IceDogs round out staff
The Niagara IceDogs wasted little time filling a vacancy on their coaching staff.
The IceDogs Tuesday named Sean Teakle as an assistant coach for the 2020/21 Ontario Hockey League season replacing Mark Mancari, who parted ways with Niagara recently and last week was named as an assistant with the Sarnia Sting.
Teakle joins the IceDogs with a decade of coaching and scouting experience across Ontario. In 2010, he began his coaching career with the Streetsville Derbys of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League as an assistant coach. In 2013, he was named an assistant coach with the Milton Icehawks of the Ontario Junior Hockey League. Simultaneously, he was named head coach at The Hill Academy, where he coached through 2019. Following his time with the Icehawks, he was an associate coach with the North York Rangers of the OJHL from 2016-2020.
In six seasons as head coach at The Hill Academy, he led the team to two ECEL (East Coast Elite League) championships and also coached current IceDogs forward Cameron Snow.
In addition to his coaching experience, Teakle scouted for the Ottawa 67’s from 2015-2020.
“I would like to thank the entire Burke family and Niagara IceDogs organization for the opportunity to join the coaching staff,” Teakle said. “I am very humbled and excited to get started. I can’t wait to get to Niagara to meet the players, staff, and the fans.
“I’m looking forward to bringing back that winning team and environment to the Meridian Centre.”
Niagara head coach Billy Burke is looking forward to working with Teakle.
“Sean is a top, up-and-coming coach who has earned this opportunity. He understands the grind of coaching and isn’t afraid to put in the work. He has a strong background in individual player development and is comfortable in many roles. Sean knows our league very well and has pre-existing relationships with some of our current players.”
Ice cubes: IceDogs season ticket holders were sent the following statement from OHL commissioner David Branch today: “The OHL is looking forward to the upcoming hockey season. We plan to drop the puck in the fall and will follow the lead of government and public health agencies on when it is safe to get back on the ice. Our players and coaches are getting ready to play and our teams are working on their plans to provide the great experience our fans and the community have come to expect from OHL hockey.”
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.
