[{"id":81972,"date":"2026-06-10T17:52:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/?p=81972"},"modified":"2026-06-10T17:52:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:52:28","slug":"icedogs-announce-scouting-staff-ahead-of-2026-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/article\/icedogs-announce-scouting-staff-ahead-of-2026-draft","title":{"rendered":"ICEDOGS ANNOUNCE SCOUTING STAFF AHEAD OF 2026 DRAFT"},"content":{"rendered":"

NIAGARA, ONT.<\/strong> \u2013 Niagara IceDogs General Manager Dale DeGray has announced the club’s scouting staff ahead of the 2026 OHL Priority Selection, which begins Friday in Kingston.<\/p>\n

Sean LaFortune has been named Director of Player Personnel, while Brian Teakle joins the organization as Director of Scouting.<\/p>\n

Both LaFortune and Teakle arrive in Niagara after working alongside DeGray with the Owen Sound Attack, where they played key roles in hockey operations and player evaluation.<\/p>\n

Returning to the IceDogs scouting staff are Dave Robertson, who will continue to oversee Hockey Eastern Ontario, and Greg Cappellero, who returns as the club’s SCTA and U.S. scout.<\/p>\n

Also joining Niagara’s scouting department are Jim Rauch (ALLIANCE), Mike Battah (OMHA), and Noah Acciaccaferri (U18).<\/p>\n

DeGray and the IceDogs scouting staff will make their first selection on behalf of the organization at the 2026 OHL Priority Selection Presented by Real Canadian Superstore.<\/p>\n

The 2026 OHL Priority Selection takes place June 12-13 at Slush Puppie Place in Kingston, Ontario.<\/p>\n

Those unable to attend can follow the draft live at OntarioHockeyLeague.com. Coverage will also be available on FloHockey, YourTV, Rogers TV, and Eastlink community stations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NIAGARA, ONT. \u2013 Niagara IceDogs General Manager Dale DeGray has announced the club’s scouting staff ahead of the 2026 OHL Priority Selection, which begins Friday in Kingston. Sean LaFortune has been named Director of Player Personnel, while Brian Teakle joins the organization as Director of Scouting. Both LaFortune and Teakle arrive in Niagara after working…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":596,"featured_media":81973,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[{"term_id":56,"name":"team-news","slug":"team-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":56,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":9,"filter":"raw","term_order":"461"}],"class_list":["post-81972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-team-news","category-381","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2026\/06\/10175109\/6aa0bad1-6724-4461-9a5e-7f31cadb644eVEP-157-e1781128316875.jpg",490,277,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":81969,"date":"2026-06-10T12:30:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T16:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/?p=81969"},"modified":"2026-06-10T00:00:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:00:45","slug":"this-otter-be-interesting-icedogs-announce-ohl-rivalry-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/article\/this-otter-be-interesting-icedogs-announce-ohl-rivalry-week","title":{"rendered":"THIS OTTER BE INTERESTING… ICEDOGS ANNOUNCE OHL RIVALRY WEEK"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Cameron Kelcey\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

NIAGARA, ONT.<\/strong> \u2013<\/span>\u00a0The Niagara IceDogs have announced their Rivalry Week matchup for the 2026-27 season, featuring a home-and-home series against the Erie Otters.<\/p>\n

The rivalry begins on Friday, October 23 at 7:00 p.m. at the Meridian Centre<\/span><\/span> before shifting to Erie on Saturday, October 24 for a 6:00 p.m. puck drop.<\/p>\n

The Rivalry Week series marks the first two of six meetings between the IceDogs and Otters during the 2026-27 season. It also serves as the first of two consecutive home-and-home sets between the clubs, with the second taking place on November 14 and 15, 2026.<\/p>\n

Niagara enjoyed success against Erie during the 2025-26 campaign, posting a 4-1-1-0 record in six meetings. The IceDogs will look to carry that momentum into another chapter of the long-standing rivalry.<\/p>\n

