Niagara IceDogs allow five unanswered goals to spoil new coach’s debut

Niagara allows five unanswered goals in Kuwabara’s debut as the team’s head coach

Ryan Kuwabara’s debut as Niagara IceDogs head coach wasn’t much of a dogfight as far as the annual Canine Cup series versus the Hamilton Bulldogs goes.

Only four points separated the two Ontario Hockey League teams heading into Thursday night’s game at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.

Yet it was the Bulldogs, not the IceDogs, who came out with a lot more bite with two points on the line.

Hamilton, in year one of a rebuild after capturing the league championship, scored five unanswered goals and outshot Niagara 45-23 in a 6-2 victory.

“We had some good things, some bad things, some inconsistencies,” Kuwabara said. “Our D zone is one area where I think we’re going to practise a lot.

“Coming in, I can’t change everything right away, but we had a great talk in there.”

Kuwabara, in his first game as a head coach since the 2017 junior-B playoffs with the then Ancaster Avalanche, let the IceDogs players run the postgame meeting in the dressing room.

“I don’t have to be a cheerleader and rah, rah, rah,” he said. “I just asked the leadership group what their thoughts were, and they were bang on.

“They know what they need to do. We have to come together as a club, cut out some mistakes,” he said.

“I have full confidence in those guys in there. They’re going to come around.”

Kuwabara said that having to adjust to playing for the third coach in six games may be taking a toll on the struggling team.

“It can be, for sure. There are some inconsistencies, they’re just not sure,” he said. “They get caught in different systems and different voices from the past.

“I don’t blame them for that. That’s not their fault.”

Kuwabara said developing a team identity is an ongoing process the IceDogs need to go through.

“Miracles we’re not going to make instantly here,” he said. “We’re going to have to work hard, we’re going to have to work on our details, we’re going to have to watch tape.

“That’s the only way we’re going to get better.”

Niagara’s offence has a big upside, according to the new coach.

“I think we have some good skilled forwards,” he said. “It’s just finding the right line combinations, finding the ability to make plays when we get in the offensive zone.”

Against the Bulldogs, the IceDogs didn’t spend all that much time on offence.

“I told the guys in the first 10 minutes of that first period, we might have had one shot,” he said. “That’s not great, we have to be better, we know that.

“That’s just part of the process we have to go through, and it’s got to be fun.”

Kuwabara described his first few days with the team as “a great starting point.”

“It’s time to work so when we come to practice there are no passengers anymore,” he said. “We’re going to hold each other accountable and get it going the right way.”

The final result notwithstanding, the 50-year-old Hamilton native enjoyed being back coaching players 20 and younger. Before being hired to succeed interim head coach Jeff Angelidis, Kuwabara was beginning his second season as an assistant coach with the Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

“It’s definitely fun being here. I enjoy being with this age group because I think I can make an impact as they move forward on what it takes for them to be a pro or whatever their endeavours may be off the ice, too,” he said.

“We want good people, good character. You want them to wear their heart on their sleeve a bit,” he said.

“It showed in that meeting after the game.”

Daniel Michaud, with his sixth goal of the season and fourth in two games, and Pano Fimis, on the power play for his eighth of the campaign, scored for the IceDogs, who fell to 6-13-3 before an announced crowd of 3,512.

Starter Owen Flores, who stopped 36 of 42 shots, and Josh Rosenzweig, who has three saves off of three shots in 1:57 of work midway into the third period, shared goaltending duties for Niagara.

The IceDogs went 1-for-4 on the power play; the Bulldogs, 1-for-3.

Niagara hits the road for a Friday night game against the London Knights and a Sunday matinee versus the Sudbury Wolves.

The IceDogs’ next home game is Thursday against the Kingston Frontenacs.