Sea Dogs still waiting on playoff opponent; University Cup, MHL updates

Mike Bernard/Charlottetown Islanders

MONCTON - It's the final day of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League regular season and the Saint John Sea Dogs won't know who their first round playoff opponent is until later today.

The Sea Dogs, who take on the Cape Breton Eagles at 3 p.m. in Sydney, are locked into the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, meaning they'll face the No. 1 seed. Who that No. 1 seed will be is the big question.

The Moncton Wildcats enter the day with 102 points while the Chicoutimi Sagueneens are right behind them with 101. The Wildcats host the Charlottetown Islanders at 4 p.m. while the Sags host the Quebec Remparts at 5 p.m.

Here are the scenarios:

• If Moncton wins today, they'll clinch first and face the Sea Dogs in the first round. The Sagueneens' result is not relevant.
• If Moncton loses and Chicoutimi wins, the Sagueneens clinch first and will face the Sea Dogs in the first round.
• If the two teams end up tied (Moncton loses in extra time and Chicoutimi wins or Moncton loses in regulation and Chicoutimi loses in extra time), the Sagueneens clinch first and will face the Sea Dogs in the first round. Chicoutimi has the tie-breaker.
• Of course, if both teams lose today, the Wildcats will clinch first and face the Sea Dogs in the first round.

Moncton enters today's game on an eight-game winning streak.

The Sea Dogs were 1-7-0-0 against the Wildcats in the regular season and, oddly, 2-0-0-0 against the Sagueneens.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 4-2

FINAL: Saint John 2, Cape Breton 4

JaimeLee Gouthro/Cape Breton Eagles

SYDNEY, NS - The losing streak continues for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs lost a fifth straight game on Friday night at Centre 200, falling 4-2 to the Cape Breton Eagles. The victory ended a six-game losing streak for the Eagles.

Saint John thought they had opened the scoring halfway through the first period when Bo Damphousse scored. But the goal was called back due to an offside – and the Eagles would take advantage, grabbing momentum and scoring twice to lead 2-0 after the first.

After a scoreless second period, Alexander Donovan scored on a power play at 6:59 of the third to get Saint John within one. The Eagles would respond with a man advantage goal of their own at 12:14, restoring Cape Breton's two-goal lead.

The Sea Dogs pulled goaltender Rafaël Courchesne with 3:34 left and the move paid off. At 17:00, Donovan netted his second of the game to get Saint John within one again. But the Eagles secured the win with an empty net goal at 18:14.

Shots in the third period were 14-2 in favour of Saint John.

Lucas Romeo scored twice for Cape Breton while Raoul Boilard and Eliot Litalien added singles. Felix Hamel made 35 saves in the win.

Courchesne made 19 saves in the loss.

These two meet again tomorrow afternoon at Centre 200 in the regular season finale for both teams.

Sea Dogs finally debut Under Armour jerseys

JaimeLee Gouthro/Cape Breton Eagles

It took until the final weekend of the regular season for the Saint John Sea Dogs to debut their new jerseys.

For the first time, the Sea Dogs wore their white Under Armour branded jerseys – which includes the team's updated logo – on Friday night in Sydney. 

The majority of teams across the CHL have been wearing Under Armour jerseys since opening night in September. Saint John announced on Sept. 18 that the new jerseys would be delayed. Not many expected correct versions to take until mid-March to arrive.

Two teams in the QMJHL – the Sea Dogs and Halifax Moosheads – have been wearing old CCM jerseys all season. The CCM logos were covered over.

JaimeLee Gouthro/Cape Breton Eagles

It was announced last May that Under Armour would replace CCM as the CHL's official jersey provider. The switch hasn't come without problems. A number of teams reportedly had errors with their new looks. 

The Sea Dogs unveiled their updated logo and mockups of the new jerseys at an event during the summer. The Sea Dogs had been wearing the same styled jersey since the 2009-10 season.

The Sea Dogs play their final regular season games on the road this weekend. They'll start the playoffs on the road before returning to TD Station for playoff games three and four on March 31 and April 1, where the team will presumably debut this new look for their home fans.

Game Day 63 & 64: at Cape Breton

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SYDNEY, NS - The regular season comes to a close this weekend for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs will play a pair of road games against the Cape Breton Eagles to close out the 2025-26 season. Saint John has qualified for the post-season and is locked into the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference – but it's still not known who they'll play in the first round.

