Monday, March 1, 2021

Notebook: Quiet week ahead in the Maritimes

There will not be any QMJHL games played in the Maritimes this weekend.

The three New Brunswick teams won't resume action until next week (again, fingers crossed) while the Halifax Mooseheads are out of action until late March due to COVID restrictions in the HRM. On Sunday, the Charlottetown Islanders joined the Mooseheads on the shutdown list.


The Government of Prince Edward Island announced (Saturday) new COVID-19 measures to control the current outbreak. These include restrictions on hockey games that won’t be permitted until March 14th. 

Therefore, the Charlottetown Islanders will not be able to compete for the upcoming two weeks. With Charlottetown and Halifax on pause, the Cape Breton Eagles will also have to take a break from competition for the same period of time.

The Islanders, Mooseheads and Eagles had been playing each other for several weeks with no disruptions. If there's any positive out of this break it's that the three New Brunswick teams should be able to gain a bit of ground in terms of games played.

It's still unclear when - or even if - all six Maritimes Division teams will be able to travel freely around the three provinces.

CAJKOVIC DEBUTS
Maxim Cajkovic recorded an assist in his Val-d'Or Foreurs debut on Saturday.

The former Sea Dogs forward, who spent the first half of the season in his home country of Slovakia, appeared in his first QMJHL game since March 7 of last year. The Tampa Bay Lightning prospect added five shots in the Foreurs' 4-3 overtime win over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

The Sea Dogs traded Cajkovic to the Foreurs during last summer's QMJHL Entry Draft. Entering play Monday, Val-d'Or had a record of 19-2-2-2 and had won eight straight.

COURTEAU INTERVIEW
QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau joined Rogers TV's Sports QuaranTV last week. 

One of the more interesting tidbits was Courteau's comments about the Memorial Cup. A decision on whether a tournament will be held this year could be made over the next couple weeks. That decision will obviously impact the rest of the QMJHL's schedule.

The interview begins at 18:30.


THE FINANCIAL PICTURE
Why doesn't the Maritimes Division just play in a protected environment like the Quebec clubs? There are many reasons - with one of the biggest being the cost.

According to a report in the Shawinigan newspaper l'Hebdo du St-Maurice, each protected environment costs a minimum of $100,000. That number includes pricy COVID testing, rink expenses, hotels, food and more.

Over in the OHL, some teams will be hurt financially more than others this season. Commissioner David Branch said in an interview this week that he doesn't expect any of his 20 teams to close up shop because of the pandemic. He had an interesting comment about folks south of the border having interest in purchasing franchises.

“I for one don’t want to see teams have to sell … to U.S. interests," Branch said, via Guelph Today. "That’s something we have to work through. Right now, our owners are committed – they have been since day one. To say there aren’t some hardships wouldn’t be right, obviously, but we’re hopeful we can arrive at a position to stabilize all our teams as quickly as possible going forward.”

VANDER VOET IN THE VALLEY
Julian Vander Voet, who appeared in six games with Saint John in the "first half" before being released, has joined the Maritime Junior Hockey League's Valley Wildcats.
The 19-year-old forward has three goals in five games with the MHL club.

Vander Voet appeared in 40 games with the Sea Dogs last season.

GREEN TO FINLAND
In a surprise move, former Sea Dogs defenseman Luke Green has been loaned to Finland's Vaasan Sport by the Winnipeg Jets.
Green has not played in any AHL games with the Manitoba Moose this season and was listed as day-to-day a few weeks ago. The 23-year-old played in just 13 games with the Moose last season and 11 the year prior due to injuries.

The first overall pick in the 2014 QMJHL Entry Draft, Green spent parts of three seasons with the Sea Dogs. He was a third-round pick of the Jets in the 2016 NHL Draft.

SMALLMAN GOAL
This goal from former Sea Dogs captain Spencer Smallman made its way onto the ESPN edition of SportsCenter.
Smallman now has four goals and an assist in six games with the ECHL's Fort Wayne Komets.

JAMES WHITE COMMITS
Former Sea Dogs forward James White has committed to the Ontario Tech University Ridgebacks for next season.

White, who appeared in 32 games with the Sea Dogs last season and 59 the year prior, was going to spend his overage season with the OJHL's Wellington Dukes. The team has yet to play this season due to COVID. White played in 15 regular season games and four playoff contests with the Dukes last season.

"We are very excited to add James White to our program," Ridgebacks head coach Curtis Hodgins said in a news release. "His combination of size and skill, along with being an excellent student, made him a priority in our recruiting and we look forward to welcoming James to our campus."

MIDGLEY UPDATE
Former Sea Dogs assistant coach Jim Midgley will serve as an assistant with Team Canada at the upcoming IIHF Women's World Championship which... seems like it's still going to be played. 
The tournament is currently scheduled to be played April 7-17 in Halifax and Truro. TSN's Frank Seravalli tweeted recently that the tournament could be pushed back a month. Monday's Hockey Canada release did not note any dates.

Midgley was an assistant coach with the Sea Dogs during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. Elite Prospects lists him as a Philadelphia Flyers scout for this season.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)