Monday, November 6, 2017

18 Thoughts: Checking in on our friends from Windsor

We know the Saint John Sea Dogs are off to a rough start, but how about those other teams that played this past May in Windsor?

The Sea Dogs were joined by the host Windsor Spitfires, OHL champion Erie Otters and WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds at last season's Memorial Cup. All three, along with the Sea Dogs, were expected to take steps back this year - and they have, but none as large as Saint John (yet, at least).

The Spitfires have gotten off to a decent start and sit fourth in the OHL's Western Conference with an 11-6-1-0 record.

After four straight 100 points seasons, the Otters are finally taking a step back. They are currently 8-7-2-1, which is a respectable start.

Out west, the Thunderbirds are fourth in the Western Conference with a 9-5-1-1 record.

Saint John is by far off to the roughest start of last year's Memorial Cup teams, sporting a record of 4-11-4-1. They could eventually catch up, depending on how the rest of their seasons go.

It's always interesting to follow other Memorial Cup participants to compare rebuilds/retools. As we know, the Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes, who met in the 2012 tournament, seem forever stuck in the same cycle.

To the notes...

1. At last check in, the Sea Dogs had not given up hope on getting Shane Bowers in a Saint John uniform. Bowers' rights were traded to the Colorado Avalanche in yesterday's blockbuster, which no doubt caught the Sea Dogs' attention. It may not benefit the Sea Dogs at all, but at least there's some new people to call.

2. Bowers is off to strong start at Boston University, recording four goals and two assists with the Terriers. BU is 3-1-0 in Hockey East play and 3-5-1 overall.

3. There's little doubt Bowers would be suiting up for Team QMJHL in this year's Canada Russia Series if he were in the league. It'll be interesting to see if Hockey Canada shows much interest in him for this year's world junior team. You just never know what they'll do with NCAA players.

4. When the Sea Dogs return to action on Thursday against Sherbrooke, it'll be over a month since their last regulation win, which came on Oct. 6 in Charlottetown. They have just one victory - an overtime win - since then.

5. Saint John won that Oct. 6 game 4-0, extending the club's winning streak to three games at the time. It looked as though the Sea Dogs and Islanders were heading in opposite directions - and they were, but with Charlottetown rising and Saint John falling. The Dogs enter this week with a 1-5-3-1 record over their past 10 games while the Isles are 9-1-0-0.

6. There are not many people who thought the Islanders would be 10-7-1-0 at this point in the season. It's hard to imagine that they'll maintain this pace all year, but it's a good story for the time being.

7. It's still early, but the hole the Sea Dogs find themselves in will be difficult to climb out of. Being in last place is tough enough, but being in last place having played two to three games more than the teams in front of you makes things even more challenging. The team has a .325 win percentage while the team in front of them (Chicoutimi) has a .412 rating.

8. A bright spot for Saint John this season has been its power play. The Sea Dogs have scored 22 power play goals which is second most in the league. They've been opportunistic, with nearly 50% of their goals scored this year coming while a man up. Hopefully the Dogs can start getting more even strength scoring.

9. Whether or not the Sea Dogs want/wanted Cameron Askew or not, having him score the overtime winner on Saturday had to be frustrating. Askew has been terrific since re-entering the Shawinigan lineup this year. It's hard not to cheer for a guy who's just trying to land a roster spot.
10. Don't know what the story is here, but it's awesome.
11. Drake Batherson has some company in his rearview mirror. After getting off to a blazing start, Batherson is slowly being caught by the two guys who we all knew would be near the top all year - Maxime Fortier and Filip Zadina.
12. This is a weird stat:
13. Some positive attendance news around the league - but, as I think we can all agree on, these numbers don't quite reflect people actually in the buildings.
14. Sportsnet released its 2017-18 CHL broadcast schedule last week. They're trying something new this year, placing games on Saturday afternoons. There's only three QMJHL games on the schedule, with the Titan and Mooseheads both being broadcast twice.

15. Unless this is some sort of historic throwback, these Gatineau third jerseys are... not good.
16. Kyle Ward continues to dominate the MHL. The Edmundston Blizzard captain now has 15 goals in 16 games this season.

17. Huge game at the Aitken Centre on Friday between UNB and StFX. Neither team has lost a game in regulation time this season and just one point separates the two at the top of the AUS standings. I would argue UNB/StFX has been one of the best rivalries in hockey over the past decade.

18. Gerard Gallant. What a coach.
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