Monday, September 9, 2024

Notebook: Regular season coming soon

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
We're less than two weeks away from the start of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League regular season.

Just one more weekend of pre-season play remains before the games get real. Saint John closes out exhibition action next Saturday, taking on the Charlottetown Islanders in Tyne Valley, PEI.

Then things get serious. The Sea Dogs will play their first two games of the regular season on home ice, hosting the Moncton Wildcats on Friday, Sept. 20 and the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday, Sept. 21.

There will be plenty of excitement around Saint John's season opener as Gardiner MacDougall returns behind a TD Station bench for the first time since leading the Sea Dogs to the 2022 Memorial Cup championship.

LAFORGE TO ONTARIO
Former Sea Dogs forward Nico Laforge has found a new home for the 2024-25 season.

The MHL's Grand Falls Rapids have traded Laforge's rights to the OJHL's Cobourg Cougars. The 20-year-old forward made his Cougars debut in the club's season opener on Friday, scoring in a 7-4 loss to the Trenton Golden Hawks. 
Laforge has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Sea Dogs, which included 21 games during the Memorial Cup year of 2021-22. He leaves the QMJHL having posted eight goals and 17 assists in 126 career games.

The 5'7", 170 lbs Laforge was a long shot to make this year's Sea Dogs team as an overager. He did not attend training camp.

ELLIOTT EARNS UTAH INVITE
Former Sea Dogs forward Drew Elliott will be among the players to attend the first rookie camp in Utah Hockey Club history.

Elliott was one of the players named to Utah's squad for the upcoming Rookie Faceoff tournament in Los Angeles.
The Saint John native split his overage season with the Sea Dogs and Drummondville Voltigeurs. Elliott posted 10 goals and seven assists in 32 games with his hometown club last year and followed that up with two goals in four playoff games.

The 21-year-old will play for the UNB Reds this coming season.

SAVOIE TO HABS CAMP
Former Sea Dogs forward Charles Savoie has been invited to Montreal Canadiens rookie camp.

The 21-year-old just wrapped up his QMJHL career, which saw him split last season with Quebec Remparts and Rimouski Oceanic. He helped the Remparts win the Memorial Cup in 2023.

Savoie spent parts of three seasons with the Sea Dogs, which included 21 games in the first half of the 2022 Memorial Cup season.

Savoie is committed to Concordia University for this coming season.

The Habs rookies will play a pair of games against the Toronto Maple Leafs rookies this weekend.

ZBORIL SIGNS PTO
Former Sea Dogs defenseman Jakub Zboril has signed a Professional Tryout agreement with the New Jersey Devils, the club announced last week. He'll take part in Devils training camp later this month and try to earn a roster spot.

The 27-year-old spent all of last season in the AHL, splitting time between the Providence Bruins and Cleveland Monsters.

Zboril has appeared in 76 career NHL games, all with the Boston Bruins. He was a first round pick of the Bruins in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Still not signed to a contract or a PTO? Former Sea Dogs forward Mike Hoffman. The Hockey News recently looked at why that might be.

JERSEY ADS
It was inevitable, but it looks like jersey ads will be arriving in the CHL sooner rather than later. The London Knights announced a jersey sponsor earlier this week.
To accommodate the addition, it looks like the CCM logo (... which was basically a sponsor anyways?) has been moved to the centre of the jersey under the collar area.

NEW SCOREBOARD
Huge addition (literally) to Cape Breton's Centre 200. We're getting to a point where the TD Station scoreboard is showing its age.
OTHER THINGS
  • Returning goaltender Justin Robinson has some new gear for the season, which he debuted in pre-season action this past weekend. The Sea Dogs' 20th anniversary season logo is placed on the top of his pads.
  • 19-year-old goaltender Frederic Cousineau has been added to Saint John's online roster, presumably as an affiliate player in case of injury. Cousineau spent last season with the MHL's Truro Bearcats and has 15 games of QMJHL experience under his belt.
  • Coen Miller's MHL rights have been traded from the West Kent Steamers to the Valley Wildcats. The 18-year-old played 23 MHL games with the South Shore Lumberjacks (now the Steamers) in 2022-23.
  • Speaking of the MHL, the regular season begins Friday.
  • Real nice rink in Port Hawkesbury, where the Sea Dogs and Eagles met in pre-season action on Friday night.
  • RDS examines some of the storylines to follow this QMJHL season.
  • Former Sea Dogs defenseman Thomas Chabot says he is fully healthy heading into the 2024-25 season with the Ottawa Senators.
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