Unleash the IceDogs - Big Trade & Division Leaders: October 2025 Recap - 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.

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

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

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

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Jima, It's a.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Power play gol Man Ice Dogs, Heady Scar host seg
first School as an Ice Dog Trump Stop Shipley.

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

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

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Welcome into another episode of the Dog Pound Podcast and
our monthly recap show for the month of October right
here on the Armshair GM Sports Network. The Dog Pound
Podcast is the official podcast the year niag Or Ice Dogs,
probably writed by Global Pet Foods, where pets are unannihially
part of the family and their three Great nag Or
region locations. Thank you those that are tuned in on
our video version on YouTube, make sure it hit like it,
subscribe and smash that bells the update with all of

(01:41):
our video coverage here on the network. Thank you Christian
and of those that are choosing to listen to us
on your favorite on demand audio platform. Thank you very
much for doing so as well. You also give us
a follow on x at Dog Pound Podcast for all
of our Ice Dogs updates, and on Facebook, Instagram, and
TikTok by searching the Armchair GM Sports Network. So Brandon
put On Christian Simmons are with you to discuss the
first full month of the twenty five to twenty six

(02:03):
ohl season for the Niagara Ice Dog's currently second place
in the Eastern Conference, first place in the Central Division.
We're gonna hear from Ice Dog's Captain Kevin Hee on
our first installment of Captain Kev's Flight Deck on the
second part of today's show, as well as your guys's
fan polls for a couple of polls we put up
as well. Yeah, so we'll hear your guys' opinions on
things but the pressing news, and we're gonna hear from

(02:24):
GM Frankie Vola here very shortly as well, tying into
this first part of today's show, Christian, we delayed the
recording a little bit and from when we were supposed
to because there were some things coming down the pipeline
about a trade that Niagara was involved in, and it
was finally made official earlier this afternoon. And yes, Christian,

(02:45):
I guess we can call that your crying towel.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
But yeah, if anybody's watching on the video platform, I'm
wiping my tears right now. But yeah, continue, Brandon, Sorry
to cut you off there. It's an emotional day.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
All good. But we record this on Tuesday, it comes
out on the Wednesday. So trying to give you guys
a little bit on the timeline of things. In our
chat with Frankie Vola was on Monday, so with the
timeline of how these things sort of worked out. But
we're doing our the best that we can for you
guys with the information that we were provided. So I'm
gonna pull up the trade here.

Speaker 4 (03:18):
Yeah, big trade, huge news in Niagara. Hometown kid Noah
Reid comes back to Saint Catharines and the baby boy
Brady Wastling on his way out to the London Nights.
So a huge trade for both teams, A shocker one
that I definitely didn't see coming. I can't speak for Brandon,

(03:41):
I can't speak for you guys in the fan base,
but you know I was really looking forward just looking
forward to seeing Brady, you know, take next steps in
a night race dogs uniform this year, and you know
it's sad to see him go, but exciting another way.
You get a great player back, a Saint Catherine's native,
a guy that this region knows very well, somebody who
he's played some really great hockey with the Saint Catherine's

(04:02):
Falcons over the last couple of seasons. So it's gonna
be nice to see him back home. And of course
brings a whole whack of depth to the bottom six
and maybe even more than that Anaheim Ducks Straf pick.
So a very talented player coming back the other way.
But yeah, shocker to wake up this morning, being Tuesday,
when if you're listening to this on Wednesday, a day

(04:23):
you know previously.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
But yeah, just a little bit.

Speaker 4 (04:25):
Of a cold splash of water on the face this
afternoon to hear that one.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
Brady Woston obviously was a Niagre's fourth overall pick in
last year's HL Priority Selection rookie year as a sixteen
year old, broke a franchise record for assists. A guy
that is ranked as a as a B prospect going
into the NHL Draft as possibly could even go up
to a first round pick, So a guy that you
thought was a big part of the top six going forward.
But again we don't know any of the ins and

(04:50):
outs of why the trade happened. We weren't able to
reach the general manager today for comments on the trade,
whether Brady Wasslon requested it trade, whether the team thought
that possibly him going to Boston University next year played
a factor into this as well, maybe the fact that
they'd have Noah Reed for another year. But again we
don't know what the American Hockey League eligibility is going

(05:13):
to be for possibly not having nineteen year olds in
the league next year. But again there's a lot of
questions and we don't have a lot of answers for it.
But sort of what I guess the only thing that
we can come to conclusion about is that both these
players were looking for a fresh start, a new role,
and maybe Noah Reed fits the middle six sort of
better than what they had a vision for Brady Watson.

(05:34):
Maybe too many cooks in the kitchen Christian with what
we had talked about with the power play, a lot
of top ends skilled wingers on this team, no Reed
seems like a guy that can move up and down
the line up a little bit, be successful, play a
little bit more of a gritty game. And maybe it
also has to do with sixteen year old rookie Ryerson
Edgar playing so well to possibly be ready for that
top six role.

Speaker 4 (05:54):
Yeah, for sure, there's a lot of things that are
happening on this team that we didn't expect.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
You know.

Speaker 4 (05:58):
You saw, you know, Brady waton and gets injured earlier
in the season, the overager conversation, the goaltending situation.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
There were all kinds of question marks, and.

Speaker 4 (06:06):
I think, you know, with with Noah Reed, he brings
a lot to a team that could be looking to
have him fill a couple of different roles. You know,
he's got some goalscoring touch, he's got some size standing
at six feet, he plays the two way hockey game,
and he's shown a lot of growth over the last
couple of years, you know, coming from the Greater Ontario
Hockey League and making a relatively fast transition to the OHL,

(06:30):
you know, tenth round draft pick, a year later, you know,
playing a full OHL season, and then the following you know,
after the seasons done, he's getting drafted to the NHL,
So you know, you see the steep learning curve, you
see what he's accomplished here on the screen if you're
watching on YouTube. Playing in minor hockey, he was an
incredible player, twenty eight goals in thirty seven games, and

(06:51):
Saint Catherine's and the Greater Ontario Hockey League thirty eight
points in forty eight and then, of course in his
first OHL season, had a respectable camp, paying ten goals,
sixteen apples behind it, twenty six points a plus ten too,
so the plus minus looks pretty good. He's got some
playoff experience. He played seventeen games down the stretch for

(07:11):
the London Knights when it really counted, so he brings
some experience, he brings some defensive responsibility, and obviously there's
a lot of guys around hockey that really like what
this kid brings. You know, a third round draft pick
is not nothing. That's a very talented young man who
has a ton of potential, a lot of fantastic years
of hockey ahead of him, and you know, we should
be lucky to have him. And I'm sure the longer

(07:34):
I digest this situation, I'm gonna fall in love. I'm
sure I'm gonna be, you know, incredibly over the moon
to have this guy in our middle six. He's gonna
fill a role that you know, we've kind of been
targeting this year. There's been lots of talk about the
depth and you know, having guys in that bottom six
that can score. I think that's one thing that you know,

(07:54):
we saw Raith Smith get on the board a couple
times in the last few games, but beyond that, there
hasn't been a ton of offense coming from the bottom six.
You know, with such a potent top six, it's always
nice to get another guy, you know, coming in and
for Brady, a fresh start, you know, on a team
where he's gonna get a ton of ice time.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
He's gonna be their go to guy.

Speaker 4 (08:13):
You know, a draft here for him, So exciting for him,
exciting for Noah, exciting for the ice dogs to you know,
potentially start to figure out their identity in the top six.
I mean, to your point, too many cooks in the kitchen, man,
Like we saw the five man power play, like five
forward power play, Like you know, this is gonna pump
the brakes on some of those dilemmas. But yeah, shock

(08:33):
cold splash for sure, but excitement as well. It's a
it's a good feeling when you get a guy like
Noah Reid coming in. But yeah, it's it's wild like
it's not the change I was expecting this early in
the season. So we'll see how things progress. I don't know, Brandon,

(08:54):
I mean, what.

