Schedule Issues At The Station

By SN Staff

Where to begin.

By now most of you have probably read Peter McGuire’s column in today’s Telegraph-Journal. If you haven’t because of their dreadful paywall, here’s the gist of it.

• If the Sea Dogs make it to the President’s Cup and assuming they have home ice advantage, Games 1 and 2 would be in Saint John on May 4 and 5 and the next three played on the road. Game 6 would apparently be played on Monday, May 14. A Game 7, if needed, would be have to be played Tuesday, May 15 in order for the participating teams to get ready for the Memorial Cup which begins Friday, May 18.
• On May 15, Harbour Station hosts a Johnny Reid concert so the game would have to be played at a neutral site. We repeat, JOHNNY REID.
• According to McGuire, Sea Dogs president Wayne Long has already been in talks with the Fredericton Aitken Centre, the Moncton Coliseum, the Summerside Wellness Centre, the Halifax Metro Centre and the Quispamsis qplex.
• If you think this is all a joke, check out the Aitken Centre ice schedule for May.
• If the Sea Dogs pull a Boston Red Sox this weekend and collapse, failing to finish first overall, things get even messier because of Cirque du Soleil at the Station from May 9 to 13.
• Anyone that jobs the Sea Dogs or their fans for thinking ahead this far is a moron. Plan ahead or die.

As Long points out, this mess really isn’t anybody’s fault. Harbour Station can’t run their business around Sea Dogs playoff games that may or may not happen.

Some thoughts on the possible locations:

Aitken Centre: This would be the ideal place to go, in our minds (although we are a bit bias since Tozer lives just down the street). From a fan perspective, this building is more than capable to host a QMJHL game. The concession food is also much better than Harbour Station. The problem with the AUC is getting it up to league standards - such as replay equipment.

Moncton Colisuem: This may feel more like a road game for the Sea Dogs. We have a feeling Moncton fans would be supporting the other team just a bit more.

Summerside Wellness Centre: Long drive for fans on a week night.

Halifax Metro Centre: See Summerside Wellness Centre.

qplex: Beautiful, beautiful facility but way too small. It probably wouldn’t be able to hold all season ticket holders.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this all plays out. This must be how Moncton Wildcats fans feel on a regular basis with all their building troubles.

The thought of having the Sea Dogs play home game on the road – and the biggest game of the year at that – sucks. Maybe Johnny Reid can write a song about it.  

The Sea Dogs have never played a Game 7 in franchise history – although they came very close to playing one in last year’s league final. 

CTV will apparently have a story on the situation tonight on their 6pm news.