Pro Dogs

Former Niagara IceDog  Ryan Strome is currently a member of the Edmonton Oilers. PHOTO BY: OHL IMAGES

Many are called, but few are chosen.

Since the Niagara IceDogs moved to St. Catharines 11 years ago, 180 players have worn the red, white and black of the IceDogs.

But of those 180, less than 20 have played in the NHL.

The IceDogs are currently well represented at the National Hockey League level with 10 players: Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn in St. Louis, Dougie Hamilton in Calgary, Freddie Hamilton and Brendan Perlini in Phoenix, Ryan Strome in Edmonton, Brett Ritchie in Dallas, Tom Kuhnhackl and Jamie Oleksiak in Pittsburgh and Andrew Shaw in Montreal.

But only a handful of others have made it to the pinnacle of the sport.

Alex Friesen made it for a game with the Vancouver Canucks in 2015/16 and is now playing pro in Sweden.

Matt Corrente played 34 games for the New Jersey Devils while Luca Caputi, who scored 51 goals for the IceDogs in their first season in St. Catharines, got into 35 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs. Andrew Aggozino, the IceDogs’ all-time leading scorer, also got into 10 games with the Colorado Avalanche. He is currently playing in the American Hockey League with the San Antonio Rampage, an affiliate of the Blues. Josh Ho-Sang has been up and down with the New York Islanders over the last two seasons.

Mark Visentin, Jeremy Smith and Alex Nedeljkovic are the only goalies on the list. Visentin native played one game for the Phoenix Coyotes in 2013/14 and is now playing in Austria. Smith played 10 games for Colorado last year and is a member of the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL this season. Nedeljkovic got into a game for the Carolina Hurricanes last season and is also playing for the Checkers.

Following is a list of former Niagara IceDogs found on http://www.eliteprospects.com.