Yeah, and I think it's it's worth mentioning. That's something
that you know, you want to see from this Ice
Dogs team right now. Caught in a little bit of
a slump. What are we gonna do about it? You know,
it throws out out there, he lays a massive check
it and those are the kinds of things that endear
you to your teammates.

Speaker 6 (19:46):
Those are the kind of things that cholt the bench.

Speaker 3 (19:48):
It's it's like it's like an additional smelling salts, you know,
during the game.

Speaker 6 (19:54):
It's like whoa, whoa.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
You know, there's one of our leaders, those one of
our guys right right there, you know, show and you
know we're not just a bunch of talented guys. You know,
we're gonna play physical. We play with an edge as well.
So you like to see that from one of your leaders.
And of course answering the bell when he needs to.
He didn't look at a place there in that fight.
You know, had a couple of rights for Stuart coming
right back. So yeah, I think that's you know, definitely

(20:18):
worth mentioning. But of course you don't love to see,
you know, another player in a compromising position. So you know,
hope all is well for the Barry Colts, a young man,
it was at Schneed. Yeah he came back, came back
and actually scored, so you know he was he was
totally fine.

Speaker 6 (20:34):
But yeah, just you like you like to see that.
And that's what this team needs. Yeah, they they need.

Speaker 3 (20:41):
They need, you know, an injection of energy and and
like I said, they need like a slap in the face,
you know, for lack of a better term, Like somebody
needs to wake these guys up. And I think you
saw it in Barry. Not in Barry, but in that
Barry game, you saw some jump for maybe the first
I'm in a couple of weeks. They outshot that team,

(21:02):
They played strong, they were offensively active, and then Zod
lay in big hits. Like so I think, you know,
we're trending in the right direction. We can say that
they're back, we can say that.

Speaker 8 (21:15):
Now.

Speaker 6 (21:15):
They didn't win the game, but they played.

Speaker 3 (21:16):
Ice Dogs hockey, and I think that Zona hit and
fight is a testament to that.

Speaker 7 (21:21):
Right.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
So we're gonna go to Ryan Robrick here on our
Ice Dog's Player interview post game before leaving for the
CCHLUSA Top Prospects Challenge in Alberta this week, and that
is always is brought to you by the Niagradentri Clinic,
creating Natter smiles in the Naga region for over twenty
five years. Here's what Ryan Robrick has to say leaving
for Lethbridge and Calgary this week. Oh, Ran, I know

(21:43):
it's gonna be an exciting week for you, a big opportunity.
I know you would have rather left in a win,
but to get on the score sheet and to play
going in with some confidence. How much you're looking forward
to the next week.

Speaker 9 (21:54):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 10 (21:55):
Obviously.

Speaker 9 (21:56):
Obviously going in with a win would have been amazing.
Obviously tough, tough loss out there, but yeah, we had
a good game there. I mean, we had our chances,
we just couldn't capitalize and I got a little lucky
on some But no, I'm just happy with our our
group's performance out there tonight and obviously going going in
their top prospect game with some confidence.

Speaker 1 (22:17):
It's tea and then Chris BArch has talked about the
process and you, you know, really working on the fine
details of the game. Everybody knows that your your goal
scorer and things like that, but it seems like he's
really helping you elevate in other ways of your game,
which obviously is big for the scouts to look at
being in your draft year. So how much have you
taken pride in the little details of the game, the

(22:37):
back checking, the you know, the defensive play and the
stuff that's not going to score up on the show
up on the score sheet this year?

Speaker 9 (22:42):
Yeah, I'll see. Obviously Bartie's been through it. He knows
what it takes to make that next level. And listening
to a guy like that and taking everything that he
says in it's it's honestly huge. And him and I
have worked worked a lot in practices on the on
the fine details that you said there, And no, I
think Bartie for all the advice and all the tips
and everything that he's helping with.

Speaker 1 (23:04):
And then, is there anybody that you're looking forward to
playing against or with in this this little prospect challenge?
Maybe players that you grew up playing with or just
guys that you know from the league.

Speaker 9 (23:14):
I'm looking forward to playing on everybody, I mean everybody
that everybody's on that team for a reason and every
guy's it's gonna make an impact out there. But no,
I'm looking forward to honestly just playing against the Americans
and showcasing what the CCHL can do.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
Yeah, and then for you personally, I know, you just
came off in eight game point streak and it seems
like you're playing with a lot more confidence and maybe
you had at the beginning of the year, and the
points are starting to come from playing that defensive hockey.

Speaker 7 (23:36):
So how pleased are you with your game?

Speaker 1 (23:38):
I know you're not gonna be completely satisfied, but how
would you assess where your game's at right now?

Speaker 9 (23:43):
I'd say I've taken a jump up in the right direction,
But honestly, you know, it's it's not just my game either,
It's it's it's a team game out there. We're gonna
every guy on the ice is out there for a reason,
and our whole team's made a jump, a huge jump,
and it's it's been really huge to play with all
those guys.

Speaker 1 (23:59):
And then lastly, you've had a lot of guys to
play with that are drafted already into the NHL. You've
got Patterson, You've got Zada, You've got Kevin he just
to name a few some of those guys that you're
playing with. You know, is there something that maybe you
lean onto those guys or ask them about their experience
of going through this year, because it can be you know,
a lot of eyes and it can can get tough
at times. So you know, maybe what if some of
those guys said to you about what this process is like.

