NOTEBOOK: Sea Dogs return home

SAINT JOHN - The Sea Dogs returned home from the 2017 Memorial Cup on Saturday afternoon and were welcomed back by a group of fans at Saint John Airport.

Team president and general manager Trevor Georgie spoke to the crowd that greeted the Dogs home.


CBC New Brunswick spoke to some players when they returned to Harbour Station.

TOURNAMENT LEADERS
Julien Gauthier ended up leading Saint John in Memorial Cup scoring, recording two goals and four assists for six points in four games. His four assists also led the team.

Joe Veleno finished with the Sea Dogs lead in goals, registering three. Veleno was held pointless in his first two games but posted three goals and an assist in his final two.

Mathieu Joseph finished second on the team in points with five (two goals and three assists) while Thomas Chabot and Spencer Smallman had two goals and two assists each.

SOLD OUT
After a tournament full of empty seats, the WFCU Centre was sold out for Sunday's Memorial Cup final between the host Windsor Spitfires and the OHL champion Erie Otters.

Tickets were apparently sold out by Thursday morning. The Spitfires clinched a spot in the championship game on Wednesday night.

Tickets were going for as much as $1,000 on Kijiji, according to AM 800.

ALL-STARS
Here's the Memorial Cup tournament all-stars:

The 2017 #MCMemorialCup All-Star Team includes Vilardi, DeBrincat, T. Raddysh, D. Raddysh, Sergachev and DiPietro. pic.twitter.com/rF7gUECuKY

— CanadianHockeyLeague (@CHLHockey) May 29, 2017

All players are either from the Spitfires or Otters.

Erie's Dylan Strome was named tournament MVP.

MORE PROBLEMS
You probably all heard about the shirt and puck problems at the Memorial Cup this week. The issues did not end there.

Here's a semifinal game ticket:

Apparently they still can't spell #saintjohn @SJSeaDogs but I'm going anyways! #PortCityRise  Go get em boys! pic.twitter.com/8Mf9YbJ0W1

— Andrew Hamburg (@Drew_Burg) May 26, 2017

And here's a CHL email from Friday, which used a Seattle logo rather than a Saint John one:

Until next time, Memorial Cup.

GOODBYE FROM THE LIBRARY

Before the #MCMemorialCup Final, we salute our QMJHL Champs @SJSeaDogs & wish luck to Erie & Windsor! @ErieLibrary @windsorpublib @SPLBuzz pic.twitter.com/mpW2rEq7FY

— Saint John Library (@SaintJohnFPL) May 28, 2017

THE DRAFT IS COMING
In case you've forgotten - which is understandable - Saint John will host the QMJHL Entry Draft next Saturday. The show starts at 9:45 a.m.

It's coming. The 2017 @QMJHL Entry Draft at Harbour Station is less than a week away. Event details: https://t.co/nkDdoNmSOZ#QDraftSNB pic.twitter.com/8z9s5SvgLD

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) May 28, 2017

NEW JOB FOR RICHER
Former Sea Dogs forward Phil Richer has been named associate coach and assistant general manager of the St. Stephen Aces.

Richer spent parts of two seasons with the Sea Dogs, recording one goal and three assists in 45 games with the club. He also played with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar during his QMJHL career.

Josh Hepditch remains head coach and GM of the Aces.

O'LEARY TRADED
Speaking of the Aces, the team traded Sea Dogs draft pick Michael O'Leary to the Summerside Western Capitals this week.

O'Leary, the first overall pick in last year's MHL Draft, recorded a goal and 12 assists in 50 games with the Aces last season.

The defenceman was a 12th-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2015 QMJHL Entry Draft.