USHL season underway

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The United States Hockey League held its annual Fall Classic last week in Chicago.

The event, which brings all of the league's teams into one location to start the year, saw each club play two regular season games. The regular regular season begins this weekend with teams back on their home ice.

Former Saint John Sea Dogs forwards Dylan and Matthew Krayer are both playing with the Tri-City Storm, who went 1-1-0-0 at the Fall Classic. Both recorded a goal and two assists.

There are also a few Sea Dogs draft picks playing in the USHL this season, which technically includes Finnegan Sears of the USNTDP. The program plays parts of its season in the USHL.

Here's how former Sea Dogs and draft picks performed at the Fall Classic.

Player	Team	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Dylan Krayer	TC	2	1	2	3
Matthew Krayer	TC	2	1	2	3
Matas Janulis*	CR	2	1	1	2
Finnegan Sears*	NTDP	2	0	1	1
Brian McFadden*	CHI	2	0	0	0

*Draft pick who has not played with Sea Dogs

The only goaltender currently playing in the USHL that was a Sea Dogs draft pick is 19-year-old Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz, who is entering his second season with the Muskegon Lumberjacks. He's 1-0 so far, stopping 22 of 24 shots in Muskegon's 3-2 overtime win over the Waterloo Black Hawks.

Oddly enough, Matthew Krayer, Janulis and McFadden were all part of Saint John's 2024 QMJHL Entry Draft class. That class also included Zachary Morin, who previously played with the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms.

It'll be interesting to follow some of these players throughout the year, particularly those who could be future Sea Dogs. These are interesting (and challenging, depending on who you ask) times for the USHL as they try and compete against the CHL for talent.

Sea Dogs remain 7th in CHL Top 10

Jeff Parsons/Newfoundland Regiment

It's poised to be quite a weekend for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Not only will this be the Sea Dogs' home opening weekend, but they'll be doing so as one of the CHL's top ranked teams – playing against two of the other top ranked squads.

For a second straight week, the Sea Dogs were ranked seventh in the CHL Top-10. The team will host the Moncton Wildcats, who were ranked 10th, on Friday followed by the Cape Breton Eagles, who were ranked third, on Saturday.

The Sea Dogs are coming off a road split in Newfoundland this past weekend.

Here's what the CHL website said of the Dogs.

Saint John split a pair of 4-2 decisions against the Newfoundland Regiment in St. John’s, led by three goals from Dylan Rozzi. Rozzi scored the Sea Dogs’ opening goal in both games, providing an early spark for his club. Alexander Donovan (1G-1A), Jamie Glance (2A) and Alexis Joseph (2A) each recorded two points, while draft-eligible defenceman Thomas Charbonneau scored his first goal as a Sea Dog. Buffalo Sabres prospect Samuel Meloche stopped 25 of 27 shots in his Saint John debut. The Sea Dogs now return home for an early test against two other ranked clubs, hosting No. 10 Moncton and No. 3 Cape Breton on consecutive nights.

The Wildcats are off to a 2-0 start because of course they are. The Eagles, meanwhile, dropped a pair of games in shootouts this past weekend while a number of their players remain away at NHL camps.

Friday's game at TD Station will begin at 7 p.m. while Saturday's will have a 4 p.m. start.

The Quebec Remparts were the only other QMJHL team to make this week's CHL Top-10, coming in at No. 8.

The WHL's Victoria Royals, who have never made it past the second round of the playoffs since relocating to the British Columbia capital in 2011, were ranked No. 1.

Hot start for Héroux in Val-d'Or

Mathieu Perrin/Val-d'Or Foreurs

Nolann Héroux had quite a Saturday.

The former Saint John Sea Dogs forward recorded a career high four assists in the Val-d'Or Foreurs' 6-3 victory over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. It was Héroux's second game with the Foreurs following an off-season trade.

The 17-year-old has certainly been setup for success in his new home, starting the season on Val-d'Or's top line with Philippe Veilleux and Nathan Brisson. There's a legitimate chance Héroux could be amongst the league's point leaders this season if he stays on that line.

Two games into the regular season, Héroux sits in a tie for the second most assists in the QMJHL.

Héroux, the 10th overall pick in the 2025 QMJHL Entry Draft, posted three goals and 10 assists in 39 games with the Sea Dogs last season. Saint John traded the speedy forward to Val-d'Or in June in exchange for a first-round pick and two second-rounders.

Also on the Foreurs this season is former Sea Dogs goaltender Arseni Radkov, who allowed three goals on 22 shots in the Foreurs' 4-3 season opening win over the Victoriaville Tigres on Friday.