Speaker 9 (24:21):
Just be yourself honestly, the zat's going through last year
and Kevin Patty previous year.

Speaker 10 (24:26):
But no, just be yourself.

Speaker 9 (24:28):
Just go out there and just try to stay calm.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
Thanks Ryan, best of luck in Alberta and look forward
to seeing you back. There was Ryan Roebrick as he
leaves us for Calgary and Alberta this week. Calgary and Alberta.
Geez Calgary and Lesburg and Alberta. Both of those cities
are in the province of Alberta. Thank you, Brandon, But
you weren't wrong. I wasn't, but I don't like that anyways.

(24:52):
He will be back for the Kitchener game on Friday.
I think get a confirmation from Chris Bartsid he actually
isn't missing any games. So luckily for the Ice Dogs
it's a little bit of a lighter schedule. They don't
have any on a Wednesday or Thursday that he could
possibly miss, so he will be back, but great opportunity
for him obviously, and look forward to him being showcased
on a national, national scale.

Speaker 7 (25:10):
It's going to be going to be fun to watch, Yeah, A.

Speaker 3 (25:13):
Good opportunity for the young Manda to go out there
and show what he's made of. And like he he
mentioned it, it's going to be cool for him to
play against some of those Americans, some of those other
guys in the OHL and right across the chl and
hopefully represent the Ice Dog's crest well and in the
league as a whole. You know, show what he's what
he's capable of. We know what he's capable of. This

(25:33):
is a bona fide forty goal scorer and I'm excited
to go. I'm excited to watch him go out there
and show it. And I think for him a great opportunity.

Speaker 8 (25:42):
Love.

Speaker 6 (25:43):
His answer is very mature.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
You know, he sounds comfortable, sounds like a leader this year,
and I think that for me is one of my
big takeaways from that interview, not just about you know,
the the top prospects thing, but you know, talking about
BArch and some of the things that you know, he's
been working on to start a fine tune his game.
From a two hundred foot perspective, looking for those little details,

(26:05):
you know, what can he be critical about and the
precision in which he's developing his game right now, not
just as a goal scorer.

Speaker 6 (26:12):
I think that for.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
Me is I love to hear that, and you know,
he's gonna hopefully go out and show some of that
goal scoring, but also show you know, some of that
that attention to detail that he's been developing here this season.
So you know, hasn't been an overly booming you know,
point a start from a point production, you know, standpoint,

(26:33):
but I think, you know, just the rest of his
game is really starting to round out. And if you're
gonna take positives away from a relatively slow start to
the season for the Niagraace Dogs, it's that Ryan Robrick
is learning how to play a different brand of hockey,
and I think a lot of guys on this team
have had to make those kinds of adjustments. You know,
Patterson comes from a Berry team you know last year

(26:55):
that was incredibly talented. You know, Zada Robrick, he you know,
these guys had to play a different brand last year.

Speaker 6 (27:01):
It was a totally different coaching staff.

Speaker 3 (27:03):
You know, they didn't have kind of the chip and
chase more of the you know, defensively responsible offensive side
of the game. You know, they play this year an
offensive game that's a little bit slower, not not because
they're a slower team, but but just because that's the
way that they have been constructed DNA. So for some
of these guys, they've had to adapt, you know, they've

(27:24):
had to play a different style of game offensively. And
for me, seeing Robrick make adjustments from a high flying,
you know, coming down the wing sniper to a positionally
sound two hundred foot six foot four, physical, you know,
hard on Puck's goal score, it's a huge jump in

(27:47):
the right direction for him. I think his maturity, social
maturity and interviews has taken a step. A lot of
positives from Ryan Roebrick this season. So I'm excited to see,
you know, what he has in store. I think it's
a testament to how good he's been. He deserves to
be there, and hopefully he puts a couple on the
back of the ned.

Speaker 7 (28:07):
Yeah, be nice to see. And again he leaves it
with some confidence with that goal.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
Again, would have left wanted delay leave in a win,
but he's got twenty two points and twenty two games,
so it's a quiet point per game. Yeah, Brick right now,
and again we know that he can reach two or
three more gears. But again I think rounding out that
two hundred foot game, as you you brought up there,
that Chris BArch has really been working with him since
training camp is really going to make the difference other

(28:31):
than putting up one hundred and eighty points this year
in the Ontario Hockey League, which would be nice, but again,
it's all about the developing the young man for the
next level at the same time. So we're gonna take
a quick break on today's sho We're gonna come back
when I go through the weekly statistics, gonna hear from
Ice Doug's head coach Chris BArch, and look ahead to
the upcoming games against Kitchener and the Peterborough Pete's on

(28:51):
Teddy Bear Toss Night. So stay right here, but right
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Speaker 10 (32:29):
Height's Ryan Roebroke.

Speaker 6 (32:30):
This is ethan Zider, This is Ivan galianof, this is
Kevin he and.

Speaker 9 (32:33):
This is the dog Pound Podcast.

Speaker 12 (32:34):
The official podcast with the Nagara Ice Dogs.

