Recap: Sea Dogs lose 4-3 (SO)

FINAL: Bathurst 4, Saint John 3 (SO)

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - A 51-save performance from Patrick Leaver wasn't quite enough as the Saint John Sea Dogs fell 4-3 in a shootout to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday at TD Station.

Leaver kept the Sea Dogs in the game at times as Bathurst heavily outshot Saint John for much of the night. Shots ended 54-26 in favour of the Titan which included 18-7 and 24-9 shot advantages in the first and second periods, respectively. 

Despite the lopsided shot total, the Sea Dogs very well could have won this game. Saint John was able to take advantage of some of their quality scoring chances but the puck simply didn't roll their way on quite a few others.

Milos Roelens, Donovan Arsenault and Louis-Francois Belanger scored for Bathurst. Josh Fleming made 23 saves in the win.

Nate Tivey, Pavel Simek and Vince Elie scored for Saint John.

The Titan were pressing late in the first period and were finally rewarded at 14:53 when Roelens scored to put the visitors up 1-0. 

Tivey got Saint John on the board at 4:49 of the second period. The defenseman crossed the blue line,  accepted the puck from Eriks Mateiko and wired a hard wrist shot under the crossbar and in to make it a 1-1 game.

Arsenault quickly put Bathurst back in front at 6:42. Joseph Henneberry was along the backboards and fed Arsenault in the circle who beat Leaver with a quick one-time shot.

Notebook: It's (home) opening night

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will play their first of 34 regular season home games tonight at TD Station — and there will be a special guest in attendance.

The Sea Dogs announced Friday that wrestling legend Bret "The Hitman" Hart will be at the game. Hart does have a connection to junior hockey with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen having been named in his honour (Hart was one of the original investors in the team).

The Best There Is, the Best There Was, and the Best There Ever Will Be.

BREAKING: Bret "The Hitman" Hart will be in attendance for tomorrow's Home Opener. Tickets are ONLY $7.

🎟️: https://t.co/LvsBJIcMkg pic.twitter.com/icKF1Muv9U

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) September 22, 2023

There will also be a special offer available at the game. Fans can stop by Sea Dogs Central and purchase a $50 Sea Dogs store gift card that will include $50 worth of free 50/50 tickets. There are a limited quantity of gift cards available.

There will also be some new concession offerings to check out — including Maestro Fresh Wes inspired backbone sliders.

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Puck drop between the Sea Dogs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan is 7 p.m.

MANN INJURED

Newly acquired defenseman Matteo Mann will be unavailable for the Sea Dogs longer than expected.

Mann was likely going to miss the start of the season while attending Philadelphia Flyers rookie and training camp but an injury will sideline the big defender even longer. Postmedia (paywall) reported this week that Mann will miss all of September and much of October with a shoulder injury he suffered at Flyers rookie camp.

Mann was acquired by the Sea Dogs from the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in late August but did not appear in any pre-season games with Saint John.

Game Day 2: vs Titan

SAINT JOHN - After starting the season with a road victory last night, the Saint John Sea Dogs return home looking for a similar result.

The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan tonight at 7 p.m. at TD Station to open up the club's home schedule. The two teams met last night at the KC Irving Regional Centre where Saint John skated away with a 6-4 victory.

Saint John's returning players played a key role in the victory, recording four of the six goals. The Sea Dogs led from the second period onward but struggled to pull away from the Titan.

Tickets for tonight's game are just $7 plus taxes and fees.

TV/Radio/Stream: None/Sea Dogs Radio/CHL TV

2023-24 regular season records: The Sea Dogs are 1-0-0-0 for two points (third Maritimes/fourth Eastern/sixth QMJHL) while the Titan are 0-1-0-0 for no points (fourth Maritimes/seventh Eastern/11th QMJHL).

2023 pre-season records: The Sea Dogs were 3-3-0-0 for six points while the Titan were 4-3-0-0 for eight points.

