Rogers TV to air 27 Sea Dogs games

The Saint John Sea Dogs will once again be shown on Rogers TV in New Brunswick.

Rogers TV released its Quebec Major Junior Hockey League broadcast schedule for New Brunswick on Wednesday. In total, 60 games will be broadcast with each featuring at least one of the Sea Dogs, Moncton Wildcats and/or Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

27 Sea Dogs games will be aired, 18 of which will be from TD Station. The first Sea Dogs game to be broadcast will be this Friday's 7 p.m. season opener in Bathurst.

The broadcasts will no doubt be getting some added attention this season due to the attendance limitations. For those new to the broadcast/streaming game, these Rogers TV feeds are typically plugged into the league's webcasts.

Below is the full slate of Sea Dogs games scheduled to be broadcast.

Joseph, Lightning win Stanley Cup

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Mathieu Joseph is a Stanley Cup champion.

Joseph became the first Saint John Sea Dogs alumnus to lift the trophy when his Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars 2-0 on Monday night in Edmonton, winning the series 4-2.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/YzCfLFAJFR

— Puck Brasil (@PuckBrasil1) September 29, 2020

The 23-year-old did not appear in a single playoff game this year, but did practice with the team during their stay in the bubble and took pre-game warmup a number of times. He was the only Lightning player in the bubble to not appear in a game.

So, is Joseph technically considered a Stanley Cup champion? The answer, it appears, is yes, since he played in 37 of the club's 70 regular season games. If that's not the case, the Lightning can petition for his name to be included on the trophy which, according to NHL people on Twitter, would likely be approved by the NHL.

Pour ceux qui se posent la question. Mathieu Joseph n'a joué aucun match de la finale (ni même des séries). Toutefois, il a joué plus de la moitié des matchs du Lightning en saison régulière (37 sur 70). Son nom sera donc sur la coupe Stanley advenant un gain du Lightning.

— Jonathan Bernier (@JBernierJDM) September 29, 2020

Joseph split this past season with Tampa Bay and AHL Syracuse. He spent all of the previous season with the Lightning.

The Laval native spent parts of four seasons with the Sea Dogs, which included a President Cup championship in 2017. Joseph has also won silver medals with Canada at the world junior and world championship.

A look back at the pre-season

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

With the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pre-season officially over, here's a look at some Saint John Sea Dogs stats that may or may not be significant. It is the pre-season, so...

• The Sea Dogs finished exhibition play with a 3-2-1-1 record, which included going 1-1-1-0 at home. The seven games they played was the most in the league.
• Saint John scored a league high 28 goals... but allowed the second most goals with 26 (Bathurst allowed 35). That's similar to last season's splits (Saint John was sixth in GF and allowed the most GA). This is something that has to improve, and hopefully things will straighten out when the games start to actually matter.
• Goaltender Noah Patenaude played the third most minutes of any netminder in the league. He posted strong numbers (2.31 GAA and a .902 SV%) which will hopefully carry over into the regular season. While Creed Jones will likely be labelled Saint John's No. 1 goaltender, Patenaude should see a lot of - if not equal - playing time.
• Alex Drover led Saint John in scoring with eight points. He also had a team high six assists. That's great to see for a guy who has slipped down Saint John's depth chart.
• Charlie DesRoches and Cam MacDonald led the team in goals with four each. MacDonald's four goals placed him a tie for the QMJHL rookie league.
• MacDonald and Peter Reynolds came as advertised. Reynolds had three goals and two assists in seven games while MacDonald had four goals in five games. Again, pre-season numbers often don't  translate into what we'll see in the regular season, but this is a promising sign.
• DesRoches led all QMJHL defensemen in goals with four.
• Riley Bezeau's 14 penalty minutes was the third most in the league.
• Dawson Stairs' penalty shot against the Halifax Mooseheads a couple weeks ago was the only penalty shot awarded in the pre-season.
• Saint John's power play operated at 25%, good for fifth in the league. The team used four forwards quite frequently.
• One of the more concerning stats of the pre-season was Saint John's penalty kill, which was the third worst in the league with a rating of 75.8%. Like many other pre-season stats, let's hope this was just the team trying to figure things out and putting some players in situations they may not find themselves in during the regular season.
• Saint John outscored opponents 12-5 in first periods; were outscored 8-4 in seconds; and then evened things out in thirds at 11-11. Oddly, the Dogs recorded more shots in second periods than any other period.
• The Sea Dogs averaged 36.87 shots per game, which led the league.

The Sea Dogs begin regular season play on Friday night in Bathurst.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 3-2 (OT)

FINAL: Moncton 3, Saint John 2 (OT)

Photo: Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The pre-season did not end well for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs looked sloppy and unorganized in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Moncton Wildcats at TD Station on Friday night. It was the final exhibition game for both clubs with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season scheduled to begin next Friday.