\n

2025-2026 Head-to-Head Matchup Recap<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Oct 17, 2025:<\/strong> Erie 3<\/em>, Niagara 1<\/span><\/p>\n

Oct 18, 2025:<\/strong> Niagara 4<\/em>, Erie 3 (OT)<\/span><\/p>\n

Feb 26, 2026:<\/strong> Niagara 5<\/em>, Erie 4 (SO)<\/span><\/p>\n

Mar 14, 2026:<\/strong> Niagara 7<\/em>, Erie 1<\/span><\/p>\n

Mar 21, 2026:<\/strong> Erie 4, Niagara 3<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Mar 22, 2026:<\/strong> Niagara 6<\/em>, Erie 5 (OT)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We look forward to Dog Country rising up and packing the Meridian Centre for the opening game of Rivalry Week on October 23. Those unable to attend can catch on YourTV Niagara and FloHockey<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Cameron Kelcey\u00a0 NIAGARA, ONT. \u2013\u00a0The Niagara IceDogs have announced their Rivalry Week matchup for the 2026-27 season, featuring a home-and-home series against the Erie Otters. The rivalry begins on Friday, October 23 at 7:00 p.m. at the Meridian Centre before shifting to Erie on Saturday, October 24 for a 6:00 p.m. puck drop. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":596,"featured_media":81971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[{"term_id":510,"name":"Rivalry Week","slug":"rivalry-week","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":510,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1"},{"term_id":108,"name":"Erie Otters","slug":"erie-otters","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":108,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":50,"filter":"raw","term_order":"231"},{"term_id":56,"name":"team-news","slug":"team-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":56,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":9,"filter":"raw","term_order":"461"}],"class_list":["post-81969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-rivalry-week","tag-erie-otters","tag-team-news","category-381","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2026\/06\/09235852\/31819f77-c2ee-4b29-88c3-4fecfae7b9eaDSC01922-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":81967,"date":"2026-06-09T23:43:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T03:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/?p=81967"},"modified":"2026-06-09T23:43:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T03:43:21","slug":"icedogs-complete-2026-u18-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/article\/icedogs-complete-2026-u18-draft","title":{"rendered":"ICEDOGS COMPLETE 2026 U18 DRAFT"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Cameron Kelcey\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

NIAGARA, ONT \u2013 The Niagara IceDogs have completed the 2026 OHL U18 Priority Selection Draft, after selecting three players, including one goaltender and two forwards.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the first round, ninth overall, the IceDogs selected goaltender Alexandre Beaupre from the Quinte Red Devils U18 AAA. This past season, Beaupre had a 2.58 GAA and two shutouts in 24 games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlexandra Borey, six-foot-three goaltender, who works incredibly hard shot after shot. Had a fantastic year and maybe one of the top, if not the top goaltender at the U18 level. He comes highly regarded from our U18 Scout, Noah Accieccaferri, and his coach raves about him,\u201d says IceDogs General Manager Dale DeGray.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following his selection, Beaupre, a Kingston Native, said: \u201cI\u2019m so excited to meet everyone and get to work on the ice\u2026 looking forward to being an IceDog.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the second round, 29th overall, the IceDogs selected forward Ethan Gillespie from the Upper Canada Cyclones. In this past season with the Cyclones, Gillespie tallied 26 points in 29 games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEthan is a six-foot-two, 200-pound forward who impacts the game in different ways \u2013 generating points or through physicality with a tremendous work ethic,\u201d says DeGray about the selection.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the third round, 49th overall, the IceDogs selected forward Matvei Tolstykh from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U18 AAA. This past season, Tolstykh accumulated 68 points in 70 games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

