By Braden Schenck, Media Relations Intern
There are perhaps few greater honors throughout the game of hockey than being able to rep the ‘C’ on the jersey and lead a team as the captain. Entering the 2024-2025 SPHL regular season, only four individuals had held that honor to be the captain of the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs – Nick Schneider, Steve Mele, Travis Armstrong, and Mac Jansen. That number grew on an early October day when Dawgs head coach Dan Bremner notified Nick Ford that he would be the fifth captain in franchise history. It’s a weight that is intimidating to bear, but a role that Bremner knew the Roanoke star forward was ready to embrace.
“Over the last couple of years, Nick has been that consistent workhorse for us, and it was pretty clear the guys in the room enjoyed his leadership and following him,” Bremner said. “Having a trio of Mac Jansen, Matt O’Dea, and Ford as our leadership group was an obvious choice.”
For a Roanoke team that is loaded with experience, the leadership group doesn’t stop at that trio – though it’s worth mentioning how much experience that Jansen (284 regular season games for the Dawgs), O’Dea (220), and Ford (164) all bring to the table. But when you add in other major core pieces like Austyn Roudebush (174), Brendan Pepe (146), Stephen Alvo (140), and four other players that have played at least 90 regular season games in the blue and gold, it’s a pretty strong indicator of the culture that the Dawgs have curated in their locker room over the past few seasons.
“Mac is still such a huge leader in the locker room (Jansen served as the team captain from 2022-2024), and we’ve been really fortunate here to have the same core group of guys for a while,” Ford said back in February. “So from that end, we have a ton of leaders on our team which helps take some of that perceived pressure off of it.”
After consecutive appearances in the President’s Cup Final in 2022 and 2023 with a championship coming during that 2023 run, plus four consecutive trips to at least the semifinals of the SPHL postseason, Ford has several of the same faces around him that he’s played alongside of since joining Roanoke before the 2021-2022 season. And this time around, Ford has some unfinished business of his own to attend to.
When Ford arrived in the Star City prior to training camp for the 2021-22 season, even he couldn’t consider how much Roanoke would begin to feel like home over the following years. During his time with the Dawgs, Ford has climbed the franchise’s statistical leaderboards, ranking second all-time in Roanoke team history in goals, assists and total points, only ranking behind his captain predecessor Jansen in those categories. O’Dea, who has spent three years as an alternate captain and only ranks behind Jansen in games played for the team, also ranks among the top six in just about every major statistical category. It makes for a formidable trio for the group of Roanoke captains – not just a group that can lead vocally, but can prove that they practice what they preach with their steady performances year in and year out.
“The bond between the captains is something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, I don’t think there is another relationship between captains on any other team like ours,” O’Dea said. “People might see us and think we’re friends or that we get along or what not, but we really are best friends after all the time and memories we’ve built together here. It’s so special to be apart of that group.”
Ford and O’Dea go back years before they teamed up on the Dawgs, after the pair of Chicago-area natives first met almost two decades ago at the Huron Hockey Camp. They played on many teams growing up, and started to become really good friends when they were 14 and 15 years old.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming in here at all, I didn’t know anything about Roanoke,” Ford added. “Matty is kind of who brought me here, and it’s been cool to have one of my best friends with me. Being able to share the captain role with him considering all the history we have is incredible.”
Ford quickly made a own name for himself in his rookie season, recording 14 goals, 14 assists, and a plus-13 rating in 27 regular season games in between ECHL call-ups in the 2021-2022 campaign. The six-foot-one forward would save his best for his first go-around in the 2022 President’s Cup Playoffs, leading all SPHL players in goals (seven) and points (12), including a natural hat trick that propelled Roanoke to a 4-3 win over Peoria in Game Three of the Final. Though the eighth-seeded Dawgs would be bested by the Rivermen after an incredible postseason run that saw Roanoke upset top-seeded Knoxville and second-seeded Huntsville that spring, it was evident that the team had found a star-in-the-making in number 18.