This was Saint John's worst performance of the pre-season - which is definitely not how you want to end things. The Sea Dogs couldn't keep things together on the backend, committing a lot of turnovers. On offense, Saint John was unable to generate any of the sustained pressure we've seen at times throughout the past month.

The only real positive may have been in net. Creed Jones, fresh off his two-week quarantine, looked very good, putting in the best overall goaltending performance of any Dogs netminder so far.

The rebuilding Wildcats, who did not dress Gabriel Fortier, outshot the Sea Dogs 39-23, including 20-10 in the second period. It was not a good night for Saint John.

Domenic Leblanc scored two goals for Moncton while Jacob Hudson netted the overtime winner. Dakota Lund-Cornish made 21 stops in the win.

Jeremie Poirier and Brady Burns scored for Saint John. Jones made 36 stops in the loss.

Pre-Season Game Day 7: vs Wildcats

SAINT JOHN - The pre-season comes to a close tonight for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs play their seventh and final exhibition contest of this bizarre 2020-21 campaign against the Moncton Wildcats at TD Station. It's the first meeting between the two rivals this year.

Both the Sea Dogs and Wildcats enter tonight's game with seven points. The winner will clinch first-place in the Maritimes Division this pre-season - which, as we all know, is what every team dreams of doing.

Game time is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/Sea Dogs YouTube Channel

2020 pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 3-2-0-1 this pre-season while the Wildcats are 3-1-1-0.

2019-20 records: The Sea Dogs finished the shortened season with a 30-33-1-0 record for 61 points (fourth Maritimes, sixth Eastern, 11th QMJHL) while the Wildcats went 50-13-1-0 for 101 points (first Maritimes, first Eastern, first QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-4 shootout win in Cape Breton last Saturday. Liam Leonard, Alex Drover, Cam MacDonald and Christopher Inniss scored for Saint John in regulation. Daniel Moody made 34 saves in the win. The Wildcats are coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday. Jacob Hudson scored twice for the Wildcats while singles came from Jeremy Berube and Jordan Spence. Dakota Lund-Cornish and Nicholas Sheehan combined to allow five goals on 27 shots.

2019-20 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 3-5-0-0 against the Wildcats last season while Moncton went 5-3-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Valentine's Day at TD Station where the Wildcats defeated the Sea Dogs 4-1. Gabriel Fortier scored twice for Moncton while Mika Cyr and Jakob Pelletier added solo markers. Jeremie Poirier scored Saint John's lone goal. Dakota Lund-Cornish made 16 saves in the win. Zachary Bouthillier made 46 stops in the loss.

Notebook: Lawrence winning many draws

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Josh Lawrence leads the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in faceoff wins this pre-season - and that's a good thing for many reasons.

Lawrence has won 58 of his 94 draws for a 61.7% winning percentage. Meanwhile, 17-year-old QMJHL rookies Cam MacDonald (43 wins, 54.4%) and Peter Reynolds (35, 47.9%) are sixth and 10th in the league, respectively. 

Yes, it's still the pre-season, and we can only take away so much from these numbers given the opposition. But... this is still some much needed good news because the Dogs are going to need some players to step up on draws.

Saint John has lost three of their best faceoff men from the 2019-20 season: Nicholas Deakin-Poot, Nicholas Guay (who took more faceoffs in the first half alone than Lawrence did all season) and Jeffrey Durocher.

Lawrence is Saint John's best returning draw taker (360, 54.7%) along with Joshua Roy (199, 45.6%) and Alex Drover (138, 57%). Roy and Drover have been used more down the wings this pre-season with Lawrence, MacDonald and Reynolds acting as the top three centres.

WEBCAST NON-UPDATE

No further details on this year's QMJHL webcasts have been released yet. The regular season begins in less than two weeks.

Steve Turcotte of Le Nouvelliste confirmed rumours/speculation that Quebecor - which owns TVA Sports, the CHL's french-language media rights holder - blocked Verizon from taking over the league's webcasts from Neulion. Turcotte's column makes it sound like Verizon could still be used by the OHL and WHL, which seemingly ends the short lived dream of having all three CHL leagues under one roof/subscription.

Not a good look, Quebecor!

PREDICTIONS

Some 2020-21 QMJHL season predictions are starting to come in.

Matthew Vachon of La Nouvelle Union shared his Maritimes Division predictions this week. He has the Sea Dogs winning the Maritimes followed by Charlottetown, Cape Breton, Halifax, Bathurst and Moncton.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-4 (SO)

FINAL: Saint John 5, Cape Breton 4 (SO)

SYDNEY, NS - The Saint John Sea Dogs let another lead slip away on Saturday - but this time they managed to pull off the win.

