IceDogs host orientation camp
Players and prospects split into teams for two 5-on-5 games
Ryan Roobroeck didn’t leave his scoring touch in the triple-A under-16 ranks after being picked second overall by the Niagara IceDogs in the Ontario Hockey Draft.
The left-shooting centre, who scored 107 goals and collected 76 assists for 183 points in 78 regularseason, playoff and tournament games for the London Jr. Knights in 2022-23, had two goals and three assists at IceDogs orientation camp on Saturday in St. Catharines.
Douglas Mitchell, a left-shooting forward who spent last season in the Greater Toronto Hockey League with the Toronto Titans, also had five points — one goal, four assists — in two five-on-five games at Seymour-Hannah Sorts and Entertainment Centre.
The orientation camp allowed 34 IceDogs players and prospects to showcase their skills in front of team management.
“I thought we had a really good camp and was excited to see the players that we drafted, and the free agents get a head coach to showcase their talent,” head coach Ryan Kuwabara said.
Players, including several selected in the 2023 draft in late April, were split between two teams. Team White held off Team Red, 6-4, in the opening game after jumping out to a 5-0 lead. Oscar Wu made it a onegoal game when he scored for Team Red, but Roobroeck found a loose puck in the neutral zone and found the back of an empty to seal the whistle-to-whistle win with an insurance goal. It was Roobroeck’s second of the game.
William Stewart, with two goals, and Spencer Vandenberg also scored for Team White.
Kevin He, the top pick in last year’s draft to report to Niagara, when he was taken in the second round, 25th overall; had a hat trick to lead Team Red to a 6-4 victory in Game 2.
Centre Ethan Czata, 2023 draft, first round, fifth overall; forward Ivan Galiyanov, 2023, fourth round, 68th overall; and Wu, 2022, seventh round, 127th overall; rounded out the scoring for Team Red.
Rafek Dianov, Mitchell, Stewart and Vandenberg replied for Team White.
“The two games were high-energy and played with a lot of skill, which made them exciting to watch,” Kuwabara said.
He is coming off a season in which he scored 21 goals in 66 games tying Los Angeles prospect Akil Thomas for the franchise record for regularseason goals scored by a 16-yearold.
He, a left-shooting forward, also collected 13 assists and finished third on the team in scoring behind Daniel Michaud, 23 goals, 27 assists, 50 points; and Declan Waddick, 28 goals, 21 assists, 49 points.
Alex Assadourian had nine goals and 24 assists for 33 points in 34 games after starting his second season in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves.
IceDogs training camp at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines is scheduled to get underway on Aug. 27.
’Dog Biscuits On Tuesday night, centre Hayden Reid, Niagara’s fifth pick in this year’s draft, third round, 50 overall; won a Sutherland Cup Ontario junior-B championship when the visiting Leamington Flyers blanked the Stratford Warriors, 4-0, to take the best-of-seven series four games to three ... Niagara will have the fourth-overall pick in the 2023 Canadian Hockey League import draft on July 5 behind the Erie Otters, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan and the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings. The IceDogs also have the 61st pick in a two-round draft that involves all 60 teams in the three leagues under the CHL umbrella: WHL, 22 teams; OHL, 20; QMJHL, 18.