Speaker 1 (32:52):
And welcome back to part two of today's Dog Pound
Podcast episode right here on the arm Pure GM Sports Network.
Thank you those that are tuned in live on our
video version on YouTube. Make sure to hit like hit
subscribed to smash that bell as you see on the
video version right there. To stay all up to date
with all of our video coverage here on the network
as well. I'm gonna pull up our QR code for
our merch site if you guys want to get in

(33:12):
on some of this Dog Pound Podcast merch.

Speaker 7 (33:15):
It's right up there on the left hand side of
the screen there.

Speaker 3 (33:18):
Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming.

Speaker 7 (33:23):
You might want to get it up.

Speaker 6 (33:24):
Hoodies. You got beanies, We got beanies.

Speaker 7 (33:27):
We got lots of stuff on there, and.

Speaker 3 (33:29):
The beanies are are I mean this time of the year,
it's cold, man, cold my ears. You get those cherry
tomato ears anybody else you know what I mean, Like
you can't even touch them. They're so cold that like
they they they're raw hard. Yeah, get get an armchair.
GMS Sports Network Dog Pound Podcast beanie, take care of

(33:50):
your ears, ladies and gentlemen. I still need to get
I don't. I still don't have a Dog Pound Podcast sweater.
That's unacceptable that it's We're twenty games into the season
and I still don't have any of our merch.

Speaker 6 (34:02):
You gotta by some.

Speaker 3 (34:03):
I have the jacket, yeah, but I want some like
I'm gonna get Like, well, we'll figure this out.

Speaker 7 (34:08):
Off, figure it out for our for our fan base
out there.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
Uh, you know, anybody that enjoys the show, you know
you can go and uh some very reasonable prices. Again
ships here from North America, So we appreciate the support there.
If you guys do want to get any of our
merch and wrap the Dog Pound Podcast swag wherever you
guys are at and for the winter coming up.

Speaker 7 (34:31):
As Mit Christian mentioned, but make sure to give us
a follow on x at.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
Dog Pound Podcast was on Facebook Instagram and TikTok by
searching the Armchair GM Sports Network for all of our
short reels and content. And I don't want to leave
out our audio listeners as well, because when we go
through those highlights, Christian, it's kind of hard to We
do our best to narrate for them, you know, our
audio peeps out there try and we we we love
you guys as well. We know that some people just
like listening on their commute, their run or whatever they're doing.

(34:57):
So we really want to, you know, say thank you
to those people too that aren't able to watch us
on YouTube, you know, so it's unfortunate you don't get
to look at Christian's you know, Prince charming face that
he's got over there.

Speaker 6 (35:07):
But buddy, my hair is terrible. I don't know what
you're talking about.

Speaker 1 (35:12):
Anyways, we'll get back to hockey here and we will
meet during the break and again, if you want to
tune into more of this the this Week's HL and
sixty podcast here on the network, we'll own it recently
breaking it all down, and I'm sure they'll be excited
about it. Because jet Luchenko is now a member of
the Branford Bulldogs with the announcement of the Gulf Storm
hosting the twenty twenty seven Memorial Cup, you knew that

(35:33):
Luchenko was not going to be a guy that they'd
have for next season. So they get a couple of
couple of draft picks and Lane Gallagher a young center
that they can use, and just goes to show again
that every team, not just the Ice Dogs, every team
in the Eastern Conference is looking up at the Branford
Bulldogs right now.

Speaker 3 (35:48):
Yeah. I don't know what to say. I am officially
out of observations. I think Branford just needs to go
play professional hockey somewhere. I don't know what is going on.

Speaker 6 (36:04):
Yeah, like we I.

Speaker 3 (36:05):
Talked about it in the first segment today. I literally like,
who is trading to this team? Like, what are we doing?
Gwel that makes sense. They're in the West, probably not
a playoff team this year. Sure, gave you your best
player to a team that's probably, you know, gonna end
up in the Memorial.

Speaker 6 (36:24):
Cup this season. They're building for the future. I get it.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
It's like, and we're not gonna get into Branford Bulldogs talk,
you know, we'll save that for some of the other shows.
But It's that's scary. That's really scary. You know, jet Lichenko.
There's another first rounder on that team, Like, it's it's
I'm terrified. Yeah, I have goosebumps just thinking about it.
They just beat the Ice Dog's five nothing. They've been

(36:48):
beating the breaks off some teams so far this season.

Speaker 6 (36:53):
Games.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
Yeah, another another superstar, right and it's like, yeah, so.

Speaker 6 (36:58):
I don't know, man, I don't know who's beating Branford.

Speaker 1 (37:03):
We'll turn this back to the Ice Dog talk here.
Seventh place in the East Christian and we're gonna hear
from Ice Dog's head coach Chris bart here shortly.

