Monday, February 27, 2023

Notebook: Sea Dogs' playoff hopes starting to fade

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
The Saint John Sea Dogs still aren't out of the playoff race, but things aren't looking quite as optimistic as they were a few weeks ago.

Following back-to-back losses in Cape Breton on the weekend, the Sea Dogs remain six points back of the QMJHL's final playoff spots. The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada currently sit 16th and the Val-d'Or Foreurs 15th - both have 48 points and 10 games to play.

The Sea Dogs, who sit 17th with 42 points, have 11 games remaining.
Recent losses to Cape Breton and the Charlottetown Islanders make it unlikely that the Sea Dogs will be able to catch their Maritimes Division rivals. They've still got a shot at reaching the Armada and Foreurs, but Saint John can't afford to drop too many more "winnable" games (i.e. matchups with Cape Breton, Charlottetown and Bathurst) as the regular season begins to wind down.

COMING UP
The Sea Dogs have a busy schedule this week.

They'll travel to Halifax on Thursday for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Mooseheads and then visit the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest at the KC Irving Regional Centre.

The Sea Dogs return home and host the Cape Breton Eagles on Sunday at 3 p.m. In an odd scheduling quirk, the Sea Dogs will also host the Eagles on Tuesday night.

Of Saint John's 11 remaining games, five will be played at TD Station.

BURNS WATCH
It's been a somewhat quiet stretch offensively for Brady Burns, who remains in the hunt for Saint John's franchise points record.

Burns, who had a goal and an assist in Sunday's wild 9-8 loss, now has 244 points in his Sea Dogs career, placing him fourth all-time behind Matthew Highmore (247), Michael Kirkpatrick (251) and Jonathan Huberdeau (257).

Burns has 11 games remaining in his Sea Dogs career and needs 13 points to tie Huberdeau's record.

GAUTHIER SCORES WITH SENS
Julien Gauthier scored his first goal as a member of the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night - and it came in front of friends and family at the Bell Centre.
That game featured Gauthier, Thomas Chabot, Mathieu Joseph, Samuel Montembeault, giving major 2017 President Cup final vibes. Gauthier's goal on Montembeault came on a two-on-one with Joseph.

EMOND TRADED
Former Sea Dogs goaltender Zachary Emond was involved in the Timo Meier trade.

The San Jose Sharks traded Emond as part of the Meier package to the New Jersey Devils.
Emond, 22, has appeared in four games with the ECHL's Wichita Thunder this season, posting a 3-1-0 record to go along with a 2.22 goals against average and a .936 save percentage.

Emond, a sixth-round pick of the San Jose Sharks in the 2018 NHL Draft, played in 13 regular season games with Saint John during 2020-21 COVID season. He also played six games in the provincial playoff tournament thing.

OTHER THINGS
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