Speaker 3 (08:54):
What do you see? What do you see changing with
a Noah Reed in the middle six.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
I just think he brings a different type of player
than Brady Wastlin brings. And I think if the Ice
Dogs didn't have Kevin he Riley Patterson, Ryan Robrick, Ryerson,
Edgar a lot of top ends skilled wingers, I think
you would say that Brady Wosslin belongs on this team.
But it just almost felt like they were looking for
a little bit different about identity. You'll hear from general

(09:22):
manager Frankie Vollin a little bit here talk about as
you mentioned the depth scoring there and when you're talking
from London's perspective, we're not the London Knights podcast. But
they've now got the top two picks for the Ice
Dogs and Lash. The twenty twenty four priority selection in
Brady Wasstlin and max Crete, so obviously they view those
two players as top six players for them going forward,

(09:43):
and again Wastlin's Boston University potential next season. Maybe that's
why the Ice Dogs thought Noah Reed maybe he could
possibly stay down for another season with Niagara, maybe a
little bit more term there, even though he is a
year older than Wastlin. Will have to wait and see
how that sort of progresses. But he is coming back home.
We see all his stats up on the screen with
the Southern Tier Admirals, the Saint Catherines Falcons. I'm sure

(10:04):
the Saint Catherine's native is going to be happy to
come back here, bringing an experience of going on an
OHL championship and a Memorial Cup run with the London Knights.
I think he's going to bring a lot of experience
that the Ice Dogs are truly trying to become a
team that can make those deep playoff runs. So now
that Noah Reed's gone through sort of those battles and
what it takes to play into April and May, I

(10:26):
think he's going to bring a lot on the ice,
but I think off the ice as well, and how
you navigate through going through a run like that. Even
though the London Knights were pretty dominant last season. But
our initial reaction to it obviously you're losing out on
some skill, but I think you're bringing in some experience
and maybe some little bit more grit on the middle six.
Both wingers notes draft picks involved in the trade as well,

(10:49):
So we just straight up one for one. It's going
to be really tough to see Brady wassl and Go
a great young man off the ice as well. But
you know, if Frankie Vola thinks that this trade helps
his team this season, we'll have to wait and see,
because this team is, as I mentioned, off the open,
second place in the conference, first in the Central Division.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
YEP.

Speaker 4 (11:06):
I will say before we move on that, you know,
coming from a team like London who did not have
the ideal start to the season, I think we all
expected them to be a little bit better to start
this year. Of course you're watching on the screen. There
you go, former Memorial Cup champion, a very accomplished young man.
But I will say a part of his game that

(11:27):
I do like and that I think he's going to
allow some assistance in a specific department would be the
defensive side of the game. His offensive side of the
game is gonna come right. You know, he plays playing
on a London team this year that so far did
not have a very potent start offensively. You know, they're
but what they did have was a very strong defensive game.

(11:49):
Their ranks in the top five as far as goals
against in the entire Ontario Hockey League. It's part of
the reason why they've found a way to climb back
up the leader boards. He knows how to play a
tight defensive game. And this comes to a team like
Niagar who struggled, you know, forty five goals against, one
of the worst in the top five teams in the

(12:10):
Ontario Hockey League. They're looking to add some more defensive structure.
They're looking to add maybe a little bit more penalty killing.
They've taken a ton of penalties to start this season,
a ton of penalties. Two hundred and two penalty minutes.
They're in the top seven and you know, penalty minutes taken.
I mean thank god that you know, the penalty kill
has been you know, pretty strong. But you know, if

(12:30):
that's gonna be their identity, they're going to play a
rough game. They're gonna need to have guys like that
who can come in and fill you know, a penalty
killing role play, you know, shut down defense, and I
think that's something that he's going to bring. And then
you know, coming from a championship team, he's he learned
a ton from some real strong players, Dickenson, Cowen, Barkey,

(12:53):
you know, he he learned under some very very accomplished
major junior hockey players and hopefully brings some of that
to the That would be the plan is, you know,
Brandon pulls up the standings here, Brandon take it away.

Speaker 3 (13:04):
What do we got here? You're gonna walk us through
the border.

Speaker 5 (13:08):
No.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
I was just kind of putting it up there for
reference for people watching on the video version that the
Ice Dogs, you know, power play and penalty kill. Their
penalty kill has been one of their strengths this season,
as you had mentioned, one of the better in the
Ontario Hockey League. And I think Noah Reid's gonna add
to that. He's a very solid two way forward and
I think that's the best way to describe him. I

(13:28):
think that's why Pat Verbeek and the Anaheim Ducks really
liked him as well, because they have those a lot
of top ends skill in Anaheim, but they might not
necessarily have those guys that can fill in on the
penalty kill and those guys that fill in in the
middle sixth role there. So I think Noah Reed, as
you mentioned, I don't think that a third round pick
isn't isn't something that you just take. Like Anaheim clearly

(13:48):
values what Noah Reid brings, So to me, that's an
intriguing part of his game, and I think that he's
gonna add just a lot of different elements that I
think that on the surface area we're not going to
see because we look at Brady Waston and the high
point totals and dynamic player and a top top end
a draft eligible player and a great player in his

(14:09):
own right. But the Ice Dougs have so many of
those same types of players. So I think they bring
in a Noah Reed that can add to guys like
Hayden Hayden Reid as well. I've never even thought of that.
It's going to be a nightmare for us to try
to figure out those.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Two red squared connection there.

Speaker 1 (14:25):
Luckily ones with an IE, ones with an A. So
thank you any of that. But you're starting to see
sort of the identity of the Chris Barts types of
players in that bottom six with Galianov, with Ray Smith,
with Hayden Reed, with Noah Reed. Now, like, I really
think that this team has a certain identity they want
to playoff of along with their top end skilled players,
and I think this goes a long way. We're gonna
have to wait and see because Raderson Edgar has gone

(14:48):
away to the World You seventeen Challenge, So see, maybe
Noah Reed jumps up into that top six for now
and we'll see where Ryerson Edgar shakes out at the
end of the month. And Ryan Roebrik's also going to
be leaving us at the end of in a November
as well. For a couple of games.

Speaker 4 (15:02):
Everybody is just taking off, like I don't know who's
booking the plane ticket. Somebody's gonna have to pack, Like
it's it sucks, right, But my immediate concern, you know,
you know, when I woke up this morning and I
saw this red button in front of me, I started
pushing it, like you know, the red button moment for
me was the power play. You look at the power

(15:22):
play not exactly stellar start the season, fifteen point two percent.
It just hasn't been where we want it to be
and I think. I think for me, the real reason
I'm concerned when I see this trade is I look
at the power play unit that we have right now.
You got a bunch of guys out there that just

(15:43):
want to shoot the puck, you know, Roebrick right now
leading the league in power play goals. Zada scored nine
goals so far this season. He likes to shoot. Kevin
he likes to shoot. Riley Patterson seems to be the
clutch goal scorer of the decade. Like these guys like
to shoot, they like to score. One thing that Brady
Wasslyn added to this team last year was his ability

(16:04):
to pass. He was a fantastic assist man. He broke
the rookie assist record. He's a guy that knows how
to feed. And I think for me, you know, looking
at a power play filled with guys that you know,
like to put it in the back of the net,
it's a little bit of a WinCE moment when you see,
you know, potentially your best playmaker, you know, heading out,

(16:27):
you know, and with that said, you know, don't get
me wrong, don't misconstrue. You know, there's lots of other
guys in this team that can pass. The puck like
lots of talented players, but it's for me, it's it's
you know, I look at the shooting percentages of you know,
some of the guys we have here, and you know,
there's a lot of shooting happening on the power play,
maybe not a whole lot of dishing. And I think

(16:49):
that that was that was another concern for me, you know,
for a team that's struggling on the power play.

Speaker 3 (16:53):
But one way or another, you know, Hayden Reid is
is an.

Speaker 4 (16:56):
Igerist dog, can't look back, has to have to move forward.
But that was another thing I just wanted to quickly mention,
is that, you know, Walstlyn brings a lot of passing
to potentially a top unit that has.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
A whole lot of triggerman.

Speaker 1 (17:08):
Right, And yeah, Noah Reed is now a niag or
eis dog coming home to Saint Catharines, a Saint Catherine's
boy along with Grayson Tiller, adding to that local connection.
Before we get to general manager, Frankie Bola just quickly
wanted to go over Kevin he leading the way with
eighteen points. We're gonna hear from him later today. We're
also gonna hear get your fan polls. We have a
fan poll about Kevin he as well. But Ryan Roebrick

(17:30):
fourteen points in the fourteen games, Riley Patterson with thirteen
points in the twelve games. He's been really hot as
of late with the performance that he had in the
three and three has been very good. Ethan Zada at
the time of recording this still that pending suspension for him.
He already missed the game, but was sticking up for
Ryerson Edgar and prop gloves and again something that you know,

(17:55):
you don't want one of your best players getting suspended,
but at the same time, it was for a reason
that I think went a long way in that room
and h as far as sticking up for it for
your rookie star rookie uh. And we'll see sort of
how long Zad is out for uh with with that,
but again, like it's it's one of those things where, yeah,
you got to stick up for a teammate, but at
the same time, if you drop the gloves and the

(18:16):
other guy didn't, it's, uh, it's one of those things
where uh, the instigating comes into that.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
You know, I just crossed my mind.

Speaker 4 (18:23):
Is like Ethan Zoda definitely watched that clip of the
New York Islanders just chasing after the guy who took
down Schaefer.

Speaker 3 (18:31):
Have you seen that clip?

Speaker 1 (18:32):
Yep?

