SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

DRAFT, TRADE WINDOW GOES THIS WEEKEND
The Saint John Sea Dogs are preparing for the 2010 QMJHL Entry Draft and Trading Period which goes down this week in Drummondville, Que.

Saint John has 13 selections at the entry draft, including their top pick which will be 18th overall – the last pick of the first round.

"You have to strike a balance between taking the best players and filling positions,'' Sea Dogs associate coach and hockey operations director Mike Kelly said to the Telegraph-Journal. "Our future is very good and we hope the draft supplements that. The kids we drafted last year responded very well.''

The Sea Dogs showed off some mad skills last year, drafting impact players Pierre Durepos and Jonathan Huberdeau in the opening round. With Kelly and head coach Gerard Gallant now having a season of experience under their belts, Saint John will look to improve on the success that happened a year ago.

"We're way more comfortable (this year) because we know our team and we know (director of player personnel) Norm Gosselin and his staff,'' Kelly said.

SAUVE REACTS TO SIGNING
The Vancouver Canucks organization responded to their three signings earlier this week. The three young defenseman included Sea Dogs veteran Yann Sauve.

“This is all about our continual quest to strengthen the underbelly of the organization,” explained Canucks assistant general manager Laurence Gilman to the Vancouver Sun. “We want to broaden the base of talent and create a push from younger players.”

“Being a shutdown guy was my game in junior and that’s going to be my game in the NHL,” Sauve said Monday after his signing was announced. “I think I am capable of that.”

With the signing of his entry level contract, it is unlikely Sauve will return to Saint John next season. The QMJHL’s first overall selection in the 2006 entry draft could play in the minor-pro ranks if he does not stick with the Canucks.

“Obviously I’m going to try to make the big club like everybody else and I’ll need to have a great camp,” Sauve noted. “If not, I’ll go to Manitoba and work on whatever I need to work on to be in the NHL.”

CLOCK IS OPERATIONAL
The retrofitted Harbour Station clock is operational. The new high definition video screens have been hooked up along with the new score portion of the center ice machine.

The Sea Dogs posted this picture on Twitter earlier this week featuring a Blue Man Group DVD.
DOUBLEHEADER?
The deal to bring the Manchester Millrats to Saint John is very close to being completed.

"We should have an answer within 7-10 days, and the contract is in their hands at this time," said Harbour Station General Manager Mike Caddell to News 88.9 on Monday. "I would say that if I was a betting man, it's certainly going to happen."

Caddell said the additional tenant would bring an additional 15-18 events to the arena.

Caddell also told the Telegraph-Journal that no scheduling issues would arise from the Sea Dogs playing 34 home games to the Millrats’ 10.

"So there's lots of room and we could do doubleheaders - we've done them before."

In an interview with CBC Radio Wednesday morning, New Hampshire Union Leader sports reporter Kevin Gray said that the Millrats’ average attendance of 500 fans per game last year was “generous.”

The venue in Manchester where the team played last season was also not able to sell beer.

ZOOM ZOOM
As if running a junior hockey team wasn’t enough, Sea Dogs president Wayne Long along with a group of other individuals are looking to open a motocross track in Saint John.

"We're very close to securing a site down near Coleson Cove that would be removed from the public," Long said when discussing the acquisition plans to the Telegraph-Journal.

BEAULIEU BACK ON
Despite some talks about former Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu jumping ship to another OHL team, he will return as an assistant next season with the London Knights.

Beaulieu, who is in charge of the Knights’ defence, is excited about what he will be working with.

"It's starting to look like the '05 (Memorial Cup-winning) D,” said the coach to the London Free Press. “Big guys like that, they won't be easy to play against."