Mississauga IceDogs

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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

History

From 1998 to 2002, the IceDogs enjoyed little success, finishing last in the OHL's Central Division every year. During the IceDogs' first season, captain Brad Efthimiou introduced his team mates to what would become the theme song for the franchise, Who Let the Dogs Out?.

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.

Championships

Bobby Orr Trophy
Eastern Conference Champions

  • 2004 playoffs

Emms Trophy
Central Division Champions

  • 2004-05 regular season

Coaches

The 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 thru 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, Jeff Ward & Steve Cherry
  • 2000-01 Rick Vaive

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 six alumni have played in the National Hockey League.

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

NHL Alumni

Team records

Team Records for a single season
StatisticTotalSeason
Most Points832003-04
Most Wins362003-04
Most Goals For2172003-04
Least Goals For1451998-99
Least Goals Against1722004-05
Most Goals Against4261998-99
Individual player records for a single season
StatisticPlayerTotalSeason
Most GoalsPatrick O'Sullivan432003-04
Most AssistsPatrick O'Sullivan582001-02
Most PointsPatrick O'Sullivan922001-02
Best GAA (Goalie)Michael Ouzas2.182004-05
Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played



Yearly Results

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
1998-9968 456 3 5 160.1181454265th Central
1999-0068 956 1 2 210.1541603465th Central
2000-0168 356 7 2 150.1101573805th Central
2001-02681147 6 4 320.2352123275th Central
2002-0368233111 3 600.4412122314th Central
2003-04683621 7 4 830.6102171992nd Central
2004-0568342112 1 810.5962071721st Central
2005-06682140 2 7 490.3601922995th Central

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.

Uniforms & Logos

Image:MississaugaIceDogsOldLogo.jpg 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 redisgned after their 5th season.

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'

External links

Template:OHL