Pre-Season Game Day 1: vs Mooseheads

The Saint John Sea Dogs (0-0-0-0) begin pre-season play this afternoon at 4 p.m. against the Halifax Mooseheads (0-0-0-0) at the inaugural Hub City Showcase in Moncton.

Last games: Saint John’s last game was Game 5 of the QMJHL semifinals in Shawinigan, where they fell 6-3. Thomas Chabot, Joe Veleno and Matt Murphy scored for the Sea Dogs while Marc-Antoine Turcotte and Alex Bishop allowed five goals on 27 shots. Halifax’s last game was a 5-2 loss in Charlottetown on March 19. Morgan Nauss and Joel Bishop scored for the Mooseheads. Eric Brassard made 32 saves in the loss.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 6-2-0-0 against the Mooseheads last season while Halifax went 2-5-1-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Feb. 27 in Halifax where the Sea Dogs defeated the Mooseheads 5-1. Matthew Highmore, Sam Povorozniouk, Mathieu Joseph, Jakub Zboril and Joe Veleno scored for Saint John while Halifax’s lone goal came from Arnaud Durandeau. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 28 saves in the win. Eric Brassard made 33 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Mooseheads (rookies): None

Player to watch: The Mooseheads feature Benoit-Olivier Groulx, the top pick in this year’s QMJHL Entry Draft. Groulx had 21 goals and 30 assists in 41 games with AAA Gatineau last season.

Three Things to Know

1. This is the first edition of the Hub City Showcase, which features rookie teams from all six Maritimes Division clubs facing each other in QMJHL pre-season matches. The standings from the first two days will be used to determine the schedule for Sunday.

2. Along with Groulx, the Mooseheads feature two other highly touted QMJHL prospects – defenceman Jared McIsaac and goaltender Alexis Gravel.

3. Saint John’s roster features three first round picks: forwards Cedric Pare and Olivier Mathieu along with goaltender Alex D’Orio.

Out of town:

Gatineau at Blainville-Boisbriand - 10:00 AM EDT
Drummondville at Shawinigan - 10:00 AM EDT
Charlottetown at Acadie-Bathurst - 1:00 PM ADT
Victoriaville at Drummondville - 2:00 PM EDT
Sherbrooke at Gatineau - 3:00 PM EDT
Halifax at Saint John - 4:00 PM ADT
Québec at Rimouski - 5:00 PM EDT
Moncton at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM ADT
Blainville-Boisbriand at Sherbrooke - 7:00 PM EDT
Shawinigan at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EDT
Chicoutimi at Baie-Comeau - 7:30 PM EDT
Rouyn-Noranda at Val-d'Or - 7:30 PM EDT

Next game: The Sea Dogs take on the Moncton Wildcats tomorrow night at 7 p.m.