Sea Dogs At Development Camps

A nice firework finale to end a good 3 days on the road! #mnwildroadtour twitter.com/Charlie_Coyle/…

— Charlie Coyle (@Charlie_Coyle) June 28, 2012

WILD

Minnesota Wild prospects are not currently at a development camp. Instead, many of them are taking part in a summer road tour with the club. Charlie Coyle is one of the trippers.

"I haven't ever experienced anything like this before," Coyle told the New Ulm Journal on Wednesday. "This has always been a dream of mine and so far the experience has been great."

The road trip ended on Thursday. All of the details can be found on the Wild website.

SENATORS

Ottawa Senators development camp began on Tuesday and runs until Monday. Former Sea Dogs forward Mike Hoffman, who made his National Hockey League debut last season, is once again at the camp.

Hoffman scored in Thursday’s scrimmage as he skated on the top line with Mark Stone and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

“He was, as mentioned, on the top line of the scrimmage, and he scored the lone goal during actual play (I think Cole Schneider scored on a penalty shot, but I can't say for sure; didn't get a good look),” writes Peter Raaymakers of Silver Sevens. “Hoffman had a good level of intensity all game, and he's got flow that would make Milan Michalek jealous. He led the B-Sens in scoring last year, and will turn a few heads in Ottawa's training camp.”

Hoffman registered 21 goals and 28 assists with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators last year.

Villemaire Signs With Coyotes

It's looking like Maxime Villemaire’s days with the Saint John Sea Dogs are over. He tweeted this earlier today.

First NHL contract with #coyotes de phéonix

— maxime villemaire (@villemaire19) June 28, 2012

Mikael Lalancette of TVA Sports has more on the signing.

Being pro eligible this season, Villemaire will likely play for the American Hockey League’s Portland Pirates or the East Coast Hockey League’s Gwinnett Gladiators.  

The Sea Dogs acquired Villemaire in a trade with the Drummondville Voltigeurs during the holiday trading period. He proved to be a valuable part of the Dogs much like Alexandre Beauregard was the year before.

He was only in Saint John for a few months but managed to have one of the most bizarre Sea Dogs careers ever. He played his first game with the Dogs on January 4 against Gatineau and scored a goal. He then left the club to think about his future and did not return to action until February 3. As it turned out, Villemaire did not sign his player card prior to playing in that game against the Olympiques and the Dogs were stripped of a – at the time – crucial win/two points.

Villemaire played 16 games with Saint John during the regular season, registering eight goals and three assists. He added another three helpers in 13 playoff games as he helped the Sea Dogs capture the President’s Cup.

The Lasalle, Quebec native played one-and-a-half seasons with Drummondville before being traded to Saint John.

Corbeil Nets Invite To Canucks Camp

Former Saint John Sea Dogs goaltender Mathieu Corbeil will be taking part in Vancouver Canucks development camp this week. According to the Canucks website, the five-day camp runs through Canada Day weekend.

Corbeil will be part of Group B who will take to the ice for the first time on Friday morning at Rogers Arena. Other notables taking part in the camp are Alexandre Carrier, Jeremie Blain, and Alexandre Mallet.

The 20-year old was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Draft. He was not signed by the Blue Jackets and was not drafted again, meaning he is free to try and a land a contract elsewhere. An invite to Canucks development camp is certainly a good start.

“Corbeil had excellent numbers the past two seasons for the powerhouse Saint John team, but the club believes the numbers he posted in Halifax prior to coming to the Sea Dogs are a better reflection of his talent,” wrote Chris Roberts of Hockey’s Future on Tuesday. “Regardless, given the lack of goaltending depth in the organization, it is a bit of a surprise that Corbeil wasn’t tendered.”

Corbeil went 37-10-1 with Saint John this past season with a 2.38 goals against average and a 0.911 save percentage. In the playoffs he had a record of 16-0-1 with a 2.18 GAA and a 0.917 save percentage. He was average at the Memorial Cup, going 2-2 with a 3.51 GAA and a 0.881 save percentage.

Canucks development camp has had quite a bit of Sea Dogs flavour over the past few years with Yann Sauve, Steven Anthony, and Karel St. Laurent. None of those players will be at camp this year.

Sea Dogs add forward, defence in import draft

The 2012 CHL Import Draft has wrapped up, and the Saint John Sea Dogs have added a pair of teammates. With their first selection, 34^th overall (acquired from Rimouski), the Dogs selected Slovenian d-man Jurij Repe. Then, with their own first round pick, 52^nd overall, Saint John drafted Czech winger Jakub Izacky. 