The Sea Dogs let a 3-0 first period lead and a 4-3 third period lead get away from at Centre 200 before ultimately beating the Cape Breton Eagles 5-4 in a shootout. The win comes less than 24 hours after the Sea Dogs blew a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Eagles.

Liam Leonard, Alex Drover and Cam MacDonald all scored in the opening frame to put Saint John up 3-0. Felix Lafrance and Nathan Larose scored in the second period and then Lucas Canning connected in the third to tie the game at 3-3.

Christopher Inniss ripped a shot from the top of the circle that beat Eagles goaltender Nicolas Ruccia upstairs at 7:03 of the third, putting Saint John back in front. But the Eagles tied it again at 17:38 when Larose netted his second of the night.

Drover scored the shootout winner in the sixth round.

Daniel Moody made 34 stops in the win while Ruccia made 25 in the loss.

Saint John was outshot for the first time this pre-season, 38-29. For whatever reason, the Sea Dogs have struggled in this building over the past couple years - especially when it comes to holding leads. Cape Breton is expected to be a middle-of-the-division team this season and could be a tough fight for Saint John.

Saint John is now 3-2-0-1 entering the final week of the pre-season.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 3-2 (SO)

FINAL: Saint John 2, Cape Breton 3 (SO)

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SYDNEY, NS - Peter Reynolds is quickly finding his groove in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Reynolds scored his third goal of the pre-season on Friday at Centre 200 in the Saint John Sea Dogs 3-2 shootout loss to the Cape Breton Eagles. The two teams meet again tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.

The 17-year-old now has three goals and two assists in five pre-season games, which ain't bad at all. On Friday, the Fredericton native opened the scoring, parking himself at the side of the net on a Sea Dogs power play, accepted a great feed from Josh Lawrence and fired a one-timer into the net.

William Villeneuve also scored for Saint John - which was his first of the pre-season. Lawrence recorded two assists in the game.

The Sea Dogs carried a 2-0 lead into the third period only to have the Eagles tie things up with four seconds remaining. Francois-James Buteau scored at 6:17 and then Ryan Francis netted the equalizer with the goaltender pulled. Francis then went on to score the winner in the shootout.

Noah Patenaude played a full game for the first time this pre-season and, despite the loss, posted his best performance so far, making 25 saves in the loss. Patenaude looked comfortable in net and made a few nice stops. 12 of Cape Breton's 27 shots were listed as "dangerous."

William Grimard made 31 stops in the win.

Pre-Season Games 5 & 6: at Cape Breton

SYDNEY, NS - The pre-season is beginning to wind down for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs will play two of their final three exhibition contests this weekend, visiting the Cape Breton Eagles. The two teams meet tonight at 7 p.m. and again tomorrow at 1 p.m. in front of a socially distant crowd at Centre 200.

Saint John is 2-2 so far in pre-season play while Cape Breton is 1-2-0-1. Tonight will be the first meeting between the two this year.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/Eagles YouTube Channel

2020 pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 2-2-0-0 this pre-season while the Eagles are 1-2-0-1.

2019-20 records: The Sea Dogs finished the shortened season with a 30-33-1-0 record for 61 points (fourth Maritimes, sixth Eastern, 11th QMJHL) while the Eagles were 40-20-2-1 for 83 points (second Maritimes, fourth Eastern, fifth QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-3 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday at TD Station. Charlie DesRoches and Brady Burns both scored twice for Saint John while singles came from Josh Lawrence and Liam Leonard. Noah Patenaude made 13 saves and Daniel Moody 20 in the win. The Eagles are coming off a 7-4 win in Moncton on Sunday. Shawn Element had a hat trick; Davis Cooper scored two goals; and Connor Trenholm and Felix Lafrance also scored. William Grimard made 42 saves in the win.

2019-20 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-5-0-0 against the Eagles last season while Cape Breton went 5-1-0-1.

Last meeting: Feb. 29 in Saint John where the Sea Dogs defeated the Eagles 5-4. Joona Lehmus, Ben Badalamenti, Joshua Roy, Anderson MacDonald and Jeffrey Durocher all scored for Saint John. Shawn Boudrias scored two goals for Cape Breton while Egor Sokolov and Mathias Laferriere added singles. Zachary Bouthillier made 51 stops in the win. William Grimard made 33 stops in the loss.

Notebook: Looking back at the 2011 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game

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Let's take a look back at the 2011 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game because... why not?

The CHL has been taking a look back at previous Top Prospects Games, and this past week it was the 2011 event's turn. That game was dominated by Sea Dogs with Jonathan Huberdeau, Zack Phillips, Tomas Jurco and Nathan Beaulieu all playing in front of a sparse crowd at the Air Canada Centre.

