A closer look at new Sea Dogs schedule

Micheal Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will need some good fortune if they want to catch the Charlottetown Islanders in the Maritimes Division standings.

The Sea Dogs sit 13 points back of the Islanders with 33 regular season games remaining. It's not impossible for Saint John to catch up, but the Sea Dogs will need to consistently string wins together while hoping the Isles go on a losing skid or two (something that has been rare this season).

The easiest way for Saint John to gain ground on Charlottetown is simple - by beating them. The Islanders won four of the five meetings with the Sea Dogs in the first half. The two will face each other four times in the second half.

March 11 at Charlottetown

March 18 at Saint John

March 24 at Charlottetown

April 14 at Charlottetown

The Sea Dogs are 2-11-1-2 at Charlottetown's Eastlink Centre over the past five seasons.

Here are a few other things worth noting about Saint John's second half schedule, which is now confirmed.

• It's mid-February and the Sea Dogs have yet to play a game at Moncton's Avenir Centre this season. Saint John's first visit to Moncton will be Feb. 27. The two teams will meet seven times in the second half.
• Former Sea Dogs forwards Charles Savoie and Carter McCluskey, dealt to Cape Breton during the trade period, will play their old team for the first time on March 5 at TD Station.
• The Sea Dogs will make two trips to Cape Breton in the second half, playing the Eagles April 1-2 and April 16-17.
• Those April 16-17 games in Sydney will be played on Easter weekend which, in normal times, is typically a good weekend of playoff games around the league.
• The Islanders currently sit atop the Eastern Conference standings while the Quebec Remparts are second - six points ahead of Saint John. Patrick Roy and the Remparts make their lone visit of the season to TD Station on April 10.
• Joshua Roy and the Sherbrooke Phoenix make their long awaited visit to Saint John on April 19.
• Saint John wraps up the home portion of their schedule with back-to-back games against the Eagles on April 28-29. The Dogs end the regular season on May 1 in Moncton.
• Upcoming games against Quebec clubs: Feb. 19 vs Victoriaville; Feb. 20 vs Drummondville; April 6 vs Gatineau; April 10 vs Quebec; and April 19 vs Sherbrooke.
• The latest the Sea Dogs have ever played a regular season game is April 17, which happened last year. They'll play six games later than April 17 this year.