Notebook: St. Stephen success

FREDERICTON - With Wednesday's victory over the Moncton Wildcats, the Saint John Sea Dogs improved to 3-2-0-0 all-time in pre-season play at St. Stephen's Garcelon Civic Center.

The Sea Dogs have hosted the Wildcats in three of the five meetings. Saint John has won two of those three games.

Here's a look at the Sea Dogs' all-time results in St. Stephen.

Aug. 26, 2018 - 3-2 win vs Moncton

Aug. 23, 2019 - 4-2 loss vs Halifax

Aug. 20, 2024 - 4-1 win vs Charlottetown

Aug. 20, 2025 - 4-1 loss vs Moncton

Aug. 26, 2026 - 4-1 win vs Moncton

The Sea Dogs continue pre-season play in another border town on Sunday when they host the Rimouski Oceanic at 4 p.m. in Woodstock.

It's the second time the Sea Dogs have held a pre-season game at the AYR Motor Centre. Last year, the Sea Dogs fell to the Wildcats 5-4 in Woodstock.

GLANCE'S FIRST SHIFT

Highly touted American forward Jamie Glance made his QMJHL pre-season debut on Friday. He finished the game with an assist, two shots, one hit and a -2 rating. He had a great scoring chance in the second period, skating through the Moncton defense only to be stopped.

Glance played on a line with Zachary Morin and Alexis Joseph. Here's a look at his first shift.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-4

FINAL: Saint John 5, Moncton 4

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

FREDERICTON - Olivier Groulx's power play goal was the difference as the Saint John Sea Dogs defeated the Moncton Wildcats 5-4 in pre-season play on Friday night at the Aitken Centre.

Groulx finished off a nice passing play, ripping the puck up on high on Wildcats goaltender Jacoby Weiner to give Saint John a 5-4 advantage with 4:21 to play. Moncton pressed at times in the final minutes but Saint John was able to hang on.

Along with Groulx, Alexis Joseph, Alexander Donovan, Brock Lyons and Dylan Rozzi also scored in what was an entertaining pre-season tilt. Jase MacPherson made 33 stops in the win.

Moncton had goals from Niko Tournas, Charlie Benigno, Elliott Mullen and Jiko Laitinen. Yegor Rybkin played the first half of the game, allowing three goals on 23 shots. Weiner allowed two goals on 11 shots in the second half.

After playing to a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes, the two teams combined for six goals in the second period. Moncton grabbed a 2-1 lead early on only for Donovan and Lyons to score 50 seconds apart to give Saint John a 3-2 advantage.

After the Wildcats tied it up again, Rozzi scored at 15:42 to put Saint John ahead again – only for Laitinen to score the equalizer less than three minutes later.

In the third, Groulx netted the lone goal on a power play. Saint John went 2/3 on the man advantage while Moncton went 0/2.

Pre-Season Game Day 2: at Moncton

FREDERICTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats are set to meet again.

The two provincial rivals faced off in St. Stephen on Wednesday night with the Sea Dogs skating away with a 4-1 victory. Tonight, the two will meet in the provincial capital as the Wildcats host Saint John at UNB's Aitken Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.

The Sea Dogs played three regular season games at the Aitken Centre last season, losing two of them. Tonight they will be the road team.

Saint John had a pretty strong showing on Wednesday but we'll likely see several lineup changes from both teams. Both squads still have quite a few cuts to make before final rosters are set.

This will be the fourth game of the pre-season for the Wildcats but just the second for the Sea Dogs. These two won't meet again until Saint John's regular season home opener on Sept. 25 at TD Station.

Radio/TV/Stream: None/None/Wildcats YouTube (probably?)

Pre-Season Records: Saint John is 1-0-0-0 for two points this pre-season while Moncton is 1-2-0-0 for two points.

Last games: The Sea Dogs and Wildcats met on Wednesday night in St. Stephen where Saint John posted a 4-1 win.  Jabez Seymour, Madison Bouchard, Ryan Howard and Kaiden Sahajpal all scored for Saint John. Brody Leet scored Moncton's lone goal. Sam Pitcher made 17 stops in the win. For Moncton, Jacoby Weiner played the first two periods and allowed three goals on 13 shots while Nathan Chenier played the third and allowed a goal on eight shots.

Some video from training camp

For those who haven't been able to catch some of Saint John Sea Dogs training camp or pre-season, here's some video of a few of the new players in action.

Defenseman Lawrence Williams, Saint John's top pick in June's QMJHL Entry Draft.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 4-1

FINAL: Moncton 1, Saint John 4

ST. STEPHEN, NB - The Saint John Sea Dogs opened the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League pre-season with a win on Wednesday night.

Jabez Seymour, Madison Bouchard, Ryan Howard and Kaiden Sahajpal all scored while Sam Pitcher made 17 stops in a 4-1 win over the Moncton Wildcats at St. Stephen's Garcelon Civic Center.

Pitcher nearly posted a shutout, recording 54:55 of shutout hockey. Brody Leet scored Moncton's lone goal late in the third. Returning netminder Jacoby Weiner played the first two periods and allowed three goals on 13 shots. Nathan Chenier played the third and allowed a goal on eight shots.

The Sea Dogs opened the scoring just 4:10 in when Seymour converted. Then on a power play at 10:37, Bouchard cut through the crease and slid the puck between Weiner's outstretched leg and the post to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes.

At 18:13 of the second, Howard scored on a long shorthanded breakaway to make it 3-0.

Saint John grabbed a 4-0 advantage at 2:52 when Sahajpal went in alone and made a nice deke on Chenier.

Moncton went 0/6 on the power play while Saint John went 1/3.

Pre-Season Game Day 1: vs Wildcats

ST. STEPHEN, NB - The Saint John Sea Dogs begin Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League pre-season play tonight against a familiar foe.

The Sea Dogs will host the Moncton Wildcats this evening at St. Stephen's Garcelon Civic Center, the opponent that swept them in the opening round of the QMJHL playoffs last season.

Both teams should look quite a bit different tonight. Both squads are at similar stages of training camp and have several cuts yet to make.

The Wildcats have already played two pre-season games, defeating the Newfoundland Regiment 6-4 last Friday before falling 8-2 to the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday.

The Sea Dogs and Wildcats met last season in St. Stephen with Moncton posting a 4-1 win.

Game time tonight is 7 p.m.

Radio/TV/Stream: None/None/YouTube

Pre-Season Records: Moncton is 1-1-0-0 this pre-season. This is the first game of the pre-season for Saint John.

Last games: The Wildcats are coming off an 8-2 loss to the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday. Noah Survilas and Evan Foiles scored for Moncton. Will Cole and Nathan Chenier split the loss in net. Saint John has yet to play this pre-season.

2025-26 records: The Sea Dogs finished 23-36-5-0 for 51 points (eighth Eastern/14th QMJHL) last season while the Wildcats were 50-10-2-2 for 104 points (first Eastern/first QMJHL). 

2025-26 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 1-7-0-0 against the Wildcats last season while Moncton went 7-1-0-0.