2011 #TopProspects Highlights 🏒

Team Orr had seven different scorers including a trio of @SJSeaDogs in Huberdeau, Beaulieu & Phillips with Nugent-Hopkins of @Rebelshockey earning Player of the Game with 2A before going first at #NHLDraft.

FULL GAME 🖥: https://t.co/smAUULa9ln pic.twitter.com/7L5Fz3Uazs

— CanadianHockeyLeague (@CHLHockey) September 14, 2020

Phillips recorded a goal and two assists; Huberdeau a goal and an assist; and Beaulieu a goal.

The entire game can be watched on the CHL website.

WEBCAST IMPROVEMENTS
Fan feedback to last week's news that Neulion was returning as the QMJHL's webcast provider was, understandably, quite negative. So here's some good news: improvements are coming.

The Sherbrooke Phoenix have confirmed they are improving their single camera feed by adding more angles. The Acadie-Bathurst Titan are currently looking to hire a webcast producer. We're told by multiple league sources that many of the minimum standards the new provider was set to put in place will remain - which is all good news given that more fans than ever will be relying on the broadcasts for coverage this season.

The league has not released any official details about this year's webcasts.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 6-3

FINAL: Halifax 3, Saint John 6

Photo: Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs' backend is picking up right where it left off.

After three defensemen - William Villeneuve, Jeremie Poirier and Charlie DesRoches - all finished with 30 or more points a season ago, the three look poised for a repeat performance. On Sunday at TD Station, DesRoches scored twice and added two assists while Poirier recorded two helpers in the 6-3 victory.

DesRoches now leads all QMJHL defenseman in points (six) and goals (four) this pre-season.

Sunday's match was the most evenly played game of Saint John's exhibition schedule so far. It looked as though the Dogs were going to run away with it after grabbing a 3-0 first period lead, but the Mooseheads kept hanging around, led by Zachary L'Heureux.

This was Halifax's first loss of the pre-season. Saint John improved to 2-2.

Boxscore | Sea Dogs Recap | Mooseheads Recap

Pre-Season Game Day 4: vs Mooseheads

SAINT JOHN - The Halifax Mooseheads are in town this afternoon for a match against the Saint John Sea Dogs.

These two met last Saturday in Dartmouth where the Mooseheads scored three third period power play goals en route to a 3-1 victory. This is the first game for both teams since that meeting.

Halifax joins Moncton, Victoriaville and Sherbrooke as the only four teams who have not lost a pre-season game yet. Saint John, meanwhile, is 1-2.

Game time today is 3 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/Don't know?/Sea Dogs YouTube Channel

2020 pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 1-2-0-0 this pre-season while the Mooseheads are 3-0-0-0.

2019-20 records: The Sea Dogs finished the shortened season with a 30-33-1-0 record for 61 points (fourth Maritimes, sixth Eastern, 11th QMJHL) while the Mooseheads were 20-38-3-2 for 45 points (fifth Maritimes, ninth Eastern, 17th QMJHL).

Last games: These two met last Saturday in Dartmouth where the Mooseheads defeated the Sea Dogs 3-1. Markus Vidicek, Zachary L'Heureux and Elliot Desnoyers scored for Halifax. Nicholas Girouard scored Saint John's lone goal. Rookie Mathis Rousseau stopped all 17 shots he faced in the first half of the game for Halifax. Cole McLaren allowed one goal on 31 shots in the second half. Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo allowed three goals on 28 shots in the loss.

2019-20 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 7-1-0-0 against the Mooseheads last season while Halifax went 1-7-0-0 against Saint John.

Report: Neulion to continue QMJHL streams

Some bad news was dropped on Quebec Major Junior Hockey League fans this week as reports surfaced that Neulion will make an unexpected return as the league's webcast provider.

Teams were informed of the news earlier this week and Mikael Lalancette confirmed the speculation on Thursday.

Neulion sera à nouveau la plate-forme des matchs de la #LHJMQ cette saison. La tarification et le format (à suivre s'il y aura des changements vs le passé) seront annoncés d'ici le début de la saison.

— Mikaël Lalancette (@MikLalancette) September 10, 2020

We reached out to the league office on Wednesday for comment but were told all details would be released in the coming days.

This news comes as quite a surprise. In March, Canadian Hockey League president Dan MacKenzie told The Hockey News “We’ll have a new broadcast partner for next season. We want to improve the quality of our live streaming game offering more focus on the consistency of the broadcast product in all 60 arenas.”

In June, the WHL said in a press release, "In partnership with the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), the WHL is pleased to announce the development of a brand-new streaming service set to launch with the beginning of the 2020-21 regular season.

"WHL fans can look forward to all three CHL leagues housed under one streaming service, with a new digital platform developed by an entirely new partner available on new devices. Further details including the new streaming service provider, pricing and packaging, will be announced at a later date."