The Eagles, meanwhile, could still move up or down the standings depending on how things play out this weekend. These games (or at least Friday's, for now) do have meaning.

Both teams are on losing streaks. Saint John has lost four straight while Cape Breton has lost six.

This is the first meeting between the two since late November.

Friday's game has a 7 p.m. start at Centre 200 while Saturday's will begin at 3 p.m.

Stream/TV/Radio: FloHockey/None/None

Records: The Sea Dogs are 22-35-5-0 for 49 points (eighth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Eagles are 27-22-4-9 for 67 points (sixth Eastern/11th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-1 loss in Charlottetown on Sunday. Angelo Fullerton scored Saint John's lone goal. Jase MacPherson made 34 saves in his first career QMJHL start. The Eagles are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss in Charlottetown last Friday. Reece Peitzsche scored Cape Breton's lone goal. Connor Towle made 27 saves in the loss. 

Notebook: Fullerton's impressive season

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Angelo Fullerton is ending his junior career on a high note.

The 20-year-old forward has scored nine goals in his past nine games to give him 25 of the season, which is currently the Saint John Sea Dogs team lead. He's also posted 18 assists in the 59 games he has appeared in.

Fullerton spent the previous three seasons with the Cape Breton Eagles, who he and the Sea Dogs will visit for a pair of games this weekend. His previous career high for points in a season was 16. His previous high for goals was nine.

The Quispamsis native has more goals and points this season than his previous three seasons combined.

He's offensive contributions have likely exceeded expectations. Fullerton attended Sea Dogs training camp on a loan from the Eagles and was later acquired for a sixth-round pick.

Fullerton and fellow overagers Julien Wasmer and Maxime Côté were honoured before Saint John's final regular season home game this past Saturday.

ATTENDANCE IS IN

Saint John's final attendance figures are in – and they're positive.

Saint John will finish the regular season with an average attendance of 3,273 fans per game, a significant increase over last season's average of 2,811. This is Saint John's best attendance figure since the 2019-20 season when the team averaged 3,345 fans per game.

The Sea Dogs currently own the sixth best average attendance in the QMJHL. They haven't finished higher than fifth since the 2021-22 season.

Saint John had two big home crowds to end the season. Announced attendance for last Friday's game was 5,093 while Saturday's was 6,150 – which was a sell out. The Saturday crowd was the largest since the 2017-18 season (6,165).

The team is inching closer to those pre-pandemic totals, which is good news.

Former Sea Dogs to play in University Cup; Couture named goaltender of the year

A number of Saint John Sea Dogs alumni will be returning to the Scotiabank Centre ice this week for the University Cup.

The annual eight-team event begins Thursday afternoon in Halifax and will conclude with the championship game on Sunday. All games can be watched on CBC Gem and YouTube while the final will air on CBC TV.

Three teams from Atlantic University Sport are competing: the host Saint Mary's Huskies, conference champion UNB Reds and conference finalist Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus.

They'll be joined by OUA champion UQTR Patriotes; OUA finalist Windsor Lancers; OUA bronze medalist Queen's Gaels; Canada West champion Saskatchewan Huskies; and Canada West finalist Mount Royal Cougars.

Here are the former Sea Dogs who are on tournament rosters.

UNB: Nick Blagden, Peter Reynolds and Leighton Carruthers

UdeM: Jeremie Jacob and Justin Gendron

SMU: Connor Trenholm

Reynolds, who was seen with his arm in a sling during the AUS final, is presumably unlikely to play. UNB is hurting, which will be a storyline during this tournament – especially with the Reds getting a not-so-favourable schedule.

Here's a look at the quarterfinal schedule:

Thursday, 1 p.m.: No. 5 Mount Royal vs. No. 4 Windsor 

Thursday, 7 p.m.: No. 1 Saskatchewan at No. 8 Saint Mary’s 

Friday, 1 p.m.: No. 6 Moncton vs. No. 3 UQTR 

Friday, 7 p.m.: No. 7 Queen’s vs. No. 2 UNB

The semifinals take place Saturday with the bronze and gold medal games happening on Sunday. That means UNB will have to play – and win – three games in three days if they want to bring the University Cup back to Fredericton.