“It was clear from his first few games early in the season that Ford could be a dominant player in this league,” said Dawgs media manager/broadcaster Mitch Stewart. “By the time he came back in March from his time in the ECHL, he was just completely taking over games. He was physically strong, but his shot and his playmaking abilities were both just overpowering compared to other guys around the league. The stretch of play he had from the end of that regular season through the playoffs was just remarkable.”
Ford would return and notch an ‘Ironman’ year in the 2022-2023 season, playing in every game for the Dawgs and breaking a franchise single-season record with 38 assists. When the 2023 President’s Cup Playoffs rolled around, he once again took his game to a different level. With three goals and seven assists in nine games, Ford’s production alongside of linemates Nick DeVito and CJ Stubbs proved to be a game-wrecking triumvirate for Roanoke. The Dawgs would avenge their loss to Peoria in the semifinals before taking down Birmingham to win the team’s first President’s Cup.
“Being able to accomplish that championship with that group of guys, it’s a feeling I’ll never forget,” Ford said. “The run we went on and what it took to get there after falling short the previous season, it was really special to us all.”
After another excellent start to the 2023-2024 season, Ford felt a pull to check off another box on his list of accomplishments within the sport. Europe had come calling, and with ECHL experience and a championship ring from his time in the SPHL with Roanoke already in his back pocket, Ford felt like the timing was right to push himself to a different challenge. Ford left the Star City in January, making the decision to pack his bags and experience life, and hockey, over in Poland for the first time.
“Their game is more structured, almost like they play a style similar to soccer, but it’s nice to see the difference in styles of games and I think I was able to kind of combine the two styles and implement them when I came back,” Ford said.
Back in the States, the Dawgs went on another postseason run in April as they tried to repeat as league champions, but fell short to Huntsville in the decisive Game Three of the President’s Cup semifinals. Ford’s season overseas had ended and he had returned to town to support his teammates during the playoff run, but he had a much different feeling in his heart during the 2024 postseason compared to his prior playoff experiences as he was forced to watch on from the stands.
“I told Johnny MacDonald and a few of the other guys I was sitting with that I just wanted to be on the ice,” Ford remembered. “I felt the hurt of the team losing, and I believed I could’ve helped a little bit. So that kind of rubbed off on me and I felt guilty about my decision to leave midseason. But it also made me really excited for the future here coming into this season, and I’m very happy to be back in Roanoke.”
As the offseason rolled around last summer, there were the traditional offseason moves and transactions, but the bigger question was the future of Roanoke’s leadership group. Long-time alternate captain and fan-favorite Josh Nenadal was retiring from the game, two-way star winger Stubbs was undecided about his future (Stubbs ended up signing with the Binghamton Black Bears this season, playing for head coach Brant Sherwood, a former teammate of his in Roanoke), and other players were on the fence over their futures in the sport. Perhaps the biggest question involved the decision that needed to be made by then-captain Mac Jansen. When Jansen approached Bremner about his plans for the 2024-2025 season, the conversation was different than in prior years.
“We absolutely love Janny, he’s done so much for this team,” Bremner explained. “I thought over the last two years with him carrying the torch and being the captain, he had really matured in how he could lead. In a way, he was starting forward to kind of what that next step might be, and it might involve some coaching. So that’s how we navigated our decision. ”
The decision was made to move the 32-year old Dawgs mainstay to an alternate captain-assistant coach type role for this 2024-2025 season. Jansen would still be suited up and acting as a leader for the group, leaving it all out on the ice as he has since 2018 for the Dawgs, but would also be developing a different level to his interactions with Bremner and DeVito, now an assistant coach for the team over the past two years since winning the title with the team in 2023.
“It wasn’t fully an individual decision, it was a group effort in that regard, and Ford was definitely there for support,” Jansen said. “Whatever I had to do or whatever he had to do, we just knew there was a common goal between us to do whatever is best for the team. I think it’s worked out pretty well.”
‘Worked out well’ is an understatement – Ford shattered single-season franchise records this year for points (72) and assists (49), leading the SPHL in each of those categories in a campaign that might earn him the league’s Most Valuable Player Award – something that a Dawg has never accomplished. Jansen has been spectacular this season as well, ranking sixth in the SPHL for goals (24) and ranking among the top dozen players in the league for points this season with 47. The duo has been dominant for Roanoke, whether they’ve been on the ice together or split between different lines.
