Sea Dogs Notebook

NEW PUCKS

As tweeted by @SeaDogsDK, here are Saint John’s 2012-13 game pucks.

THIS WEEKEND

After a long layoff from pre-season action, the Sea Dogs return to the ice tonight in Amherst. Saint John battles the Moncton Wildcats this evening at 7pm in the first game of a home-and-home (sort of) series.

The Sea Dogs and Wildcats faceoff at Harbour Station tomorrow night. It will be the Sea Dogs’ second home exhibition game of the year and the first at 99 Station St. Sea Dogs fans will get to watch several new players as well as many of the returning veterans.

The QMJHL regular season begins in less than two weeks.

LOCKOUT WATCH

Lockout talk is depressing, but here are some links regarding some rules that may be bent for NHL eligible players skating in the CHL.

CHL, AHL PREPARED FOR LOCKED OUT AND POST-LOCKOUT NHL – TSN.ca

Bob McKenzie sheds light on how NHL lockout will affect CHL – Buzzing The Net

KING ON CHL: CBA RIPPLE EFFECTS - Sportsnet

THE MARITIMES

Willy Palov of The Chronicle Herald has a mini-preview of the Maritimes Division.

“The Sea Dogs will fall back a few spots in the overall standings after three years of dominance but they will still be better than people think,” writes Palov. “They return several quality players from last year’s championship team and there are a handful of quality young players who are ready to step into bigger roles this season.”

Couldn’t agree more with this. It’ll be interesting to see where a lot of the media places Saint John to finish.

TICKETS

Someone is selling their Sea Dogs tickets on Kijiji. This was posted on Wednesday:

SEA DOGS TICKETS FOR SALE. Row 10 Center ice. Best Seats in the house. Going out of town for the winter and selling my Sea Dogs Season tickets from Dec 1 to end of Regular Season. 22 games x 2 tickets at senior rate. ($3.00 off walk up rate) 10 complimentary ticket vouchers included.

Contact the seller for more info.

RED WINGS

Tomas Jurco was named the fourth best prospect in the Detroit Red Wings system by Hockey Prospectus.

“Jurco is an elite puck-handler with what one NHL scout describes as having ‘all-world hands’ and he can bring people out of their seats with the display of skill he puts on,” writes Corey Pronman. “He's a smart player who can make some flashy passes and he shows good offensive zone awareness. Jurco's main issues had been his compete level and physicality, but both areas looked much better this season. He's an agile player with good edgework.”

Pronman projects that Jurco’s “ceiling borders between a fringe top line and a very good second line winger.”

PANTHERS

Not surprisingly, Hockey’s Future calls Jonathan Huberdeau the top prospect in the Florida Panthers organization.

“Huberdeau remains one of the game's top prospects because of his ultra-high hockey sense and offensive instincts,” writes Brian Fogarty. “He makes crisp, accurate passes to open players, can dazzle with the puck on his stick, and possesses a lethal shot that he can release from multiple angles and speeds. Although his skating speed still has room for improvement, he is quite agile. Combined with his soft hands and offensive instincts, he is able to find or create space and time on the ice, from which he often generates good scoring chances for himself or a linemate.”

HUBERDEAU

Using a formula, Rob McMahon of Rant Sports writes that Huberdeau could have a better rookie campaign in the NHL than Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had.

Huberdeau’s projected statistics have him coming in just under Nugent-Hopkins (31 points projected) with 29 points. The formula has Huberdeau finishing his rookie season with 12 goals and 17 assists, factor in luck and linemates and he could score 20+ goals and 30+ assists.

Nugent-Hopkins had 18 goals and 34 assists in 62 games with the Edmonton Oilers last year.