The schedule is out

SAINT JOHN - For a third straight season, the Saint John Sea Dogs will host the Halifax Mooseheads on opening night at Harbour Station.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League released its 2019-20 pre-season and regular season schedules this past week . Teams will once again play 68 games - 34 at home and 34 away.

The Sea Dogs will open up the 2019-20 campaign on Friday, Sept. 20, taking on the Memorial Cup runner-up Mooseheads. Halifax defeated Saint John 5-4 in overtime to open up last season and 4-1 the year before.

Saint John will get a good taste of what the Maritimes Division will be like this year right out of the gate. The team will play all five division rivals within the first six games of the season.

Some other schedule notes:

• The Sea Dogs will play five straight home games between Oct. 19-31. That includes a 7 p.m. home game on Halloween against Rimouski.
• Saint John will play five straight road games - all in Quebec - between Nov. 9-15. That includes stops in Boisbriand, Victoriaville, Shawinigan, Val-d'Or and Rouyn-Noranda.
• The holiday break will begin Dec. 15 for the Sea Dogs. They'll resume play on Dec. 28 in Bathurst - which is typically where the second half begins for the club.
• The Sea Dogs will visit Halifax on New Year's Eve for the first time. That will be a 2 p.m. start at Scotiabank Centre.
• The Dogs will host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Family Day - which falls on Monday, Feb. 17 - at 3 p.m.
• Saint John will play back-to-back games in Charlottetown on March 5-6, which is unusual.
• The Sea Dogs will end the regular season on home ice - which is extremely rare - with back-to-back games against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on March 20-21. Saint John has closed out the regular season at home only two times previously - 2005-06 and 2010-11.

According to a press release, "the schedule features eight Friday home games, nine Sunday home games, and 11 Saturday home games." All of Saint John's afternoon games are listed as 3 p.m. starts.

The Sea Dogs will not play any pre-season games at Harbour Station this year. They'll play seven in total - four at "home" and three away. Saint John's "home" games include stops at the Quispamsis qplex, St. Stephen's Garcelon Civic Center,  the Centre E.&P. Sénéchal in Grand Falls and the Fredericton Aitken Centre. It will be the first time the Dogs make a trip to Grand Falls.

The Sea Dogs will also play at Dartmouth's RBC Centre for the first time when they take on the Mooseheads.

Saint John's full pre-season schedule can be found here and regular season schedule here.