DeGray goes on to describe Tolstykh: \u201che\u2019s a smaller stocky forward with very good skills. Known for his quick, hard shot and deceptive offensive skills, Matvei plays the game with good energy and puck possession.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The IceDogs are excited to welcome the three new draftees to the team and are looking forward to seeing them at training camp in August! <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Cameron Kelcey\u00a0 NIAGARA, ONT \u2013 The Niagara IceDogs have completed the 2026 OHL U18 Priority Selection Draft, after selecting three players, including one goaltender and two forwards. In the first round, ninth overall, the IceDogs selected goaltender Alexandre Beaupre from the Quinte Red Devils U18 AAA. This past season, Beaupre had a 2.58 GAA…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":596,"featured_media":81968,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[{"term_id":506,"name":"U18 Draft","slug":"u18-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":506,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2"},{"term_id":507,"name":"Alexandre Beaupre","slug":"alexandre-beaupre","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":507,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"3"},{"term_id":508,"name":"Ethan Gillespie","slug":"ethan-gillespie","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":508,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"4"},{"term_id":509,"name":"Matvei Tolstykh","slug":"matvei-tolstykh","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":509,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"5"},{"term_id":232,"name":"OHL Draft","slug":"ohl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":232,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":9,"filter":"raw","term_order":"364"},{"term_id":60,"name":"transactions","slug":"transactions","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":60,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw","term_order":"476"}],"class_list":["post-81967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-u18-draft","tag-alexandre-beaupre","tag-ethan-gillespie","tag-matvei-tolstykh","tag-ohl-draft","tag-transactions","category-381","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2026\/06\/09234122\/OHLU18DraftCover.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":81965,"date":"2026-06-09T13:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/?p=81965"},"modified":"2026-06-09T09:58:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T13:58:40","slug":"icedogs-announce-2026-home-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/article\/icedogs-announce-2026-home-opener","title":{"rendered":"ICEDOGS ANNOUNCE 2026 HOME OPENER"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Cameron Kelcey\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

NIAGARA, ONT<\/strong> – The Niagara IceDogs have announced their home opener for the 2026-2027 season is Saturday, September 19, 2026, at 7:00 P.M. against the Brampton Steelheads.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past few seasons, Niagara has dominated Brampton, winning seven of its last eight matchups against the Steelheads. The most recent matchup between the two teams in January of this year was a nail-biter, where the Icedogs ultimately prevailed in overtime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The IceDogs are coming off their first season finishing with an over .500 record since the 2018-2019 season. <\/span><\/p>\n

The team aims to build on its success from last season and hopes to make a strong start at its home opener.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire organization cannot wait to welcome Dog Country back to the Meridian Centre.<\/span><\/p>\n

We invite our fans and all those interested to come out for what should be an exciting start to an exciting season!<\/span><\/p>\n

Group Packages and Flex Packs, alongside single-game ticket on-sale, will be announced in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Cameron Kelcey\u00a0 NIAGARA, ONT – The Niagara IceDogs have announced their home opener for the 2026-2027 season is Saturday, September 19, 2026, at 7:00 P.M. against the Brampton Steelheads.\u00a0 Over the past few seasons, Niagara has dominated Brampton, winning seven of its last eight matchups against the Steelheads. The most recent matchup between the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":596,"featured_media":81966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[{"term_id":505,"name":"Schedule","slug":"schedule","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":505,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"6"},{"term_id":56,"name":"team-news","slug":"team-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":56,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":9,"filter":"raw","term_order":"461"}],"class_list":["post-81965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-schedule","tag-team-news","category-381","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2026\/06\/09095053\/9c93a72d-398e-4381-8ae2-5147d4354f6fDSC09694.jpg",7972,5315,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":81959,"date":"2026-06-09T11:00:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/?p=81959"},"modified":"2026-06-09T11:35:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:35:46","slug":"icedogs-part-ways-with-head-coach-krys-barch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/article\/icedogs-part-ways-with-head-coach-krys-barch","title":{"rendered":"IceDogs and Krys Barch Part Ways"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

