Some Wednesday night notes

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

It's been a rollercoaster of a couple weeks for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Two weeks ago, the Sea Dogs pulled off an upset win over the Gatineau Olympiques and followed that up with a strong 6-1 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan one night later. They then held a 2-0 lead on the road against the Moncton Wildcats before falling in a shootout.

Things were looking good - but injuries to key players led the Sea Dogs into a rough week.

Saint John dropped all three games they played last week, falling 7-3 in Charlottetown before being shutout by both the Cape Breton Eagles and Halifax Mooseheads. The Sea Dogs were outscored 18-3 last week.

The Sea Dogs now sit last overall in the QMJHL standings with a 4-10-0-1 record. Although they'll still be missing some key players, Saint John will look to turn things around this week on home ice when they host the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Thursday and Drummondville Voltigeurs on Saturday.

Saint John has not faced either team so far this season - but Quebec opponents have not been kind. The Dogs are 1-5-0-0 against teams from outside the Maritimes with their lone victory being that 6-5 home win over the Olympiques.

A few other notes...

• This week on The Hockey News on the Q, Will MacLaren and I discuss some recent jersey retirements; QMJHL alumni in the Edmonton Oilers system; Halifax's Mathieu Cataford is in the 2023 NHL Draft spotlight; and we go over some of the top performers from the past week.
• Saint John's next five home games are all against Quebec-based teams.
• Tuesday was an odd night in the QMJHL: Cape Breton won a third straight game; Halifax blew-out Moncton; Rimouski scored 12 goals on Chicoutimi; and Shawinigan upset Sherbrooke.
• The Cape Breton Eagles have now won three straight games, defeating Halifax, Saint John and Bathurst.
• The Quebec Remparts, 15-1-0-1, are on pace for a QMJHL record 124 points in the regular season.
• Former Sea Dog Josh Lawrence had a hat trick and one assist in the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada's 8-5 loss in Moncton on Sunday.
• Halifax's Jordan Dumais had a goal and five assists in Halifax's 8-3 win over Moncton on Tuesday. The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect now leads the league in scoring with 38 points in 16 games. He's on pace for 162 points.
• Teams that competed at the 2022 Memorial Cup as of Wednesday night: Saint John is 4-10-0-1 (last overall in the QMJHL); Hamilton is 4-7-1-0 (last overall in OHL); Shawinigan is 6-10-0-2 (15th overall in QMJHL); and Edmonton is 2-13-1-0 (last overall in WHL).