Speaker 3 (18:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
Ethan Zoda watched that video on repeat before that game.
He saw somebody touch Ryerson Egger. He's like, yeah, you
don't touch our golden boy, which is exactly the kind
of response you like.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
So I got no issues with that play from Ethan Zodo.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
Right, So let's get to Ice Dogs General manager Frankie
Vola on the first installment of Monthly Maintenance brought to
you by Wild Bill's Out of Repair helping customers stay
safe and confident on the road in Nagress of twenty twelve,
in honor of the William Robert Hunter. Here's what the
Ice Dog general manager had to say, But the team's
performance did the first month of the season and some
of the moves that he's made so far the season.

(19:10):
And we're back on our first Monthly Maintenance segment brought
to you by Wild Bills out of Repair with the
Ice Dogs General manager Frankie Vola. Frank, thanks a lot
for joining us today. The first full month of action
that you guys have had in the twenty five to
twenty sixth season, a five to three to one month,
but three wins in a row and sitting second place
in the Eastern Conference, first in the division, and fourth overall,

(19:32):
tied for fourth overall in the Ontario Hockey League. How
pleased to you with the start for the team?

Speaker 6 (19:36):
Yeah, I'm pretty pleased of the progression we've made from
the start of the season until obviously yesterday afternoon. And
you know, seeing a lot of signs of things trending
in the right direction as far as structure and players
buying in for sure.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
And one of your big acquisitions in the offseason, or
I guess early in training camp was Riley Patterson and
from the Barry Colts, and obviously the you talked about
him being brought into the fold in many ways being
a big acquisition, and he's got six goals and thirteen
points in the twelve games and signed his entry level
contract with the Vancouver Canucks. So is this sort of
what you had envisioned for Riley Patterson when you had

(20:12):
traded for him from the Barry Cole It's a guy
that seems he's been playing center, winging wherever he's kind
of needed. Seems like he's playing a big role right now.

Speaker 6 (20:19):
Yeah, I mean adding Patty's experience in the Ontario Hockey League,
being in an NHL, you know, prospect and signing his contract,
and there's more to Patty being here and integrating with
their guys, and he's a leader and obviously has an
a on shirt and you know, the hockey will take
care of itself, but it's the leadership stuff and the

(20:41):
dressing room stuff that goes a long way that people
don't see behind the scenes. So yeah, adding Patti's have
been an important part, but not only just for the
hockey part, but obviously for the off ie stuff as well.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
Absolutely, And a couple other moves you've made since since
we last chatted at the end of a training camp.
There was for Hayden, Reid and Ard and Frolov. Obviously,
both those guys have made impacts since you've acquired them.
How pleased are you with that sort of move and
bringing two guys back that were well forro Love was
familiar with the organization read was drafted by Niagara. But

(21:11):
what have you thought of those two guys coming over
in the Flint trade?

Speaker 6 (21:13):
Yeah, it's kind of ironic they were drafted here, but
it was enough. It just coincidence and it happened to
be on the same day that they were traded. But yeah,
they're obviously Frollof is a huge part of our team.
He's quarterback in our power play right now, and he's
playing twenty plus minutes and he's a guy that can
transport pucks up and down the ice and defend hard

(21:35):
and anything like. We need depth here and reader brings
depth and energy to our hockey club. And he's an
older guy, so we kind of mixing in some age
with that was well. And they've coming in done a
great job and adds depth our hockey club. And yeah,
speaks for itself.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
A little bit of a two part question. So you've
been able to finalize your overrade situation and also the
goaltending situation in that sense too. Obviously Andrew Wisick no
longer with the organization down in Trenton now, so you've
got your three overagers. He signed Cole Cooksy to his
full time AHL contracts, So you're running with Cooksie, Robertson
and Tiller as your three overagers. So what went into

(22:14):
the decision to finally making making those three choices and
and why that was the best fit for the club
this season.

Speaker 6 (22:19):
Yeah, I mean, ultimately there's tough decisions to be made
with players and overagers, and just obviously you know Robbie
and what he's gone through and and the adversity that
the young man's gone through and how he handled himself professionally.
And I think you need two really good quality goaltenders
in this league and he was a quality goaltender before

(22:40):
he came into the fold. And you know, he's is
playing a speed for itself. He's you know, fourmer wins.
You know, half of these guys and your most got
five wins. You know, to put in one of those
guys in net and feel safe is a great feeling
for hockey club. And he's a well liked young man
and same as Cooksie's coming here into spots and he's
an older guy that can move up and down our lineup.

(23:03):
Like last night he plays with Kevin he and Kevin
gets three goals and you know, there's no Eagles here
and you know, at the end of the day, they're
well liked and that's part of the process of bringing
in guys here.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
I know matosbaith is no longer with the organization, was
reassigned to the BCHL this last week. But your other
drafted in the CHL import draft, Ladislav you're a Malanco
coming over from Belarus, got here the week of the
regular season. Seemed like he's fitting in quite well along
with Charlie Robertson and then Ben Reesenecker, who's ranked on
the Central Scouting List as well as your Malanco. Seems

(23:33):
like he's fitting in wells also on the defensive side.
So what can you say about your two imports and
why you think those guys have been vital pieces to
what you guys have been trying to do the season.

Speaker 6 (23:43):
Yeah, Ben's a big body defenseman. He's not gonna wal
you with his offensive ability, but let's saying that he's
got I think six or seven points and he breaks
up plays. He's hard to play against. He has a
little bit of an edge, and he's a younger guy,
and he's here for two years, which is great, and
he's only going to continue to get better and better
with his development. And and Yarmo, I can't say enough

(24:06):
about the young man coming from you obviously Bell Russ,
and he's fitting seamlessly. He plays a pucked extremely well
and there's a lot of NHL interest with him. As
we move along here, there's been more and more and
you know what, he's uh, he gives us a chance
to play well, give us a chance to win most
games when he's in the nuts and and well like
guy again in the room, he's uh, he's fitting in

(24:27):
really well.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
So Ice Dog general manager Frankie Volla is with us.
Frank when we talk about sort of the attention in
the eyes on Niagara, you know, they they've had some
guys sign their entry level contracts and Ethan Zada and
Riley Patterson this season, and then with six guys on
the Central scouting list with you know, Rowbrick and Wastlin
and some of those top end guys that have a
lot of eyes on them, might be more scouts in

(24:48):
the building, which is right up your alley with your
scouting background. So what does that say about? What does
that do for an organization just having more eyes on
them than than they would have in previous years and
and building that I guess pipeline to develop not only
now and NHL players, but possibly NC double A players
and just having those guys with with an affiliation to

(25:08):
their name or guys that are looked at from an
organizational standpoint.

Speaker 6 (25:13):
Yeah, it's always nice to be recognize the be on
a list and and not all that type of stuff.
And that's great for the players and the individual players.
But you know, for my job, like obviously, is to
build a quality hockey team here, like and like anything,
a family atmosphere. And I think between our coaching staff
and our players, that's what we've really come together in

(25:36):
the last month. The kids are you know, they like
each other, they enjoy coming to the rink, and they're
fighting for positions and it's a competitive league. And with
that said, the guys on that list and it's great,
but obviously it's not it's a starting point. And if
it's a C, they want to get to a B.
If it's a B, they want to get to an A.
And if it's a W, they want to get to

(25:57):
a letter. So that's our jobs to developed. But I
want this to be a destination and I think it
can be a real good destination for players in the future.
And I think we're trending in the right direction.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Yeah, And I mean, you've got one more game left
in October later this this week for Halloween, but you
think about going into November and December, that's when sort of,
you know, things start to get in the works with
you knowing which teams might be interested in making moves
and things like that. And I know you've revamped the
decorp basically completely from last year, with Schanowski being really
the only guy left in that top six that was

(26:29):
on it last year. So do you like anticipate Again,
it's early to say, but are you actively looking to
improve the hockey club, whether that be you know, with
certain moves or just certain talks that are going on.
Right now, you're sitting second place in the conference and
I know Branford is really the class of the the
OHL right now. But you know, if this team continues
to play well, are you going to be looking to

(26:50):
you know, be in a win win now scenario with
some of the moves you've already made this offseason.

