First round playoff predictions

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The opening round of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League playoffs begin Thursday night in St. John's – so let's get to some predictions.

Now, if you've read this site long enough, you'll know that I am a first round hater. I have six of the eight series being sweeps. I hope I am pleasantly surprised and we get more drama than I expect.

Eastern Conference

1. Moncton vs. 8. Saint John - Wildcats in 4

Sorry. The Sea Dogs are going to have to play the best defense they've played all year and get outstanding goaltending to have any chance against a Wildcats team that is rolling right now. 

2. Chicoutimi vs. 7. Halifax - Sagueneens in 4

Halifax pulled off a big first round upset in last year's playoffs but they don't have their star (goaltender Jacob Steinman) from that series anymore. Like Moncton, the Sags have been rolling down the stretch and I don't expect them to have much trouble with the Mooseheads.

3. Newfoundland vs. 6. Cape Breton - Regiment in 4

Cape Breton has just two wins since Valentine's Day and are not entering the playoffs fully healthy. They can't score. I don't think the Regiment will have a lot of trouble here, but the wildcard with Newfoundland remains their discipline, which will be interesting to follow in these playoffs.

4. Charlottetown vs. 5. Québec - Islanders in 5

Only three points separated these two in the standings but it really feels like Charlottetown could take off in these playoffs. All eyes are on Ivan Ryabkin who could legitimately carry the Isles on a deep run.

NCAA tournament begins Thursday for ex-Dogs

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The NCAA men's hockey tournament begins Thursday and two former Saint John Sea Dogs are set to meet.

Kale McCallum and the Providence Friars will take on Nate Tivey and the Quinnipiac Bobcats in the opening game of the Sioux Falls regional on Thursday. McCallum and Tivey are the lone Sea Dogs alumni that have qualified for the 16-team tournament.

There are four regionals with four teams in each. The winner of each regional will advance to the Frozen Four in Las Vegas, which is set to take place April 9 and 11.

Also in the Sioux Falls regional are the North Dakota Fighting Hawks and the Merrimack Warriors. North Dakota is the top-ranked team in the group followed by Providence, Quinnipiac and Merrimack.

McCallum and the Friars won the Hockey East regular season title but were upset in the single elimination quarterfinals, falling to the No. 8 seeded Warriors who went on to win the tournament. 

Similarly, Tivey and Bobcats were ECAC regular season champions but were upset in the quarterfinals, getting swept in a best-of-three series by the No. 8 seeded Clarkson Golden Knights. The Dartmouth Big Green ultimately won the ECAC tournament.

Here's a look at the full NCAA tournament bracket. 

College Hockey News

The tournament format is neat in theory – but it comes with some problems and is a cautionary tale for the CHL if they ever wanted to do something similar with an expanded Memorial Cup format. Thursday's game between Province and Quinnipiac, for example, is being played on a Thursday afternoon 1,500 miles away from where the two schools are based. The regionals struggle to replicate one of the major aspects that make college hockey so much fun to watch: the atmosphere of the arenas.

Here's a final look at how former Sea Dogs skaters performed in their first college hockey seasons.

Player	Team	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Charles Savoie	Lindenwood	23	9	18	27
Noah Reinhart	Michigan Tech	38	9	12	21
Cam MacDonald	New Hampshire	33	7	7	14
Kale McCallum	Providence	30	5	9	14
Nate Tivey	Quinnipiac	36	3	5	8
Matteo Mann	Colorado College	28	0	2	2

Charles-Edward Gravel of Mercyhurst was the only ex-Dogs goaltender to play NCAA hockey this season.

Sea Dogs announce award winners

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Saint John Sea Dogs captain Olivier Groulx has been named the team's most valuable player for the 2025-26 season.

Groulx guided a young Sea Dogs team through a challenging season. He finished the year with a team high 66 points and was tied for fourth in goals with 20.

Along with MVP honours, Groulx won the club's top scorer award, players' choice MVP honour and was named top defensive forward.

The Sea Dogs announced the full list of team award winners on social media on Wednesday.

