Cooke booked
The Niagara IceDogs have locked up another one of their top draft choices.
The IceDogs announced Wednesday that 2020 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection 33rd overall pick Brice Cooke has signed a standard player agreement, committing to the team.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound left winger played the 2019-20 season with Toronto Jr. Canadiens minor midget AAA program, alongside IceDogs’ first-round pick Pano Fimis.
Fimis and second-round selection Alec Leonard signed with Niagara last month.
In 31 games played, the 16-year-old Orangeville native scored 24 goals and collected 27 assists to help the Junior Canadiens capture the Greater Toronto Hockey League playoff championship. The Junior Canadians would have been the top seed for the GTHL at the OHL Cup, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a great fit for us on many different levels,” IceDogs general manager Joey Burke said. “Brice has a goal-scoring ability that is rare for his age, and was one of the premier goal scorers in the draft. He combines size, smarts, and speed. He really is the total package. Add that to the fact he has great chemistry with Pano Fimis already (they were linemates last year), this is a signing that will pay off for years to come.”
Cooke was thrilled to sign on the dotted line.
“I’m really excited to commit to such an unbelievable organization,” Cooke said. “I can’t want to get started in Niagara.”
BPSN and the COVID-19 pandemic
Like all small businesses dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, BPSN is not sure what the business landscape will look like when things return to normal. Our website is financed primarily through advertising revenues and partnership agreements with many local sports and educational organizations in Niagara. Our goal is to continue providing our readers with the extensive local sports coverage you have come to expect from our site. Since our inception, we have written more than 2,800 stories on our local athletes and teams. Many of our readers have given us one-time donations or send us monthly contributions to help offset our costs. We would be eternally grateful if others would consider doing the same by using the Support Us button located on the right-hand side of our home page below the mosaic.
Thank you for your continued support.
Bill and Bernie.