Speaker 6 (26:54):
Yeah, I don't know if it's all win now. I
mean there's always you know, you always have to look
for the future short term, long term. You know, there's
always that in the back of your head. But you
know what you take every day in and yeah, you
know you watch the league, You're always staying into what's trying,
what's going on in the league. But there's no h
you know, I feel patient here. I don't need to
do anything at nine to four in one and you

(27:17):
know what, the kids are proven that you know what
they're they're playing well, they're buying into with Chris is
trying to teach them and in a grate as a system,
and you know what is the things that I can
improve the hockey team, not only for short term but
long term. You know, I'll prepared to listen. But at
the end of the day, the landscape of junior hockey
has changed. There's players that are going to be in
the league for two years. There are players that can

(27:38):
be in this league for one year. There's free agents
coming from different leagues. So it's a it's a different
way to build teams. And we're all trying out there,
twenty general managers trying to learn this all different ways,
and we're trying to you know, be a competitive team,
be a relevant team from not only this year but
years to come. So that's more or less my job
and you know, try to be you know relevant every

(28:00):
year here in Saint Captain's in Niagar.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
And then last question for I guess what would be
something you want to see from the team over the
next month. I know the power play at one point
was under ten percent and now it's sort of stabilizing,
getting give it back up to about fifteen percent. Still
that where you want to be, but it's progressing and
it's something that the coaching staff is really trying to
work on. So what do you just want to see
this team do over the next month to continue stacking

(28:23):
wins and continue to have good confidence and be well
in the standings by the time we chat again.

Speaker 6 (28:28):
Yeah, there's just different type of boxes you want to
check off. Continue to progress in our structure. I think
we're defensively, we're allowing less shots, less scoring chances, less
odd man rushes, so we're really playing a little more detailed.
Our pek's been extremely well and that starts with goal
tending out and then obviously our power plays getting better.

(28:49):
I mean that comes in time and with some continuity,
and it creates momentum on some power plays. Early in
the year, our power play didn't create momentum. It actually
give us some short handed goals. So we're creating momentum
off our power plays now. So which that's a positive.
And we're getting more shots we were we weren't shooting
as much and shots on net, but that's increasing. And

(29:11):
obviously you just want to keep grinding her out, get
more depth scoring, and you know, continue to keep winning
and continue to keep playing the right way. You know,
we're not gonna win every hockey game. That's hockey. And
you know last night with Zada and Reznecker and here
malinko out, you know that shows the depth of our
hockey club. And and you know, with Edgar leaving for
two weeks at under seventeen, it's the next man up

(29:32):
mentality and and that's why you need depths, and so
we'll continue to keep working.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
With that first installment of monthly maintenance with the general
manager of the NIAG Grice Dogs, Frankievola. Frank, thanks so
much for coming on giving us some insight on, you know,
the the management side of things over the last month,
and look forward to chatting with you again at the
end of November.

Speaker 6 (29:51):
I guess we could say awesome, thank you.

Speaker 1 (29:53):
All right, Christian, there was another episode of monthly Maintenance
with the general manager, Frankie vol Again, a couple of
those things had to be sort of edited because our
chat with him was on Monday, and with recording on Tuesday,
the trade came out, So something's even changed from day
to day for him, with him talking about the roster
and being happy where they are at nine to four

(30:13):
and one. But I want to get your thoughts on
what he said.

Speaker 4 (30:17):
Yeah, definitely, just you know, I like to hear that
he's happy with what he's got. You know, we talked
a bit about kind of the over age situation and
the goalie situation, and you know, he likes what he
sees from you know, some of the some of the guys,
some of the pieces that he's brought in and then
of course looking to add some depth, being kind of
his only question mark and he went out and did it,

(30:38):
you know, less than forty eight hours later. So a
lot of stuff to be happy about there. I do
think he's got a very clear identity of what this
team needs to be. He knows what he's looking for,
he has the pieces in his mind. He's just trying
to go out there and find him. And I think
it's it's a really positive and exciting to have a
guy you know, at the at the wheel that that

(31:00):
really knows what he wants for this team. So I think,
you know, that's my big takeaway. But of course, uh,
things have changed, so you know, we'll have to have
to hear from again him again as to what you
know he thinks of the new look and and you
know what kind of the new identity is going to
be for the bottom six. You will have to wait

(31:20):
and see, you know, for the penalty kill. And you know,
so there's a lot there. There's a lot to break down.
I do like you know, him talking about fro Love
being a great, a great guy on the back end,
you know, somebody that brings some of that uh you know,
uh consistency on the back end for the power play
and you know, just being a guy that you know

(31:42):
you can rely on on the back end as well.
But I think it's it's an exciting chat with a
guy who's who's passionate and and very clearly heading in
a in a direction with an organization.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
He knows exactly what he wants here.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
Yeah, And I mean he I had asked him about,
you know, what they're looking for. He didn't necessarily say
that they were all in this season. So I found
that because we had kind of talked about that about
this team, what are they going to be? Is this
the last kick of the can for a lot of
this cores And now that Washington's out the door, maybe
they think that their windows open beyond that. And we'll see.
If you know, Kevin, he could possibly be up well.

(32:17):
I expect him to be at least in the American
Hockey League next year as an overager for Winnipeg now
that he signed. And we'll see with Ethan Zada as well,
if those HL rules sort of changed things and Roebrick
being in his draft year. So I just think that
he didn't necessarily say that he wanted to go all
in this year. But he definitely made that big trade
for Patterson at the beginning of the season that I
kind of asked about. And he's been very happy with

(32:37):
what Patterson's brought on and off the ice, and and
I guess as a full two way player, we expected
Patterson to be a solid offensive player, but I think
he's brought more in the defensive end than maybe we
had expected, and playing more center as well.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
Yeah, he just keeps scoring.

Speaker 4 (32:52):
You know, he's on a hot streak right now, you know,
really really showing out. You know, captain Klutch scored two
game winning goals and this last week really getting hot,
you know, on that four game point streak, Like we mentioned,
over a point per game average this season as well,
which is a big step for him. You know, he's
gonna have a great season. But to Frank's point, it's
also more about the kind of person he is. You know,
what he brings inside the locker room. You know, for

(33:13):
a group of guys that you know are coming together
with a lot of new faces, you need a guy
like a Riley Patterson. You know, you need a guy
like a Kevin he You know, you need like a
guy like a Grayson Tiller. You know, you need those
character building guys in the locker room. And I think
he's fantastic. He's gonna He's gonna serve him well down
the stretch, you know, maybe shaking off some of the
hatred a little bit, you know, coming from the enemy,

(33:34):
it's gotta be a bit of a jolt when you
see Riley Patterson walk into your locker room. But I
think he's adjusted well and you know, he's really starting
to take his game to the next level.

Speaker 3 (33:44):
I see him being a huge piece for this team
down the stretch.

Speaker 4 (33:47):
But yeah, I love what I see for Patty hopefully
just you know, keep putting him away, like let's get
this guy at captain's hat like a captain clutch man.

Speaker 3 (33:55):
I'm telling you he's been on a role.

Speaker 4 (34:00):
Him and even Zoda, both of them just can't can't
stop scoring, I'll tell you that. And I like to
see that from those guys, you know, not not exactly
the two man tandem we expected. You know, you look
at it, Kevin he and Ryan Robrick, can you okay? Well,
those that's where the goals are gonna come from. And
it's been you know, it's been Patterson, it's been Ethan
Zada shooting at thirty nine point one percent, which is incredible.

(34:25):
Like you're getting lots of you know, offense and people
chipping in, people buying in, and you know, the Chris
BArch mindset of you know family and you know team
and you know, play for your boys, your brothers, like
everybody up and down this bench is gonna is gonna
go to battle every night. And you know, I'm loving
what I'm seeing there. So you know, another piece of

(34:45):
the puzzle comes in and with no Reid, and I'm
just really excited. You know, I was thinking to myself
earlier today. You know, it just haven't reached our cruising
altitude yet. And you know you see kind of where
where going, you know, the altitude that we're going to reach.
It's you know, some teams just aren't gonna be able

(35:05):
to get there. You know, we're at the top of
the Eastern Conference or within striking distance, you know, top
of the Central Division, and we're not playing our best
hockey yet. I think there's there's a lot of stuff
to be excited about. Frank sounds excited. I'm excited. It's
a happy, happy times in the Niger region for sure.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Patterson said he wanted to be here because he wanted
to be on a contender, So I mean that that
tells you all you need to know about him wanting
a fresh start and a team going from one team
within the division to another. So we'll see how that
sort of plays out. But he wants to be a
Nagron wanted to be here, which is why that trade
ended up being made. But we're gonna take a break
on today's show, We're gonna come back. We're gonna hear

(35:47):
from Ice Doug's captain Kevin he for his monthly Captain segment.
Here on the show, we're gonna get your fan reaction
to a couple of polls as well. We're gonna give
away some club level tickets for you guys on on
today's show. So we're gonna we're going to get to
all that on the second part of today's show. So
stay right here to be right back on the Dog
Pound Podcast, the official podcast to your nag rice dogs.

(36:08):
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Speaker 5 (39:35):
Hey's Ryan Robert, This is Ethan Zyder, This is Ivan Galiana,
this is Kevin he and this is the dog Pound Podcast,
the official podcast.

Speaker 9 (39:42):
When that You're ice Dogs, Welcome back to part two
of today's dog Pound pop Cast monthly recap episode for

(40:02):
the month of October.

