Notebook: Joseph one win away from Cup

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Mathieu Joseph and the Tampa Bay Lightning are one win away from lifting the Stanley Cup for a second straight season.

The Lightning took a 3-0 lead in the championship series on Friday at the Bell Centre, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 6-3. Game 4 takes place Monday night in Montreal.

Joseph, who has appeared in two games in the series, recorded his first career NHL playoff point on Friday, assisting on Tyler Johnson's second period goal. Joseph has played in four playoff games after not dressing for any in the bubble last year.

Joseph 9 hits, one assist and a plus-2 in just over 16 minutes combined the last two games

— HockeyTampa (@Mapukalo) July 3, 2021

Joseph became the first and only Sea Dogs alumnus to win the Stanley Cup last year.

CAMP INVITE

Gatineau media is reporting that 19-year-old forward William Dagenais has been invited to Sea Dogs training camp.

Information à confirmer, mais il semblerait que l'attaquant gatinois William Dagenais @OlympiquesGAT va rejoindre les @SJSeaDogs à leur prochain camp d'entraînement. Ce club a repêché 3 joueurs en Outaouais samedi dernier: Olivier Brideau, Francis Woods et Nicolas Bilodeau.

— jf plante (@jfplante_Droit) June 29, 2021

Dagenais has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Olympiques, recording six goals and eight assists in 84 career QMJHL games. This past season he had a goal and an assist in 19 contests.

Dagenais was a fourth-round pick of the Halifax Mooseheads in the 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft. He was selected from the same Gatineau Intrepide program that the Sea Dogs picked three players from in this year's draft.

BURBIDGE PICK

Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie spoke to the Chronicle Herald about Cole Burbidge, the Mount Academy forward the team picked with the 29th overall selection in last weekend's QMJHL Entry Draft.

“We really like Cole," Georgie said. "Our team thinks he is one of the smartest players in the draft and will be a future top centreman in the league. We have had some great conversations with him and his family about his plan for next season and we’re very supportive of it. We look forward to having him be an important part of our future.”

36 Nova Scotians were selected in this year's draft.

REYNOLDS INTERVIEW

Sea Dogs forward Peter Reynolds was in the CHL's Sunday Spotlight last week.

'21 #NHLDraft prospect Peter Reynolds of the @QMJHL's @SJSeaDogs goes 1-on-1 in the #CHL Sunday Spotlight presented by @WinmarCorporate#teambluewinmar pic.twitter.com/eZ5GeChHjP

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 28, 2021

RAMSAY COMMITS TO VERMONT

Missed this way back in January: defenseman Duncan Ramsay, a fourth-round pick of Saint John in the 2020 QMJHL Entry Draft, has committed to the University of Vermont beginning in 2022-23.

Honoured and proud to announce my commitment to play division I college hockey at the University of Vermont. Special thanks to my family, friends, coaches and teammates for all the help and support along the way. #gocatamounts @UVMmhockey pic.twitter.com/9o1vlfb4Hy

— Duncan Ramsay (@duncanramsayy) January 9, 2021

A Halifax native, Ramsay appeared in six games with the Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire this past season, recording eight assists.

Ramsay (Vermont) joins defenseman Guillaume Richard (Providence), forward Michael Callow (Harvard) and forward Coleman Jenkins (Holly Cross) as Sea Dogs 2020 picks who have committed to NCAA programs. 

ALL-STAR

Former Sea Dogs captain and current Florida Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau was named to the NHL's second all-star team.

Presenting the 2020-21 @NHL Second All-Star Team, with career All-Star Team selections in parentheses:

Marc-Andre Fleury (1)
Victor Hedman (5)
Dougie Hamilton (1)
Auston Matthews (1)
Mikko Rantanen (1)
Jonathan Huberdeau (1)#NHLAwards #NHLStats: https://t.co/ZGRminqH61 pic.twitter.com/PJeqQ1r6iG

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 30, 2021

Huberdeau finished 12th in NHL regular season scoring, recording 20 goals and 61 points in 55 games with the Panthers.

GOAL OF THE YEAR

Former Sea Dogs captain Spencer Smallman won the fan vote for ECHL Goal of the Year.

#ECHL fans, we asked you to vote for the SICKEST goal this season & you delivered!
The 2020-21 ECHL Goal of the Year presented by @GEICO goes to Spencer Smallman of the @FWKomets! 🏒🚨 pic.twitter.com/NjMcHvxmWW

— ECHL (@ECHL) June 25, 2021

Smallman appeared in just eight games with the Fort Wayne Komets but managed to record six goals and six assists. He also registered two assists in six AHL games with the Chicago Wolves.

FATHER/SON HISTORY

Brad Flynn, the son of former Sea Dogs head coach Danny Flynn, was named an associate coach of the OHL's Saginaw Spirit on Friday.

The Spirit news release noted this interesting fact:

Brad and his father, Danny, are the first ever father and son to coach in all three leagues of the Canadian Hockey League.

Danny Flynn is one of the most successful coaches in all of Canadian Major Junior history. He is a Memorial Cup Champion, a two-time OHL Champion, a three-time QMJHL Champion, and was the recipient of the Ron Lapointe Trophy twice for QMJHL Coach of the Year. He is currently an Amateur Scout for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The younger Flynn was an assistant coach with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in 2015-16 and spent the past three seasons as an assistant with the WHL's Red Deer Rebels.

NEW OLYMPIQUES JERSEYS
The Gatineau Olympiques will be sporting new jerseys when they hit the ice in their new home this season. The team unveiled the new look at a press conference before the draft.

📽️Les Olympiques de Gatineau auront un nouveau visage la saison prochaine.

Découvrez-le ici 👇#goOLgo pic.twitter.com/zloCnhdzBS

— Olympiques Gatineau (@OlympiquesGAT) June 25, 2021

OTHER THINGS

• Forward Evgeny Sapelnikov, taken by Saint John with the 82nd overall pick in Wednesday's CHL Import Draft, was one of 11 Belarusian players selected. Only Russia (16) and the Czech Republic (15) had more players picked.
• The Win Column has a great breakdown of where we may see Saint John's other import pick, Calgary Flames defensive prospect Yan Kuznetsov, playing this season.
• Acadia University will host the 2022 University Cup this March at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre. The 2020 event in Halifax was cancelled after the first day of competition due to the pandemic.
• Craig Eagles looks at the Atlantic Canadians eligible for this year's NHL Draft.
• A major question facing the CHL heading into 2021-22: will the fans come back when pandemic restrictions are loosened? It's still early, but Minor League Baseball isn't having great success at the gate. From the Journal Star: "In 2021, the now 120-team minor league system is averaging 2,778 per game as it comes off a pandemic that saw the 2020 season cancelled. That's down from 4,290 system-wide in 2019, a 35% decrease."