DOGS MAY WAIT TO RAISE BANNERS

It doesn’t look like the Saint John Sea Dogs will be raising any banners on opening night, reports the Telegraph-Journal.

"We'd like to wait certainly until the core of our group is back and that will probably be early October," said Sea Dogs president Wayne Long.

The 2011-12 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League schedule was released yesterday. The Sea Dogs open the season on Thursday, September 8 at Harbour Station when they host the Moncton Wildcats. With so many players attending National Hockey League training camps in the fall, Saint John’s lineup for the first few weeks of the season will be quite depleted.

It does make sense to wait, but is a bit bizarre to not raise championship banners on opening night.

The Sea Dogs have four banners to raise as Maritime Division, Regular Season, President’s Cup and Memorial Cup Champions.

Saint John plays six home games in October with the earliest being October 8 against Rimouski. Their final home game of the month is October 29 against Chicoutimi.