Sea Dogs Notebook

UP NEXT

Forgotten in all the hype surrounding Saturday’s ‘Night of Champions’ game is that the Sea Dogs actually play a game tomorrow.

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are in town for a 7:30pm showdown at Harbour Station. It’s the first trip to Saint John for the Eagles this season.

Cape Breton defeated Saint John 8-5 at Centre 200 on September 16. The Sea Dogs, who were icing a very depleted lineup with so many players away at NHL training camps, blew a 4-1 lead in the loss.

NAMES AND RINGS

Interesting read in the Telegraph-Journal on Tuesday about who gets their name on the Memorial Cup and who receives championship rings. It’s not an easy thing to decide.

SPORTSNET

Sportsnet announced last night that they will be airing a Canadian Hockey League game every Friday night in high definition during the regular season.

“We wanted a home position for CHL hockey on Sportsnet and created destination viewing with Friday Night Hockey,” said Scott Moore, President, Broadcasting, Rogers Media.  “We recognize the hunger and passion for junior hockey across the country and now fans will have a consistent night each week to catch all the action.”

Sportsnet also announced that RJ Broadhead will do play-by-play this season after the station parted ways with Peter Loubardias over the off-season. Analyst Sam Cosentino and host Rob Faulds are returning for another year. Cosentino will apparently be doing Skype chats throughout the season which should be quite exciting.

The first-half broadcast schedule was released today, and to the shock of nobody, only one QMJHL game will be aired while the OHL and WHL will each have three. The Q game features the Val-d’Or Foreurs taking on the Gatineau Olympiques. Doesn’t get much more exciting than that.

POISED FOR A REPEAT

Speaking of Loubardias, he is doing some writing for Chris Cuthbert’s ‘Golden Goal Sports Blog’ and yesterday had a post about why he believes the Sea Dogs are favourites to repeat as national champions.

“The way I see it, Gerard Gallants team has all the tools to do it again,” writes Loubardias. “With a supporting cast that features the likes of first round picks Zack Phillips and Nathan Beaulieu, Detroit second rounder Tomas Jurco and Washington Capitals prospect Stanislav Galiev (just to name a few), how can this group not be the favourite to return to glory?  Lets face it, almost everyone is back.”

“Many in the hockey world, including myself, were somewhat stunned when they were not awarded the right to host this year's Memorial Cup. While Gerard Gallant and company don't like to talk about it publicly, they are some kind of sour about it.”

BRIAN HARRIS

19-year old defenseman Brian Harris has chosen to decommit from the University of Maine, reported the Maine Hockey Journal on Monday.

MHJ added that “Harris has garnered interest from the Saint John Sea Dogs, Halifax Mooseheads, and the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.”

“College hockey is obviously the big choice,” Harris said. “Quebec is a great place to play hockey because they send a lot of players to the pros.”

The 5’9, 185-pound d-man is currently playing with the Boston Junior Bruins of the Eastern Junior Hockey League.

WJC POWER RANKINGS

Sea Dogs captain Jonathan Huberdeau was listed as a ‘hot’player this week in Sportsnet's World Junior Hockey Championships Power Rankings.

“The Sea Dogs' newest captain is padding his assist total early this season,” writes Patrick King. “Huberdeau scored twice in three games last week, but set up his teammates six times to give him eight points on the week. He was also a plus-6, bringing that total up to plus-12 this season. Huberdeau is basically a lock for the world junior team this Christmas and will most likely wear a letter in Alberta.”

Rimouski defenseman Jerome Gauthier-Leduc was also listed as a hot player.

ON FIRE

The Florida Panthers website named Huberdeau their ‘Prospect on Fire’ this past week.

The Sea Dogs captain has been leading all the way as the team is 5-0 since the Cats prospect was named to the position on October 13. Saint John has outscored their opponents 34-8 over that span.

Those are some impressive numbers.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The Rimouski newspaper L’Advantage took a look at how QMJHL players on Twitter are having an impact on the league. The Sea Dogs are used in a few of their examples.

JURCO ARTICLE

RedWingsCentral.com had an article on Tomas Jurco posted this week.

“It’s not about those moves — sometimes you can (use them), but sometimes it’s not the right time,” Jurco said. “Sometimes you can do three really nice moves but you won’t score. Sometimes you can get a point just by shooting the puck (at the net) from the corner. I’m just trying to play my game and we’ll see how many points I’m going to finish with.”

Jurco’s been playing well this season on the bachelor line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Zack Phillips. He has seven goals and six assists in 11 contests.

TRYOUT

Two Sea Dogs prospects have been named to Canada East’s selection camp roster for the World Junior A Challenge this November. The camp begins this weekend in Ontario. The tournament begins November in Langley, BC.

Forwards Stephen Anderson and Colin Campbell were both named to the camp roster on Monday. Anderson has played in 10 games with Saint John this season, recording two goals and two assists. Campbell recorded two assists in the four games he played in.

In eight games with the Summerside Western Capitals, Anderson has 10 goals and three assists. Campbell leads the Yarmouth Mariners in scoring with 10 goals and four assists 11 matches.

Only four players from the Maritime Junior Hockey League were named to the camp roster.

HUBERDEAU VIDEO

Lastly, here is John Moore’s interview with Huberdeau.