Mississauga IceDogs

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Mississauga IceDogs
City: Mississauga, Ontario
League: Ontario Hockey League
Conference: Eastern
Division: Central
Founded: January 21, 1997
Home Arena: Hershey Centre
Colours: red, black, white
Head Coach: Mike Kelly
General Manager: Dave Brown
Affiliate(s): Mississauga Chargers
Mississauga IceDogs face off at home in overtime. February 10th, 2006.
Mississauga IceDogs face off at home in overtime. February 10th, 2006.

The Mississauga IceDogs are a junior ice hockey team in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the Ontario Hockey League since the 1998-99 season.

Contents

[edit] History

From 1998 to 2002, the IceDogs enjoyed little success, finishing last in the OHL's Central Division every year. During this building phase, the team had six head coaches within the span of 4 years, including the owner, Don Cherry. Mississauga drafted first overall each year, leading to two rookies of the year, including one of the highest touted NHL prospects in Jason Spezza.

In the 2002-03 OHL season, the IceDogs finished fourth in the Central division and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, but lost in the first round in five games against the Ottawa 67's.

The 2003-04 OHL season was the IceDogs' best season to date. The team finished second in the Central division, finishing two points behind the division champion St. Michael's Majors, and third overall in the Eastern Conference.

In the first round of the playoffs, the IceDogs defeated the Oshawa Generals in seven games, winning their first-ever playoff series. The IceDogs were down three games to two against the Barrie Colts in the second round but managed to come back and win the series in seven games. The surprise IceDogs then upset the St. Michael's Majors in the Eastern Conference Championship series in six games to win the Bobby Orr Trophy and earn their first-ever trip to the Ontario Hockey League finals. The dream ended there as they fell to the Guelph Storm in four straight games in the OHL final, losing the fourth game at the Hershey Centre.

2004-05 was another record setting season for the IceDogs. They won their first ever central division title and finished first in the Eastern Conference with 81 points. Despite regular season success, the IceDogs were upset in the first round of the playoffs by the eighth-seeded Toronto St. Michael's Majors in five games. In 2005-06 the IceDogs started rebuilding and missed the playoffs again.

[edit] Change in ownership

On July 12, 2006, Eugene Melnyk, who owns the Toronto St. Michael's Majors, bought the Mississauga IceDogs. After the 2006-07 season, Melnyk plans to sell the IceDogs, and move the Majors to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. [1]. On January 8, 2007, Toronto businessman Tom Bitove proposed to buy the team with plans to move to Niagara Falls [2], but city council declined the proposal to build a new arena. [3]

[edit] Championships

Bobby Orr Trophy
Eastern Conference Champions

  • 2004 playoffs

Emms Trophy
Central Division Champions

  • 2004-05 regular season

[edit] Coaches

Former team owner, and legendary hockey commentator Donald S. Cherry (aka Grapes) stepped behind the bench to coach the IceDogs for the 2001-02 season, after going through five coaches in three years. The team had its best season to the date, but still failed to reach the playoffs. The IceDogs were one of the highest-selling road teams in the OHL that year, as many spectators attended games to see Don Cherry coach and seek autographs.

  • 1998-99 Peter Sturgeon & Jim Hulton
  • 1999-00 J.Hulton, Geoff Ward & Steve Cherry
  • 2000-01 Rick Vaive
  • 2001-02 Don Cherry

[edit] Players

The Mississauga IceDogs had the first overall draft pick four years in a row, which produced two rookies of the year, and a total of seven alumni have played in the National Hockey League.

