Sea Dogs Notebook

ONE MORE SLEEP

The Saint John Sea Dogs begin their seventh season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League tomorrow night at 7pm against the Moncton Wildcats.

The Brunswick News Rivalry Cup, the President’s Cup, and the Memorial Cup will all be on hand as the 2011-12 QMJHL season begins.

Tomorrow’s game will also feature a pre-game Fan Festival from 4 to 6 p.m., with a live music, a barbecue, and a tailgate-party atmosphere on the West Side of Harbour Station. Fans will be treated to a special video presentation highlighting the championship season, and will have a final opportunity to have photos taken with the cups before they are returned to the league offices. The first 6,000 fans in attendance will receive a special limited-edition keepsake of the 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup championship, compliments of the Sea Dogs and Irving Oil. 

Ticket availability is still listed as “good” on the Harbour Station website.

SEASON-TICKET DRIVE

In today’s Telegraph-Journal, Peter McGuire reports that “the Sea Dogs have sold a record 2,650 season tickets to date heading into Thursday's season opener against.

“The number of tickets sold is just 50 shy of their 2,700 goal.”

BOYER SUSPENDED

PEI Rocket defenseman Kevin Boyer has been suspended by one-game by the QMJHL for something he did in a pre-season game against Saint John.

Here’s the release:

The prefect of discipline of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Raymond Bolduc, suspended Kevin Boyer of the PEI Rockets for one game due to unsportsmanlike conduct during the August 30thmatchup with the Saint John Sea Dogs. This suspension is in effect as of the beginning of the regular season. 

The decision was rendered after reviewing the video of the incident, gathering the testimonies from the players and the organizations involved, reading the official’s report and consulting the independent committee in the matter of disciplinary sanctions.

Boyer will miss the Rocket’s first game on Friday against the Halifax Mooseheads. He recorded an assist in 33 games last year.

ALE HOUSE TV

Saint John Ale House TV live from Harbour Station:

ON TV

In a release posted today, the league stated that “approximately seventy-five games will be offered on television with TELUS TV, TVA SPORTS,ROGERS SPORTSNET, CANAL VOX and EASTLINK broadcasting games. The majority of the games will be broadcast Friday nights, the QMJHL’s new night for hockey. Also, TVA SPORTS will offer an all-new bi-monthly TV show starting in September and concluding with the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup.”

The Sea Dogs will appear on Eastlink four times this year:

Friday, October 21st at 7:00PM - Saint John @ Halifax
Friday, November 18th at 7:00PM - Saint John @ PEI
Friday, December 16th at 7:00PM - Saint John @ Cape Breton
Friday, March 16th at 7:00PM - Saint John @ Cape Breton

CANUCKS CAMP INVITES

The Vancouver Sun has done solid job at breaking down all of their rookie camp free agent invites. Those invites include Sea Dogs defenseman Ian Saab and former goaltender Karel St. Laurent.

“He’s a willing combatant with the gloves off, is reportedly a reasonable skater, and has the capability to keep his game simple,” writes Daniel Wagner of Saab. “His potential likely peaks at a 7th defenseman at the NHL level if he continues to develop his game. He describes receiving the invitation from the Canucks as ‘one of the best days of my life’ so you know he’ll be enthusiastic during the tournament: look for him to set the tone with a fight in his first game.”

“With his career in junior over, St. Laurent is now battling for a professional job,” Wagner writes about St. Laurent. “It may seem unlikely that the Canucks organization is the best place to start, but the Young Stars tournament gives him an opportunity to showcase his skill to five NHL teams, one of whom may be looking for depth on their goaltending chart. With Jensen only 18 years old, St. Laurent will likely start the one or two games that Honzik doesn’t.”

CRADDOCK

A couple of nights ago Rory Craddock’s name mysteriously appeared on the Sea Dogs roster posted on their website. It was removed shortly after.

After searching the interweb, we found this article in Le Droit that states the defenseman was released by the Gatineau Olympiques and then received an invitation to Sea Dogs camp. At the time (the article was written on August 26) he was unsure if he would report to Saint John.

No idea what his current situation is.

Craddock recorded a goal and an assist in 30 games with the ‘Piques last year. He also played 20 games with the OJHL’s Markham Waxers.

Saint John seems to like Ontario defensemen. Craddock is a native of Oshawa and they already have Nathan Beaulieu and Jason Seed on their roster. Eric Gelinas could also return to the Sea Dogs.

BILLBOARDS

From CHSJ News, a feature on today’s billboard/banner press conference.

NUMBERS GAME

Going by the roster on the Sea Dogs website, here are the numbers that some of the new Sea Dogs will be sporting:

#1 - Charlie Millen
#4 – Ian Saab
#5 – Benjamin Hade
#16 – Colin Campbell
#26 – Brock Morrison
#27 – Oliver Cooper
#33 - Sebastien Auger

WILD PROSPECTS

David O’Connor of The Hockey Writers has named Sea Dogs forward Zack Phillips one of three Wild prospects to watch at the Traverse City Tournament.

Phillips may arguably be one of the top players to watch in the whole tournament, not just on the Wild. The 28th overall selection in the 2011 NHL Draft is projected to be a top-six forward on the Wild in the near future, and has a great combination of skill and toughness. Some say that playing on the Memorial Cup Champion Saint John Sea Dogs alongside fellow 2011 draft picks Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Jurco allowed him to look better than he actually is, but the majority of scouts will tell you that Phillips is the real deal. 

The other two Wild prospects he has listed are both American Hockey League players.

SEADOGSTV EPISODE

SeaDogsTV catches up with Zack Phillips, Tomas Jurco and head coach Gerard Gallant.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation