Otters vs. Ice Dogs a great community event

The Erie Otters may have been the official home team Friday night, but someone obviously forgot to mention that to the 800 fans who packed Virgil’s Meridian Credit Union Arena for a pre-season game with the Niagara Ice Dogs. 

The spectators in the stands and lined up along both ends at ice level were awash in a sea of red Niagara Ice Dogs jerseys and hats. If that didn’t make it obvious who they were backing, the near-silence in response to Otters right winger Sam Alfano opening the scoring nine minutes into the first period might have been a clue. 

But two minutes later, when Brice Cook, left alone to the left of Otters goaltender Marshall Nicholls during a power play, tallied one for the Dogs, the eruption of the crowd was a dead giveaway.

Otters general manager and executive vice president Dave Brown, the Virgil resident whose efforts brought reportedly the first-ever Ontario Hockey League game to town, took it all in stride. 

“We’re okay with that,” Brown laughed. “We’ve had some really good years. You get used to people not liking you that much. When you’re successful, you get used to not being liked.”

To add further insult to the home team, when Noah Sedore scored the second goal for the Otters in the third period, some Ice Dogs fans actually booed the left winger.

“They knew that coming in,” added NOTL Minor Hockey Wolves president Peter Flynn about the bias of the fans. “It’s an Ice Dogs crowd. This is part of their area where they draw people. You have to give the Ice Dogs credit. They make sure they take care of their fan base across the Golden Horseshoe.”

Pano Fimis added a pair for the Ice Dogs, while Aidan Castle, Rodwin Dinicio, Daniel Michaud and Matthew Papais added singles. Goalie Owen Flores, acquired from the London Knights just two days before the game, stopped 22 Erie shots en route to a crowd-pleasing 7-2 Niagara victory in front of the sold-out crowd.

The game was the brainchild of Brown, who was the Niagara team’s first GM. He approached new Ice Dogs owner Darren DeDeoobelaer with the idea of a home-and-home exhibition series with both games played in the region. 

Brown then contacted the Niagara-on-the-Lake Wolves Minor Hockey Association with the proposal of holding the game in Virgil as a fundraiser for the local kids. 

As much as the night was about hockey, it was also about community. People who hadn’t been to the arena in years showed up to cheer on the Ice Dogs. All 800 tickets at $10 each, distributed through Phil’s Your Independent Grocer, were sold out before the game. 

Wolves vice-president Joe Pagnotta said the club kept the ticket price that low to make the game accessible for all families. 

“It’s not about the money,” Pagnotta told The Local. “It’s about bringing everyone together.”

At press time, the club could not provide a final tally for the amount of money raised. Flynn explained that the proceeds will be put toward creating a development program aimed at younger Wolves, both for rep teams and local league players. 

Between periods, line-ups at the concession stand were 20 to 30 people deep. A 50/50 draw conducted by board members and volunteers paid out $650 in the middle of the third period, raising an equal amount for the club. 

Hockey fan Devon Botbyl was chosen to drop the puck for the ceremonial first faceoff. He was accompanied by
Niagara-on-the-Lake Regional Coun. Gary Zalepa, wearing his own NOTL Wolves hockey jersey from his days playing in the bantam division. Yes, it still fits him, but remember, he wasn’t wearing his shoulder pads Friday.

The club approached Devon’s father Scott on Tuesday with the invitation for the puck drop. Scott kept it a secret until Friday morning as he knew his son wouldn’t be able to sleep until the big night. 

“From the moment we were asked if we were interested,” Scott said, I felt so honoured and humbled to be part of a community that is so accepting and has such a great heart. This event was a triumph for the community, and we were so proud to be part of it.”

Adding another local element to the game, NOTL native Chris Weier, a member of the National Lacrosse League’s Toronto Rock, was one of the officials on the ice Saturday.

The members of the hockey association’s board worked closely with Brown and the Otters to put the evening together. Planning began early this summer. 

“They had a checklist,” said Flynn. “They told us what they needed. We had to have the ambulance crew here, which my brother (Terry Flynn) helped with. We had to have a doctor and dentist on site. We have to feed the (Otters) after the game. They came and checked out the arena and it was good to go.”

Like probably everyone in attendance, Flynn had never seen the arena filled to the level it was Friday night.

“We did have a couple of midget teams who filled the stands,” Flynn remembered, “but not like this. I would love to see a Junior C team here some day. I’m pretty sure we could get as many as 250 people to a game. And Dave Brown said if we ever did, he could send (Erie) players down to play here.”

Flynn would like to see an Otters-Ice Dogs pre-season game become an annual event, perhaps even a bigger full-day festival with events taking place on the grounds of the Virgil Sports Park.

 Brown seems open to the idea. 

“I think we would do it in a heartbeat,” said Brown, whose Otters exacted revenge with a 4-3 win in Saturday’s follow-up game. “It’s nice to see this many people all in one place. It makes sense to us. Niagara is our closest rival. We’re excited to be here, that’s for sure.” 

The excitement was evident on the faces of the crowd, as well as on those of the many volunteers and board members who contributed to the success of the event.

“We appreciate that the Ice Dogs agreed to come here for the home-and-home series,” Flynn concluded. “And we really appreciate Erie stepping up and Dave Brown getting the game here. The arena hasn’t been this alive in a long, long time.”