IceDogs and Colts Complete Big Trade

Press Release

Niagara IceDogs General Manager Dave Brown announced today that Alex Pietrangelo, Chris DeSousa and Petteri Simila have been traded to the Barrie Colts in exchange for Ryan Strome, Simon Gronvaldt, two 2nd round picks, a 3rd round pick and a 9th round pick.

Strome, a 16-year-old centre, was the Colts 1st round pick, 8th overall in the 2009 OHL Priority Selection and has five goals and nine assists for 14 points to go along with 35 penalty minutes in 34 games.

Strome just recently returned from the World Under 17 Challenge, where he was a part of Team Ontario, along with now teammate Dougie Hamilton. Strome played in all six games for Ontario, scoring twice and adding one assist, as Team Ontario took home the silver medal.

With the IceDogs, Strome will join Dougie Hamilton, Andrew Fritsch, Michell Theoret and John Chartrand in making up what is likely the strongest group of 16 year olds in the league.

Gronvaldt is an 18 year old defenseman from Rodvre, Denmark who is in his second OHL season, having spent last season with the Kitchener before joining the Colts this year. In 24 games this season, Gronvaldt has six assists and is a plus-10. In his two seasons in the OHL, Gronvaldt has played a total of 87 games and has one goal to go along with 14 career assists.

In addition, the IceDogs will receive the Colt’s 2nd round pick in both 2013 and 2014, as well as the Colts 3rd round pick in 2014, and the Colts 9th round pick in 2012, all of which will certainly help the IceDogs in the future.

To help strengthen their future, the IceDogs did however have to give up some quality players in return.

Pietrangelo was just assigned to the IceDogs from the St. Louis Blues after a successful stint at the World Junior Championship which saw him named Best Defenseman, as Team Canada took home the silver medal.

The 6’4” King City native had spent his entire OHL career with the IceDogs, having spent his rookie season with the IceDogs in Mississauga, before joining the team on their move to St. Catharines, where he spent the last two seasons, captaining the IceDogs last season.

In 155 career regular season games as an IceDog, Pietrangelo had 28 goals and 106 assists, for 134 points and was a plus-70 over the course of three seasons. Pietrangelo also played in 22 career playoff games for the IceDogs, accumulating six goals and nine assists for 15 points.

DeSousa has also spent his entire OHL career with the IceDogs, having played 10 games in Mississauga, before also joining the IceDogs on their move to St. Catharines. Over his four seasons with the IceDogs, DeSousa played 170 career games, registering 66 goals and 49 assists for 115 points. DeSousa also played in 22 playoff games for the IceDogs, collecting six goals and seven assists for 13 points in those games.

Simila, a Montreal Canadiens draft pick, was the IceDogs 1st round pick in the 2009 Import Selection and was in his first season as an IceDog. The 6’5” native of Oulu, Finland, who just finished a stint at the World Juniors as Finland’s backup goaltender, appeared in 11 games for the IceDogs, accumulating a 1-4-2-1 record with a 4.14 goals against average and a .891 save percentage.

“I’m very excited to have Ryan Strome and Simon Gronvaldt joining us here with the IceDogs. They are great players and they will help this team in the future” said Brown when asked to comment on the trade. “I think with having probably the best ’93 defenseman in (Dougie) Hamilton and adding a player like Strome to a group of ’93 forwards that already includes (Andrew) Fritsch and (Mitchell) Theoret, we should be in great shape for the future, especially with the draft picks we are receiving.”

“At the same point we are giving up some really quality players to help build for the future and it is especially tough to give up a kid like Alex, who was my first 1st round draft pick as IceDogs GM. I certainly wish Alex, Chris and Petteri all the best in their futures, both in Barrie and beyond.”

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)