According to the indispensable Elite Prospects, the 1994-born Repe is a 6-foot-2, 198-pound defender who suited up for HC Trinec in the Czech junior league this year. His birthday is just two days short of the cut off for this year’s NHL Entry Draft, so he’ll be one of, if not the oldest player eligible for the 2013 draft.

Izacky is listed as a left winger, and played with Repe in Trinec this season. His offensive production was relatively poor, ranking 9^th among forwards in team scoring. Izacky was rated 39^th among European forwards in the final ranking from Central Scouting, down from 23^rd at mid-term, but went undrafted. He’ll be an age-19 player this season.

CHL Import Draft: A Look Back

It’s Import Draft day in the Canadian Hockey League.

It is on this day that your team drafts players you have probably never heard of from teams you don’t you know from places you can’t locate on a map. Good times.

The Sea Dogs are expected to pick twice today to replace Stanislav Galiev and Tomas Jurco. Saint John currently owns picks 34, 52, and 112. The Sea Dogs have made six picks all time at the Import Draft and, if nothing changes, this will be just the second time that the franchise has picked a player not in the top five.

So let’s take a look back at the Sea Dogs’ previous European picks.

2005: 5^th overall - Martin Bartos

Saint John’s first ever import pick, Bartos played just one season with Saint John, recording 11 goals and 17 assists in 43 matches. He was traded to Bathurst prior to the 2006-07 season in exchange for goaltender Maxime Joyal and a third round draft pick. Ugh.

Bartos registered 81 points with the Titan in 06-07 and another eight in the playoffs. He headed top Europe the following year.

According to Elite Prospects, he played in Austria last season and had 14 points in 13 games.

2005: 41^st overall - Felix Schutz

Schutz had 52 points in 65 games during his rookie campaign with the Sea Dogs in 2005-06. He was drafted in the fourth round, 117^th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2006 NHL Draft.

Schutz registered 11 points in 18 games with the Sea Dogs during the first half of the 2006-07 season. He was traded to the Val-d’Or Foreurs during the holiday trading period for Alexandre Leduc and Bruno Desjardins.  The German had 33 points in 27 games with Val-d’Or and then added another 15 points during the Foreurs’ 20-game playoff run.

According to Elite Prospects, Schutz played in Europe in 2007-08 before heading back overseas to play with the Sabres’ American Hockey League affiliate at the time, the Portland Pirates. He played two seasons with the Pirates before returning to play in Germany.

CHL Import Draft Tomorrow

The Saint John Sea Dogs roster revamp will continue tomorrow morning when the 2012 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft takes place. The draft, done online, begins at 10am Atlantic.

As the CHL website explains, “the two-round draft will take place online with the order of selection rotating through each of the CHL’s three leagues using an inverse order of final regular season standings from the 2011-12 season.  Each team in the CHL is permitted to carry two European import players each season who are selected annually through the CHL Import Draft.  Teams are permitted to trade draft picks up to and during the CHL Import Draft process with the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats currently holding the number one pick acquired by trade with the Sherbrooke Phoenix.  The WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders currently hold the second selection, followed by the OHL’s Erie Otters at number three.”

The Sea Dogs currently hold three picks in the draft so they do have the option of moving a pick if they so wish. They have two first round selections (34^th and 52^nd) and a second round pick (112^th). Their top pick, 34^th overall, was originally Rimouski’s pick but was acquired via trade in January.

Whoever Saint John picks tomorrow, they have some big shoes to fill. Stanislav Galiev and Tomas Jurco, both of whom have become legit NHL prospects, played major roles with the Sea Dogs over the past three years.

The Sea Dogs haven’t made a selection in the Import Draft since 2009 when they picked Galiev first overall and Jurco fourth overall. They've made six picks all-time at the Import Draft.

In franchise history, the Sea Dogs have selected four forwards, a defenseman, and a goaltender. Saint John currently has room at every position so they have a lot of possibilities tomorrow.

There are also plenty of questions heading into the draft. Will the Sea Dogs trade up? Will they draft a younger player they can get a few years out of or will they pick an older player? Will we be able to locate their hometown on a map? How many vowels will their name have?

Moncton has the first overall pick and Cape Breton picks seventh. There is going to some solid talent in the Maritimes Division next season.

Photo credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation