SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

THE FACE OF THE WEBSITE

He may not be the face of the franchise just yet, but Jonathan Huberdeau is the face of the Florida Panthers website.

CBJ CAMP BEGINS
They’ve been the talk of the hockey world after their blockbuster trade with the Philadelphia Flyers. This week though, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ prospects will be put into focus as the team hosts their 2011 development camp.

The camp begins today and wraps up this Saturday. According to the team’s website, “camp will begin with medicals and fitness testing as well as an on-ice session on Tuesday, June 28, following four more days of on and off-ice workouts.”

An on-ice session will be held today from 3:30-5:30 pm local time at the Ice Haus, the club's practice rink at Nationwide Arena.

Invited to the camp were Sea Dogs goaltender and 2010 Jackets draftee Mathieu Corbeil and former team captain Mike Thomas, a camp invite who recently signed with the clubs AHL affiliate. Also invited was defenseman Steven Delisle who the Sea Dogs acquired rights to last season but stayed in the pro-ranks.

CANUCKS HAVE A NEW FARM TEAM
With the NHL returning to Winnipeg, the Manitoba Moose moved to St. John’s where they will become the Jets American Hockey League affiliate. That has left the Vancouver Canucks without an affiliate.

Yesterday, the Canucks announced that the Chicago Wolves, the Atlanta Thrashers’ old farm team, will be the Canucks’ AHL affiliate through 2012-13.

“We look forward to this new venture with the Chicago Wolves,” said Canucks general manager Mike Gillis in a release. “The Canucks have placed great importance and resources in developing prospects and have seen positive results to date, including the likes of Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler and Chris Tanev. The two organizations will work closely to ensure our goals are one in the same and continue to work on developing a strong relationship with our prospects.”

Former Sea Dog Yann Sauve played in 39 games with Manitoba last year and another 13 in the playoffs.

Speaking of new affiliates, the closest AHL team to the Saint John region, the Portland Pirates, will be part of the Phoenix Coyotes organization this year.

TSN TV RATINGS
A record audience of 1.5 million Canadians watched the first round of the NHL Draft on Friday night.

According to a TSN, the audience peaked at 2.1 million when the Winnipeg Jets made their historic seventh overall selection.

TV TROUBLE
A reader sent this strange story to us. In Monday’s Cape Breton Post, writer Rannie Gillis writes about his TV troubles during the Memorial Cup final. The problem – the final was on at the same time as a PBS show on atomic bombs.

For the first hour I watched the Oppenheimer show, which was a fascinating look at his early life, his advanced education and early career, and his leadership of the Manhattan Project. This hour also included some previously top secret photos and film of the project, which I had never seen before. Every now and then I would switch to Sportsnet to see how the game was going.

A story for the ages.

HIGH PRAISE
The Detroit Red Wings are receiving high praise for their 2011 Draft. After trading down, the Red Wings made Sea Dogs forward Tomas Jurco their top pick with the 35th overall selection.

"The trade down still allowed them to draft a first-round talent, Tomas Jurco — the player I had them pegged to take (in the first round)," ESPN blogger Gare Joyce wrote, via The Detroit News.

Detroit, Chicago, Colorado, Edmonton and Minnesota were the only teams to receive an A or A- in ESPN’s ratings. The Wild selected Zack Phillips 28th overall.