 |
| Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs |
The Sea Dogs will kick off the 2025-26 season with a two-game home series against the Cape Breton Eagles at TD Station. Both tonight's game and Saturday's contest begin at 7 p.m.
It'll be another building year in Saint John, but it's setting up to be an interesting one. There's a good group of returning players who, if they take the next step, could really push this team up the standings. They'll be complimented by an impressive group of newcomers, highlighted by forwards Alexis Joseph and Olivers Murnieks along with defensemen Everett Baldwin and Cameron Chartrand.
Speaking of defense, Olivier Duhamel is the only returning defenseman. How quickly this d-core can get settled in will be a big question mark.
Overall, this team is young, likely too young to make a lot of noise in the standings. But, on paper, this will be an exciting team, one that will hopefully progress throughout the season.
Stream/TV/Radio: FloHockey/None/Sea Dogs Radio
Records: This is the first game of the regular season for both clubs.
Pre-Season Records: The Sea Dogs were 1-3-2-0 with a tie during the QMJHL's pre-season while the Eagles were 3-1-0-0.
Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-2 pre-season win in Charlottetown on Sept. 6. Alexis Joseph scored a pair of goals while Natan Éthier and William Yared added singles. Rafaël Courchesne made 24 saves in the win. The Eagles are coming off a 3-2 pre-season win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Sept. 6. Lewis Gendron, Eliot Litalien and Logan Quinn scored for Cape Breton. Felix Hamel made 25 saves in the win.
2024-25 records: The Sea Dogs finished 21-43-0-0 for 42 points (sixth Maritimes/10th Eastern/17th QMJHL) last season while the Eagles were 34-23-4-3 for 75 points (second Maritimes/fifth Eastern/ninth QMJHL).
2024-25 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-6-0-0 against the Eagles last season while Cape Breton went 6-0-1-1 against Saint John.
Last meeting: March 22 in Saint John where the Eagles defeated the Sea Dogs 5-3. Cam Squires scored a hat trick for Cape Breton while Tomas Lavoie and Cole Burbidge added singles. Olivier Groulx had a pair of goals for Saint John while William Yared also scored. Jakub Milota made 34 saves in the win. Eric Young made 41 stops in the loss.
Ex-Sea Dogs on the Eagles: None.
Random stat: Olivier Groulx, who was named Sea Dogs captain on Thursday, posted six goals and an assist in eight games against Cape Breton last season.
Notes: Natan Éthier led Saint John in pre-season scoring with six points in five games... Éthier, Angelo Fullerton and Everett Baldwin all had a Saint John high three goals in the pre-season... Matthew Krayer had five assists in the pre-season... Blake Burke and Samuel Rocca each had three points in the pre-season to lead the Eagles... the Sea Dogs were 12-20-2-0 at home last season... the Eagles were 16-11-3-2 on the road last season... the Eagles lost a lot of their offensive firepower from last season with the departures of Cam Squires, Jacob Newcombe, Joseph Henneberry and Cole Burbidge... the Eagles signed OHLer Jack Brauti on Thursday... the Sea Dogs are expected to be without Baldwin tonight due to Tampa Bay Lightning training camp.
Out of town:
Moncton at Newfoundland - 7:00 PM NDT
Halifax at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM ADT
Chicoutimi at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EDT
Baie-Comeau at Rimouski - 7:00 PM EDT
Blainville-Boisbriand at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:00 PM EDT
Victoriaville at Shawinigan - 7:00 PM EDT
Quebec at Sherbrooke - 7:00 PM EDT
Gatineau at Val-d'Or - 7:00 PM EDT
Next game: Following this two-game series, the Sea Dogs travel to Halifax for two against the Mooseheads next Friday and Saturday at Scotiabank Centre.
No comments:
Post a Comment