NIAGARA, ONT<\/strong>. \u2013 The Niagara IceDogs announced today that Head Coach Krys Barch will not return behind the bench for the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n

Since joining the IceDogs in 2025, Barch has played a significant role in the development of the organization’s players, both on and off the ice, while helping lead a positive cultural shift within the hockey department. He helped guide the IceDogs to their first season above the .500 mark since 2018-19.<\/p>\n

“The offseason is a small window, and there’s a lot to accomplish in a short period of time \u2014 both for teams looking to hire and for coaches weighing their next opportunity,” said IceDogs General Manager Dale DeGray. “I want to sincerely thank Krys for his work and positive contributions to this organization over the past season, and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”<\/p>\n

The organization will immediately begin its search for a new Head Coach to lead the next chapter of IceDogs hockey, seeking to build off the positive cultural improvements of the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NIAGARA, ONT. \u2013 The Niagara IceDogs announced today that Head Coach Krys Barch will not return behind the bench for the 2026-27 season. Since joining the IceDogs in 2025, Barch has played a significant role in the development of the organization’s players, both on and off the ice, while helping lead a positive cultural shift…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":596,"featured_media":81958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[{"term_id":504,"name":"Krys Barch","slug":"krys-barch","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":504,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"7"},{"term_id":56,"name":"team-news","slug":"team-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":56,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":9,"filter":"raw","term_order":"461"}],"class_list":["post-81959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-krys-barch","tag-team-news","category-381","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2026\/06\/07131238\/THANKYOU-WEB-ARENA-1920X1080-1.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":81962,"date":"2026-06-08T18:57:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T22:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/?p=81962"},"modified":"2026-06-08T18:57:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T22:57:36","slug":"ohl-to-hold-2026-under-18-priority-selection-on-monday-at-700pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/article\/ohl-to-hold-2026-under-18-priority-selection-on-monday-at-700pm","title":{"rendered":"OHL to hold 2026 Under-18 Priority Selection on Monday at 7:00pm"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO – <\/strong>The 2026 OHL Under-18 Priority Selection is set to commence at 7:00pm on Monday, June 8th where no fewer than 40 players born in 2008 and 2009 will be chosen from Under-18 AAA programs from across the province.<\/p>\n

The Under-18 Priority Selection will be held entirely online. Follow along with pick-by-pick results\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0at ontariohockeyleague.com.<\/p>\n

Just as they will at this coming Friday night’s 2026 OHL Priority Selection in Kingston, the Oshawa Generals hold the first overall pick, followed by the Erie Otters who select second and the Brampton Steelheads who will be picking third. A complete order of selection can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything you need to know about the OHL Under-18 Priority Selection:<\/p>\n

History:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The concept for the OHL Under-18 Priority Selection was developed in 2017 with full support from Hockey Canada\u2019s three Ontario Branches including the Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF), Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO), and Hockey Northwestern Ontario (HNO), to assist in the growth of\u00a0U18 AAA hockey and provide further opportunities for players at different stages of their hockey development.<\/p>\n

Recent Selections to Play in the OHL:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A number of former U18 selections spent the 2025-26 season in the OHL including Peterborough Petes teammates Brennan Faulkner and Brett Hammond, Sudbury Wolves forward Rowan Henderson, Kingston Frontenacs forward Riley Clark, Erie Otters netminder Noah Tegelaar, Brampton Steelheads forward Julian Demiglio, Barrie Colts forward Luc Gauvreau, Windsor Spitfires goaltender Michael Newlove, North Bay Battalion blueliner Jonathan Kapageridis, Flint Firebirds forward Josh Bonnyman as well as Kitchener Rangers forward Jack LaBrash.<\/p>\n

Players Eligible for Selection:<\/strong><\/p>\n

All U18 players not currently on a CHL Member Team Protected List who were carded with an Ontario-based U18 AAA Hockey Club or an accredited Hockey Canada sport school within the OHF, HNO or HEO in the 2025-26 playing season are eligible for the U18 Priority Selection.<\/p>\n