Notebook: Training camp continues

With just over a week of training camp completed, first-year Saint John Sea Dogs head coach Greg Gilbert has liked what he's seen so far.

"I've been really happy with camp," Gilbert said in an interview. "The kids have been working and things are coming together."

The Sea Dogs are 1-2 in pre-season play but the team has outshot opponents by wide margins in each game. Saint John has four exhibition matches remaining - including a game this Sunday afternoon at TD Station against the Halifax Mooseheads.

IMPORT UPDATE

Mikael Lalancette has reported that an update on import players could be coming this week.

Bilan de la première semaine de camps d'entraînement #LHJMQ :

Aucun cas de COVID-19;
Le dossier des Européens continue de progresser (mise à jour à venir cette semaine);
Les rappels pourraient être permis (intra-province);
La moitié moins de transactions vs l'an passé.

— Mikaël Lalancette (@MikLalancette) September 8, 2020

The Sea Dogs are waiting on the arrival of imports Vladislav Kotkov and Jan Hampl. Kotkov's situation may be resolved quicker thanks to his affiliation with the San Jose Sharks.

Sea Dogs trim camp roster by four

Photo: Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs announced a few roster moves on Labour Day.

The Sea Dogs have reassigned forward Carter McCluskey (2003) along with defensemen Isaac Dixon (2002), Sam Dow (2002) and Brendan Sibley (2001). It's the team's first cuts from this year's unique training camp.

McCluskey and Dixon were unlikely to make this year's squad but this experience should benefit them down the road. Sibley and Dow, meanwhile, were in a battle for the final couple spots on a stacked blue line.

Training Camp Update ⬇️

The Sea Dogs have re-assigned the following players:

F - Carter McCluskey (2003)
D - Isaac Dixon (2002)
D - Sam Dow (2002)
D - Brendan Sibley (2001)

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) September 7, 2020

All four will presumably join Maritime Hockey League clubs. McCluskey (Grand Falls), Dixon (Grand Falls), Dow (Campbellton) and Sibley (Yarmouth) spent all or part of last season in the MHL.

With these cuts made, Saint John's defense core is just about set. Charlie DesRoches, Nathan Drapeau, Hunter Gartley, Christopher Inniss, Kale McCallum, Jeremie Poirier, Benjamin Roode and William Villeneuve remain on the camp roster. Import Jan Hampl is currently unable to attend camp due to border restrictions.

13 forwards remain. That doesn't include import Vladislav Kotkov and American Matt Gould, both of whom are unable to attend because of the border.

In net, Daniel Moody, who was on loan to the Sea Dogs from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, is no longer listed on the club's online roster. The newly acquired Creed Jones; overager Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo; and 18-year-old Noah Patenaude remain on that online roster - although Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie indicated on Sunday that the net will belong to Jones and Patenaude this season.

Jones, acquired from the Rimouski Oceanic, will need to isolate for 14 days before playing with the team.

Saint John's next pre-season game is on Sunday afternoon at TD Station when they host the Halifax Mooseheads.

Sea Dogs acquire Roode from Titan

HALIFAX - The Saint John Sea Dogs made one more move before Sunday's Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pre-season trade deadline.

The Sea Dogs acquired 18-year-old defenseman Benjamin Roode from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in exchange for a ninth-round pick in the 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft. 

Roode is a former first-round pick of the Titan, going 14th overall in the 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft. The Dartmouth native hasn't quite found his groove in the league, recording two assists in 66 games during his rookie campaign and one goal and two helpers in 63 games last season.

2018 QMJHL Entry Draft first round picks who are now Sea Dogs:

#2: William Villeneuve
#8: Jeremie Poirier
#10: Alex Drover (CAP)
#14: Benjamin Roode (BAT)
#15: Josh Lawrence

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) September 6, 2020

“Ben is a player that we liked going into the 2018 Draft and as a first round pick, was obviously highly regarded,” Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie said in a news release. “He is a big, strong athlete who has played two full seasons in the League and will add depth to our group. Sometimes players just need a fresh start and we look forward to giving that to him here.”

Roode had decent numbers in the Nova Scotia midget league in 2017-18, recording five goals and 12 assists in 36 games with the Dartmouth Major Midgets. He was teammates with Brendan Sibley that season.

According to the team, Roode is expected to join the club immediately.

Saint John's other move on Sunday saw the club acquire 20-year-old goaltender Creed Jones from the Rimouski Oceanic in exchange for draft picks. On Friday, the team traded for defenseman Sam Dow from the Moncton Wildcats.

Saint John's next pre-season game is next Sunday at 3 p.m. at TD Station when they host the Halifax Mooseheads.

