Dawgs Announce Captains, Roles for 2024-2025 Season

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SPHL Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs

Dawgs Announce Captains, Roles for 2024-2025 Season

October 16, 2024 - SPHL (SPHL)
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs News Release


ROANOKE, VA. - The Rail Yard Dawgs coaching staff announced the team's leadership roles on Wednesday for the 2024-2025 season. Nick Ford will be the fifth captain in franchise history, with Mac Jansen and Matt O'Dea serving as the team's alternate captains. Jansen will also be transitioning into a player-assistant coach for the Dawgs.

"We are lucky to have a guy like Jansen coming back for another year. He has years of knowledge and experience to share both on and off the ice," said head coach Dan Bremner, "Jansen has consistently mentioned wanting to get into the coaching side of things once his playing career is done. We felt this would be a great opportunity for him to start taking on a different role as a hybrid player-assistant coach. We will look to have him spend some more time in the office with video and other coaching plans throughout the season. With this transition of leadership, it creates an opportunity to usher in a new wave of leaders within the locker room for the coming seasons."

This will be Jansen's sixth season in Roanoke. Since joining the Dawgs during the 2018-2019 season, the White Bear Lake, Minnesota native is the all-time franchise leader in games played (231), goals (83), and points (187), while also leading the franchise lists for all-time playoff assists (10), points (19), and games played (29, tied with Josh Nenadal). The five-foot-eleven forward has served as the team's captain for the past two seasons after being an alternate captain during the 2021-2022 campaign. Jansen led Roanoke to its first President's Cup championship in the 2022-2023 season, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime of the final game.

"Matt O'Dea has been a staple for the Dawgs for years, with his versatility allowing him to play both forward and defense at a very high level," Bremner said. "He will once again round out our leadership group as he has for our team over the past few seasons."

O'Dea is back for his fifth season in Roanoke, mainly spending his time as a defenseman but also playing some time at forward. Last season, the five-foot-eleven speedster was named to the All-SPHL Second Team as a defenseman. Since joining the Dawgs during the 2019-2020 season, the Orland Park, Illinois native is the all-time franchise leader among defensemen for goals (37), assists (83), and points (120). In 23 career postseason games for the Dawgs, O'Dea has two goals, 12 assists, and a plus-14 rating to go along with his 2023 President's Cup championship ring.

"After stepping away to pursue a dream of hockey in Europe, Nick Ford has made it clear that he wants to lead Roanoke to another President's Cup Championship and is committed to the Dawgs," said Bremner, "He has been the epitome of consistency for us on ice and we're eager to see what he is capable of with this added responsibility as a leader for this team."

Ford enters his fourth season with the Dawgs, and has averaged more than a point per game for Roanoke since arriving in the fall of 2021. The Chicago native ranks among the franchise's top six all-time leaders for goals, assists, and points despite ranking tied for tenth all-time in games played for the team, as Ford became the fastest player in franchise history to reach 100 points, doing it within his first 100 games as a Dawg. The six-foot-one center also has 10 goals and 12 assists in 18 career postseason games for Roanoke, and was a major contributor during the Rail Yard Dawgs President's Cup Championship run in the spring of 2023.

The Rail Yard Dawgs open the 2024-2025 season at Berglund Center on Friday, October 18 against the Fayetteville Marksmen. Opening Night is sponsored by Haley Toyota with K92.3. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.

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