Notebook: Sea Dogs Sign New Lease

The Sea Dogs are sticking around.

According to the Telegraph-Journal (paywall) on Monday, the Sea Dogs signed a five-year lease agreement with Harbour Station that will through the 2019-20 season.

Sea Dogs president Wayne Long said the new agreement features some changes behind the scenes that will help the team financially. Fans shouldn’t expect to notice any changes during their game day experience, though.

“I won’t lie to you, it’s very tight financially for us to operate here given the amount of fans we’re currently drawing, so we needed to have a lease that we could live with that would make the operation viable,” Long told the T-J.

Next year will be the Sea Dogs’ 11^th season in the city. The Saint John Flames lasted 10 seasons.

ZBORIL AN ALL-STAR

Sea Dogs defenseman Jakub Zboril was named to the QMJHL’s rookie all-star team at the annual Golden Puck Awards last night.

Zboril joined Shawinigan’s Samuel Girard as d-men on the team. Sherbrooke goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick also made the team while Cape Breton’s Evgeny Svechnikov, Quebec’s Dmytro Timashov and Charlottetown’s Filip Chlapik were the forwards.

Halifax’s Timo Meier was named the top professional prospect.

The full results can be found on the QMJHL website.

TOP D-MEN

The Hockey Writers took a look at the top 15 defensemen eligible for this year’s NHL Draft.

At No. 5 was Jakub Zboril. “He is great at transitioning the puck, and has an extremely accurate and fairly hard shot that he uses 5 on 5, on the power play and even shorthanded,” writes Devin Slawson. “He is not at all afraid to lay the body and is very smart on the ice.”

Thomas Chabot was ranked seventh. “He’s noticeably still learning the game which means he could still progress and become a top prospect,” writes Slawson.

ZBORIL NAMED MARCH’S BEST

Jakub Zboril has been named Future Consideration’s Crash Conditioning draft eligible defenseman of the month for March.

“Zboril has been a welcome addition to for the Sea Dogs lineup, contributing in all zones and giving his team a real boost,” Future Considerations scouting director Dan Stewart said. “Zboril plays a complete game that is reliant on his smooth skating, high-end senses and powerful shot to contribute.”

WELCOME TO THE CLUB

Stanislav Galiev became the 11^th Sea Dog to play in the NHL when he made his debut with the Washington Capitals last night.

.@Galixon_97 is the 11th player in @SJSeaDogs history to play an #NHL game! Sauve, Despres, Gelinas, Hoffman, Jurco, Huberdeau,....(cont'd)
— Tim Roszell (@TimGRoszell) April 9, 2015

....Grant, Gallant, Coyle, Beaulieu are the others. @SJSeaDogs @SeaDogsAlumni @washcaps
— Tim Roszell (@TimGRoszell) April 9, 2015

FROZEN FOUR BEGINS

The NCAA’s Frozen Four begins today in Boston with two semifinals. Providence takes on Nebraska-Omaha at 6 p.m. and then Boston University faces North Dakota at 9:30 p.m. Both games can be seen on TSN2.

Boston University, of course, features Sea Dogs draft pick Jack Eichel. Although it’s extremely unlikely Eichel will ever play for the Dogs, we’ll continue to write about him because we don’t have a lot to write about these days. So... sorry.