Team Black defeated Team White by a score of 4-1 in the Niagara IceDogs 4th Annual Black and White game at the Gatorade Garden City Complex Thursday night. The game was the last chance players had to impress coaches and fight for a spot on the 2010-11 IceDogs roster, while at the same time allowing fans to preview the new team.

“These games are great because they gives the fans an idea of what the team will look like, and they get to see some new faces and draft picks,” said IceDogs assistant captain Alex Friesen, who chose to watch the game from the press box and evaluate his potential teammates.

It was a scoreless first period as both the Black and White teams were looking for their players to find chemistry with their new line mates.

Both John Chartrand and Mark Visentin played a superb period between the pipes, and the action was spent evenly in both ends of the rink, keeping the game on an even keel going into the first intermission.

The first tally of the game was scored by recent trade acquisition Myles Doan of Team Black in the early stages of the second period.

Team Black increased their lead as Matt Baldassarra put one past Chartrand, making the scored 2-0.

Shortly after Baldassarra’s goal, both teams made a goalie switch and IceDogs captain Andrew Agozzino snapped a beautiful shot over the glove hand of rookie goaltender Mike Galliardi to give the game a score of 3-0 after 40 minutes of play.

The third period started off with a bang as Team White’s Jamie Tyaminsky took on Dominic Crnogorac of Team Black in a brief but spirited tilt right off the opening face off.

Johnson Andrews kept it going for Team Black in the third as he made a nifty move in front of the net and put the puck past Galliardi to give his team a 4-0 lead.

Dougie Hamilton potted the first goal for Team White midway through the third as he beat Team Black’s rookie netminder Alex Sakeropolous, giving the game a final score of 4-1.

The IceDogs first exhibition game will take place Saturday, September 4th in Erie as they visit the Otters to open the preseason. The Dogs will then return home for the first of three home exhibition games this coming Monday, September 6th at 2:00pm vs. Erie.

The rest of the IceDogs home exhibition schedule will see them host Kitchener on Saturday, September 11th at 7pm, and Erie on Thursday, September 16th, also at 7pm.  All three exhibition games will take place at the Gatorade Garden City Complex.

Tickets for all home exhibition games are on sale now through all IceDogs ticketing outlets. Tickets for these exhibition games are priced at $5 for all seats and are reserved seating.

In addition, tickets for all 34 regular season home games and 12 and 6 ticket flex packs are now available through the IceDogs office, with individual tickets also being available at all IceDogs ticketing outlets.

For more information, please contact the IceDogs office at 905-687-DOG1.


- Jeff Blay, Media Relations