St. Catharines Standard e-edition

New Niagara Icedogs head coach stressing grit and speed as training camp opens

New head coach hopes ‘defending early’ approach will end two-year playoff drought

BERND FRANKE REGIONAL SPORTS EDITOR

Sault Ste. Marie’s franchise in the Ontario Hockey League won’t be the lone greyhounds and Hamilton’s the only bulldogs if the new head coach of the Niagara Icedogs has anything to say about it.

Dan Fitzgerald wants the team to play a high-octane style of hockey that’s hard to defend, tough to keep up with and fun to watch.

“I can’t speak to previous regimes, but I know the way that we like to play is fast, physical, skilled. We like having the puck, and we want to get it back as quickly as possible,” the one-time coach of the junior-b St. Catharines Falcons said. “We want to be dangerous, we want to be aggressive.

“I think the way that we play is enjoyable to watch, enjoyable to coach, enjoyable to play. I think the fans are really going to enjoy what they see.”

It will be up to the coaching staff and the players to “bring the effort, the attitude and the competitiveness every night to bring out the best in what we’re trying to do.”

Throughout the pre-season, Fitzgerald and his coaching staff have emphasized the importance of “defending early.”

“We want to defend in the O (offensive) zone as much as possible.

No need to go 200 feet,” he said.

“If we do a good job reloading, if we do a good job with our routes, with our pressure, with our communication, we are going to be a team that will be suffocating as much as possible taking away that time and size.

“Put them in that unfavourable ice so that we can get the puck back and go back to work.”

The Icedogs acknowledge acting in the O zone rather than reacting at their own end of the ice will place a premium on conditioning.

“I would say we have had a ‘challenging’ camp in the sense that we challenged our players to step up and be well-conditioned,” said Fitzgerald, a veteran of two seasons coaching in junior-b and the past four in junior-a.

Making sure the players are prepared to compete for 60-plus minutes every night throughout the 68game schedule will be a “huge part” of the job description of the head coach and his staff.

“We pay attention to their energy levels and what they’re able to do. We push that envelope as much as possible without going into the red,” Fitzgerald said.

And without wasting an opportunity to drive home the point that

the Icedogs can’t afford to take a night off if they want to end a twoyear playoff drought, the longest in franchise history.

“Even in practice, our competitiveness are battles and small-area games. Everything has a purpose, everything has, for the most part, a winner and a loser,” he said. “Then when we’re in the gym, we’re putting all of our efforts into getting better, getting stronger, getting faster.

“It is a demanding way to play. Everything that we do on and off the ice is going to contribute to your ability to be successful at it.”

Niagara begins the 2022-23 OHL season at home Thursday against the Mississauga Steelheads. The puck drop at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines is 7 p.m.

The Icedogs are hoping to qualify for post-season play for the first time since 2018-19. COVID-19 cancelled the 2020-21 OHL season.

Fitzgerald feels “fantastic” heading into his first regular-season game as a head coach at the major junior level.

“It’s an exciting time for us as a staff, for the players, management, ownership, and think the fans as well,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a great night to get going.

“I think we’re all champing at the bit here.”

Niagara finished 3-3 in the preseason as the team incorporated new players into the lineup.

“We learned a lot. We were able to make some adjustments as we went, put some things in place that will help us be successful throughout the season,” Fitzgerald said. “We did a great job of laying the foundation for how we want to play.

“I was really happy with the preseason, really happy with our work in practice, in the film room. All of it was very, very positive.”

At this point, the Icedogs intend to open the season with three goaltenders on the roster: Josh Rosenzweig, 19; Owen Flores, 18; Joey Costanzo, 17.

“I don’t have a crystal ball on what will happen next, but at this point, we have three.”

This won’t be the first time in his coaching career that Fitzgerald has had three backstops battling for playing time between the pipes.

“It can be uncomfortable at times, but it’s good. It builds up competition for the crease, and that can be to the advantage of the team to have guys pushing and pushing to get starts,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s unorthodox, but, at the same time, it’s not completely out of the norm, especially for me.”

Rosenzweig is returning for a second full season with the team.

“He’s obviously a very talented goaltender. He’s earned a lot of the accolades that he has received so far,” the head coach said. “Owen Flores is coming in. He’s had a great pre-season.”

The Icedogs haven’t designated who will open the season as the No. 1goaltender or who will get the start in the season opener.

“In terms of who’s our No. 1, maybe still to be determined. There are a lot of factors that come into play, not just performance, not just tenure,” he said. “We have to make sure we’re all healthy, we have to make sure that we’re planning properly for workload.”

Fitzgerald isn’t ready to christen anybody with a title.

“I want to see how the guys demand their spots and earn their way into the lineup each and every night.”

Defencemen David Jesus and Nathan Ribau, and forward Matthew Papais are the overagers on the roster. Teams are limited to playing three 20-year-olds in the OHL, a 20-and-younger league.

Fitzgerald, a 35-year-old native of Ancaster, spent two seasons as head coach in junior-b, with the former Cambridge Winter Hawks and the Falcons, before four as a bench boss in the Ontario Junior Hockey League with the Brantford 99ers, a junior-a team owned by Darren Dedobbelaer, the new Icedogs owner and general manager.

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2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

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