It's September

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

September is here – which means regular season hockey is near.

The Saint John Sea Dogs will open up the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League season on Friday, Sept. 18 when they visit the Newfoundland Regiment at 6:30 p.m. Atlantic. They'll also face the Regiment the following night.

The Sea Dogs will play their first home game of the season on Friday, Sept. 25 when they host the Moncton Wildcats. The next day – note the 4 p.m. puck drop – they'll host the Cape Breton Eagles.

A few other early season scheduling notes:

• The Sea Dogs were 0-6-2-0 against the Regiment last season, which included going 0-4 at Mary Brown's Centre. They've not won in St. John's since the Fog Devils days.
• There's going to be a lot of talk about how good the competition will be amongst the Atlantic-based teams this season. The Sea Dogs will see all five of them within the first eight games of the season.
• Saint John will play eight of their first 11 games at TD Station. That includes a stretch of six straight home games in October.
• In case you were wondering, the opening week of the QMJHL season is sponsored by Nissan.

The Sea Dogs still have two pre-season games remaining before putting their focus on the regular season. The team will host the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday night at TD Station and visit the Moose next Friday, Sept. 11 at Dartmouth's RBC Centre.

Tickets for Friday's game are general admission.

Sea Dogs unveil new centre ice look

Centre ice at TD Station will have a different look this season.

The Saint John Sea Dogs shared on social media Monday what this year's centre ice creative will look like. Click the arrow on the below Instagram post to see a video.

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A post shared by Saint John Sea Dogs (@sjseadogs)

It's a darker look compared to last year and the team is bringing back a solid red line, one that has the team's wordmark printed on it.

The Sea Dogs had a similarly dark centre ice look for their 20th anniversary season in 2024-25.

Sea Dogs reassign three more

The Saint John Sea Dogs announced three more reassignments on Monday.

Forwards Brock Lyons and Eliot Tozer along with goaltender Sam Pitcher have all been cut from the team's training camp roster. The moves mean 27 players remain at Sea Dogs camp.

Lyons, selected in the ninth-round of this year's QMJHL Entry Draft after not being picked last year, leaves Sea Dogs camp tied for the team lead in pre-season scoring with a goal and two assists in three games.

The 17-year-old has spent the past two seasons with the Saint John Vito's. His Maritime Junior Hockey League rights are held by the Amherst Ramblers, where he appeared in three games last season.

Tozer, a 12th-round pick in 2025, played in all three of Saint John's pre-season games and was held pointless. Like Lyons, the 17-year-old has spent the past two seasons with the Vito's. His MHL rights were recently acquired by the Miramichi Timberwolves.

Pitcher, an 11th-round pick in 2025, played just over 90-minutes with the Sea Dogs during the pre-season, allowing one goal on a total of 30 shots. The 17-year-old Newfoundlander spent last season with Bourget Collège's under-18 team. His MHL rights are also held by the Steamers.

All three had strong camps and could certainly be called up at some during the regular season.

Saint John now has 13 forwards, 11 defensemen and three goaltenders remaining in camp. There's certainly a logjam on the backend, so we'll have to see how that plays out.

The Sea Dogs are back in pre-season action on Friday when they host the Halifax Mooseheads at 7 p.m. at TD Station.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 4-1

FINAL: Rimouski 4, Saint John 1

WOODSTOCK, NB - The Saint John Sea Dogs couldn't find their finishing touch in a 4-1 pre-season loss to the Rimouski Oceanic on Sunday.

Saint John registered just 17 shots on goals – four shots in each of the final two periods – with their lone goal coming courtesy of Jamie Glance on a penalty shot. The Sea Dogs were able to generate some dangerous chances, but just not enough of them.

Jamie Glance gets his first of the pre-season on a penalty shot. pic.twitter.com/z0lMViWIaS

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) August 30, 2026

The Sea Dogs' power play entered the game 3/6 this pre-season. They went 0/3 in this game.

Saint John didn't dress several regulars, so the final result doesn't mean much. This was likely the final chance for a number of players to impress before another round of cuts come along.

Rafaël Courchesne got the start – his first appearance this pre-season – and allowed three goals on 10 shots. Sam Pitcher stopped all 12 shots he faced in the second half of the game.

Justin Gagnon, the eighth overall pick in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft, scored his third and fourth goals of the pre-season to lead the Oceanic to their fourth win of exhibition play. Mathys Dube and Matyas Cutta also scored.

Rimouski went 2/2 on the power play.

Tommy Saulnier played the first two periods in the Oceanic net, allowing a goal on 13 shots. Edouard Lord stopped all four shots he faced in the third.

Pre-Season Game Day 3: vs Oceanic

WOODSTOCK, NB - The Saint John Sea Dogs will play their third pre-season game of the week this afternoon at the AYR Motor Centre.

It's the second straight year the Sea Dogs have played a pre-season game in Woodstock. They fell 5-4 to the Moncton Wildcats last year.

This year they'll be facing a different opponent – one they've never faced in pre-season play. The Rimouski Oceanic will make the 3.5 hour drive to Woodstock. It's rare to see Quebec teams facing Atlantic teams in exhibition play, but the Oceanic and Acadie-Bathurst Titan did frequently partner up back in the day.

The Sea Dogs have 30 players remaining on their training camp roster following five reassignments on Saturday. This could be an important game for a number of players as the roster continues to trim down.

Game time today is 4 p.m.

Radio/TV/Stream: None/None/Sea Dogs YouTube

Pre-Season Records: Saint John is 2-0-0-0 for four points this pre-season while Rimouski is 3-0-0-0 for six points.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-4 win over the Moncton Wildcats in Fredericton on Friday. Olivier Groulx, Alexis Joseph, Alexander Donovan, Brock Lyons and Dylan Rozzi all scored. Jase MacPherson made 33 stops. The Oceanic are coming off a 3-2 overtime win over the Quebec Remparts on Friday. Justin Gagnon scored twice while Max Brien added a single. Edouard Lord and Morgan Blackwood split the win in net.

Five more cut from camp

The Saint John Sea Dogs' training camp roster is now down to 30.

The team announced the reassignment of five players on Saturday. That leaves 15 forwards, 11 defensemen and four goaltenders remaining in camp. An updated roster is here.

The five players reassigned on Saturday were:

Forwards

Madison Bouchard

Nathan Riendeau

Kaidan Sahajpal

Defensemen

Brodie Anderson

Julien Lacroix

Riendeau and Anderson were both selected in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft while Bouchard was picked last year. Anderson played in both of Saint John's pre-season games as a seventh defensemen while Bouchard and Riendeau played in Wednesday's game.

Defenseman Lawrence Williams (first-round) and forward Brock Lyons (ninth-round) are the only 2026 picks remaining in camp.

Sahajpal, added as a free agent last year, also played in both of Saint John's pre-season games. Lacroix, a 2025 draft pick, played on Wednesday.

None of these reassignments come as big surprises. With 30 players left, now is when some tough cuts are coming.

The Sea Dogs play their third pre-season game of the week on Sunday when they host the Rimouski Oceanic at 4 p.m. in Woodstock.