Radkov and Héroux are just a couple of the former Sea Dogs to keep an eye on around the QMJHL this season. Here's the full list.

Player	Team	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Nolann Héroux	VDO	2	0	4	4
Chad Bellemare	SHE	2	2	0	2
Egan Beveridge	QUE	2	1	0	1
Cole Renaud	ROU	2	0	0	0
William Yared	SHA	2	0	0	0
Elliot Dubé	BLB	2	0	0	0
Vincent Croteau	SHE	0	0	0	0
Max Vilen	MON	0	0	0	0

Notebook: Crickard, Beaulieu win wild WHL debut

Swift Current Broncos

It was quite a Western Hockey League coaching debut for Travis Crickard and the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday.

The Broncos defeated the Prince Albert Raiders 5-2 in a game that was highlighted by an old school line brawl in the second period. Former Sea Dogs forward Jacob Beaulieu, also making his WHL regular season debut, was involved.

Haven't seen a legit 5 on 5 in awhile. #WHL
Swift Current Vs Prince Albert 09.19.26 #HFH pic.twitter.com/Yz7W8mpN0E

— Hockey Fight History (@HistoryOfFights) September 20, 2026

Crickard, the former head coach and general manager of the Sea Dogs, took over as Broncos head coach and general manager during the off-season.

Beaulieu was a free agent invite to Broncos training camp. The overage forward was also named part of the team's leadership group for the 2026-27 season.

The Broncos don't play again until Friday when they face the Moose Jaw Warriors.

SATURDAY FIGHTS

The Sea Dogs and Newfoundland Regiment had two fights within the first few minutes of the second period on Saturday.

The first saw a couple of Newfoundlanders drop the gloves as soon-to-turn-17-year-old Benjamin Veitch took on 19-year-old Jabez Seymour. 

Soon after, Matyas Cancik, in just his second career QMJHL game, took on 19-year-old Ryan Dwyer.

Both games this weekend were physical at times – which is often the case against Gordie Dwyer teams. It will be interesting to see if the Sea Dogs continue to lean into that style against other opponents.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 4-2

FINAL: Saint John 2, Newfoundland 4

Jeff Parsons/Newfoundland Regiment

ST. JOHN'S, NL - The Newfoundland Regiment scored three times in the third period in a 4-2 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday at Mary Brown's Centre.

Phenwick MacLean's first QMJHL goal at 16:12 of the third was the difference. Alexis Michaud added an empty net goal in the final minute to make it a 4-2 final.

Matthew Frost, who also scored in Friday night's season opener, netted two goals for the Regiment. Antoine Proulx made 37 stops in the win.

Dylan Rozzi and Thomas Charbonneau scored for Saint John. Rafaël Courchesne made 19 stops in the loss.

Saint John scored three power play goals against the Regiment in Friday's win. On Saturday, that man advantage couldn't deliver as much, scoring just once on five opportunities. The Sea Dogs had nearly 40 shots in this game but many were from clean shooting lanes that Proulx was able to handle. The finish isn't quite there for the Dogs yet, but there are certainly signs that it will come with time.

On defense, the Sea Dogs gave up several odd man rushes, something the team will want to fix ahead of next weekend's games.

While the Sea Dogs may feel like they let this game slip away – they had a 2-1 lead early in the third – leaving Newfoundland with a season opening split isn't too bad.

New Dogs, new numbers

Jeff Parsons/Newfoundland Regiment

There were a couple of notable numbers on the ice for the Saint John Sea Dogs on Friday.

The most obvious was Oliver Ozogany, who became the first player in Sea Dogs history to wear No. 98. It's the highest number ever worn by a Sea Dog, surpassing Stanislav Galiev who wore No. 97 throughout his junior career.

The other notable number was Jamie Glance's No. 17. Glance became just the third player to wear the number and the first to sport it since Mike Thomas, who wore 17 for his five seasons in Saint John. Thomas, who is now a player mentor with the Sea Dogs, ended his junior career by captaining Saint John to the 2011 Memorial Cup championship.

Jean-Philippe Roy-Vallières, who played 29 games with Saint John in 2005-06, is the other Sea Dog to wear No. 17.

With 17 back in use, the only numbers that appear to be unofficially retired are Jonathan Huberdeau's No. 11 and Alex Grant's No. 20. Oskar Drabczynski did wear 20 for two games last season, presumably due to the Under Armour jersey supply situation.