Speaker 1 (40:03):
Right here on the Armchair GM Sports Network. The official
podcast to your nag or Ice Dogs. Make sure to
hit like a subscribed to smashed that belts the update
with all of our video coverage here on the network.
If you're enjoying looking at our glorious faces for the
video version of the podcast and those that shows, to
listen to us in your favorite on demand audio platform.
Thank you very much for doing so as well. I'm

(40:23):
also going to put up our merch store. If you
guys want to get some Dog Pound merch or Armchair
GM podcast merch or anything merch wise from our network here,
you can get that by hitting that QR code and
getting in on some of the merch that can get
shipped right to your house. It's just like getting any
anything else from an online store. It's a great thing to.

Speaker 4 (40:44):
Show them the sweater, show them the sweater man. Yeah,
get the sweater on right there. Check it out.

Speaker 1 (40:49):
You get your slag, get that at fourth Wall and
you can get that by hitting that QR code on
the merch site there. So on the second part of
today's show, we're going to go over the fan pull.
We're gonna hear from Mice Dogg's captain Kevin. He given
him some insight and what is his favorite Halloween candy.
We'll hear that as well on the on the interview,
and then we're also gonna possibly do a kick ticket

(41:11):
giveaway that we're not gonna tell you when, but uh,
it's gonna be a fun second part of today's episode.
And again, obviously things have changed with the Brady Wastlin
trade and and things like that within the the roster Christian,
And the first thing that I want to get to
here is I guess you're just outlook, That's what I
wanted to talk about. It was just the look on
what we've thought of the game so far. With nine

(41:33):
to four and one, they're on a they're on a
pretty good streak right now. We look at sort of
some of their past games this month for I get well,
I mean the Halloween. They still have one more game,
but we're counting this as the full month recap. So
when you look at that Christian, you look at the law.
We got it up on the video version. They lost
a winsor one of the best teams in Ontario Hockey.

(41:53):
They lost to Branford, another one of the best teams
on Terario Hockey League. The lead lost against Arie was
a little tough. Uh, but you look at it and
they've had some pretty solid success this month. I look
at the Eerie game as a missed opportunity of winning
the back to back there, but being able to sweep
at three and three this last weekend with two against Brampton,
who they'll play again on Friday. You know, you got
to be pretty happy about this.

Speaker 4 (42:14):
Yeah, No, I don't think there's too much to complain about.

Speaker 3 (42:17):
You look at the last five.

Speaker 4 (42:18):
You know, you take four out of the last five,
you know, eight of a potential ten points, playing some
really good hockey on a three game winning streak. You know,
this weekend was strong. I think they showed some signs
of what they can be. But for me, they haven't
passed the test yet. They haven't passed the test. They
haven't beat Branford, they haven't been Windsor. They didn't beat Barry.

(42:39):
You know, like the big matchups in October. You know,
they they found a way to lose those games. And
you know they you know, for Brantford and for Windsor,
they lost them by relatively you know, large scores. You know,
even against Barry they gave up six you know, it
was seven against Brantford. It was six against Barry and
it was six against Windsor. That's a lot of goals

(43:01):
going the other way against teams that know how to score.
You know, when you play games you know in Brampton
or in Eerie or in Sudbury, it's not going to
be the same situation. You know, Ermo is not going
to have to make forty five fifty saves. He shouldn't
have to do that anyways, you know what I mean.
So I think for me, there's a lot to like.
I think they're starting to starting to gel. This weekend

(43:23):
was great. I saw some really positive things, some encouraging things,
you know, I think, you know, the four game winning
streat great. You know, being up there, close to the
top of the Eastern Conference is exciting. They've scored a
ton of goals, you know, they've scored fifty two goals
so far this season, third most in the Ontario Hockey League.

Speaker 3 (43:41):
Through fourteen games.

Speaker 4 (43:43):
And of course their penalty kill has also been a
strong point as well. But I do think defensively, tighten
it up, be ready to play against those big games,
Like who do you think you're playing in the playoffs?
I can promise you you're not going to see Sudbury
in the Eastern Conference finals. Like you're gonna see these teams.
You're gonna see a winsor you're gonna see a Brantford

(44:05):
Barry is gonna come. You know they're gonna come. They're
gonna get better, they're gonna climb. Like those are the
teams that you have to be ready to play. And
you know, an extension of that point would be when
you play Eerie, when you play Brampton, you gotta take
those wins.

Speaker 3 (44:20):
You know that.

Speaker 4 (44:20):
You take a look at this, you know, the next
couple of weeks, November is a nightmare. They play Kingston
Ottawa twice, Brantford Barry and then kitchen Or twice. That
is an incredibly difficult month. So I think they need
to be they need to be ready to play. They've
got a couple of weeks to get ready here. But

(44:41):
I think for me, what it comes down to is
not scoring six goals against Brampton, and you know, not
not Kevin he scoring a hat trick. You know, in
a game that's you know, it's garbage time basically, right,
Like you need to have these guys, you need to
have this team getting it done when it really matters,
and we're gonna we're gonna see that later in November.

(45:03):
But I do think it's been a great stretch. You know,
through fourteen games, they got the winning record, their second
in the Eastern Conference.

Speaker 3 (45:10):
You can't really complain too much.

Speaker 4 (45:13):
There's a really a lot to like about a team
that's right now sitting at the top of the East.
And I think if you keep getting the strong goaltending,
you bring in some guys, you know, like read in
the bottom six, you start to get, you know, some
strong defensive contributions. Ryan Roebrick starts to you know hit
his you know, top speed. I think, you know, we

(45:34):
could be blazing away here and really challenge Branford at
the top. And then when you when you see those
teams in the West, when you see winsor when you
see Kitchener, you know, Owen sound has been great this year.
When you see London, you know, those are kind of
games that you really have to find a way to win.

Speaker 3 (45:48):
So that's that's my outlook. My outlook is.

Speaker 4 (45:52):
Happy, but not satisfied, still hungry. I want to see
you take on Kitchener. I want to see you rip
Brandtford to part Limb from Limb. I want to see
the killer instinct in a lineup stacked with NHL potentially
NHL players, you know.

Speaker 3 (46:10):
I just I haven't seen that killer instinct and I'm
looking for more of it.

Speaker 1 (46:15):
Yeah, I mean the win against Kingston was nice because
Kingston had been playing better as of late, and they've
got a pro coach and Troy Man, and they play
a very pro style system. They don't really have a
lot of stars, but they play to their system well.
And the Ice Dogs won a low scoring game against
the Kingston front next, so that's something you like to
see that they don't just win run and running gun
type of games. You like to see a low scoring

(46:37):
game once in a while. It was four to one
with the empty net or three one essentially, and they
killed off a five minute major and then a penalty
right after that, so they were doing all the right
things where that game could have definitely gone in Kingston's favor.
The Ice Dogs played it the right way and then
put away a Brampton team that they should put away
that they in the third period of that game on Sunday.
To now be have one four straight, I think, you know,

(46:59):
other than Branford. I think Niagara can really go, you know,
every single game, game in and game out, and say
that they are confident they can beat any of these
teams in the Eastern Conference. And again, the teams like
Branford are the ones and the Kitcheners and those teams
that you talked about, They're going to be facing them
again this month, so we'll really see where they stack
up against some of these better teams. And they still
are first in the Central Division, and the Central Division

(47:21):
has been kind of sputtering. You look at North Bay
is still trying to rebuild after going to three straight
Eastern Conference finals, and they're doing a great job of
that already in the second year of that. And then
you've got Brampton and Barry and Sudbury. Barry expected to
be much better now that they get a meal heming
back from an NHL organization. So I still don't think

(47:44):
that you can count them out. Whether they want to
go in the cell road or the by road. I
think they're sort of in the middle where they can
do both. But I think Barry is one of those
teams that people that expected to be at the top
of the Central Division this season. So for Niagra to
be sitting where they are right now as the current
leader in the division. Still a long way to go.
But the first month or so, first month and two games,

(48:05):
I guess you can say, has definitely been encouraging to see.
For a new coaching staff, a new general manager, a
lot of new players, it's just been, uh, the group
has come together in a short period of time, which
is nice to see.

Speaker 4 (48:17):
Yeah, it's definitely gonna be a bit of a musical
chairs game the rest of the way, Like there's no
reserve seating here. You know, Branford's been at the top.
You know, that's pretty solid. You know they've been solidifying
their spot there. But you take a look at the
rest of the way. You know, Ottawa starts the season
on some you know, unprecedented you know, winning streak. You know,
Kingston's been solid, like you said, North Bay, so you know,

(48:40):
no complacency, no complacency, And I think that's something that
you know, Chris Barge hopefully.

Speaker 3 (48:45):
Is preaching and you know in the room.

