Coming of a solid weekend that saw them pick up a pair of home victories over tough Western Conference opponents, the IceDogs kick off an important three games in three nights tonight when they host the visiting Barrie Colts at 7pm at the Gatorade Garden City Complex.

With Niagara trailing Brampton by only four points for the division lead and Ottawa by six for the conference lead, with the IceDogs having a game in hand on both teams, every game is important in the push towards the top of the Eastern Conference standings.  This is especially true this weekend with a pair of games against the Barrie Colts sandwiched around a trip to Sudbury to take on the Wolves. 

Heading into tonight's game, Niagara has a game in hand on Barrie, but is only two points ahead of them in the standings, and will look to create a little more distance with a victory tonight.

Barrie leads the season series 2-1, with one of those victories coming in a shootout.  However, two of the three games between the teams this season came early in the season when Niagara was without numerous players including Ryan Strome, Brock Beukeboom and Mark Visentin.

In addition, the IceDogs will have several other players in the lineup who have yet to face the Colts, including latest addition Jamie Oleksiak who will be making his IceDogs debut after being acquired in a trade from Saginaw on Monday.  The big defenceman joins Brett Ritchie and Tom Kuhnhackl as IceDogs additions that have yet to play against Barrie.  With so much on the line you can be sure they will be looking to make a good impression and give the ‘Dogs the lead in the season series.

With the IceDogs now featuring five members of Team Canada and Colts forwards Tanner Pearson and Mark Scheifele also having been a part of Team Canada, Thursday’s game will feature almost one-third of Canada’s World Junior roster, helping make it even more of a must see matchup!

The Team Canada forwards are not the only weapons for the Colts, who sport a strong top five with Colin Behenna (55 points in 39 games), Zach Hall (43 points in 34 games) and Ivan Telegin (29 points in 24 games) joining Pearson and Scheifele.

On the blueline, the Colts rely heavily on 15 year old star Aaron Ekblad, but also added to the blue line last week, picking up veteran defenceman Ryan O’Connor from the Saginaw Spirit.  In 40 games this season, the Hamilton native has 23 points, including two goals in three games with Barrie.  As a fourth year defenceman in the OHL, he will be counted on to help provide experience on defence for the Colts.

In goal, with Barrie starting goaltender Mathias Niederberger recently injured, backup goaltender Alex Fotinos may see action.  Fotinos may be familiar to some local fans, having spent the earlier part of this season playing for the Thorold Jr. B Blackhawks prior to replacing the departed Clint Windsor as Niederberger’s back up.

Tonight's matchup is sure to be a great one and we encourage fans to come out and join us.

There are still approximately 250 seats plus standing room available, so get your tickets now at any IceDogs ticketing location.

Help us welcome newest IceDog Jamie Oleksiak and cheer on the boys to what we hope will be a big Central Division victory!