Sea Dogs acquire Oceanic's Creed Jones

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HALIFAX - The Saint John acquired another overage goaltender prior to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's pre-season trade deadline on Sunday.

The Sea Dogs picked up Creed Jones from the Rimouski Oceanic in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft; a third-round pick in 2022; and a 10th-round pick in 2022 (originally Gatineau's).

#QMJHLTrades 🔁 @oceanicrimouski
➡ Saint John : Creed Jones (2000-05-31)@SJSeaDogs
➡ Rimouski : 6th round 2021, 3rd round 2022, 10th round 2022 (GAT) pic.twitter.com/RMVYe93PtP

— QMJHL (@QMJHL) September 6, 2020

The move comes after all three of the netminders Saint John invited to training camp have had their struggles so far. Overager Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo - who was acquired at the draft - and second-year netminder Noah Patenaude were expected to split Saint John's goaltending duties coming into camp. Pagliarulo has recorded a .867 save percentage and 4.01 goals against average in just under 90 minutes of action. He allowed three goals - all on the power play - on 14 third period shots in Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads.

Daniel Moody, also an overager, was the only other goaltender attending camp. He was on loan from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

We'll wait and see what other moves come, but it's unlikely Saint John will keep two overage goaltenders.

Jones, a Peterborough native, spent most of his QMJHL career with the rebuilding Gatineau Olympiques before being traded to the Rimouski Oceanic at Christmas last year. Last season he had a 3-13 record with Gatineau to go along with a .891 SV% and 3.69 GAA but a 9-2 record with Rimouski to go with a .934 SV% and 1.42 GAA.

In his QMJHL career, Jones has played in 76 games, posting a .898 SV% and 3.18 GAA.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 3-1

FINAL: Saint John 1, Halifax 3

DARTMOUTH, NS - The Halifax Mooseheads scored three third period power play goals en route to a 3-1 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday.

Markus Vidicek, Zachary L'Heureux and Elliot Desnoyers all scored in a 6:06 span to secure the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pre-season win at the RBC Centre. The Sea Dogs looked like the better team for much of the contest, dominating puck possession at times and outshooting the Mooseheads 48-28 overall. But third period penalty troubles proved to be the difference in a game where goals were difficult to come by.

Nicholas Girouard scored Saint John's lone goal - also in the third period. Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo played the full 60 minutes for the first time this pre-season, allowing three goals on 28 shots.

Rookie netminder Mathis Rousseau stopped all 17 shots he faced in the first half of the game for Halifax. Veteran Cole McLaren allowed one goal on 30 shots in the second half of the game.

The loss drops Saint John to 1-2 this pre-season. Halifax remains perfect at 3-0.

Pre-Season Game Day 3: at Halifax

DARTMOUTH, NS - The Saint John Sea Dogs head out of New Brunswick for the first time this pre-season today.

The Sea Dogs are scheduled to take on the Halifax Mooseheads at 4 p.m. this afternoon at Dartmouth's RBC Centre. Saint John fell 4-3 to Halifax at this venue last season despite registering 45 shots in the game.

Saint John has been producing a lot of shots on net this pre-season, firing 50 on Tuesday and 42 on Thursday, both against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The team was rewarded with nine goals in Thursday's victory.

The Mooseheads are 2-0 this pre-season thanks to 2-1 (shootout) and 7-2 wins over the Cape Breton Eagles.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/Mooseheads YouTube Channel

2020 pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 1-1-0-0 this pre-season while the Mooseheads are 2-0-0-0.

2019-20 records: The Sea Dogs finished the shortened season with a 30-33-1-0 record for 61 points (fourth Maritimes, sixth Eastern, 11th QMJHL) while the Mooseheads were 20-38-3-2 for 45 points (fifth Maritimes, ninth Eastern, 17th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 9-4 win in Bathurst on Thursday night. Cam MacDonald had a hat trick; Peter Reynolds and Dawson Stairs each scored twice; and singles came from Alex Drover and Leighton Carruthers. Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo allowed three goals on 17 shots while Noah Patenaude allowed one goal on 13 shots. The Mooseheads are coming off a 7-2 win over the Eagles on Thursday. Zachary L'Heureux, Olivier Tourchot, Mason Mantzavrakos, Jordan Dumais, Brendan Tomilson, William Robitaille and Alexandre Tessier all scored for Halifax. Cole McLaren allowed one goal on 13 shots and Brady James allowed one goal on eight shots.

2019-20 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 7-1-0-0 against the Mooseheads last season while Halifax went 1-7-0-0 against Saint John.

Sea Dogs acquire Dow from Wildcats

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs made a depth move on Friday, acquiring defenseman Sam Dow from the Moncton Wildcats.

