The Mississauga IceDogs were a

junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

team in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. They played in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

from 1998 to 2007. A sale relocated the team to St. Catharines,

for the 2007–08 season and they are now called the

Niagara IceDogs The Niagara IceDogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League based in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The franchise was originally known as the Mississauga IceDogs and founded in 1996. The team was relocated to St. Cathar ...

.St. Catharines Standard - Ontario, CA
/ref>

History

From 1998 to 2002, the IceDogs enjoyed little success, finishing last in the

OHL OHL or Ohl may refer to: Initialisms *Latvian Hockey Higher League, known in Latvian as the ''Optibet hokeja līga'' *Oberste Heeresleitung, the Supreme Army Command of Germany in World War I *Obrascón Huarte Lain, a Spanish construction company * ...

's Central Division every year. During this building phase, the team had six head coaches within the span of 4 years, including the owner,

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

. Mississauga drafted first overall each year, leading to two rookies of the year, including one of the highest touted NHL prospects in

Jason Spezza Jason Rocco Anthony Spezza (born June 13, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Spezza played 19 career seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2002 to 2022, and is currently a part of the Toronto Maple Leafs' fr ...

. In the 2002–03 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 Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's Canadian Centennial, centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's c ...

. 2003–04 was the IceDogs' best season. The team finished second in the Central Division, two points behind the division champion

Toronto St. Michael's Majors The Toronto St. Michael's Majors were a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The most recent franchise was revived on August 15, 1996. In 2007, the team relocated to Mississauga, Ontario an ...

, and third overall in the Eastern Conference. In the first round of the playoffs, the IceDogs defeated the

Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...

in seven games, winning their first-ever playoff series. The IceDogs were down three games to two against the

Barrie Colts The Barrie Colts are a junior ice hockey team in Ontario Hockey League, based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Pre-OHL history There were two previous Barrie Colts teams which played Junior A & B hockey in the Ontario Hockey Association, one from 1 ...

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 The Bobby Orr Trophy is awarded annually to the champion of the Eastern conference playoffs in the Ontario Hockey League. It was first awarded in 1999. The winning team competes for the J. Ross Robertson Cup in the OHL finals versus the Wayne Gret ...

and earn their first-ever trip to the Ontario Hockey League finals. The dream ended there as they fell to the

Guelph Storm The Guelph Storm are a major junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the OHL since the 1991–92 season. The team plays home games at the Sleeman Centre. History The franchise started as the Toronto Marlb ...

in four straight games in the OHL final, losing the fourth game at the Hershey Centre. The 2004–05 season 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 St. Michael's Majors in five games. In 2005–06, the IceDogs started rebuilding and missed the playoffs again.

Change in ownership

On July 12, 2006,

Eugene Melnyk Eugene Melnyk (May 27, 1959 – March 28, 2022) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and owner, governor, and chairman of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ottawa Senators and the AHL's Belleville Senators. He was the founder, chairman, ...

, owner of the

and the NHL's

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

, bought the Mississauga IceDogs. After the 2006–07 season, Melnyk sold the IceDogs, and moved the Majors to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. On January 8, 2007, Toronto businessman

Tom Bitove Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

proposed to buy the team with plans to move to

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

, but city council declined the proposal to build a new arena.The North Bay Nugget - Ontario, CA
/ref> As an alternative, the team approached the City of St. Catharines about moving the team into

Jack Gatecliff Arena The Garden City Arena Complex (formerly the "Gatorade Garden City Complex") is a sports complex in St. Catharines, Ontario. It was the main arena facility in that city from its construction in 1938 until the opening of the Meridian Centre in 20 ...

in the downtown core.

St. Catharines City Council The St. Catharines City Council is the governing body of the City of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The council consists of the mayor plus twelve elected councillors, with two councilors representing each of the six municipal wards. A deputy may ...

voted on a leasing arrangement on April 23, 2007, which passed. Bill Burke bought the IceDogs and relocated the team to St. Catharines in time for the 2007–08 season, to be known as the Niagara IceDogs. The IceDogs played their final game in Mississauga on April 1, 2007, losing in game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at home to the

Sudbury Wolves The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game k ...

Championships

Eastern Conference Champions * 2004 playoffs

Emms Trophy The Emms Trophy is presented annually to the regular season champion of the Central division in the Ontario Hockey League. The trophy was inaugurated in the 1975–76 season for the winner of the Emms division, the more westerly of the two division ...

Central Division Champions * 2004–05 regular season

Coaches

Former team owner and hockey commentator Donald S. Cherry stepped behind the bench to coach the IceDogs for the 2001–02 season, after going through 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.

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 ten alumni have played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Award winners

CHL Rookie of the Year The CHL Rookie of the Year Award is given out annually to the top rookie in the Canadian Hockey League. It is chosen from the winners of; the Emms Family Award (OHL Rookie of the Year), the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy (WHL Rookie of the Year), an ...

* 2001–02

Patrick O'Sullivan Patrick O'Sullivan (born February 1, 1985) is a Canadian-born American former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild and P ...

Emms Family Award The Emms Family Award is presented annually to the Rookie of the Year (top first-year player) in the Ontario Hockey League. The winner is also nominated for the CHL Rookie of the Year. The award was donated by Hap Emms. Leighton "Hap" Emms was a c ...

OHL Rookie of the Year * 2001–02

* 2002–03

Rob Schremp Robert B. Schremp (born July 1, 1986) is an American professional ice hockey center currently playing for HK Mogo of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. He was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, 25th overall, of the 2004 NHL Entry ...

Jack Ferguson Award The Jack Ferguson Award is awarded each year to the top draft pick in the Ontario Hockey League priority selection draft. The trophy is named in honour of Jack Ferguson, a former director of OHL Central Scouting. Winners List of OHL first overall ...

First Overall Draft Pick * 1999

* 2000 Patrick Jarrett * 2001

* 2002

OHL Goaltender of the Year The Jim Rutherford Trophy is given to the best goaltender in the Ontario Hockey League, as voted by coaches and general managers. The winner is also nominated for the CHL Goaltender of the Year award. From 1988 until 2019, the award was named the ...

* 2004–05 Michael Ouzas

NHL alumni

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Legend: OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

Playoffs

*1998–99 Out of

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. *1999–2000 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. *2006–07 Lost to Sudbury Wolves 4 games to 1 in conference quarter-finals.

Uniforms and logos

The IceDogs' colours are red, white, black and silver. The logo is styled after

'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 like a roboticized dog with red eyes in front of a big letter "M" with a maple leaf in the corner. The logo was redesigned after their 5th season with the change in ownership.

Arena

The Mississauga IceDogs played their home games at the Hershey Centre in northeast Mississauga, near the junction of Highways 401, 403 and 410. The Hershey Centre hosted the OHL All-Star Game in 2000. :Capacity = 5,420 :Ice Size = 200' x 85'
Hershey Centre
- The OHL Arena & Travel Guide

References

External links

Ontario Hockey LeagueCanadian Hockey League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mississauga Icedogs Defunct Ontario Hockey League teams Sport in Mississauga Ice hockey clubs established in 1997 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2007 1997 establishments in Ontario 2007 disestablishments in Ontario fr:IceDogs de Mississauga