Sea Dogs Beginning To Return

More help is on the way.

As National Hockey League teams begin to trim their training camp rosters, junior players are beginning to trickle back to their clubs.

Earlier today, the Washington Capitals assigned forward Stanislav Galiev back to Saint John. Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil and defenseman Pierre Durepos will be back soon as well.

The Columbus Blue Jackets cut Corbeil earlier today. He joins Chicoutimi’s Lucas Sedlak and Shawinigan’s Michael Chaput as Quebec Major Junior Hockey League players cut from Jackets camp today. Former Sea Dogs captain Mike Thomas was assigned to AHL Springfield. 

With the Sea Dogs last year, Corbeil had a 13-1-1 record to go along with a 2.17 goals against average and a 0.908 save percentage. With Jacob DeSerres now gone, Corbeil will take over as the No. 1 goaltender.

Corbeil played well last season when he joined Saint John mid-season but was also shaky at times. He’ll be looking to prove some doubters wrong this year.

“One way or another, Corbeil is going to be a story this season,” writes Rogers Sportsnet’s Patrick King in his QMJHL season preview. “No player has bigger shoes to fill than the new Sea Dogs' starter after the graduation of De Serres. If he can play well and steady the ship, he can deliver another championship in Saint John. If he rocks the boat, the Sea Dogs may look for another goalie.”

Sebastien Auger and Charlie Millen have split the goaltending duties in Saint John so far this season.

Along with the goaltending, the defense will also be getting an upgrade. According to the official Twitter of Pierre Durepos, Pierre Durepos will be back soon.

Durepos has been in Los Angeles attending Kings rookie and the Drew Doughty contract negotiation party training camp.

“Going to watch the game against Phoenix tonight at Staples Center,” he tweeted. “Back to Saint John tomorrow night!”

The Shediac native had three goals and 27 assists in 68 games last season. These four contests he has missed due to Kings camp are the first games he has not played in since joining the Sea Dogs.

Zack Phillips (Minnesota), Stephen MacAulay (St. Louis), Ryan Tesink (St. Louis), Nathan Beaulieu (Montreal), Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida) and Tomas Jurco (Detroit) are still away at NHL camps. 


Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation