IceDogs Season Highlights – New Year’s Eve Game
NIAGARA, ON – For this week’s season highlight we’re going back to a big one: the New Year’s Eve game was back in 2023, and we sure did ring in the new year with a bang! After a three-year hiatus (not counting 2022/23 when the IceDogs played on December 30th), the New Year’s Eve game was back at the Meridian Centre in 2023/24, as the IceDogs did battle with the Guelph Storm. The city of Niagara really showed why we deserve to have a game on New Year’s Eve every year, as you packed the building and brought forth a raucous crowd to cheer on the boys.
Buoyed by the electric atmosphere, the boys got off to a phenomenal start. Just over 11 minutes into the game, a Storm turnover at the IceDogs blue line sent the Dogs up ice with numbers. Mike Levin gained the blue line and stopped, drawing in a defender before feathering a pass to the trailer Brody Crane. Crane held the puck for a second, and then zipped a pass to Ethan Czata, who tipped it perfectly into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. The IceDogs weren’t done there, however. With less than two minutes to play in the first, Daniil Sobolev made a great defensive stop at the blue line to spring the Dogs up ice with numbers once again. Sobolev carried the puck into the offensive zone himself before chipping the puck to Kevin He, who was joining him on the rush. And when you have Kevin He carrying the puck wide with speed? The rest, as they say, is history. He beat the defender and made a power move to the net, cutting across the crease and beating the Storm goaltender to the far post for his 18th of the season, giving the IceDogs a 2-0 lead after one period of play.
The second period didn’t go over as well; the Storm came out as a team on a mission and dominated shots on goal in the second period, picking up 15 in response to just 3 for Niagara. Four unanswered goals later, the IceDogs suddenly found themselves down by two with only 20 minutes remaining.
A common theme within the organization this year: no quit. Despite getting outscored, outshot, and just downright outplayed in the second, the IceDogs did not let that deter them one bit. Just over three minutes into the third, Sobolev jumped up on the rush and fired a seeing eye backhand shot that beat Damian Slavik glove side and brought the IceDogs within one. Ten minutes later, Czata pounced on a rebound off a Sobolev shot and put it in the back of the net to tie things at four. Then, with less than five minutes to go, Kevin He found a loose puck in the slot and ripped a shot blocker side that was absolutely labeled for the top corner for the lead. Guelph would tie the game with less than two to play, and we were headed off to overtime!
A game as great as this one deserves a perfect ending, right? Well, we didn’t have to wait long for that to happen. Just 15 seconds into the extra frame Ryan Roobroeck stole the puck from a Storm defender along the wall in the offensive zone. With no one between him and the net, the rookie made a move across the crease and fired a backhand that was somehow stopped by Slavik. The puck remained loose however, and amid the confusion Andrew Wycisk drove to the net and shovelled it home to give the IceDogs the win and ring in the new year in style!