Dogs Take Two In First Round

The Saint John Sea Dogs selected both a forward and a defenseman in the first round of the 2012 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft.

With the eighth overall selection, the Sea Dogs selected forward Matthew Highmore. The 16-year old is listed at five-foot-11 and 160 lbs. He played with the Dartmouth Taylor Flooring Major Midgets last season in the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League, recording 13 goals and 13 assists in 25 regular season games and added three goals and eight assists in 16 playoff games.

“At the beginning of the year we heard a lot from him but then he was injured for a portion of the season,” QMJHL Director of Scouting Pierre Leduc told the Chronicle Herald. “He missed a number of games. He’s a power forward. He’s a very talented centre. He’s an above average skater and he has an excellent feel for the game. He’s a good puck carrier with good anticipation. Matthew also has a very good work ethic. He will need to complete his game around the net a little more to get more points ... but I think he can do that. He is a very talented player.”

According to Metro Halifax, “in 2010-11, Highmore played major midget as a 14-year-old after being granted exceptional-player status by Hockey Nova Scotia.”

Highmore was ranked 11^th by Central Scouting.

With the 11^th overall pick, the Sea Dogs headed to Quebec to select Olivier Leblanc. The Sea Dogs called a time-out prior to making the selection.

LeBlanc, who had a wide smile on his face during the entire process, is listed at five-foot-10 and 154 lbs. He played with Séminaire St-François Blizzard last season, the same team Sea Dogs prospect Benjamin Hade played for.

Leblanc spoke to Quebec Hebdo after the selection and said he was looking forward to joining the Sea Dogs for their rebuilding process.

You can follow Highmore (@MHighmore15) and Leblanc (@3LeBlanc) on Twitter.

Photos via QMJHL