Speaker 4 (48:47):
But yeah, like you said, Brandon, lots of hockey you
left to be played. We are fourteen games into the season.
There's no guarantees, you know, there's a lot of you know,
potential ups and downs. There's gonna be ebbs and flows,
and you know, hopefully we can we can weather them,
and you know, just kind of keep taking it the
game at a time. It's one game at a time,

(49:10):
and you know, keep putting together respectable efforts and hopefully,
you know, we'll get there. As we approach you know,
you know, December and you know into into January, we'll
get a really good idea of what this team is
really made of.

Speaker 3 (49:22):
But great start.

Speaker 1 (49:24):
Let's get to Ice Dog's Captain Kevin he for his
first installment of Captain Keeff's flight Deck, brought to you
by the Niagradentri Clinic creating natural Smiles and Niagara for
over twenty five years. So here's what the Ice Doug's
captain had to say about him and his team's performance
through the first month of the OHL season.

Speaker 5 (49:40):
Ye back another.

Speaker 1 (49:44):
Installment of Captain Kef's flight Deck with Ice Dog's Captain
Kevin he keV first full month of the season in
the books, How please do you with the team's performance
sit in first place in the Central Division. You know
you're not satisfied, But what if you.

Speaker 9 (49:56):
Thought of the results this month.

Speaker 5 (49:57):
Yeah, so far, I like, I like our game and
almost seeing this summer. You know, I think we're playing
well right now. Like you said, we're not satisfied. We're
so hungry. There's a lot more things to fix up
and whatnot. But so far and pretty please.

Speaker 1 (50:08):
How much easier has this been transitioned been? This is
the first full season view as the captain. You were
named captain a little bit midway through the season last year,
So how are you adjusting to that leadership role wearing
the seat and is there anything that maybe you learned
from last year that you tried to implement and become
more of a leader off the ice as well here?

Speaker 5 (50:25):
Yeah, absolutely, I think, you know, coming into my first
like you said, first full year, you know, I've got
to know the guys really well. You know, I've been
here for four years since ever since I got drafted,
so a lot I guess I grew up with. So
you know, it's been pretty easy and pretty smooth right
for me. I think, like you said, with the leadership
and whatnot, I think just try to show up every
day and put my best prit forward.

Speaker 1 (50:44):
What can maybe you give to some of these guys
that are in their draft eligible year, the Roberts, the Wastlns,
and you know, you've got six guys on the Central
Scouting List and you were you went through that process
a couple of years ago. So what do you maybe
trying to tell those guys about how to navigate through
the season and the attention and the eyes that come
on you in the interview quest and everything like that,
Like how did you kind of show them how to
handle all those sorts of things.

Speaker 5 (51:04):
Yeah, so I think we're pretty blessed to have a
lot of high end, top prospects here with Niagress, So
I think for me, it's just you know, trying to
get him to block out the noise. I think I'd
say it's the big thing. And obviously it's a long season.
You know, you play sixty eight games, so I think
just take a look at it one step at a time.

Speaker 1 (51:18):
You're one of the longest endior players on this team now, Kevin,
There's been a lot of great rookies that have come
after you. Now in your fourth year, and Ryerson Edgar's
a guy that we talk about a lot. Going away
to the World View seventeens and you asked to play
with a guy like that, what have you seen from
him already in the first month as he's grown into
you know, a quality sixteen year old in the league
at almost basically a point of game.

Speaker 5 (51:37):
Yeah, obviously, you know he's high in talent, high and
skill and high in talent, and you know you can
think the game. So I think he's learned to, you know,
compete a lot more. And I like where I'm seeing
from right now and hopefully as a good U seventeens.
I wish him all the best.

Speaker 1 (51:49):
I know you don't like talking about yourself, but how
do you like your game? Offensively? Since you've come back
from Winnipeg, it seems like you've had another extra gear
onto your game and basically riding a point of game yourself.
So for a point of game, So, how pleased are
you in your individuals?

Speaker 5 (52:03):
Like, Yeah, I think it's so a lot more things
I can work on and get better at, but so far,
I'm pretty happy. I think I really like my linemates
right now, Ethan Zod and Rice and Eggar. You know,
there's a few more things I want to tweak. You
can try to get more shots on that and I'll
try to score a few more goals, but most things
will come.

Speaker 1 (52:18):
What's a guy you want to give a shout out
to this month that you thought has really stepped it
up and really elevated their game.

Speaker 6 (52:23):
Ah.

Speaker 5 (52:24):
I think Paris and Tiler have been really solid for us,
especially on the d end with the palmy kill and
one now they've been blocking a lot of huge blocks
for them, so you know they've been, you know, study
for us all season long.

Speaker 1 (52:35):
Is there a moment or maybe just a couple of
moments or just general interactions with because you've got so
many new guys on this club. You got the same core,
but a lot of new faces, a lot of those
n Cuba commits some imports as well. So how is
sort of that that group camaraderie coming together and how
is that sort of playing as we see onto the
ice with positive success.

Speaker 5 (52:54):
Yeah. I think we're trying to do a lot of
team Bonnie and the road trips are one thing, and
to try to get the guys together. So I think
it's pretty great for us and we're gonna hope to
continue that forward.

Speaker 1 (53:02):
And for the imports, it sounds like from Chris Bars,
your head coach, that you guys have really made their
transition seamless with your Malanco and Reesenecker. Not an easy
thing coming over from another continent to trying to adjust
the North America and everything like that. How have you
thought of Raisenecker and your Malanco coming into.

Speaker 5 (53:16):
Yeah, after you and law Price. You know, obviously, like
you said, it's not easy, you know, in different country,
you know, different kind of game here. But honestly, I
think both of them have adjusted really well. You know, Riisnicker,
he's been running a power play. It's been going really good.
And he's a solid, you know, two way defenseman. Whereas
obviously we've seen them from your Maerlanco. He's been you know,
shut up, you know, really solid for us on the

(53:37):
back end there. He's made some huge things for us.
And you know night and I know he's you know,
he can get.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
From a little bit light harder question, he keV. We
got Halloween coming up on Friday. What is your favorite
and your least favorite Halloween?

Speaker 5 (53:48):
Can you can like? Reesis? I like the Reese's a lot.
Lea's favorite something that you get in the bag and
you just throw it away, probably like mint coom. Yeah,
try try like better flavors than that, but I wouldn't
throw it away, but yeah, that'd little.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
And then last question, where you your brother's been around
sort of learning, uh, the the OHL level. I know
he hasn't been playing a lot of games, but just
having him around and you know, just I know, you
guys maybe not live together, but you see each other
on a regular basis. What's that sort of bond like
with having your brother here.

Speaker 5 (54:22):
I played together way back and minor hawking once for all.
So it's good to have him really close to me
and kind of, you know, teach him the things of
the game, and it's you know, it's been good. You know,
I always spend so much time with him off the ice.
Sat pretty happy this year and hopefully one day with him.

Speaker 1 (54:38):
There was our first installment of Captain Kev's Flight Deck
with Ice Dogs. Captain Kevin he Christian keV is a
very reserved type of guy. We got him open up
a little bit. We found out that he's a big
receis guy. Uh, not a big fan of mints though
when it came to the Halloween candy. But you know,
his brother Eric's around, still trying to work his way
into an OHL player. He talked about the camaraderie some

(55:00):
of the guys and trying to build into more of
a leader now that he's got that see now for
a first full season. You know, what were your takeaways
from what number eleven had to say?

Speaker 4 (55:08):
Yeah, don't give him gum on Halloween. That's my takeaway.
Don't change the taste in his mouth, please, because whatever
he's got a taste of right now, it's working. He's
been incredible one and a half points per game so far,
you know, eighteen points in twelve games. You know, he's
he's climbing the leader boards. Ninety sixth career goal scored.
Just recently he's tied with a kill Thomas now for fourth.

(55:31):
On ice play has been spectacular and then off the
icy here you know, some of his his growth points,
some of the things that he's looking to improve upon,
some of the things that he likes to see, you know,
from his team. And you know what I really take
away is the maturity from Kevin. He those responses, the
way he's you know, conducting himself, the way he's going
to be there for some of those younger guys.

Speaker 3 (55:51):
I think he's a fantastic captain.

Speaker 4 (55:55):
He's going to continue you know, steering the ship here
alongside Chris BArch and what linemate for Ryers and Edgar
I mean, and a guy that you know who's you know,
trying to break into the ohl and have you know,
hopefully a strong rookie season. Couldn't have asked for a
better partner and crime up there on the top unit.
But you know, absolutely a fantastic chat. Nice to get
to know his favorite candy, So Maurice's.

Speaker 3 (56:18):
Guy as well.

