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Bozeman Icedogs
IceDogs
City: Bozeman, Montana
League: North American 3 Hockey League
Division: Frontier
Founded: 1996 (In the AFHL)
Home Arena: Haynes Pavilion
Colors: Maroon, White, Black, Silver
                   
General Manager: Mark Vichorek
Head Coach: Mark Vichorek
Media: Bozeman Chronicle
Franchise history
1996–present: Bozeman Icedogs

The Bozeman Icedogs are a junior ice hockey team located in Bozeman, Montana.The team is a member of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). The Icedogs play home games at the Haynes Pavilion located at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds.

History[]

Founded in 1996 by a Michigan-based investment group, the Icedogs played in the Tier II Junior A American Frontier Hockey League (AFHL) from 1996 to 1998. The organizations first draft pick was goaltender Casey Osting from Brother Rice High School (MI)[1] The Icedogs were forced to play their entire first season on the road when the ownership team’s funding fell short with their rink only half-built. Despite the circumstances, which left them practicing at times outdoors and playing all ‘home’ games in Helena, Montana, the Icedogs, coached by David “Smoke” Cole and captained by Brad Michalski, earned a .500 record and a position in the AFHL playoffs. Forward Kevin Wesolek set a league record for single-season scoring as he captured 1996–97 Rookie of the Year honors.

In the fall of 1997, the Icedogs moved into the brand new Valley Ice Garden, a state-of-the-art, 3,500-seat arena outside Bozeman. Bill Martel, owner of the Bozeman construction firm that had been building the facility, took over ownership of both the team and the arena, providing the Gallatin Valley with its first indoor ice skating facility. The rink opened to the public with an open house on September 14, 1997.

The Icedogs played their first game at the Valley Ice Garden on September 30, 1997, a 6-4 victory over the Butte Irish in front of a sellout crowd with Wesolek scoring the team’s first goal. The Icedogs went on to record sixteen- and seven-game unbeaten streaks while selling out nearly every game en route to a second-place finish in the AFHL. Bozeman fell to in-state rival Billings Bulls in six games in the Borne Cup Finals, but earned a berth in the Gold Cup National Championship Tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round of round robin play. Wesolek finished second in the AFHL in scoring and set a league record for career scoring, with 198 points over two seasons.

In 1998, the AFHL changed its name to the America West Hockey League (AWHL). The 1998–99 season brought less success for the Icedogs, who struggled throughout, and finished in last place in the AWHL, missing the playoffs for the first time. Forward Jimmy Sokol finished second in the league in scoring while linemate Jason Deitsch led the league in points-per-game.

During the 1999–2000 season, Cole was fired and replaced with assistant coach Dale “Duner” Hladun.[2] The team failed to improve under Hladun, who was forced to leave the team due to visa issues and replaced by assistant coach Darren Blue. The Icedogs missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

In March 2000, the Bozeman Icedogs hired John LaFontaine, brother of National Hockey League great Pat LaFontaine, as head coach and director of hockey operations. LaFontaine immediately turned the program around, leading the Icedogs to a .500 record and playoff appearance in his first season as coach.

In 2003,[3] the America West Hockey League merged with the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and the Icedogs began playing in the Tier II NAHL.[4]

In the 2005–06 season, goaltender Matt Dalton led the NAHL in saves percentage, setting NAHL records for goals against average and saves percentage. Forward Josh Heidinger led the league in scoring was voted the NAHL’s top forward. After defeating the Fairbanks (Alaska) Ice Dogs for their second Borne Cup title, the Icedogs fell to the Texas Tornado in the final game of the national championship Robertson Cup tournament in May 2006.

Later in May 2006, the Helena Bighorns and Billings Bulls joined the Northern Pacific Hockey League (NorPac). The Valley Ice Garden was sold to a beer distributor and the Tier II Icedogs were dissolved. However, the Icedogs would also join the Tier III Junior B NorPac when the Bozeman Blackhawks took on the Icedogs moniker and began play in Bozeman’s Haynes Pavilion. In 2007, the NorPac was promoted from Tier III Junior B to Junior A.

In 2011, the Icedogs joined the other eastern teams of NorPac and created a new American West Hockey League made up of teams in Montana and Wyoming. In March 2014, the new AWHL joined the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) as the Frontier Division the 2014–15 season.[5]

Previous leagues[]

Season-by-season records[]

Season GP W L T OL SL Pts GF GA PIM Regular Season Finish Playoffs
American Frontier Hockey League
1996-97 60 28 26 6 - - 62 273 218 - 4th overall
1997-98 60 38 18 - - 4 80 259 189 - 2nd overall
America West Hockey League
1998-99 60 18 35 - 7 0 43 180 271 - 6th overall
1999-00 58 18 37 - 0 3 39 193 253 1753 8th overall
2000-01 60 29 27 - 2 2 62 195 192 1576 7th overall
2001-02 56 40 12 - 1 3 84 262 145 1285 1st overall
2002-03 56 22 29 - 1 4 49 169 201 1319 6th North
North American Hockey League
2003-04 56 28 22 - 6 - 62 174 163 1314 4th West
2004-05 56 20 31 - 5 - 45 165 186 1474 6th West
2005-06 58 48 9 - 0 1 97 235 117 1164 1st West
Northern Pacific Hockey League
2006-07 44 29 15 - - - 58 210 141 987 3rd Rocky Mountain
2007-08 48 37 11 - - - 74 217 116 1578 2nd America West
2008-09 48 28 20 - - - 56 186 152 1165 3rd America West
2009-10 48 17 31 - - - 34 170 218 1274 5th America West Did not qualify
2010-11 48 19 31 - - - 38 161 254 - 5th America West Did not qualify
America West Hockey League
2011-12 48 14 34 - 0 0 28 131 207 - 5th overall Did not qualify
2012-13 48 1 47 - 0 0 2 72 376 - 7th overall Did not qualify
2013-14 48 5 39 - 4 0 14 113 265 - 7th overall Did not qualify
North American 3 Hockey League
2014–15 47 15 31 1 - - 31 119 193 990 5th of 7, Frontier Div.
23rd of 31, NA3HL
Did not qualify
2015–16 47 29 11 7 - - 65 191 134 911 3rd of 7, Frontier Div.
12th of 34, NA3HL
Lost Div. Semifinals, 0-2 vs. Great Falls Americans
2016–17 47 24 21 - 2 0 50 174 168 - 5th of 8, Frontier Div. Won Div. Quarterfinals, 2-0 vs Missoula Bruins
Lost Div. Semifinals, 0-2 vs. Yellowstone Quake
2017–18 47 5 41 - 1 0 11 104 289 - 6th of 6, Frontier Div. Did not qualify
2018-19 47 28 15 - 4 0 60 197 136 - 3rd of 7, Frontier Div. Lost Div. Quarterfinals 1-2 vs Great Falls Americans
2019-20 47 39 7 - 0 1 79 241 119 - 1st of 8, Frontier Div. Playoffs cancelled during division semifinal round
2020-21 40 13 22 - 3 2 31 124 163 - 6th of 8, Frontier Div. Did not qualify
2021-22 47 26 17 - 3 1 56 194 183 - 3rd of 8, Frontier Div. Lost Divsion Semifinals
2022-23 47 23 23 - 0 1 47 151 174 - 5th of 8, Frontier Div. Did not qualify

Notable Icedogs alumni[]

The Icedogs have had a number of alumni move on to NCAA Division I, Division III, and higher levels of junior ice hockey, and professional ice hockey, including:

References[]

External links[]


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Bozeman Icedogs. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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