[citation needed] On July 12, 2006, Eugene Melnyk, who owned the Toronto St. Michael's Majors, bought the Mississauga IceDogs.

In six of the seven years at the Jack Gatecliff arena, the IceDogs led the OHL as the best attended team based on capacity percentage.

First round draft picks included Alex Pietrangelo, Mark Visentin, Ryan Strome, Dougie Hamilton and Brendan Perlini.

Other notable players to play for the IceDogs at the Jack Gatecliff are Stefan Legein, Luca Caputi, Andrew Agozzino, Brett Ritchie, Jamie Oleksiak, Freddie Hamilton and Andrew Shaw, who was the first Niagara IceDogs alumnus to win the Stanley Cup.

[citation needed] The IceDogs entered a new era when they relocated to the brand new Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.

On October 16, 2014, the IceDogs won their first game at the Meridian Centre by a score of 7–4 against the visiting Belleville Bulls.

While adding key veteran acquisitions as the season went on, including star goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, a second round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, the IceDogs once again battled their way to the OHL Finals.

Niagara went on to face the London Knights, a rematch of the 2012 OHL Finals, but once again came up short, losing the series in four games.

With the organization facing a rebuild after a disappointing finish to the season, the IceDogs parted ways with head coach and general manager Marty Williamson, commencing a new era for the organization after six seasons that featured two conference championships, one division championship, and six consecutive years of playoffs.

Along with the returning vets from last season, they acquired the likes of (eventual CHL Leading Scorer and Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy recipient) Jason Robertson, Jack Studnicka, and depth pieces like Ivan Lodnia, Jason Paquette, and Matt Brassard.

This was reduced via settlement to $150,000, its 2021 first round draft pick, and an admission that the IceDogs violated the league's player recruitment rules.

The OHL had launched an investigation into the IceDogs after receiving complaints from a former player that $40,000 of orally agreed upon payments were not made by the team.

[3][4][5] The 2019–2020 season saw the team go into rebuild mode once again, losing key players to the NHL or simply age out of the league.

[citation needed] Following an investigation, OHL commissioner David Branch suspended both the team's general manager Joey Burke and head coach Billy Burke indefinitely, after it was revealed the two made inappropriate comments about a female colleague via WhatsApp.

[6] Months after the investigation, Bill and Denise Burke sold the team to Darren DeDobbelaer, who became the majority owner, alongside Wayne Gretzky.

With a rebuild about to begin, the IceDogs decided to part ways with Williamson in 2016 after six successful years and promoted assistant Dave Bell to head coach.

In the summer of 2017, Bell left the organization after just one year as head coach to join the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League.

Located at 1 David S. Howes Way in St. Catharines, the Meridian Centre features a combination of 5,300 permanent and retractable seats.