Speaker 7 (37:09):
I'm gonna go through the weekly statistics as well.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
But when you look at it now again, seventh place
in the conference. They were second a few weeks ago.
Now Barry has moved into that spot again. We're taking
Branford out of this because they're just the classes of
the OHL right now. But when you look at some
of the other teams that they're gonna be stacking up against.
You mentioned they got Peterborough coming up this week. They've
been surging as of late. They're fourth in the conference.
The Ice Dogs right now is seventy one goals for

(37:32):
seventy nine against and again going through you know, their
worst stretch so far the season. But when you look
at it, you know they're three win two wins away
here from being up to fifth again. So and again
you're gonna play the Barry Colts four more times this season,
so there could be massive swing games as well. So
let's not get too ahead of ourselves here that the
season is gonna Like, obviously you don't want to go

(37:55):
through the stretch that they're going through, but you don't
win the Ohl Championship in December. But you definitely need
to get things going in the positive direction, and they
can do that if they win one or two of
these games this week.

Speaker 6 (38:07):
That's it.

Speaker 3 (38:08):
Like the season is very much still up for grabs
in the Central and in the Eastern Conference of course,
you know, barring Brantford, they're kind of just running away
with it right now. But yeah, like you're you're a
couple of points out of fifth, you know, you're what
what is that You're seven.

Speaker 6 (38:28):
Points a second?

Speaker 3 (38:29):
Like, yeah, it's it's not the end of the world,
you know, there's there's still lots of time for a
team that showed encouraging hockey against the second seeded team
in the East, Barry, where they.

Speaker 6 (38:42):
Probably could have won that game.

Speaker 3 (38:45):
I'm not pressing the panic button, like we we don't
need to press the panic button. It's way too early
to be pressing the panic button. Now, here's what I
would suggest to our audience, to our fan base, and
maybe between you and me, Brandon, do they need another
he is there a trade? And we're gonna we'll get
into this in the monthly recap, but we'll put out

(39:06):
a poll for it. We'll put out a poll for this.
But this is what I'm starting to think.

Speaker 6 (39:10):
Now.

Speaker 3 (39:11):
It's okay, We're We're twenty two games into the season.

Speaker 6 (39:14):
Branford's out here making deals. You know, the line of Knights.
They're making deals.

Speaker 3 (39:19):
You know, I don't know what's going on with Flint,
like they just don't want to stop losing. Say some
of these teams are either they're making these moves, they're
adding little pieces, and maybe as we get closer to
the trade deadline, you know, Frank will get aggressive again.
You know, we saw him make a ton of moves
at the beginning of the season. It was like, oh boy,
here we go, like this is the team. But now
that you know, we've seen, you know, some struggle, you know,

(39:41):
maybe maybe not the best stretch of Nigrice dogs hockey.
Can we expect, you know, maybe an extra defenseman or
you know, somebody in the bottom six, you know what,
what do you think.

Speaker 6 (39:55):
That we need? You know?

Speaker 3 (39:55):
And I'd love to hear from you know, kind of
our audience and maybe from you, Brandon, like what we
you at, you know, and we'll talk about that in
the monthly recap. But I just wanted to throw that
out there that I'm thinking about it. I'm sure the
organization is thinking about it. I would be shocked if
it wasn't on Frank's mind that, you know, there's probably
moves to be made, and if Branford keeps going the

(40:16):
way they are now, there's gonna be nobody left at
the trade deadline. So I mean, maybe it's time to
start thinking about it, like, let's let's make some moves here,
you know, let's try to strengthen our team.

Speaker 6 (40:27):
You know.

Speaker 3 (40:27):
So you've seen some other teams doing that, yep, And
I think you know, it's something to consider, you know,
in the midst of a skid. It's also another great
way to just wake the boys up, you know, a
little injection like, hey, you know what, here's here's a
new guy. It's like the shiny new toy on Christmas, right,
It's it's a bit of a breath of fresh air.

(40:48):
So that for me is kind of where I'm where
I'm trending. I think, you know, maybe you know something
like that in the near future. But yeah, looking at
the standings here no reasons to be overly concerned. I
do think they need to be scoring a little bit
more goals, but their goals against it. We've talked about
this so many times in the show. For it's been
like a focus for us that they haven't been overly

(41:11):
defensively responsible. But they've only given up seventy nine goals.
Like there's teams ahead of them in the standings on
you know, both sides of the you know, the Western
and the Eastern Conference.

Speaker 6 (41:23):
Split that have more they've given up more.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
So it's I don't think the defensive side is is
as bad as maybe we think it is. I think
they got to start scoring, yeah, you know what I mean,
Like it's it's that's another you know, new focus for me.
You know, we take a look at their last you know,
couple of games here. They had three against Barry. They
had just two against Ottawa the game before that, I

(41:47):
believe they got shut out.

Speaker 6 (41:49):
We'll have to pull up the last ten here we go.

Speaker 3 (41:53):
So they had yeah, three zero two three against Kingston
and two against Eerie. They've scored five seven. That's ten
goals in their last five games. That's two goals a game.
That's not gonna get it done for you. You gotta be
scoring more than that. So that's another thing I just

(42:15):
wanted to point out that I noticed, you know, let's
take the pressure off the defensive side. I think we
need to start scoring a little bit more. Start playing
for your goaltender. And this is a note that I
made this past weekend, you know, after Robertson got pulled
in the in the Branford game, that you know, they
got to create some some offense, you know, against some

(42:37):
of these better teams. And you know, I wanted to
throw that out there as well, that you know, there
it's not just a defensive thing. It seems to be
offensive as well. There they're slumping on both sides of
the puck, and that's not a recipe for success. And
it's also encouraging in a sense that they're not playing
their best hockey in any of the three zones the ice,

(43:01):
and they still managed to almost beat.

