Yared commits to Penn State

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

William Yared has committed to the NCAA's Penn State University Lions, the Saint John Sea Dogs confirmed Saturday.

The 18-year-old is in his second season with the Sea Dogs and has 10 goals and 15 assists in 46 games. He posted 30 points in 58 games a year ago.

It was not announced what season his commitment is expected to begin.

#SJSeaDogs forward William Yared has committed to play Division 1 hockey at Penn State University following the completion of his QMJHL career.

Congratulations, Will!#GoDogsGo pic.twitter.com/W7WIh9hmoU

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) March 7, 2026

Penn State, who play in the Big Ten conference, have been in the news a lot over the past year after they landed Gavin McKenna. The school hasn't been a big landing spot for QMJHL players yet. The team's roster only includes one former QMJHLer in goaltender Josh Fleming while their current list of commitments doesn't have any.

Yared joins a lengthy list of current Sea Dogs players who are committed to NCAA programs.

2026-27 Commits 

Alexander Donovan - Denver (NCHC) 

Zachary Morin - Boston University (Hockey East) 

Everett Baldwin - Providence (Hockey East) 

Julien Wasmer - Maine (Hockey East)

Carl-Otto Magnusson - Connecticut (Hockey East)

Arseni Radkov - Massachusetts (Hockey East)

Olivier Duhamel - Clarkson (ECAC)

2027-28 Commits 

Cameron Chartrand - Boston College (Hockey East) 

Olivers Murnieks - Boston College (Hockey East)

Oskar Drabczynski - Harvard (ECAC)

The timing of these commitments could always change, so some of the players who are currently listed as leaving this off-season could stick around longer. We'll have to wait and see how things play out.

Wildcats defeat Armada; NCAA conference playoffs begin

Daniel St. Louis/Moncton Wildcats

MONCTON - The Moncton Wildcats picked up a key win on Friday night at Avenir Centre.

Moncton scored three times in the final 5:16 to defeat the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-1. The win moves the Wildcats into first-place in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League standings – for now at least. They have a one-point lead over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens but the Sags have played one less game.

While still not official, the Saint John Sea Dogs will very likely play whoever finishes first overall in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Wildcats host the Sea Dogs on Sunday. The Sagueneens, meanwhile, host the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday and the Victoriaville Tigres on Sunday.

The Armada, who are in a race with the Drummondville Voltigeurs for top spot in the Western Conference and third overall in the league, head home having lost three of four games on the Maritime portion of their road trip. They lost in Charlottetown, Saint John and Moncton but did win in Halifax, a game that saw both Elliot Dubé and Jacob Beaulieu score.

A few other news and notes from Friday night...

• In that Armada/Wildcats game, Moncton's Kuzma Voronin was given a game misconduct late in the third period after throwing his stick into the crowd during a goal celebration.
• The Rimouski Oceanic lost their 20th straight game, falling 9-2 to the Sherbrooke Phoenix. They only have six games remaining, so even if they lose out, they will not reach the league record of 27 straight losses.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Charles Savoie had an assist and three shots in Lindenwood's 5-4 win over Long Island in the United Collegiate Hockey Cup on Thursday. Lindenwood will play Alaska on Saturday in the championship game.
• Matteo Mann and Colorado College fell 5-2 to Western Michigan in the opening game of their best-of-three NCHC quarterfinal playoff series. Game 2 is Saturday.
• Noah Reinhart scored as Michigan Tech defeated Bowling Green 5-3 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three CCHA quarterfinal playoff series. Game 2 is Saturday.

  Noah Reinhart on the power-play! Huskies lead 3-2 in the 2nd period. #mtuhky #FollowTheHuskies pic.twitter.com/u82bIx9eTi

  — Michigan Tech Hockey (@mtuhky) March 7, 2026

• Charles-Edward Gravel made 65 saves as Mercyhurst fell 4-3 in triple overtime to Bentley in Game 1 of the best-of-three AHA quarterfinal playoff series. Shots were 68-26 in favour of Bentley, who are the top seed in the AHA. Game 2 is Saturday.

NCAA playoffs begin for ex-Dogs

Michigan Tech

The NCAA hockey conference playoffs have barely started and there's already been one upset led by a former Saint John Sea Dog.

Former Sea Dogs goaltender Charles-Edward Gravel made 47 saves to help the Mercyhurst Lakers defeat the Canisius Golden Griffins 5-2 in the single-game elimination first round of the Atlantic Hockey America playoffs on Tuesday.

The victory advances the Lakers, who finished last in the AHA regular season with a 5-18-3 record, to the quarterfinals. Mercyhurst will face the top-seeded Bentley Falcons in a best-of-three series that begins on Friday.

Out of the 63 teams in college hockey, the Lakers were ranked 62nd by the NPI rankings with an overall record of 6-26-3. Only Alaska-Anchorage was worse.

Gravel went 3-20-3 with a 3.29 goals against average and a .904 save percentage in the regular season.

A number of other conferences begin their playoffs on Friday.