Speaker 4 (56:19):
So I guess Kevin and I have that in common.
Not exactly as good of a hockey player, but we
got one similarity. But yeah, Nola love to hear the
maturity in his voice, and you know he's looking to win.
He's hungry, and he's showing that with his play. You
know on the ice, he's had a great start.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
He shouted out Patterson and Tiller as well.

Speaker 4 (56:38):
Yes he did, Yes, he did both further defensive play
as well, which is not exactly the shout that you
would expect, but they both have been solid and to
my point earlier in the podcast, you know, those are
the kind of guys you need, you know, you need
some you know, mature players in the locker room to
do the things that some of the other guys just
don't want to do. You know, blocking shots is one

(56:59):
of the most difficult things you could you know, you
could do on the ice, and these are guys that
are willing to sacrifice their body, you know, Kevin, you know,
illuminated on you know that point a little bit, you know,
talking about how these guys do they take a beating.

Speaker 3 (57:12):
In front of the net.

Speaker 4 (57:12):
And I think, you know, he does a great job
of acknowledging his teammates and and you know, really be
there for his teammates in the moment when they achieve things,
and then you know, being there.

Speaker 3 (57:23):
For them when you know they might need to tighten up.

Speaker 4 (57:26):
You know, he's there to you know, encourage, but also
to criticize when required. And you know, I think he's
you know, just textbook captain material.

Speaker 1 (57:34):
He's now tied to kill Thomas as you mentioned, for
fourth all time and goals for the Nagriiz Dugs organization
four off of Ryan Strom at one hundred, and then
he's got quite a waste to go there, but possibly
get up the second before the end of the year,
which would be really exciting.

Speaker 4 (57:50):
He's gonna score seventy nine goals this year. Don't worry,
we're gonna pass him. He's going to catch Agazino.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
He needs to play I think another full season that
Agazino did in order to reach that. But it's steel
incredible for Kevin. He now in his fourth season with
the Ice Dogs. Can't believe that. But you know, to
now tied with a Kill Thomas, another franchise legend, that's
something to be I guess excited about and sort of
look at reflecting on how far he's come already, and

(58:16):
a guy in a Kill Thomas, who he had skated
with in previous summers. So I guess it comes full
circle for him there with another great Ice Dog's captain.
But Christian, let's get move forward here with the fan
polls here and getting your guys, your guys' thoughts on
some of the things going on with the team right now. Again,
make sure to give us a follow on x at
Dog Pound podcast where he post polls for our big

(58:36):
shows like this. So we're gonna start off here. I
don't remember what order it was, Christian, so bear with me.
I'm just going off of what I wrote. So we're
gonna start with the defenseman poll here and we're gonna
get just our quick thoughts on it. But again this
is a fan segment here, but the which Ice Dogs
full time defenseman is the best current fit to quarterback
to power play Ard and Frolov, Ben Reesenecker, Grayson Tiller,

(58:57):
and Sebastian dell el Cha. Again, I said full time
because Lake Barnes doesn't play every single game here for
the Ice Dog, so he has been running sort of
the powerplay when he does play. But Ben Reesenecker, for
you guys listening on the video form, won this with
forty four percent. Art and Frolove excuse me, Grayson Tiller
second at thirty two percent. Art and Frolove at twenty percent. Christian,
what are your thoughts on it?

Speaker 4 (59:19):
I'm surprised that Art and Frolove isn't at least second
on that list. I have loved what I've seen from
Ben Reesecker, though, I think for his size, his patience,
his poise at the blue line, he's he's like a
ballerina out there, and he's six foot four. You know,
he moves incredibly well for a guy his size, So
not surprised to see him in the number one spot.

(59:40):
I probably would have bumped Art and Frolov up to
number two. But Grayson Tiller is also a great a
great second there. And you know, we've heard, you know,
lots of lots of people inside the Ice Dog's organization
talk about Ben Reesnecker and you know, he's climbing up
draft boards for sure. I think he's going to prove
himself to be that two way, you know, one hundred

(01:00:00):
and two hundred feet player. He's gonna he's gonna have
some offensive bite to him as well. So I'm excited
to see what he can accomplish on the power play.
And for Sebastian del Cha, a guy that you know
comes in at the bottom of this, I think he's
got a lot of potential. A guy who scored a
ton of points with St. Andrew's College last season. He's
got a lot of offensive upside, and I think in
the years to come, he could very well become one

(01:00:23):
of those.

Speaker 3 (01:00:24):
Guys that they rely on on the power play unit.

Speaker 4 (01:00:26):
So for guys with tons of offensive upside, but Ben
Reeznecker takes the crown.

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
De Lja has that uh that NC double a eligibility
as well. We'll see where he kind of goes from things.
But yeah, Ben Reesenecker a defensive defenseman, but has shown
that the that he can be a sufficient guy that
can move the puck from that offensive zone as well. So, uh,
this is where I'm going to insert the ticket giveaway codewords.

(01:00:52):
So it's gonna be stick tape. So you got to
make sure that you dm us on either Twitter, Instagram, wherever,
face book, wherever you listen to it, you better make
sure you dm us that it was stick tape and
you will be put into a draw for that and
we will pick a winner for you guys to get
some premium Ice Dog tickets for a select game this month.

Speaker 4 (01:01:14):
I said stick tape, babe, I'm pretty sure that's two words.
By the way, did you say he said one word?

Speaker 1 (01:01:19):
I don't care stick ta How do they spell it?

Speaker 4 (01:01:22):
They got to spell two words stick, dash, tape or
stick stick.

Speaker 1 (01:01:26):
With as long as they get it close to it
one word, two words, a dash, whatever they want stick.

Speaker 4 (01:01:31):
You pickup and we'll see it at the Meridian Center.

Speaker 1 (01:01:36):
I love it, And that'll be brought to you by
butt Ends as well. So anyways, moving on here to
our next pole, and that one will be the goaltending pole.
Which is now between a lot of stuff. You're Malanko
and Charlie Robertson, what is the best game plan going
forward for the Ice Dogs and net Robertson as a starter,
your Malanco as a starter, set split start rotation or

(01:01:58):
just ride the hot glove. Your Malnko as a starter
one to thirty two point three percent second was set
a split start rotation at twenty nine. Robertson twenty two
point six as the starter, Christian, what are your thoughts
there as I pull up the e goal tending statistics
for both of.

Speaker 3 (01:02:12):
Them, Yeah, this is a tough one for me.

Speaker 4 (01:02:14):
It's kind of like a buffet, you know, you don't
really know what you want, but you kind of want everything,
you know.

Speaker 3 (01:02:20):
These guys bring totally different skill sets. You know.

Speaker 4 (01:02:23):
Your Malenko brings a butterfly dynamic. He moves post to
post really well. He just doesn't have the size.

Speaker 1 (01:02:30):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:02:31):
Charlie Robertson a little bit bigger, a little bit more mature,
has a whole heck of a lot more experience in
this league as well. So I think they both bring,
you know, some some value. But as we take a
look here on your screen, if you're watching on YouTube.
From the goalie statistics perspective view of Vladyslavir Malenco has
edged out Charlie Robertson.

Speaker 3 (01:02:50):
By a hair played a little bit more.

Speaker 4 (01:02:53):
He's played eight games so far on two hundred and
sixty two shots, made two hundred and forty saves, conceding
just twenty two in that stretch, which would be two
more than Charlie Robertson, but he's faced a lot less shots.
The goals against average is stronger for your Malenco, so
is the save percentage and the record as well at
five and one. So I love what I've seen from

(01:03:13):
the Belarussian import. He's been fantastic to start the season.
You know, we've talked a lot about his puck play
and it's definitely positive for sure, but you know, it
gives me a heart attack. But he's got he's got
a ton of ton of value. He's he's making saves,
he's playing well and you know, really shooting up people's

(01:03:35):
draft boards, as Frank alluded to. And for Charlie Robertson,
you know what a season, you know, a breakout season
for him. You know, you take a look at last
year started just ten games this year, he's played seven already,
highest our, lowest goals against average, highest safe percentage he's
had in his career so far for two oh and
oh and for him, you know, we heard a little

(01:03:55):
bit from Frank about it. You know, a guy that
you know is coming off such a difficult injury to
come back and play the way that he has this year,
it's truly inspiring. And you know he deserves his flowers,
He deserves every start he's gonna get this season. So
for me, it's a buffet. I don't know where to go.
I could say they split the crease, ride the hot hand.

Speaker 3 (01:04:17):
I don't think it's.

Speaker 4 (01:04:17):
Really gonna matter whoever you put in there is a
fantastic goaltender that's gonna give you a chance to win
every single night.