Speaker 6 (43:06):
One of the best in the Eastern Conference.

Speaker 3 (43:08):
So it's encouraging that, you know, we know they can reach,
you know, another level. We know that there's you know,
greener pastures at the end of the horizon here, and
you know, we just have to get there. But I
wanted to throw that out there as well, Brandon, that
you know, maybe adding another forward. You know, we talked
a little bit, you know, talking about the trades, maybe
adding an extra forward, maybe adding some more depth on

(43:28):
the back end. We'll help with, you know, the goal
scoring and some of the defensive accountability.

Speaker 7 (43:35):
Yeah, I think definitely.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
We're going to put a poll out there for the
fans next week and we'll discuss that more in depth.
But again, yeah, as you mentioned the goaltending, we'll hear
from Chris Barks a little bit later. He did pull
Charlie Robertson in the very game, but he's pulled your
Malenko as well at times this year. You know, I'll
wait till that chat, but it seems like he tries
to do that not necessarily for the goaltending performances, but

(43:58):
more so to try to spark the rest of the
team to try to, you know, get them turned around.
But yeah, Robertson and your Malanco have both been fantastic
for the team this year, and again a little bit
of run support for them in the baseball term would
be nice. You know, those those pitchers can go eight innings,
but if they don't get any run support, they still
get the loss.

Speaker 7 (44:16):
Right, So it's what it is exactly.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
So let's go on to our Ice Dog's weekly statistics
graphic and it's always that's brought to you by Jay
and all Flooring. Read it off for you guys here
listening on the audio version. Then we'll get the Christians
quick thoughts on it. Obviously, as we know, they lost
five to nothing and four to three in the two
games this week, so the goal differential there was nine
to three. The shots four and against this week, the

(44:39):
Ice Dogs were fifty seven to four, fifty seven to four,
fifty four against power play one of ten, penalty kill
was five of seven. Their face off percentage was seventy
two of one hundred and twenty one, which is fifty
nine percent, and then as far as the player stats go,
Kevin he Was had one goal, one assist, six shots
on net, one dangerouscore chance which was that short handed

(45:02):
breakaway goal that he did score. Ryan Roberg had a
goal as along with four danger scoring chances nine shots total.
Raith Smith also had a great game for himself as well,
with with one goal on the week. Ethan Zada with
an assist and was very good on the faceoff dot
as well. Riley Patterson had an assist, was twenty two
to thirty four on the dot. Ivan Galianov had one assist,

(45:24):
sixteen to twenty three on the faceoff dot. Ethan Zada
was twenty two to thirty six including again we'll see
if that statistic actually stands, but he was fourteen or
fourteen against the Branford Bulldogs on the faceoff dot. So
that's just a little quick quick thought on the weekly statistics, Christian,
and only went through it last week. You said they
literally lost every single team stat last week. Well it

(45:45):
looks a little bit better this week, even though they
still came away with no points.

Speaker 3 (45:49):
Yes, that is I'm glad you brought it up, because
I was gonna I was gonna say exactly the opposite.

Speaker 6 (45:55):
This week. They did it. They pulled it off.

Speaker 3 (45:57):
The only statistic that they managed to oos this week
was of course the power play and then the actual scoring.

Speaker 6 (46:05):
Like on the score sheet.

Speaker 3 (46:07):
They did not win the scoring race this past weekend,
but one everything in the face off that they had
the shots on goal for what feels like the first
time this season, Like when is the last time that
you know, this Ice Dogs team outshot anybody with consistency.
So that for me is another positive. You know, there's
positives here. You know, Ray Smith, you know, had a

(46:28):
great weekend, Ryerson Edgar get some points. Ethan Zod as well,
had to fight the big hit and assists some dangerous
chances in there. Galianov as well, like you mentioned, with
an assist, Robricks scores as well. That's you know, becoming
a norm. And he had a ton of dangerous chances.
And you know, for him, you know, to have four

(46:48):
dangerous shots and just score on one of them, he
could have scored an all four and all of a
sudden he's in a totally different spot in the scoring race.
So for me, there's all kinds of positives here. You know,
you have to kind of take pieces here and there.
It's like a buffet, right. We gotta we gotta be
willing to sample.

Speaker 6 (47:07):
Right now.

Speaker 3 (47:07):
We're sampling because you know, the the end result may
not be entirely pretty well. There's a you know, a
seven game losing streak, and again they fall twice this
weekend too, two important teams, you know, Brantford and Barry.
But the sampling is nice. You know, all these little
old dervs are fantastic.

Speaker 6 (47:28):
We're loving them.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
You know, the shots, we'll take a little bit of that.
You know, we'll take a little bit of scoring chances
for Ryan Robrick. You know, we'll we'll take the fight,
we'll take the hit. You know, we'll take you know,
some stronger defensive play. Well, there's all these little things
that we're kind of we're gonna eventually pull together and
the main course is gonna be uh is gonna be feastable.