Pepsi Top Scorer — Olivier Groulx 

McDonald's Rookie of the Year — Alexis Joseph 

TD Community Impact Award — Alex Donovan 

Alpine Three Stars Award — Alexis Joseph 

Mike Thomas Players' Choice MVP — Olivier Groulx 

SJ Airport Student-Athlete of the Year — Alexis Joseph 

Irving Oil Team Player Award — Angelo Fullerton 

Make-A-Wish Fan Choice Award — Zach Morin 

Deloitte Top Defensive Forward — Olivier Groulx 

Tim Horton's Most Improved Player — Angelo Fullerton 

NTI Boilers Top Defenceman — Olivier Duhamel 

Bell Aliant Most Valuable Player — Olivier Groulx

Last season, Groulx took home the top scorer, top defensive forward and most improved player awards.

This is the second straight year Zachary Morin won the fan choice award.

The Sea Dogs begin the QMJHL playoffs on Friday when they visit the Moncton Wildcats.

Notebook: Impressive rookie seasons

JaimeLee Gouthro/Cape Breton Eagles

Both Alexander Donovan and Alexis Joseph came up just short of tying the Sea Dogs franchise record for goals in a season by a rookie.

Donovan finished the year with 25 goals while Joseph posted 24. The team record is 26, which is held by Tomas Jurco (2009-10) and Ostap Safin (2017-18).

Joseph did set team records for most goals (24) and points (60) in a season by a 16-year-old. 

Jospeh's 60 points tie him with Stansislav Galiev (2009-10) for the second most in team history amongst all rookies. The overall rookie points record remains Chris DiDomenico's 75 in 2006-07)

BALDWIN'S NUMBERS

Everett Baldwin finishes the season with 15 goals, placing him in a tie with Charlottetown's Marcus Kearsey for the league lead in goals by defensemen.

Baldwin ties Alex Grant for the third most goals in a season by a Sea Dogs defenseman. Jeremie Poirier had 20 in 2019-20 and 16 in 2021-22.

Baldwin set the Sea Dogs franchise record for both goals (15) and points (44) by a rookie defenseman. 

UQTR wins University Cup; MHL playoffs update

HALIFAX - The UQTR Patriotes love playing in Nova Scotia.

The Patriotes captured their second University Cup title in five years with a 3-2 overtime win over the Saint Mary's Huskies on Sunday afternoon at Scotiabank Centre. The last time the tournament was held in Nova Scotia – 2022 in Wolfville – the Patriotes defeated the Alberta Golden Bears 5-4 in double overtime.

Felix Lafrance, who played with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, Cape Breton Eagles, Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Acadie-Bathurst Titan, scored the overtime winner with 5:35 remaining in the first session of extra time.

While UQTR's roster is loaded with former QMJHL talent, none played for the Saint John Sea Dogs. The Huskies lineup featured former Sea Dog Connor Trenholm.

The Huskies were the tournament's hosts and, after being eliminated in the first round of the AUS playoffs, were the No. 8 seed. They upset No. 1 Saskatchewan in their opener on Thursday and then defeated Windsor 4-1 in the Saturday afternoon semifinal.

UQTR advanced to the championship game with a 7-4 win over the UNB Reds in Saturday night's semifinal. The Patriotes scored four times in the first period – including twice in the first 4:41 – to take control of the game.

The Reds were victorious in the bronze medal game, which took place at 9 a.m. (not a typo) at Scotiabank Centre. Former Sea Dogs forwards Nick Blagden and Leighton Carruthers both had assists in the 5-1 win. Peter Reynolds remained out of the lineup.

Playoff schedule, matchups released

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

HALIFAX - The Saint John Sea Dogs will begin the first round of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League playoffs on Friday in Moncton.

As expected, the first two games of Saint John's series with the Moncton Wildcats will take place Friday and Saturday at Avenir Centre, respectively. The series will then shift to Saint John.

Here is the full schedule:

The Sea Dogs have been locked into the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference for a couple weeks but had to wait until Saturday afternoon to have their opponent determined. The Wildcats secured top spot with a win over the Charlottetown Islanders, edging the Chicoutimi Sagueneens by a single point.

This is will be just the second playoff series between the Sea Dogs and Wildcats. They last met in the 2010 QMJHL final which Moncton took in six games.

The Sea Dogs and Wildcats also met in the opening round of the COVID impacted 2021 playoffs, which was a round robin format that also included the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.