Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Notebook: Two games to go

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
It all comes down to this.

The Saint John Sea Dogs' playoff hopes will be on the line Friday when they host the Cape Breton Eagles at 7 p.m. Just one spot remains in QMJHL's post-season and it will go to either the Sea Dogs or Gatineau Olympiques.

The Olympiques currently own the 16th and final playoff spot and are three points ahead of the Sea Dogs. Saint John owns the tie-breaker, so they need to earn at least three points this weekend and hope the Olympiques do not pick up any wins.

Saint John hosts Cape Breton on Friday and Saturday. Gatineau visits the last-place Victoriaville Tigres on Friday and then hosts the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Saturday.

The Sea Dogs have not missed the playoffs since the 2018-19 season.

LOTTERY TIME
No matter where the Sea Dogs finish at this point, they'll be entered into the QMJHL's draft lottery, giving them a shot at selecting first overall.
The date for this year's lottery has not been announced yet. The 2025 QMJHL Entry Draft will take place June 6-7 in Quebec City.

The first overall pick is expected to be either forward Alexis Joseph – who is listed at 6'4" and 192 lbs as a 15-year-old – or forward James Scantlebury, who played with Cameron Chartrand and the Bishop Kearney Selects under-16 squad this past season.

WIN IMPROVEMENT
The Sea Dogs have already surpassed their win total from a year ago.

The team went 20-39-5-4 during last season's 68-game schedule. With two games to play in this 64-game season, the Sea Dogs are 21-41-0-0.

Saint John currently sits 17th overall in the QMJHL standings with a .339 winning percentage. At the Christmas break, the club sat 11th and was .500.

The Sea Dogs have won just five games since Christmas.

EXPANSION PAUSE
The CHL has been asked by the NHL to tap the breaks on its much discussed expansion plans, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

"One thing I've heard is that the Canadian Hockey League has been told to calm down about expansion a bit, let's see if we can find something that works for everybody," Friedman said.

Friedman reports that the NHL will sit down with the CHL and other junior leagues to discuss the future of the sport at the junior level. It's been a chaotic few months following the NCAA rule change.

The QMJHL has been rumoured to be interested in returning to New England. The NHL's involvement and the current Canada/US relationship could certainly delay that for some time.

RULE CHANGE
Speaking of the NCAA rule change, U Sports announced a rule change of their own last week, one that should give Canadian schools some recruiting help.


U SPORTS announced changes to its rules regarding professional participation in men's hockey on Tuesday, which will provide greater flexibility for potential incoming student-athletes. Starting with the 2025-26 season, incoming student-athletes who have played professional hockey will be allowed to participate immediately in U SPORTS men's hockey without a waiting period.

This change modifies the previous rule that required former professional players to wait 365 days before becoming eligible to play university men's hockey. In addition, any professional participation before August 15 of the year a player turns 22 will not count toward their U SPORTS eligibility.

Note that the January 10 roster deadline, standard across all leagues sanctioned by Hockey Canada, still applies. A player who plays outside of U SPORTS after January 10, either professionally or as an amateur, may not join a U SPORTS team in that season.

U Sports schools have no doubt lost a lot of high end recruits to the NCAA since the rule change. This move should give them some help in attracting high end players.

PHILLIPS DOWN UNDER
Former Sea Dogs forward Zack Phillips has signed with the Australian Ice Hockey League's Melbourne Mustangs for the upcoming season.
"I'm very excited to be joining the Mustangs," said Phillips in a statement posted by the team on social media. "Can't wait to get on the ice with a few familiar faces and get started. I've only heard great things about the organization and the city of Melbourne."⁠

The 32-year-old split this season between Germany and the UK. Phillips has played all over during his pro career, which has also included stops in Poland, Sweden, Slovakia and Hungary.

The Australian league is a unique one as it plays its season from early April until early September.

Danick Gauthier and Alexis Girard are the only other Sea Dogs alumni to have played in Australia.

GRANT RE-SIGNS
Alex Grant, the original Sea Dog, has re-signed with the KHL's Avangard Omsk for the 2025-26 season.

Grant has appeared in 14 games with the Russian based club this season, posting four goals and three assists. It's the seventh season in the KHL for the 36-year-old.

It's obviously been a turbulent few years for the KHL. Other former Sea Dogs to appear in the league this season include Tomas Jurco, Ostap Safin, Stanislav Galiev and Nathan Beaulieu.

OTHER THINGS
  • The Sea Dogs have been shutout nine times this season, which is a franchise high for a single season. It also ties them for the fifth most in a single season in QMJHL history. The 2013-14 Acadie-Bathurst Titan own the record with 14.
  • Former Sea Dogs goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise of the Concordia Stingers was named an OUA East second team all-star.
  • Sea Dogs forward Mitchell Wagner recently received his MHL championship ring.
  • Yahoo Sports looks at why the New York Islanders moved on from former Sea Dogs forward William Dufour, who was traded to the Colorado Avalanche organization before the NHL's trade deadline.
  • Former Sea Dogs defenseman James White appeared in five ECHL games with the Wheeling Nailers – registering two assists – before being released last week. White spent the majority of this past season playing university hockey with the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.
  • 209 CJHL alumni have played at least five games in the CHL this year. 36 come from the CCHL – which includes Sea Dogs defenseman John Lumsden.
  • Where did the Halifax Mooseheads jingle come from? Hot County 103.5 looks into that – although it's not much of a story.
  • The 2026 Memorial Cup host Kelowna Rockets will take on the Medicine Hat Tigers in a pair of pre-season games in Whitehorse this September. It's intriguing given that Tigers star forward Gavin McKenna is a Yukon native but is rumoured to be heading to the NCAA in the fall. We'll see.
  • The NAHL's Maine Nordiques will be wearing Lewiston Maineiacs jerseys for three upcoming games.
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