Q & A with IceDogs owner Darren DeDobbelaer
Darren DeDobbelaer has been on the job as the new owner of the Niagara IceDogs for about two weeks. His days are filled with calls, texts, meetings and Zoom chats.
The 53-year-old native of Langton (near Tillsonburg) took a few minutes out of his hectic schedule Tuesday for a question and answer session with BPsportsniagara.com.
BPSN: What are your plans for the team as far as relocating or staying in Niagara?
DD: It didn’t even cross my mind to move it. I bought it because Denise and Bill (Burke) built such a good business plan. It’s a passion of mine. I am a businessman and it’s a good business. It’s a beautiful facility. Absolutely no thoughts of moving.
BPSN: What kind of role will minority owner Wayne Gretzky have?
DD: You will be seeing Wayne. I don’t think he will have a schedule when he shows up but he will show up. Wayne and I will be talking a lot but he’s very busy but he will be around. I don’t think he knows. I think he will just show up. I’m going to use him as a consultant. It was important to him when he got involved I just didn’t use him as a poster boy. He wanted me to call him and talk to him.
BPSN: What is the status of first-round draft choice Sam Dickinson?
DD: One of the big things was his agent had a lot of unanswered questions and he didn’t want to deal with speculation. He said once the deal is done we’ll talk more so the talks are on going. He’s a great player. We didn’t draft him to trade him away or have him not report. I think he would add a lot of value to this team. That’s why we drafted him fourth overall.
BPSN: Are you currently looking to recruit any of the top talent the IceDogs drafted in previous years that have yet to sign?
DD: We have talked to almost all of them and almost all of them are committed to NCAA. We’ve invited all of them to our orientation camp and most of them have declined.
BPSN: Are you rebuilding or going for a title?
DD: Never want to rebuild. I brought in three 20-year-olds and two 19-year-olds already. Not that age matters. Ability matters. I don’t care if you’re 16 or 20. I don’t believe with this facility in this location in this region we should ever have to rebuild. It’s a cycle of five 16-year-olds, five 17-year-olds, five 18-year-olds. Every team gets 15 draft choices and draft picks aren’t players. We need players. I don’t think we ever need to be in a rebuild.
BPSN: What was the thought process naming yourself as general manager?
DD: I’ve been a GM for a long time for the junior A and junior B teams (in Brantford). I’m a good hockey guy. I felt the GM not only needs to be a hockey guy, but also a business guy as well. Right now I’m very comfortable in that role but we’ll see what the future brings.
BPSN: Will there be any changes fans will notice this season?
DD: That’s a good question. I want to be more involved and we’ll make changes as we see. The atmosphere here is great, the facility is great. The Burkes ran a great show so you don’t fix what’s not broken. You only fix the broken stuff.
BPSN: Has anything surprise you since taking ownership of the team?
DD: We started this process since March. I’ve been working towards these last two weeks since March. It may seem like Wes (assistant general manager Wes Consorti) and I have done a lot of work in the last two weeks, but it’s been three months. I coached junior hockey in Delhi and Simcoe and Brantford and the support from the radio stations, from the newspapers, from the fans has been overwhelming. The support from all the mayors in the 13 communities has been overwhelming. It seems like there has been a very loyal, good fan base here. If the support is high, we can put a high product on the ice. We want to win. Winning kind of fixes everything.
BPSN: Is hosting a Memorial Cup on your radar?
DD: One of my focuses is to host a Memorial Cup here. I think the fan support, the facility and the region can handle it. That is something we are going to try for.
BPSN: What are you doing from now until training camp?
DD: We’ve pretty much finished hiring and announcing all the staff. I have been interviewing players. I am about three-quarters of the way done with that and then I have to continue on interviewing prospects.
The IceDogs open the 2022-23 regular season Thursday, Sept. 29 against the Mississauga Steelheads at the Meridian Centre.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 4,300 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