Speaker 1 (01:04:23):
Yeah, I like both of them right now, and I
think you just ride with whoever's playing the best right now.
And if it's a back to back, you go with
both of them, or three and three. You got to
get both of them playing time. You got to get
them both in the lineup. So I don't think this
is an Owen Flores starting sixteen straight games for the
Ice Dogs type of scenario that we saw on This
is yea totally different look. You're Malanko and Robertson have
both shown that they're both capable. And it's really, as

(01:04:45):
you mentioned, sort of a nice plethora of good goaltending
to have. And then you've got Matt Humphreys marinating down
there in the OJHL hopefully when he does come back
up here to the Niagara Ice Dogs. So moving on
to our third fan poll here and and let's go
with what was what were the other ones Christian you had?

Speaker 4 (01:05:05):
There's some one about your favorite player, NHL drafted player
Ethan Zotikevin He and Riley Patterson who has performed the best.
And there he is, mister soon a forty two point
nine percent. If you're watching on our YouTube, he takes
the crown. Kevin he number two, thirty eight point one.

Speaker 3 (01:05:25):
It was close.

Speaker 4 (01:05:26):
Man Riley Patterson down at nineteen percent. He gets the
shaft in this pool. But I think all of them
have been fantastic, all of them on career paces from
a points perspective. Ethan Zota for me takes it though
he's my pick of the month. You know we do
the dog treats. This guy gets a birthday cake. You know,
he has been incredible so far this season. He's got

(01:05:47):
twelve points in eleven games. You know, some of the
advanced analytics for me is where he really shines. He's
got nine goals on a thirty nine percent shooting percentage.
We talked about it a little bit earlier, but I
wanted to reiterate that it's out of this world. He's
just scoring every time he shoots the puck. Tied for
the lead in plus minus as well at nine with

(01:06:08):
Riley Patterson point eight point one excuse me, point eight
point eight goals per game, which is the fourth in
the league.

Speaker 3 (01:06:17):
He's standing up for his young guns.

Speaker 4 (01:06:19):
He's fighting, he's winning face offs, he's playing that defensive game.
Everything about this guy right now is just coming together.

Speaker 3 (01:06:27):
I love it. I love it. Tampa Bay loves it.

Speaker 4 (01:06:30):
They're sending private jets to the Niagara Regional Airport. Man,
I'm telling you, he's had a fantastic start to this season.
I think he won one hundred percent deserves to be
at the top of that list. Kevin he and Riley Patterson,
and I'm not going to take anything away from their performance,
but he's showing why he was a second round draft pick.
They didn't pick him that high just because he can
put the puck in the net. They picked him that
high because he can do all these other things. And

(01:06:54):
we talked about it earlier. We mentioned it. He's an onion.
You know, he's one of the most valuable players in
this team because he's a center and because he can
contribute in so many different ways, and it's really come
into fruition. I see him as an incredibly valuable member
of this team so far. But yeah, Kevin, he you know,

(01:07:14):
he's shattering wreckers or on his way too. Of course
he breaks the akill Thomas standing at number four tied there.
And then for Riley Patterson, he's been great as well,
like we mentioned earlier, on that point streak and on
pace to score the most points so far in his
OHL career. So I think all of them playing fantastic. No,

(01:07:38):
we'll mention to Ryan Roebrick as well on the offensive
side of things. We haven't talked about him at all
yet on this show. I want to make sure that
we do because he's also starting to come alive. He's
had seven points in his past four games, four goals
in four games, he's starting to look like the Ryan Robrick.
We miss five power play goals as well, leading the

(01:07:58):
league in that department. So he's coming alive, but lots
left to go there and that's the exciting part. So
the top six looks dangerous, but Ethan's on it for sure.
You know, he gets the roses for me.

Speaker 3 (01:08:09):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:08:10):
Yeah, for those three guys that came back from NHL
camps with an extra gear this year, you could definitely
see why those three guys have NHL teams with affiliation
to their name, and all signed, not just drafted. All
three of them signed, that's right, the EHL entry level contract,
which is a big thing. And now they're gonna have
Noah Reid as well with the Anaheim Ducks affiliation, and
we'll see if he's able to earn that entry level

(01:08:31):
contract signing after being drafted by the Ducks. But we'll
move into our last pole here, and it is the
Ice Dog's playoff pole, and again Brady Washlin trade happens,
and I don't know if this changes things for anybody,
but regardless of that, where did the Ice Doug staff
stack up within the OHL? After an encouraging start to
the season. Top top league contender, potent division winner, middle

(01:08:51):
playoff team, or fringe playoff team. Potent division winner won
this at sixty nine point six percent. Second was middle
playoff team at twenty one point seven, and top league
contender eight point seven percent. Zero people said a fringe
playoff team. So very good for the Ice Dogs, making
their first playoff appearance last season after five year absence
from the playoffs. So the fact that they're near the

(01:09:12):
top of this is encouraging, and it seems like the
fan base really is encouraged as well.

Speaker 4 (01:09:17):
Yeah, I I'm gonna reiterate it again. I said it
in the last show and somebody commented I saw it.

Speaker 3 (01:09:25):
They said, that's a bold take. I'm so bold.

Speaker 4 (01:09:28):
I'm gonna say it again. They will be at the
top of the Eastern Conference. I see them being more
than a potent division winner. I think they take that
no problem. Sixty nine point six percent of you guys agree,
But I'm challenging for that other eight point seven. I
want us there. I want us as a top league contender.
I see us being there. I think you know, Kitcher

(01:09:48):
Wins of Brantford Niagara right there in the conversation.

Speaker 3 (01:09:53):
I think they're there.

Speaker 4 (01:09:54):
I think they've deserved to be, you know, they've earned
to be in that conversation, they got the personnel to
go and do it. I think the next time we
do this poll, we're gonna see some numbers flipped, hopefully
in the reverse fashion. You know, we'll have some potent
division winners maybe at twenty percent and top league contender
hopefully the other way.

Speaker 3 (01:10:13):
But I can't I can't argue.

Speaker 4 (01:10:15):
I think Central Division this season should be well in
hand for the Niagara Ice Dogs they continue to play
the way they have.

Speaker 3 (01:10:23):
I got no issues with that being the results for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:10:27):
So that's it for our monthly recap for the Ice Dogs,
and we'll see where they are where it shapes out
at the end of November. Again, they're gonna be without
Ryerson Edgar for a little bit. They're gonna be without
Ryan Roebrick for a little bit here when he's away
for the cochl USA Prospect Challenge, or see how Noah
Reid fits into the lineup again. Wishing Brady Watson all
the best in London. But now have to move forward

(01:10:47):
here with what we the information that we know about
why this trade happened and all the things like that.
Hopefully have a little bit more clarity on that sort
of thing on the next time we record this, and
we're able to talk to Frankievola, the general manager after
the rate happened, because again, as I mentioned, we talked
to him before, so everything went down. So look forward
to chatting again at the end of November for this
Christian But again, a very encouraging start for Nagor, and

(01:11:09):
you just hope that they can continue to do all
the right things and continue to buy into what Chris
Barks is trying to preach.

Speaker 3 (01:11:15):
That's it.

Speaker 4 (01:11:15):
It's the stairway to the Memorial Cup and we're taking
it one step at a time.

Speaker 3 (01:11:20):
There's no rush.

Speaker 4 (01:11:21):
It's October, lots of hockey left to be played, and
this is just another step in the right direction. You
bring in a guy like that, he's going to contribute.
I'm excited to see what he's got. We'll be back
at it Friday. Postgame show coming up too, well, we'll
be there for the Halloween game. I believe Brandon Yep
correc yes, so we'll hopefully have a little bit more

(01:11:42):
on him. We'll hopefully see him in action on Friday,
and we can develop a further understanding. But my final words,
fantastic start to the season for the ice Dogs.

Speaker 1 (01:11:52):
That's going to wrap it up for niag Or Ice
Dogs monthly recap right here on the dog Pound Podcast,
the official podcast the year nag or Ice Dogs, probably
brought to by Global Pet Foods where pets are undini
be part of the family. Are three great nag or
region locations. Thank it to everybody that watched us today
on the video version on YouTube. Make sure to hit
like kid, describe and do all that fun stuff to
make sure that you get in on the next time
we record a video podcast here on the network. And

(01:12:14):
of those listening on your favorite on demand audio platform,
thank you for that Christian. Thank you those that are
listening and didn't see Christian waving his towel around. But
regardless of that, again, make sure to give us a
follow on x at dog Pound Podcast on Facebook, Instagram
and TikTok by searching your armchair GM Sports Network. So
for Christian Simmons, min name is Brandon Pudo. That's it
for our monthly recap here in the Dog Pound Podcast,

(01:12:35):
and we'll talk to you again very soon. You're listening
to the armchair GM Sports Network,

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Unleash the IceDogs - Big Trade & Division Leaders: October 2025 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;}Unleash the IceDogs - Big Trade & Division Leaders: October 2025 Recap - Dog Pound Podcast