Selection Procedure:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Under-18 Priority Selection Process is two rounds with each OHL Member Team required to select two players. Teams that select a goaltender in one of the first two rounds are permitted to select an additional skater in a third round of selections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2026 OHL Under-18 Priority Selection begins Monday at 7:00pm, live at ontariohockeyleague.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":596,"featured_media":81963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-81962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-381","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/06\/08120821\/OHLU18DraftCover.jpg",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":81953,"date":"2026-06-03T20:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T00:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/?p=81953"},"modified":"2026-06-03T20:21:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T00:21:01","slug":"icedogs-trade-one-for-one-with-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/article\/icedogs-trade-one-for-one-with-attack","title":{"rendered":"ICEDOGS TRADE ONE-FOR-ONE WITH ATTACK"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Cameron Kelcey<\/em><\/p>\n

NIAGARA, ONT<\/strong> – The Niagara IceDogs have traded prospect Caden Bell to the Owen Sound Attack in exchange for defenceman Blake Munnings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Munnings was selected in the second round, 28th overall in the 2025 OHL Priority Draft. This past season he tallied four points in 33 games as a rookie with the Attack.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am very happy to get re-engaged with Blake. As a Second-Round pick for Owen Sound last year, he was obviously a player I had seen many times and wanted on our team. Looking at our roster, I feel it\u2019s a very good fit for us in Niagara,\u201d says IceDogs\u2019 General Manager, Dale DeGray.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a big defenceman that can move the puck well, adding more youth and more experience,\u201d DeGray continues. \u201cWe know what he\u2019s capable of and look forward to seeing him in an IceDogs jersey.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The IceDogs selected Bell in the Third Round, 49th overall in 2025 OHL Priority Draft and subsequently spent this past season with the St. Catharines Falcons in the GOJHL.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bell was named the GOHL Prospect of the week, earned a spot on the GOHL (Eastern) All-Rookie Team and tallied an impressive 11 goals and 29 assists for 40 points in 46 games with the Falcons.<\/span><\/p>\n

The IceDogs want to wish Caden the best of luck in Owen Sound. The organization is excited to welcome Blake to the team. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Cameron Kelcey NIAGARA, ONT – The Niagara IceDogs have traded prospect Caden Bell to the Owen Sound Attack in exchange for defenceman Blake Munnings.\u00a0 Munnings was selected in the second round, 28th overall in the 2025 OHL Priority Draft. This past season he tallied four points in 33 games as a rookie with the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":596,"featured_media":81956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[{"term_id":503,"name":"Blake Munnings","slug":"blake-munnings","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":503,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"8"},{"term_id":471,"name":"Caden Bell","slug":"caden-bell","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":471,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","term_order":"40"},{"term_id":434,"name":"Transaction","slug":"transaction","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":434,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":13,"filter":"raw","term_order":"77"}],"class_list":["post-81953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-blake-munnings","tag-caden-bell","tag-transaction","category-381","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2026\/06\/03202046\/WEB-TRADE-1920-x-1080-4.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":81951,"date":"2026-06-03T15:27:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T19:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/?p=81951"},"modified":"2026-06-03T15:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T19:27:35","slug":"reisnecker-released-by-icedogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/article\/reisnecker-released-by-icedogs","title":{"rendered":"REISNECKER RELEASED BY ICEDOGS"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Cameron Kelcey\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

NIAGARA, ONT <\/strong>– Defenceman Ben Reisnecker has been released by the Niagara IceDogs today, following one season played in the OHL.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 6’3″ defenceman was drafted 26th overall by the IceDogs in the 2025 CHL Import Draft. Prior, he spent time playing for HC Sparta Praha in the Czech U20 leagues. During his time with the IceDogs, he tallied ten points in 58 games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Known for his big stature and tough style of play, Resinecker will be missed by fans, players, coaches and staff. The IceDogs want to thank Ben for all he has done for the organization, both on the ice and within the community. The organization would like to express their best wishes as Ben takes on the next chapter of his career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