Dow, who will turn 18 in November, has played with the Wildcats and the MHL's Campbellton Tigers over the past two seasons. He has five assists in 27 career QMJHL games.

In exchange for the Fredericton native, the Sea Dogs sent a 2021 10th-round pick to to the Wildcats - which is pretty good for a d-man who could have started the season in the Moncton lineup.

The @SJSeaDogs have completed a trade with the @monctonwildcats receiving D-man Sam Dow (2002) in exchange for a 10th round pick in 2021.

Welcome Sam! pic.twitter.com/dFcEKHNXtk

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) September 4, 2020

Saint John is loaded on the backend with very few open spots. Charlie DesRoches, Christopher Inniss, Kale McCallum, Jeremie Poirier and William Villeneuve are all basically locks to make the team - and that doesn't include import Jan Hampl, who is currently not with the team. Brendan Sibley and/or Nathan Drapeau are likely to grab the final spot or two.

With all the uncertainty surrounding this season, depth is a good thing - especially given the challenges around bringing players into the Atlantic bubble. Players like Dow, Isaac Dixon and Hunter Gartley - all New Brunswickers - should be easy callups if needed.

The Sea Dogs continue pre-season play on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Halifax Mooseheads in Dartmouth.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 9-4

FINAL: Saint John 9, Bathurst 4

Photo: Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

BATHURST - The Saint John Sea Dogs found their scoring touch on Thursday.

After scoring just three times on 50 shots in Tuesday's loss, the Sea Dogs made up for it in this game, defeating the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 9-4 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pre-season action at a fan-less KC Irving Regional Centre.

Cam MacDonald led the way with a hat trick while Peter Reynolds and Dawson Stairs each scored twice. Leighton Carruthers and Alex Drover also scored. Goaltender Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo rebounded from a rough start and made 14 saves in the first half of the game. Noah Patenaude allowed one goal on 13 shots in the second half of the match.

Bathurst had goals from Nolan Mozer, Dylan Andrews, Ben Allison and Carter Ansems. Former Sea Dog Tommy DaSilva allowed five goals on 28 shots through 40 minutes of play. Jack Howatt allowed four goals on 14 shots in the third.

Both teams are now 1-1 in pre-season play after the Titan won Tuesday's matchup at TD Station, 6-3.

QMJHL unveils 2020-21 schedule

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League released its 2020-21 regular season schedule on Thursday.

The season is scheduled to begin on Friday, Oct. 2 with eight games. Amongst the opening night matches will be the Saint John Sea Dogs' first game, which will take place at 7 p.m. in Bathurst.

Saint John returns to TD Station on Saturday, Oct. 3 for their home opener - which will be against the Charlottetown Islanders.

Back-to-back games will be the norm this season as the league looks to reduce travel and costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Saint John's season will look a lot like a US college hockey schedule with games mostly on Friday and Saturday evenings. According to the league, "83% of games will be played on weekends (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays) this season."

The QMJHL's weekend-focused schedule also gives plenty of wiggle room for makeup games down the road. It seems almost inevitable that postponements will happen - but hopefully there are very few (if any) and things are able to remain under control.

The Sea Dogs will play back-to-back games the first seven weeks of the season. The team's first mid-week game will be on Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Pre-Season Game Day 2: at Bathurst

BATHURST - The pre-season continues tonight for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs travel to Bathurst for rematch with the Titan. The two met on Tuesday night at TD Station where the Titan, despite being heavily outshot for most of the game, grabbed a 6-3 victory. Shots ended 50-19 in favour of Saint John.

Lineups had not been released at the time of this writing, but we'll likely see most of the players we didn't see on Tuesday. We'll also see if Saint John's goaltending can improve a bit after a rough debut.

Game time is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/Titan YouTube Channel

2020 pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 0-1-0-0 this pre-season while the Titan are 1-0-0-0.

2019-20 records: The Sea Dogs finished the shortened season with a 30-33-1-0 record for 61 points (fourth Maritimes, sixth Eastern, 11th QMJHL) while the Titan were 12-40-8-4 for 36 points (sixth Maritimes, 10th Eastern, 18th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs fell 6-3 to the Titan on Tuesday night at TD Station. Ben Allison scored a pair for Bathurst while singles came from Cael MacDonald, Mark Rumsey, Julien Bourget and Marc-Andre Gaudet. Charlie DesRoches scored two goals for Saint John and Carter McCluskey scored the other. Jack Howatt and Pierre-Vincent Guignard allowed three goals on 50 shots. Noah Patenaude and Daniel Moody allowed six goals on 19 shots.

2019-20 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 7-1-0-0 against the Titan last season while Bathurst went 1-6-0-1 against Saint John.

Notebook: When will Kotkov arrive?

Embed from Getty Images

When should Saint John Sea Dogs fans expect to see Russian forward Vladislav Kotkov on the ice at TD Station?