In the NCHC, Matteo Mann and Colorado College will face defending national champion Western Michigan in the first round. In the CCHA, Noah Reinhart and Michigan Tech will take on Bowling Green. 

Over in the ECAC, Nate Tivey and Quinnipiac have a bye through to the quarterfinals after winning the regular season. The Bobcats are ranked seventh in the NPI.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-3

FINAL: Blainville-Boisbriand 3, Saint John 5

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs pulled off an upset win on Wednesday at TD Station.

Dylan Rozzi scored what proved to be the game-winner in the second period as the Sea Dogs defeated the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 5-3. It's the second straight loss for the Armada, who sit fourth overall in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League standings.

Rozzi scored a pair of goals while Olivier Groulx, Everett Baldwin and Angelo Fullerton also converted. Arseni Radkov had a strong performance in net, making 41 saves in the victory – including 16 in the third period.

The Sea Dogs never trailed in this game but couldn't pull away until the second period when Rozzi scored 1:01 after Baldwin, giving Saint John a 4-2 lead.

The Armada cut the lead to 4-3 at 15:23 of the third and pulled goaltender William Lacelle with 2:08 remaining. The Sea Dogs quickly took advantage with Fullerton scoring into the empty net at 18:00, making it 5-3.

The Armada heavily outshot the Sea Dogs all game with shots ending 44-22 in favour of the visitors. But the Sea Dogs, led by Radkov, were able to shutdown the Armada offense just enough – which included keeping Justin Carbonneau, the QMJHL leader in goals, to just two assists.

Torkel Jennersjo, Bill Zonnon and Mateo Nobert scored for the Armada. Lacelle made 17 stops in the loss.

The Sea Dogs have now won three of their past four games and are 2-1 under Brian Casey.

Game Day 58: vs Armada

Sebastien Gervais/Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs welcome some familiar faces to TD Station tonight.

Jacob Beaulieu, Elliot Dubé and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada make their first and only appearance of the season in Saint John. Game time is 7 p.m.

This will be the final time the Sea Dogs face a Western Conference team this season. 

Saint John will look to rebound from a tough 5-4 home loss against the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday, a loss that saw the Sea Dogs allow the game-winning goal in the final minute of the third period. The loss ended a two-game winning streak.

The Armada, who sit fourth overall in the QMJHL standings, are on a lengthy road trip that began Friday in Rimouski and continued Sunday in Charlottetown. They'll now play a three-in-three, visiting Saint John, Halifax and Moncton on consecutive nights.

Stream/TV/Radio: FloHockey/None/Sea Dogs Audio Network

Records: The Sea Dogs are 21-31-5-0 for 47 points (eighth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Armada are 35-15-5-1 for 76 points (second Western/fourth QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-4 home loss to the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday. Angelo Fullerton had two goals for Saint John while Jabez Seymour and Everett Baldwin also scored. Rafaël Courchesne made 42 saves in the loss. The Armada are coming off a 7-4 loss in Charlottetown on Sunday. Justin Carbonneau had a hat trick for Blainville-Boisbriand while Matt Gosselin also scored. William Lacelle made 24 stops in the loss.

Sea Dogs attendance on the rise

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs are poised to have their best season at the box office since before the pandemic.

With three home games remaining, the Sea Dogs are averaging 3,109 fans per game, a number that will likely increase when their home schedule concludes on March 14. The last few home games of the regular season are typically some of the most attended.

The Sea Dogs averaged 2,811 fans per game last season, which was an increase from the previous year. This will be the second straight year that Saint John's attendance has increased, a positive sign especially given that the on-ice product has continued to struggle.

As has been written about at length in recent seasons, the Sea Dogs are one of the only teams in the CHL that hasn't fully rebounded at the gate post-pandemic. The team is likely to come close to that 2019-20 average this season.

Season	Total	Average
2015-16	123,399	3,629 (4th)
2016-17	142,829	4,201 (3rd)
2017-18	144,723	4,257 (4th)
2018-19	116,511	3,427 (5th)
2019-20	107,042	3,345 (6th)*
2020-21	25,123	1,478 (3rd)**
2021-22	89,846	2,643 (5th)***
2022-23	100,536	2,957 (7th)
2023-24	93,850	2,760 (8th)
2024-25	89,948	2,811 (10th)

*Final two home games cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

**All 17 home games played under COVID-19 capacity restrictions

***Three home games played under COVID-19 capacity restrictions

Saint John's full all-time attendance figures can be found here.

The Sea Dogs currently sit sixth in league attendance, trailing Quebec (9,106), Halifax (7,952), Newfoundland (5,061), Moncton (4,863) and Chicoutimi (3,459).

While attendance at TD Station is up, winning on home ice has been a problem. The Sea Dogs have a home record of 10-17-2-0, which is the fourth worst in the QMJHL.

Saint John finished 12-20-0-0 at TD Station in 2024-25.

The Sea Dogs will be in tough on Wednesday night when they host the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, who sit fourth overall in the QMJHL standings. Saint John closes out their home schedule March 13-14 when they host the Halifax Mooseheads for a pair of games.