OHL teams are permitted to carry a maximum of three import players. Reisneckers’ departure opens up an import spot on the IceDogs roster. <\/span><\/p>\n

The CHL import draft will be taking place on Tuesday, June 30th, at 11:00 a.m EST.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Cameron Kelcey\u00a0 NIAGARA, ONT – Defenceman Ben Reisnecker has been released by the Niagara IceDogs today, following one season played in the OHL. The 6’3″ defenceman was drafted 26th overall by the IceDogs in the 2025 CHL Import Draft. Prior, he spent time playing for HC Sparta Praha in the Czech U20 leagues. During…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":596,"featured_media":81952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[{"term_id":468,"name":"Ben Reisnecker","slug":"ben-reisnecker","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":468,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw","term_order":"42"},{"term_id":60,"name":"transactions","slug":"transactions","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":60,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw","term_order":"476"}],"class_list":["post-81951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-ben-reisnecker","tag-transactions","category-381","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2026\/06\/03152719\/THANKYOU-WEB-ARENA-1920X1080.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":81947,"date":"2026-06-02T20:59:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/?p=81947"},"modified":"2026-06-02T21:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T01:09:13","slug":"icedogs-complete-trade-with-storm-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-icedogs\/article\/icedogs-complete-trade-with-storm-2","title":{"rendered":"ICEDOGS COMPLETE TRADE WITH STORM"},"content":{"rendered":"

NIAGARA, ONT<\/strong> \u2014 The Niagara IceDogs have traded forward Ethan Czata to the Guelph Storm in exchange for forward Carter Lewandowski, defenceman Zach Naish and four draft picks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Czata was selected 5th overall by the IceDogs in the 2023 OHL Draft and spent 3 seasons with the club. In that time, he accumulated 53 goals and 72 assists for 125 points in 193 games. He was selected in the second round, 56th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2025 NHL Draft. This past December, he was named as the 20th captain in franchise history.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside of the OHL, Czata represented Canada at the U18 World Championships in 2024-2025, where he recorded 5 points in 7 games. At the conclusion of the IceDogs season this year, he was called up by the Syracuse Crunch, Tampa\u2019s AHL affiliate team, and played three games for the club.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOver the course of his time with the IceDogs, Ethan has been a role model. Only having spoken with him several times since my arrival in Niagara, Czata will be a very difficult player to replace both in the locker room and on the ice. He\u2019s very well respected by his peers and hockey executives throughout the league, and he will be missed in Dog Country,\u201d says DeGray.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He continues, \u201cWe wish nothing but the best and continued success in Guelph.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lewandowski, a 6\u20192\u201d, 185 lbs forward from Maple, Ontario, was selected 36th overall in this year\u2019s OHL Priority Selection by Guelph. He spent the 2025-2026 season with the Ayr Centennials of the Greater Ontario Hockey League, where he posted an impressive 17 goals and 29 assists for 46 points in 45 games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Naish is a 6\u20197\u201d, 207 lbs defenceman from Hampton, ON and was selected in the 6th round, 105th overall by the Guelph Storm in the 2025 OHL priority selection draft. The big-bodied defenceman posted one goal, two assists and 68 PIMS in 36 games played with the Brockville Braves of the CCHL.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are happy to be bringing in two young players with Lewandowski and Naish. Both players are expected to step in and be contributing factors as we move forward with what will be a young group of Niagara IceDogs. Welcome to Dog Country, Carter and Zach, alongside their families! We look forward to having them don the IceDogs crest this fall,\u201d says DeGray.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is Degray\u2019s first trade since being appointed the IceDogs General Manager last week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FULL TRADE<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Niagara Receives:<\/b><\/p>\n