(47:51):
So I think in the grand scheme of things, it's
a step forward this week. As a team, they played better,
Their individuals had fantastic opportunities. The goaltending was solid, you know,
despite Robertson getting pulled again to your point, not exactly
his fault, more of a let's kind of get going
here kind of thing. So you know, again, I just

(48:13):
want to reiterate, like you know, this is a good team.
They're gonna win hockey games. It's gonna come. It's gonna come.
For me, we need to see more of this in
the box score. I don't necessarily care too much right
now whether or not we're winning games. I care how

(48:34):
we're winning games and how we're losing games. This week,
we lost a couple of games, so be it. But
we won periods, we won areas, we won battles, we
won face offs. There's things that we can say we
won this week. And I think, you know, for me,
that's that's a huge takeaway from your weekly statistics.

Speaker 1 (48:55):
Yeah, face off wins seventy seventy two, four forty nine
against Again, the really only thing that sticks out as
the power play one to ten. But again we saw
that they're continuing to try to reinvent the wheel with that.
You know, multiple different times they've tried every forward on there.
And again, if you did watch the Barry game, they
were moving it a lot better in the offensive zone

(49:16):
and had some really good opportunities to score in the
power play. They just couldn't get one past Ben Horabic.
Actually they did score one of the seven that they had,
but again not the best percentage in the world. But
it's something that they're continuing to try to work through
and I will mention as we move forward here. Wishing
Luke Israel all the best. He has decided to leave
the organization to pursue other opportunities. Had come over with

(49:40):
a lot of pedigree from the list of world cyclones
and winning a BHL championship in the Gohl Championship, so
wishing him the best. That was confirmed to us by
Chris BArch the post game against Brantford this week that
he's just no longer part of the coaching staff and
wish him all the best and whatever he chose to
move on to with his next opportunity as an assistant coach.

(50:02):
The other two assistants will remain their Dylan Sites and
John Jutsy for Chris BArch and as well, Darcy the
Watcher is gonna get some playing time down with the
Niager False Canucks and the OJHL been working as just
a scratch defensive for the Ice Dogs, but again with
a couple injuries, he might might have to go into
the lineup.

Speaker 7 (50:18):
So just a few quick team notes.

Speaker 6 (50:20):
There, yep.

Speaker 3 (50:22):
I think for Darcy, obviously, can I get some up
playing time. I thought he looked great in training camp,
so I'll give the young man some credit where I
think it's due. I think he's looking to take a
step this year, and I think if he goes down
there showcases some of his skills, we could very very
likely be seeing him back up here at some point,
you know, playing some games for the Ice Dogs.

Speaker 6 (50:42):
And of course for Luke Israel.

Speaker 3 (50:44):
It's unfortunate to see a very talented and positive gentleman
leaving the organization, but you know, a very bright career
ahead of him, and I'm sure wherever he is heading,
they're going to be very happy to have him. So
definitely a couple of bittersweet moments for sure.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
So let's go to Ice Dog's head coach Chris Barts
with his weekly thoughts, as always brought to you by
Wild Those out of Repair, helping customers stay safe and
confident on the road in Nigresses twenty twelve and honor
the late William Robert Hunter. Here's the Ice Dog's head
coach following the game against the Barry Colts and how
they plan to move forward.

Speaker 7 (51:19):
It was a loss, but there are some positives there.

Speaker 13 (51:21):
So what do you take out of that game?

Speaker 10 (51:23):
Today? A process was fantastic.

Speaker 8 (51:25):
Yeah, you know, I told the men in there that
that's the feeling that they have to.

Speaker 10 (51:31):
Have every night.

Speaker 8 (51:32):
You know, what they invested in themselves, what they invested
in the team.

Speaker 10 (51:37):
You've got nothing left.

Speaker 8 (51:38):
So if we can bring that process every night, you
know we'll win four to five.

Speaker 10 (51:43):
But they are starting to learn the way we need
to play. You don't mean the compete. You know, that
team is first in our division.

Speaker 8 (51:52):
You know, Oak shot them two to one, forty to
I think twenty.

Speaker 10 (51:57):
For me, it's not just the bout with a shot clock,
which is the effort heart that the group showed.

Speaker 13 (52:03):
Absolutely, Yeah, you know, and then you get a goal early,
maybe that whole game is different.

Speaker 10 (52:07):
Do you go back and look at.

Speaker 13 (52:08):
Games like that and say, you know, if if if
type thing, or is it just what happened?

Speaker 10 (52:12):
Well, I think our record is guessing. I think it
is nine to one and one if we score first.
So that first first goal is pretty big.

Speaker 8 (52:22):
And again, you know comes down to you know, small
percentages with respect to a blue line. I haven't looked
at it, but there was some questions whether that should
have been or shouldn't have been.

Speaker 10 (52:33):
But again, we just I really like the resiliency of
the group.

Speaker 8 (52:36):
I like how they spoke on the bench, how they
carried each other, how they support each other, how they
individually reset within game.

Speaker 10 (52:44):
Even when we're.

Speaker 8 (52:45):
Down you know, one, two, three, nothing, There was never
a negative moment on that bench.

Speaker 10 (52:51):
Everybody kept pushing that way forward.

Speaker 13 (52:53):
Yeah, And I mean that's not an easy thing to
do when you're in the middle of the losing streak,
is it. So what does that say about a team
when even in the middle of the losing street they're
losing a game, they come.