[edit] Award Winners

CHL Rookie of the Year

Emms Family Award
OHL Rookie of the Year

Jack Ferguson Award
First Overall Draft Pick

OHL Goaltender of the Year

  • 2004-05 Michael Ouzas

[edit] NHL Alumni

[edit] Team records

Team Records for a single season
Statistic Total Season
Most Points 83 2003-04
Most Wins 36 2003-04
Most Goals For 217 2003-04
Least Goals For 145 1998-99
Least Goals Against 172 2004-05
Most Goals Against 426 1998-99
Individual player records for a single season
Statistic Player Total Season
Most Goals Patrick O'Sullivan 43 2003-04
Most Assists Patrick O'Sullivan 58 2001-02
Most Points Patrick O'Sullivan 92 2001-02
Best GAA (Goalie) Michael Ouzas 2.18 2004-05
Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played



[edit] Yearly Results

[edit] Regular Season

Legend: T = Tie (2004-05 & previous), SL = Shoot Out Loss (2005-06 & onward)

Season Games Won Lost T/SL OTL Points Pct % Goals
For
Goals
Against
Standing
1998-99 68 4 56 3 5 16 0.118 145 426 5th Central
1999-00 68 9 56 1 2 21 0.154 160 346 5th Central
2000-01 68 3 56 7 2 15 0.110 157 380 5th Central
2001-02 68 11 47 6 4 32 0.235 212 327 5th Central
2002-03 68 23 31 11 3 60 0.441 212 231 4th Central
2003-04 68 36 21 7 4 83 0.610 217 199 2nd Central
2004-05 68 34 21 12 1 81 0.596 207 172 1st Central
2005-06 68 21 40 2 7 49 0.360 192 299 5th Central
2006-07 68 43 21 0 4 90 0.662 326 251 2nd Central

[edit] Playoffs

  • 1998-99 Out of playoffs.
  • 1999-00 Out of playoffs.
  • 2000-01 Out of playoffs.
  • 2001-02 Out of playoffs.
  • 2002-03 Lost to Ottawa 67's 4 games to 1 in conference quarter-finals.
  • 2003-04 Defeated Oshawa Generals 4 games to 3 in conference quarter-finals.
    Defeated Barrie Colts 4 games to 3 in conference semi-finals.
    Defeated St. Michael's Majors 4 games to 2 in conference finals.
    Lost to Guelph Storm 4 games to 0 in finals.
  • 2004-05 Lost to St. Michael's Majors 4 games to 1 in conference quarter-finals.
  • 2005-06 Out of playoffs.
  • 2006-07 In progress.

[edit] Uniforms & Logos

The IceDogs colours are red, white, black and silver. The logo is styled after Don Cherry's pet bull terrier named Blue. It shows a snarling dog overtop of the IceDogs name with a maple leaf in the background. The original logo (inset right) looked a roboticized dog with red eyes in front of a big letter "M" with a maple leaf in the corner. The logo was redesigned after their 5th season with the change in ownership.

[edit] Arena

The Mississauga IceDogs play home games at the Hershey Centre in northeast Mississauga, near the junction of Highway 401 & Highway 403. The Hershey Centre hosted the OHL All-Star Game in 2000.

Capacity = 5,420
Ice Size = 200' x 85'

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Ontario Hockey League
Current Teams : Barrie Colts | Belleville Bulls | Brampton Battalion | Erie Otters | Guelph Storm | Kingston Frontenacs | Kitchener Rangers | London Knights | Mississauga IceDogs | Oshawa Generals | Ottawa 67's | Owen Sound Attack | Peterborough Petes | Plymouth Whalers | Saginaw Spirit | Sarnia Sting | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | Sudbury Wolves | Toronto St. Michael's Majors | Windsor Spitfires
Defunct Teams : Brantford Alexanders | Cornwall Royals | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | Detroit Junior Red Wings | Detroit Whalers | Guelph Platers | Hamilton Dukes | Hamilton Steelhawks | Kingston Canadians | Kingston Raiders | Newmarket Royals | Niagara Falls Thunder | North Bay Centennials | Owen Sound Platers | Toronto Marlboros
CHL | Memorial Cup | WHL | QMJHL | OHL | OHL History | OHL Standings | J. Ross Robertson Cup
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