The Saint John Sea Dogs begin their seventh season in the
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League tomorrow night at 7pm against the Moncton
Wildcats.
The Brunswick News Rivalry Cup, the President’s Cup, and
the Memorial Cup will all be on hand as the 2011-12 QMJHL season begins.
Tomorrow’s game will also feature a
pre-game Fan Festival from 4 to 6 p.m., with a live music, a barbecue, and a
tailgate-party atmosphere on the West Side of Harbour Station. Fans will
be treated to a special video presentation highlighting the championship
season, and will have a final opportunity to have photos taken with the cups
before they are returned to the league offices. The first 6,000 fans in
attendance will receive a special limited-edition keepsake of the 2011
MasterCard Memorial Cup championship, compliments of the Sea Dogs and Irving
Oil.
Ticket availability is still listed as “good” on the
Harbour Station website.
SEASON-TICKET DRIVE
In today’s Telegraph-Journal, Peter McGuire reports that “the Sea Dogs have sold a
record 2,650 season tickets to date heading into Thursday's season opener
against.
“The
number of tickets sold is just 50 shy of their 2,700 goal.”
BOYER SUSPENDED
PEI Rocket defenseman Kevin Boyer has been suspended by
one-game by the QMJHL for something he did in a pre-season game against Saint
John.
Here’s the release:
The prefect of discipline of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Raymond Bolduc, suspended Kevin Boyer of the PEI Rockets for one game due to unsportsmanlike conduct during the August 30thmatchup with the Saint John Sea Dogs. This suspension is in effect as of the beginning of the regular season.
The decision was rendered after reviewing the video of the incident, gathering the testimonies from the players and the organizations involved, reading the official’s report and consulting the independent committee in the matter of disciplinary sanctions.
Boyer will miss the Rocket’s first game on Friday
against the Halifax Mooseheads. He recorded an assist in 33 games last year.
ALE HOUSE TV
Saint John Ale House TV live from Harbour Station:
In a release posted today, the league stated that “approximately
seventy-five games will be offered on television with TELUS TV, TVA SPORTS,ROGERS
SPORTSNET, CANAL VOX and EASTLINK broadcasting games. The majority of the games
will be broadcast Friday nights, the QMJHL’s new night for hockey. Also, TVA
SPORTS will offer an all-new bi-monthly TV show starting in September and
concluding with the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup.”
The Sea Dogs will appear on Eastlink four times this
year:
Friday, October 21st at 7:00PM - Saint John @ Halifax
Friday, November 18th at 7:00PM - Saint John @ PEI
Friday, December 16th at 7:00PM - Saint John @ Cape Breton
Friday, March 16th at 7:00PM - Saint John @ Cape Breton
CANUCKS CAMP INVITES
The Vancouver Sun has done solid job at breaking down all
of their rookie camp free agent invites. Those invites include Sea Dogs
defenseman Ian Saab and former goaltender Karel St. Laurent.
“He’s a willing combatant with the gloves off, is
reportedly a reasonable skater, and has the capability to keep his game simple,”
writes Daniel Wagner of Saab. “His potential likely peaks at a 7th
defenseman at the NHL level if he continues to develop his game. He describes
receiving the invitation from the Canucks as ‘one of the best days of my life’
so you know he’ll be enthusiastic during the tournament: look for him to set
the tone with a fight in his first game.”
“With his career in junior over,
St. Laurent is now battling for a professional job,” Wagner writes about St.
Laurent. “It may seem unlikely that the Canucks organization is the best place
to start, but the Young Stars tournament gives him an opportunity to showcase
his skill to five NHL teams, one of whom may be looking for depth on their
goaltending chart. With Jensen only 18 years old, St. Laurent will likely start
the one or two games that Honzik doesn’t.”
CRADDOCK
A couple of nights ago Rory Craddock’s name mysteriously
appeared on the Sea Dogs roster posted on their website. It was removed shortly
after.
After searching the interweb, we found this article in Le Droit that states the defenseman was released by the Gatineau Olympiques and
then received an invitation to Sea Dogs camp. At the time (the article was
written on August 26) he was unsure if he would report to Saint John.
No idea what his current situation is.
Craddock recorded a goal and an assist in 30 games with
the ‘Piques last year. He also played 20 games with the OJHL’s Markham Waxers.
Saint John seems to like Ontario defensemen. Craddock is
a native of Oshawa and they already have Nathan Beaulieu and Jason Seed on
their roster. Eric Gelinas could also return to the Sea Dogs.
BILLBOARDS
From CHSJ News, a feature on today’s billboard/banner
press conference.
NUMBERS GAME
Going by the roster on the Sea Dogs website, here are the
numbers that some of the new Sea Dogs will be sporting:
#1 - Charlie Millen
#4 – Ian Saab
#5 – Benjamin Hade
#16 – Colin Campbell
#26 – Brock Morrison
#27 – Oliver Cooper
#33 - Sebastien Auger
WILD PROSPECTS
David O’Connor of The Hockey Writers has named Sea Dogs forward Zack Phillips one of three Wild prospects to watch at the Traverse City
Tournament.
Phillips may arguably be one of the top players to watch in the whole tournament, not just on the Wild. The 28th overall selection in the 2011 NHL Draft is projected to be a top-six forward on the Wild in the near future, and has a great combination of skill and toughness. Some say that playing on the Memorial Cup Champion Saint John Sea Dogs alongside fellow 2011 draft picks Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Jurco allowed him to look better than he actually is, but the majority of scouts will tell you that Phillips is the real deal.
The other two Wild prospects he has listed are both
American Hockey League players.
SEADOGSTV EPISODE
SeaDogsTV catches up with Zack Phillips, Tomas Jurco and
head coach Gerard Gallant.
Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation
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