2022-23 regular season records: The Sea Dogs finished 24-38-5-1 for 54 points (fifth Maritimes/ninth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Titan were 20-40-5-3 for 48 points (sixth Maritimes/10th Eastern/18th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs defeated the Titan 6-4 last night in Bathurst. Eriks Mateiko scored twice while Vince Elie, Pavel Simek, Tristan Dassylva and Egan Beveridge added singles. Emile Perron, Donovan Arsenault, Milo Roelens and Joseph Henneberry all scored for Bathurst. Patrick Leaver made 37 stops in the win. Josh Fleming made 20 saves in the loss.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 6-4

FINAL: Saint John 6, Bathurst 4

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

BATHURST - The Saint John Sea Dogs' returning players stepped up in their season opener on Friday.

Eriks Mateiko scored twice while Vince Elie and Pavel Simek added singles in Saint John's 6-4 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the KC Irving Regional Centre. Tristan Dassylva, who appeared in just one game last season, and rookie Egan Beveridge also scored in the victory.

Overage goaltender Patrick Leaver, making his QMJHL debut, made 37 stops in the win.

Saint John took the lead early in the second period and never trailed again. They struggled to pull away from the Titan though and went back-and-forth on scoring for much of the night. These two should play fairly even games against one another this year and Friday's game was certainly an indicator of that.

Emile Perron, Donovan Arsenault, Milo Roelens and Joseph Henneberry all scored for Bathurst. Josh Fleming made 20 stops in the loss.

Game Day 1: at Bathurst

BATHURST - A new season begins tonight for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs will continue rebuilding from their 2022 Memorial Cup run — but the big question seems to be whether or not they will improve on last season's results or will they take a step back? Either way, this will be another development year before the team truly begins to hit an upward swing over the next few seasons.

Some good news for Saint John is that two other teams in the Maritimes Division — the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Charlottetown Islanders — are in similar rebuilding spots, which should make for some competitive games this season.

The Sea Dogs begin the season tonight against the Titan, a team they went 1-1-0-0 against during the pre-season. Saint John went 0-3-0-0 on the road in exhibition play.

Game time tonight at the KC Irving Regional Centre is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Stream: None/Sea Dogs Radio/CHL TV

2023 pre-season records: The Sea Dogs were 3-3-0-0 for six points while the Titan were 4-3-0-0 for eight points.

2022-23 regular season records: The Sea Dogs finished 24-38-5-1 for 54 points (fifth Maritimes/ninth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Titan were 20-40-5-3 for 48 points (sixth Maritimes/10th Eastern/18th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-3 pre-season win over the Charlottetown Islanders last Friday at TD Station. Eriks Mateiko, Vince Elie, Joseph Ianniello and Noah Reinhart scored for Saint John. Patrick Leaver made 28 saves in the win. The Titan are coming off a 9-6 loss to the Moncton Wildcats last Friday in Bouctouche. Dylan Andrews, Noah Laberge, William Bishop, Louis-Francois Belanger, Donovan Arsenault and Dawson Sharkey scored for Bathurst.

Reynolds named Sea Dogs captain

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Peter Reynolds has been named the new captain of the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Reynolds takes over the captaincy from Charlie DesRoches, who is playing at Acadia University this season. He's the 21st captain in franchise history.

Forward Noah Reinhart and defenseman Mathis Gauthier have been named alternate captains.

Introducing your new ©️aptain.#GoDogsGo pic.twitter.com/kF8nWSnPe6

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) September 21, 2023

The news doesn't come as a surprise given that Reynolds is the longest serving Sea Dog and the fact that he wore the 'C' for a game during the pre-season.

The overager has appeared in 134 career QMJHL games, posting 50 goals and 64 assists. He had 17 goals and 27 assists in 43 games last season — a season that saw him battle some injury issues.

The Sea Dogs begin the regular season on Friday night, visiting the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.