Sea Dogs Clinch Playoff Spot

The Saint John Sea Dogs are heading to the playoffs.

The Shawinigan Cataractes and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles both lost today, officially eliminating them from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s post-season race. While those two teams got eliminated, two other teams – Sherbrooke and Saint John – both booked their trips to the dance.

For the Sea Dogs, it’s the sixth straight season they’ll appear in the playoffs. They missed them in both the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons but have been in every year since. However, this will be just the second time the Sea Dogs have not had home ice advantage in the first-round.

With Sherbrooke picking up a point in their shootout loss in Drummondville today, they have now jumped ahead of Saint John in the overall standings and into 15^th. Saint John now sits 16^th. One-point separates the teams and each have six games remaining on their schedules.

Saint John doesn’t have an easy schedule coming up. Of their six remaining regular season games, only two will be played at home. They play PEI twice and Bathurst, Cape Breton, Moncton, and Halifax all once.

Who will the Sea Dogs play in the first-round? It’s looking like either Halifax, Baie-Comeau, or Rimouski. No matter who they play, it’ll be a massive, massive challenge.

On a side note, Shawinigan is apparently the first team since 1972 to win the Memorial Cup and then miss the playoffs the following the year. That’s so unfortunate.