Notebook: Francis nabs weekly honours

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Ryan Francis has been named the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Player of the Week.

The honour comes as no surprise thanks to a huge week for the Saint John Sea Dogs forward. The 19-year-old recorded four goals in his Sea Dogs debut on Tuesday night, tying the team record for goals in a single game.

Francis followed that game up with two assists on Saturday and another two helpers on Sunday. The Calgary Flames prospect now has an eight-game point streak.

Francis was also named to the QMJHL's Team of the Week. Joining him on the squad is one of his linemates, Vladislav Kotkov, who registered three goals and five assists in three games this week.

Forward Peter Reynolds, who joined Francis and Kotkov on the team's top line, also had a strong week, picking up two goals and four assists.

COMING UP

The Sea Dogs have another three games ahead of them this week.

On Wednesday, the Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats at 7 p.m. Saint John survived a third period collapse in Moncton on Saturday, edging the 'Cats 5-4 in overtime.

On Friday, the Sea Dogs will visit the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 7 p.m. The Titan sit second in the Maritimes Division while the Sea Dogs are third, making games between the two even more important. The top two teams in each division receive first round playoff byes.

Then on Sunday afternoon, the Wildcats are back in town to face the Sea Dogs at 3 p.m. 

STANDINGS

Speaking of the Maritimes Division standings, the Charlottetown Islanders continue to separate themselves from the pack, winning their ninth straight game on Sunday in Halifax.

At the bottom of the standings are the Cape Breton Eagles who have now lost five straight.

THAT PASS

Here's an extended replay of Cam MacDonald's breakaway goal from Sunday's game, which features a long, long pass from William Villeneuve. Can't recall seeing a player left alone behind his own for this amount of time.

#QMJHL #HighlightOfTheNight @WilliamVillene9 hits @cammacdonald61 with a hail mary pass to get the @SJSeaDogs on the board! 🏈 pic.twitter.com/AJuNuyXeGk

— QMJHL 😷 (@QMJHL) March 15, 2021

DRAFT TALK

When will the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft takes place? According to commissioner Gilles Courteau, it will not happen at its usual time.

Courteau told the Gatineau newspaper Le Droit that the annual Entry Draft will be pushed forward by at least a couple weeks. Last year's Entry Draft took place at the usual time but was held virtually and split over two days, taking place June 5-6.

The Sea Dogs currently have two first-round picks in this year's draft but could have another depending on where the Halifax Mooseheads finish. The league's trading period is also open during the draft.

MACDONALD DEBUTS

Former Sea Dogs forward Anderson MacDonald made his Western Hockey League debut over the weekend.

MacDonald recorded two shots on goal and took a roughing penalty in the Winnipeg Ice's 3-2 loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday night in the Regina hub.

The Ice return to action on Monday evening, facing the Swift Current Broncos.

LEBLANC SIGNS WITH B-SENS

Former Sea Dogs defenseman Olivier LeBlanc has signed an amateur tryout agreement with the AHL's Belleville Senators.

LeBlanc has been part of the UNB Reds for the past four seasons, winning a University Cup title in 2019. He leaves UNB with nine goals and 45 assists in 85 regular season games.

The 25-year-old spent parts of three seasons with Saint John, including one as captain before being traded to Cape Breton.

As the Senators press release notes, LeBlanc spent his QMJHL career playing with several Ottawa Senators players and prospects - including Thomas Chabot.

Belleville is playing regular season games in Ottawa this year due to the pandemic.

EXCEPTIONAL DEBUT

15-year-old forward Connor Bedard became the latest "exceptional player" to debut in the CHL - and first in the WHL - over the weekend.

He made quite a first impression, scoring two goals in the second period in the Regina Pats' 6-3 loss to the Prince Albert Raiders.

Amount of time it took each CHL Exceptional Status player to record their first point

John Tavares: 17:48 First Game
Aaron Ekblad: Seventh Game
Connor McDavid: Second Game
Sean Day: OT First Game
Joe Veleno: Third Period First Game
Shane Wright: Third Game
Connor Bedard: TBD

— Lucas Punkari (@lpunkari) March 12, 2021

QUICK HITS/RANDOM THOUGHTS

• Huge shoutout to Eastlink's Kenzie Lalonde who became the first woman to call a QMJHL game on television this past Sunday. 
• Sea Dogs legend Joey Daccord earned his first NHL win on Monday night, helping Ottawa upset Toronto. Daccord was an 11th-round pick of Saint John in the 2013 QMJHL Entry Draft and briefly attended training camp that year before leaving to maintain his NCAA eligibility. He went on to play at Arizona State University.
• An actual former Sea Dogs goaltender, Callum Booth, made 36 stops for the Providence Bruins in their 5-2 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Monday afternoon. This was Booth's first AHL game of the season. He has been back-and-forth between the AHL and Boston's taxi squad.
• Maybe I'm just desperate for any entertainment, but the game day experience in Moncton seems quite a bit better this season. Not sure if this is intentional or pandemic related, but it's great not having a commercial/promo at every single stoppage in play.
• The last places on earth to switch to cashless payment will be the Tim Hortons at Avenir Centre and TD Station.
• It's going to be weird watching regular season hockey in playoff weather over the next few weeks and months.