Speaker 10 (53:01):
Back and have a good attitude and play like that.

Speaker 8 (53:03):
They're getting there. They're starting to understand what it takes.
They're starting to understand what it takes, you know, to win,
but also you know, what it takes to be a
pro and what it takes to be a man. You know,
it's difficult situations. You know, they're starting to make different decisions.
You learn more through adversity than you do success, and

(53:27):
they're starting to push through those, through those boundaries. And
like I said, for me, the effort for man to
man there was, you know, with regard to process is
what we want every night?

Speaker 13 (53:38):
Absolutely made a goaltending s which thay and what goes
into your thought process when it's a goaltendings, which is
it just to shake things up or a couple of goals.

Speaker 10 (53:45):
Only in a few shots type things? I mean, maybe
maybe have a feeling I don't you know what. Sometimes
it might work out, sometimes it doesn't.

Speaker 8 (53:54):
You know, sometimes it's it's for a reason of changeablementum
within a team, you know, having somebody a little bit
different back there.

Speaker 10 (54:00):
Both our goaltenders have played great throughout the year.

Speaker 8 (54:03):
I pulled both goaltenders at different points throughout the year,
some warranted, some maybe not.

Speaker 10 (54:10):
But again they're always for a different reason for.

Speaker 1 (54:14):
Coach should as kind of previously mentioned, that's two games
in a row where you think you have the first
goal and it gets called back. What's the mindset and
the mentality to keep the guys dialed in when you
know when you guys score the first goal, you do
win most of the games. But you haven't scored the
first goal since I believe October thirty first, So getting
into that process and thinking you have it two games
in a row and then things kind of you know,

(54:34):
went the other way.

Speaker 8 (54:36):
Yeah, you know, worry about what you can control. That's
that's our mindset. So with us, we just keep moving forward.
We had momentum and created our own momentum up to
that point. And you know, again very proud of the
group and their mindset and how they spoke and again.

Speaker 10 (54:53):
Pushing through some adversity.

Speaker 8 (54:56):
They if you want to go long into the playoffs,
if you want to have success, you know over a
sixty eight game season, you've got to have that mindset
of willing to push through and understanding, you know, what's
at the other side, what's he pushed through?

Speaker 1 (55:07):
And then as far as the goal tonight by Kevin,
he looks like he's finally back up the speed after
that illness. Looked like, you know, last game, just getting
his legs under him again. After no, this is never
an easy thing. So how did you think he's been
working back in there? Scored that really nice, nice goal
as well, And it seems like when he's in the lineup,
it gives you that game breaking speed that it gives
you those chances.

Speaker 10 (55:27):
I liked how Kevin dealt with some adversity.

Speaker 8 (55:31):
No, when Kevin plays the right way, when he plays
away from the puck the way he should, when he
keeps himself defensively responsible, when he works to all areas
on the ice, he can do what he wants. So
it's just nice to see him invest himself, keep himself
accountable to play away from the puck, and once he
has the puck, he will be rewarded.

Speaker 1 (55:52):
And then lastly, you've played against some really tough opponents
as of late, and you got another one coming up,
so you know what's the message. Even though you're not
picking up up to two points, but you're learning how
to play against some of these top end teams in
the league and what it's going to take when you
play them again later down the road.

Speaker 10 (56:07):
Process.

Speaker 8 (56:08):
Process, process, Like I said, if we're looking at fine
tuning here, keep you know, tightening the bolts, and that's
what we've been doing.

Speaker 10 (56:18):
Again.

Speaker 8 (56:19):
If we have five, you know games like we just
brought forth, I know that four out of five will
walk away feeling.

Speaker 10 (56:27):
Good about ourselves.

Speaker 8 (56:28):
And you know what, even the fifth one that we
do lose, because I know that group in their feels,
I would say fulfilled, knowing that they maybe knowing that
they don't know if they had much more in them.
When you push yourself to that extent and you can
walk away with no regrets, I think that's the goal

(56:48):
of the end or the focus.

Speaker 10 (56:50):
And they did achieve that goal. You know, they put
everything out there. Thanks coach.

Speaker 1 (56:55):
There was Ice Doug's head coach Chris BArch as always
in the wild those auto repair post game Christian a
lot of great thoughts there about a lot of different
things for Ice Dog's head coach Chris BArch, But I
want to get your quick quick takeaways on it because
I have a few.

Speaker 7 (57:09):
As we got about five minutes left in the show today.

Speaker 3 (57:12):
Score the first goal one of my biggest takeaways. They
win when they score the first goal, and I can't
argue with that. They got to find a way to
score the first goal. And I think they're going to
do that by leveraging something else that he said, which
is process, you know, starting to you know, get the

(57:33):
process down, starting to turn these young men into professionals
as junior hockey players and have them understand what it's
going to take. And they're starting to get there, Chris said,
you know, and that's that's encouraging to hear that, you know,
things are moving in the right direction in the locker room.
So for me, just a couple of takeaways. The first goal,
that one jumps off the page. Obviously, you know if

(57:55):
you win nine times out of ten when you score
the first goal and you don't score the first goal
in the last couple of games, will it kind of
makes sense while you're on a seven games kid. Of course,
the process a big one for me. I love to
hear stuff like that from Chris that you know he's
working with them. This is not, you know, a finished product.
It's going to be a project. They're continuing to work

(58:17):
on it, you know, week in and week out. And
then for Kevin, he you know to be coming back
feeling good, and you know to hear Chris talk a
little bit about his game away from the puck, and
you know, we've seen what he can do with it,
you know, with that game breaking speed that you like
to mention. He he really can make a difference with
the puck, but without the puck, he gets himself into

(58:39):
these situations where he can really make a difference. So
I thought those were, you know, three interesting takes that
I just wanted to kind of reinforce that.

