Sea Dogs Notebook

BEAULIEU

Today, the London Free Press is reporting that “Nathan Beaulieu is now facing two assault charges in connection with a dustup at a house party in Strathroy last weekend, police said.”

Nathan’s father, former Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu, was charged with two counts of assault yesterday.

"There's two victims and (Jacques and Nathan Beaulieu) are each charged with one count of assault against each victim," said Deputy Chief Mark Campbell to the Free Press.

Check out the article for full details. Buzzing The Net and The Canadian Press also have articles about the situation.

Nathan Beaulieu was recalled to the Canadiens last week with Hamilton’s season over. He played in six NHL games in his first season as a pro. The Free Press called him a “superstar” which may be a bit premature.

CORBEIL

This is cool:

Very proud and honored to be one of the Vancouver Canucks' black aces for a few weeks!
— Mathieu Corbeil (@mathieutcorbeil) April 30, 2013

Corbeil, who played one-and-a-half seasons with Saint John and helped the team win two President Cups and a Memorial Cup, spent the 2012-13 season playing for the Missouri Mavericks of the Central Hockey League. He went 10-9 with a 2.69 GAA and 0.915 SV% in the regular season and 3-1 record with a 2.24 GAA and 0.924 SV% in the playoffs.

Q PLAYOFFS

Stephen MacAulay is the only remaining former Sea Dog playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs. MacAulay and the Halifax Mooseheads begin their President Cup Final series on Friday night at the Metro Centre against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. That game will air nationally on Sportsnet.

MacAulay has five goals and seven assists in 11 post-season games. He had 13 points in last year’s playoff run with Saint John. The Cole Harbour native is playing in his fourth straight President Cup Final.

Halifax is a perfect 12-0 in the post-season this year. Game 1 of the championship series is Friday and Game 2 is Saturday before the series shifts to Baie-Comeau.

LOTTERY

The Florida Panthers did not win last night’s NHL Draft Lottery, but they will be picking second overall in this year’s draft. With Colorado selecting first, there is a good chance that Florida will get to choose either Nathan MacKinnon or Jonathan Drouin. Putting one of those two on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau could be deadly.

BEAULIEU

On a more positive note, Hockey’s Future has named Nathan Beaulieu the Montreal Canadiens’ top defensive prospect.

“Beaulieu has the most offensive upside potential as a smooth puck mover with excellent puck distribution skills,” writes David Thicke. “He has shown that he can operate his team's power play in his rookie season. His defensive game should improve as his size and confidence increases and that is the only part of his overall game that will keep him from reaching the NHL level sooner. The young defender has all the talent, it is just a matter of gaining more strength and weight, physicality down low in the defensive zone, and maturing in to a consistent pro hockey player.”

Beaulieu had seven goals and 24 assists in 67 games with the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs. He also played in six games with the Habs, registering two assists.

AWARDS

Puck Daddy’s final edition of their weekly NHL Awards Watch has Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher winning the Calder over Jonathan Huberdeau. Their results:

1. Brendan Gallagher, Montreal Canadiens (18)
2. Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers (17)
3. Jonas Brodin, Minnesota Wild (16)
4. Nail Yakupov, Edmonton Oilers (12)
5. Justin Schultz, Edmonton Oilers (4)

We recapped Huberdeau’s rookie season yesterday.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation