Game Day 31: vs Armada

SAINT JOHN - A revamped Saint John Sea Dogs team takes to the ice tonight at TD Station.

There won't be many fans in the building due to weather and COVID restrictions, but there will be plenty of new faces in the lineup when the Sea Dogs take on their expansion cousin St. John's Fog Devils Montreal Junior Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Players acquired during the holiday trading period include:

#1 - G Thomas Couture

#19 - F Philippe Daoust

#21 - F Nicholas Blagden

#27 - F Connor Trenholm

#46 - D Vincent Sevigny

#55 - F Raivis Ansons

#63 - F Marshall Lessard

#70 - G Nikolas Hurtubise

The hope is, obviously, that this new Sea Dogs team comes flying out of the gate. But these are a lot of new players who have had only a couple weeks of practice time. No player has appeared in a game since Dec. 18. Things will take time to come together.

Including tonight's contest, Saint John has 38 games left on its schedule (fingers crossed they all happen). Every game is not a must-win, but the team would be wise to quickly start climbing up the standings to get into a more favourable playoff position.

Game time tonight is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/93 CFBC/CHL TV

Capacity/Proof of Vaccination/Masks: 50%/Required/Required

Records: The Sea Dogs are 15-12-0-3 for 33 points (fifth Maritimes/seventh Eastern/11th QMJHL) while the Armada are 15-12-2-1 for 33 points (second West/fourth Western/10th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs last played on Dec. 18 where they fell 4-3 to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at TD Station. William Dufour, Nathan Drapeau and Josh Lawrence all scored for Saint John. Jonathan Lemieux made 37 stops in the loss. The Armada are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss in Val-d'Or on Dec. 18. Mikael Denis scored a pair of goals while Alexis Gendron added a single. Charles-Edward Gravel made 23 stops in the loss.

2021-22 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 1-0-0-0 against the Armada this season while Blainville-Boisbriand is 0-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Dec. 3 in Boisbriand where the Sea Dogs defeated the Armada 6-3. Josh Lawrence had a pair of goals for Saint John while Olivier Picard, Brady Burns, William Dufour and Peter Reynolds also scored. Zachary Roy, Jonathan Fauchon and Alexandre Joncas had Armada goals. Noah Patenaude made 36 stops in the win. Olivier Leclair made 19 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Armada: None.

Armada to watch: 20-year-old forward Kieran Craig was acquired from Gatineau during the trade period. He had 10 goals and 16 points in 22 first half games with the Olympiques.

Random stat: William Dufour carries a 16-game point streak into this match. Josh Lawrence, meanwhile, has points in 11 straight games.

Notes: William Dufour leads Saint John in points with 47 and goals with 22... Josh Lawrence has a team high 27 assists... the Armada unloaded at the trade deadline. Charles Boutin is now the team's leader in points (19) and assists (13)... Kieran Craig and Alexis Gendron lead the club in goals with 10 each... the Sea Dogs are 8-7-0-2 at home... the Armada are 6-7-2-1 on the road... Saint John is 4-1-0-1 against West Division teams... the Armada are 1-3-1-0 against Maritimes Division teams... Ryan Francis has assists in six straight home games.

Out of town:

Shawinigan at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:00 PM EST

Sherbrooke at Val-d'Or - 7:00 PM EST

Gatineau at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EST

Québec at Drummondville - 7:30 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Rimouski Oceanic on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.