"I would say that the earliest is probably the mid to end of October," said Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie in an interview.

There was some positive news on the import front earlier this week when Russian forward Mikhail Abramov arrived in Victoriaville, where he'll do a 14-day quarantine before joining the Tigres on the ice. The Toronto Maple Leafs, the team that drafted Abramov in the fourth-round of the 2019 NHL Draft, was reportedly heavily involved in the process. That's good news for many imports - including Kotkov, who is a San Jose Sharks prospect.

"It takes time with the borders as we've seen across the league," said Georgie. "Fortunately we've been working really closely with San Jose and Vladislav's agent to get his visa situation sorted out. (With) him being a signed player to an NHL contract, San Jose is eager to get him here in Saint John and get him playing."

Czech defenseman Jan Hampl and American forward Matt Gould are currently not taking part in Sea Dogs camp due to border issues.

PHYSICAL PLAY

Also in that video interview, Georgie brought up a part of Saint John's Tuesday night pre-season performance that not many have mentioned: the team's physical play.

Saint John outhit Bathurst 22-6 in the game. While the hit number recorded on the scoresheet often isn't a great indicator of a team's physical play, there is no doubt that the Sea Dogs were much more willing to lay hits on Tuesday compared to what we have seen in the past.

Some of that likely has to do with the additions of veterans Liam Leonard, Christopher Inniss and Nicholas Girouard. In Tuesday's game, Dawson Stairs led the team with five hits while Julian Vander Voet, Carter McCluskey and Leighton Carruthers each had three.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 6-3

FINAL: Bathurst 6, Saint John 3

Photo: Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pre-season got off to a rough start for the Saint John Sea Dogs on Tuesday night at TD Station.

Despite outshooting the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 50-19 and controlling much of the play, the Sea Dogs fell 6-3 in their first exhibition contest.

The Titan scored twice in the first 4:30 of the game and the Sea Dogs were forced to try and catch up all night long. Saint John heavily outshot Bathurst for most of the game - including 19-4 in the second period - but couldn't come away with the win.

Bathurst made the most of their few scoring chances. Ben Allison scored two goals for the Titan while singles came from Cael MacDonald, Mark Rumsey, Julien Bourget and Marc-Andre Gaudet. 16-year-old goaltender Jack Howatt allowed a goal on 23 shots while fellow rookie Pierre-Vincent Guignard allowed two goals on 27 shots.

Charlie DesRoches scored two goals for Saint John while Carter McCluskey scored a solo marker. Noah Patenaude allowed two goals on seven shots. Daniel Moody allowed four goals on 12 shots.

Photos: Sea Dogs begin pandemic play

SAINT JOHN - TD Station was looking a little different on Tuesday night.

For the first time in the COVID-19 era, the Saint John Sea Dogs held a pre-season game, hosting the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. And for the first time in the COVID-19 era, Season Ticket Members were allowed to attend.

Fans were seated in their bubbles and those groups were socially distant from one another. Everyone in attendance had to wear a mask when they weren't seated - and most seemed to respect that rule.

Here are some photos from a very a 2020 arena experience.

Pre-Season Game Day 1: vs Titan

SAINT JOHN - For the first time since March 7, the Saint John Sea Dogs will play a hockey game.

Tonight's matchup against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan may just be a pre-season game, but there is perhaps some playoff-like excitement for it. After months of wondering when - or even if - this day would happen this summer/fall, here we are. Sea Dogs hockey is returning to TD Station.

The Sea Dogs will host the Titan - the team they were scheduled to play just before COVID-19 shut down the remainder of the 2019-20 season - this evening at 7 p.m. in front of a small number of Season Ticket Members.

Both teams should dress fairly solid lineups this evening given the roster limits for this year's training camps. The Sea Dogs lineup should feature a good mix of returnees and newcomers.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/Sea Dogs Radio Live/None

2020 pre-season records: This is the first game of the QMJHL pre-season for both clubs.

2019-20 records: The Sea Dogs finished the shortened season with a 30-33-1-0 record for 61 points (fourth Maritimes, sixth Eastern, 11th QMJHL) while the Titan were 12-40-8-4 for 36 points (sixth Maritimes, 10th Eastern, 18th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs ended last season with one of their worst loses, falling 8-2 on March 7 at TD Station to the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Charles Savoie and Kale McCallum scored Saint John's only goals. Zachary Bouthillier made 34 stops in the loss. The Titan last played on March 8, falling 7-1 on home ice to the Cape Breton Eagles. Noah Delemont scored Bathurst's lone goal. Felix-Anthony Ethier made 25 stops in the loss.

2019-20 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 7-1-0-0 against the Titan last season while Bathurst went 1-6-0-1 against Saint John.