HOCKEY NIGHT IN BEAMSVILLE HIGHLIGHTS NIAGARA ICEDOGS PRESEASON

OHL TEAM RELEASES 2023 FIVE-GAME PRESEASON SCHEDULE

Home-and-homes with the Guelph Storm and Peterborough Petes and a "home" game in Beamsville highlight the 2023 preseason for the Niagara IceDogs.

In all, the Ontario Hockey League team is scheduled to play five exhibition games ahead of the regular-season opener Friday, Sept. 29, on the road against the London Knights.

Peterborough will provide the opposition when the preseason schedule gets underway on Saturday, Sept. 2, with a 7 p.m. puck drop at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.

After a break of nearly a week, action resumes Friday, Sept. 8, at Sleeman Centre in Guelph where the IceDogs will play the Storm in the first of backto-back games versus the Storm. Guelph will visit Fleming Memorial Arena in Beamsville the following night to complete the preseason series between the non-conference rivals.

Niagara hosts the Oshawa Generals on Thursday, Sept. 21, at Meridian Centre and visits the Petes at Millbrook Arena in Millbrook, Ont., on Saturday, Sept. 23, to close out the preseason.

The IceDogs begin the home half of the 68-game schedule the following Saturday when they entertain London for the final time in head-to-head play during the regular season.

Except for six games against the Erie Otters, Niagara will only play two

regular-season games against teams from the 20team major junior league's Western Conference.

They are scheduled to play six games each against Central Division rivals - Barrie Colts, Mississauga Steelheads, North Bay Battalion, Sudbury Wolves - and are also scheduled to face the Brantford Bulldogs six times, though the former Hamilton Bulldogs compete in the Eastern Conference's Eastern Division.

Three Eastern Division teams — Kingston Frontenacs, Peterborough Petes, Ottawa 67s — will each play the IceDogs four times while regular-season action against a fourth, Oshawa Generals, will be limited to a home-and-home.

Besides the home opener, other highlights of the 2023-24 schedule include a New Year's Eve home game against Guelph featuring a 6 p.m. faceoff and the final game of the regular season, Saturday, March 23, versus Sudbury.

Thursday will be hockey night in Niagara with 14 of the IceDogs' home games taking place night. Rounding out the home half of the schedule will be eight Saturday games, six on Sunday, five on Friday and one on Wednesday.

Most popular days for road games, in order, are: Friday, 12; Saturday, 10; Sunday, six; Wednesday, three; Thursday, two; Monday, one.

Last season, the IceDogs placed last in their conference and last overall with a 12-47-8-1 record and extended a streak of failing to make the playoffs to three. They last qualified for postseason play in 2018-19 when they finished first in the Central Division and third in the league with a 44-17-7 record.

COVID-19 cancelled 2019-20 playoff as well as the entire 2020-21 season.

'Dog Biscuits: A Summer Fan Fest taking place from noon until 3 p.m. on Thursday, July 20, in the Meridian Centre parking lot will be free to enter for all ages. Activities include accuracy shooting, a bouncy castle, cornhole board, face-painting, a magician and a chance to meet IceDogs players ...

The 2024 Memorial Cup will be played in central Michigan and hosted by the Saginaw Spirit. Saginaw also earned a guaranteed berth in the four-team Canadian Hockey League championship tournament when its bid beat out Kingston, Niagara and Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.