“It just goes to show how tight this team is and has been over the past few years,” Stewart said. “There are no egos, it’s not like there has to be a bunch of conversations about who has to step up or speak up here and there. Nick and Mac just understand what it takes to win in this league and how to lead this team, whether it’s just those two, or Dan, or with the rest of the leadership core. That transition has been so smooth, and it speaks a lot to the character of the two of them and how much mutual respect they have for one another.”
When Ford was picked to be the new captain of the Rail Yard Dawgs, he saw it as a great honor. “Honestly I don’t think that’s a goal you ever set like ‘Hey, I want to be the captain of the team,'” Ford said. “I think it’s something that happens through what the coaching staff and other players see, and I was very humbled that they chose me.”
The response to the news was no shock from his teammates and the coaching staff. “Playing with him and just being around him, you understand that he’s such a great guy on and off the ice and you find yourself rooting for any success that he has,” DeVito said. “He does a good job as a pro in that he wants to play until the wheels fall off, and it sets that example throughout the room. Plus, he’s such a great player, so it’s easy for somebody to follow him.”
Being a first-year captain is no easy task, having to manage relationships, training camp, early season struggles, and everything else in between. But Ford has taken that baton of responsibility and ran with it.
“Just in the locker room alone, trying to keep things cool when results might not be going well… guys can start pointing fingers really quick and Ford’s just not that kind of guy,” Jansen added. “He’s always been a ‘team guy’ first, and it shows through the team’s success.”
The consistency that Ford has shown on and off the ice over the past four seasons is something that experienced veterans have taken notice of, and even newer rookies have picked up on.
“Ford and I had that Chicago connection when I first came in with playing in similar youth leagues growing up,” said former Dawgs forward Jimmy O’Kane, who played in 35 games this year for Roanoke. “He was really welcoming and a super nice guy from the jump. He was willing to give me feedback throughout training camp and would check in to make sure I was all taken care of. And that wasn’t just with me, it seems like he does that with everyone here.”
Ford has had the chance to play with a few captains and Dawgs’ greats during his time in Roanoke, and has learned a thing or two from each that has come before him. “I think Dan has a lot of respect from the players on our team and throughout the league with how much success he’s brought to Roanoke and being a former captain during his own playing career,” Ford said. “But there are other guys like Travis Armstrong and Mac who had been great captains here, and Nens (Nenadal), who gave his 100% each and every game and was a major leader as an alternate captain over the years for us. They all showed me different things as leaders that I’ve tried my best to take and make my own.”
A former Peoria Rivermen captain, Bremner saw many traits in Ford that he saw in other great captains back in his SPHL playing days. “I’m a big believer in people that are strong captains, people who are leaders that do it the right way,” Bremner said. “They do the same thing all the time, whether there is a letter or not, and when you continue to do those things it gets recognized.”
With Roanoke eyeing a hopeful return to the President’s Cup Final for what would be the third time in four years, and could potentially be the team’s second championship in three years, the Dawgs feel comfortable knowing that the once-budding playoff star is back and better than ever for these crucial pressure games in the 2025 President’s Cup Playoffs.
“He’s always just had that swagger about him when he walks into the rink, and Nick is the epitome of a great captain,” O’Dea said of his long-time friend. “Everybody loves to talk to him, he naturally draws people towards him just from his demeanor. He’s very approachable and really funny, but he can also have those serious conversations. He’s just an awesome human being, and we’re so stoked to have him back with us.”
As Roanoke gears up for another President’s Cup Playoffs run in 2025, Ford is back in Roanoke but this time leading the team as the captain of the Dawgs. And Ford, Jansen, O’Dea, and many other Dawgs throughout the roster know what it takes to get the job done.
“We’ve won it all before, and we still have a few guys that were on the team from that year, so we know what it takes,” Ford explained. “But we’ve also seen what doesn’t work and have felt the sting of falling short. For those returners who have been here, we’re just going to do our best to guide the rest of the group and show what it takes to be successful and reach that goal.”
That goal? Putting ‘Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs’ back on the front of the President’s Cup trophy.
Featured Image Credit: Michele Hancock