Feb.18, 2008 - Skills Competition!  (results below)

In recognition of the first ever Family Day holiday the Niagara IceDogs hosted their 1st Annual IceDogs skills competition this afternoon at the Gatorade Garden City Complex. Approximately four hundred IceDogs fans of all ages filled the stands to cheer on their favourite players, including both Stefan Legein and Andrew Agozzino who returned to the ice after long stints on the injured list. The only IceDogs players to sit out the skills competition were Alex Friesen, Matthew Sisca and Matt Corrente who are all still nursing injuries. The IceDogs team was divided into two teams for the skills competition, Team White and Team Black.

Team White was led by Sebastian Dahm in net and the following players: Vladimir Bessenov, Stefan Legein, Alex Pietrangelo, Josh Day, Reggie Traccitto, Jordan Foreman, Andrew Merrett, Chris DeSousa and Jason Bergeron.

Team Black was backstopped by Lucas Lobsinger in net and included the following players: Stephen Ceccanese, Andrew Agozzino, Michael Swift, Dylan MacEachern, Luca Caputi, Matthew Maione, Mike MacIsaac, Barry Sanderson, Drew Schiestel, and Scott Fletcher.

The teams competed against one another in the following events: fastest skater, hardest shot, 3-on-3 puck relay, individual puck relay, goalie race, shooting accuracy, penalty shot competition, and a breakaway challenge. After a quick break the competition ended with a 3-on-3 game to help determine the winner. The results of each competition are as follows.

Event #1: 3-on-3 Puck Relay

Team White: Pietrangelo, Day & Traccitto vs Team Black: Caputi, Maione & Sanderson
Result: Team Black Wins
Score: Black 1- White 0

Event #2: Individual Puck Relay

Team White: Bergeron vs Team Black: Schiestel
Result: Schiestel defeats Bergeron in a photo finish
Score: Black 2- White 0

Event #3: Fastest Skater

Team Black: Ceccanese- 14.03 s Team White: Foreman- 13.63 s
Maione- 13.62 s DeSousa- 14.77 s
Sanderson- 13.63 Bessenov- 16.39 s
Swift- 13.05 s Bergeron- 13.24 s

Results: Team Black- Swift- 13.05 s
**Point given to Team White because Swift did not skate with a helmet
Score: Black 3- White 1

Event #4: Goalie Race

Team White: Dahm vs Team Black: Lobsinger
Result: Dahm edges out Lobsinger for the win
Score: Black 3- White 2

Event #5: Hardest Shot

Team Black: Schiestel- 82 m/h, 87 m/h Team White: DeSousa- 87 m/h, 81 m/h
Sanderson- 86 m/h, 87 m/h Traccitto- 79 m/h, 93 m/h
MacEachern- 81 m/h, 83 m/h Bessenov- 83 m/h, 81 m/h
Fletcher- 83 m/h, 83 m/h Merrett- 67 m/h, 80 m/h
Agozzino- 76 m/h, 56 m/h Pietrangelo- 87 m/h, 96 m/h

Result: Pietrangelo- 97 m/h
Score: Black 4- White 3

Event #6: Shooting Accuracy

Team White: Foreman- 4/6 Team Black: Agozzino- 2/8
Merrett- 0/8 Swift- 4/6
DeSousa- 4/7 MacIsaac- 2/8
Legein- 2/8 Caputi- 3/8

Shoot-off: Foreman vs Swift – Foreman Wins
Result: Top Score- Foreman, Top Team %- Team Black
Score: Black 5- White 4

Event #7: Penalty Shot Competition

Team White: Day- NO Team Black: Fletcher- NO
Foreman- NO Schiestel- NO
Bessenov- YES Maione- NO
Traccitto- NO MacEachern- NO
Legein- YES Swift- YES
Bergeron- YES Agozzino- NO
Legein- YES Ceccanese- NO
Merrett- YES Sanderson- NO
DeSousa- YES MacIsaac- NO
Pietrangelo- NO Caputi- NO

Result: Team White 6 goals Team Black 1 goal
Score: White 10- Black 6

Event #9: Breakaway Challenge

Team White: Merrett –Score 50/50
Team Black: Maione- Score 47/50
Shoot off- Tean Black-Maione Wins
Score: White 10- Black 7

3-on-3 Game

The 3-on-3 challenge was very entertaining for the fans as the game featured fast end to end action, with some highlight reel goals and some big saves from both goalies. The final score of the two period game was 12-6 in favour of Team White. Scoring for team White were: Day (3G), DeSousa (3G), Legein (2G), Pietrangelo (2G), Merrett (1G), Foreman (1G). Replying for Team Black were: Ceccanese (2G), Caputi (2G), MacEachern (1G), Sanderson (1G).

Overall Champion

Team White was the big winner of the 1st Annual IceDogs Skills Competition defeating Team Black by a score of 22-13.
 

All photos (c)2007 IceDogFans.com