Speaker 6 (58:45):
I completely agree with.

Speaker 3 (58:47):
You know, I think they they keep hammering down this process,
find a way to score that first goal. And I
don't think it's just for Kevin he but for the
team as a whole. Be responsible away from the puck
and you'll get rewarded. You know, it's not just Kevin,
It's it's it's Ethan's ondit's Ryan Robrick, you know, going
to those dirty areas. We've seen it this season. You know,

(59:08):
we've seen what it looks like when you play without
the puck. Well, Raith Smith has had a good couple
of weeks. He played without the puck and then when
he touches it he scores. Right that those aren't coincidences, right,
you know, you play hard, you know, you know in
between you know, the the goal scoring opportunities, you play
hard on the defensive zone, You're going to get rewarded
for it. And I think that, for me is the

(59:29):
big takeaway that you know, this coaching staff is focusing
on that. It's you know, we're not you know, just
looking to score goals here, We're looking to play solid
hockey in three zones. So I think that for me
is a big takeaway.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
He challenged his team to play better in their end
zone top to bottom and yep, again, really tough week
with Branford and Barry that came in here. But again
I think they made some strides there in that Barry
game where you can see, you know that they are
listening at practice and trying to implement some different things.

Speaker 7 (01:00:00):
A full week of practice here because their.

Speaker 1 (01:00:01):
Next game isn't until the Kitchen Rangers at the Odd
and Friday and then back home on Sunday against the
Peterborough Pets for Teddy Bear toss game should be a
fun game as well. But yeah, the process was fantastic.
We need that every night. They're learning to play the
right way. Process. Process. Process is something that Chris BArch
is hammering into these guys right now, as you mentioned,
and he said they're nine one to one at they

(01:00:22):
score first. So we've been talking about that for you know,
basically the whole month of November. Now that that's something
that they really need to get off to a hot start,
start on time. All these little things that are all
these things are correctable, Christian. I think that's a good
way to end it, is that all these things that
they're going through right now are things that they have
the ability to control and correct.

Speaker 6 (01:00:42):
Yes, and there's there's like process work.

Speaker 3 (01:00:45):
You know, it reminds me of like math class, which
is going to give me a headache just thinking about it.
But you know, when you're working through a problem, there's
steps that you follow. There's an equation, there's a very
clear way that you're going to take the numbers and
you're gonna find the right answer. You may not get
it right the first time, but if you have the equation,

(01:01:06):
you have the formula. Eventually you put those numbers in correctly,
you're gonna get the right answer. And that's what I'm
looking at with this Ice Dog's team. They got the formula.
Now where are they plugging in certain players? What line
combinations are gonna spit out the right answer. Chris BArch

(01:01:27):
has the calculator right now in his hand. He's trying
to figure it out this whole like the team's looking
at it. They're trying to find the right inputs. They
have the formula though, and that's what's encouraging for me.
Chris BArch has a very clear identity of what he
wants this team to be and it's a winning formula.
They just have to find the right numbers to input, yep.

Speaker 1 (01:01:48):
And that's why I think you've seen some of the
moves for Noah Reed, Liam Spencer, some of those guys
that Frank Evil has been able to bring in as
of late, and we'll have him on the show next
week for our big monthly recap episode. Guys again, will
be doing some special segments for that show as well.
We do an tic a giveaway as always, and we'll
have a new segment debuting from Christian as well that
we'll give you a little I want to miss some

(01:02:11):
maybe a little bit extra for you guys next week
as well for the big monthly recap. So that's going
to wrap it up for today's Dog Pound Podcast episode
right here on the Armchair GM Sports Network. Thank you
those again that tuned in on our video version on YouTube.
As always, you know what to do, hit like a subscribe,
smash to that bell, and thank you to our loyal
audio listeners as well. You can give us a follow
on X at dog Pound Podcast for all of our

(01:02:31):
ice dog updates, as well as on Facebook, Instagram and
TikTok by searching the Armchair GM Sports Network, so stay
tuned for our Teddy Bear Toss game coverage this upcoming Sunday.
Enjoy the watching the game on TV in Kitchener and
for Christian Simmons minauments brand Caputo. That's it for another
episode of the Dog Pound Podcast, the official podcast of
your niag or Ice dogs. Probably write to you by
Global Pet Foods, where pets are unanihily part of the

(01:02:53):
family and they're three great niag or region locations.

Speaker 7 (01:02:55):
We'll talk to you guys again next week. You're listening
to the Armchair GM Sports Network.

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Small Things in the Process for the IceDogs - Dog Pound Podcast

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