Sea Dogs Notebook

UP NEXT

It’s hard to believe, but this is Saint John’s final homestand of the regular season. The Dogs have seven games remaining on their schedule but this weekend’s matches will be the last ones played at Harbour Station until the post-season.

Tonight at 7:30pm, it’s a battle of worst versus first as the PEI Rocket visit Saint John. This game has been designated “Irish Celebration Night.”

Then on Saturday, the Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 7pm on Fan Appreciation Night. There will be a number of giveaways throughout the evening.

According to a tweet from Sea Dogs game host Kyle Ferguson yesterday, under 1,500 tickets remain for tonight’s game and 400 for tomorrow’s. Saint John traditionally has large crowds in the final few home games of the regular season.

For those unable to attend, we’ll be live blogging the games like a boss.

FEBRUARY

February was a good month for the Sea Dogs. The team went a perfect 10-0 in the month, extending their winning streak to 15 games.

The Dogs outscored opponents 52-16 over the 10 games, averaging 5.2 goals per game. Here’s what went down this month:

Date	Visitor		Home
Fri Feb 3	Saint John	3	Drummondville	2
Sat Feb 4	Saint John	2	Shawinigan	1
Sat Feb 11	Saint John	5	PEI	0
Sun Feb 12	Acadie-Bathurst	2	Saint John	7
Wed Feb 15	Saint John	10	PEI	1
Fri Feb 17	Quebec	1	Saint John	4
Tue Feb 21	Halifax	3	Saint John	4
Sat Feb 25	Saint John	3	Moncton	2
Sun Feb 26	Cape Breton	1	Saint John	9
Tue Feb 28	Moncton	3	Saint John	5

Saint John will play seven games in March to wrap up the season. Five of those will be played on the road.

V-REDS

The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds are returning to the Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey championship. They advanced to the final with a 3-2 overtime victory over the UPEI Panthers on Wednesday night in Charlottetown, completing a 3-0 series sweep.

Former Sea Dog goaltender Travis Fullerton made 29 saves for UNB. According to UNB Hockey Fans, “the V-Reds improved to 14-0-1 with Travis Fullerton in net, surrendering only 27 goals in that span.”

Ex-Sea Dog had Jordan Knox had an assist for the Panthers.

UNB will play either Moncton or Saint Mary’s in the final. U de M leads the best-of-five series 2-1.

NO TRADE

This from Florida Panthers beat writer Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel following the trade deadline.

GRANT ON TRADES

Before the NHL’s trade deadline on Monday, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton newspaper The Times Leader spoke to former Sea Dogs captain Alex Grant about the deadline. Grant on the 2009 trade that saw Saint John trade him to Shawinigan:

“It was tougher than I expected, dealing with the rumors,” he said. “I was with this team as one of its original players since Day 1, and it was pretty emotional knowing I would probably soon be done with that organization.”
… 

“The fact that the organization had enough respect for me to trade me to a team making a run for the cup meant a lot,” he said.

Grant has six goals and 23 assists in 43 games with the Baby Pens this season.

HUBERDEAU ARTICLE

The QMJHL website had an article on Jonathan Huberdeau this week. In it, he talks about his season, the Sea Dogs’ hot play of late, and next year.

INJURIES

Friend-of-the-blog Patrick Moore had an article on the Sea Dogs’ injuries this season over at The Q Spot.

RICK NASH

This from Elliotte Freidman’s 30 Thoughts on CBC.ca:

One GM thought San Jose could've closed a Nash trade if it still had Charlie Coyle, who was traded to Minnesota in the Brent Burns deal. "That guy is a stud," he said.

HIT

Via HockeyFights.com, here’s Charles Roussel’ hit on Christohpe Lalonde in the first period of Tuesday’s game against Moncton.

This could have been bad. Both players would be okay.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation