Notebook: Kelly, Midgley join Rangers staff

Not one, not two, but three former Saint John Sea Dogs coaches will be part of the New York Rangers coaching staff this season.

As expected, Mike Kelly will work alongside head coach Gerard Gallant as an assistant. The two worked together for three seasons in Saint John and later teamed up with the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights. Most recently, the two helped Canada win gold at the IIHF World Championship.

Also joining Gallant's staff as an assistant is Jim Midgley. The former Halifax Mooseheads head coach was an assistant under Jacques Beaulieu in Saint John from 2007 to 2009. He then went on to be director of hockey operations at Rothesay Netherwood for a couple seasons.

Midgley is currently working as an assistant coach with Team Canada at the IIHF Women's World Championship in Calgary.

HAT TRICKS

Entering Friday's action, the Sea Dogs have scored a league high 28 goals in the pre-season, averaging seven goals per game. They've benefited from playing some young and inexperienced defense groups and goaltenders, so we'll see how this trend holds up the rest of the way.

Three players have scored hat tricks in Saint John's four exhibition contests, which seems like a rarity.

Aug. 19 vs Moncton: Carter McCluskey

Aug. 20 at Moncton: Vince Elie

Aug. 25 vs Charlottetown: Josh Lawrence

McCluskey (four goals and four assists) and Nico Laforge (three goals and five assists), who seem likely to make the team's regular season roster, lead the league in pre-season scoring with eight points each.

The Sea Dogs take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the KC Irving Regional Centre. Saint John won't play again until Sept. 10 when they host the Moncton Wildcats in Fredericton.

O'BLENIS SUSPENSION

Sea Dogs forward Jack O'Blenis received a one-game suspension for being an "instigator of a fight in the final five minutes of a game with a two goal difference," according to the QMJHL website.

O'Blenis "fought" (it wasn't much of a tilt with the officials quickly breaking it up) Charlottetown's Max Chisholm at 17:17 of the third period in Tuesday's game in Cornwall, which the Sea Dogs won 7-4.

The 16-year-old O'Blenis, a seventh-round pick of Saint John in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft, has one goal in three pre-season games. He served his one-game suspension on Wednesday.

RICHARD TRADED

Former Sea Dogs forward Connor Richard has been traded to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

The Moncton Wildcats traded Richard to the Armada on Wednesday in exchange for an eighth-round pick in the 2022 QMJHL Entry Draft. The 18-year-old recorded five goals and three assists in 30 games with the Wildcats last season.

Richard, a 10th-round pick of the Sea Dogs in 2018, appeared in three games with Saint John during the 2018-19 season.

TOP HUBERDEAU PLAYS
If you were looking for Jonathan Huberdeau's top 10 plays from this past season...

Jonathan Huberdeau's (@JonnyHuby11) top 10 plays from last season? Say no more! 👀 pic.twitter.com/PksMI8suhT

— NHL (@NHL) August 25, 2021

OTHER THINGS

• Greg Gilbert is now listed as an "advisor to hockey operations" on the Sea Dogs website.
• The Calgary Flames blog Matchsticks and Gasoline has named Ryan Francis the team's 18th best prospect.
• With COVID restrictions expected to continue until mid-September in Nova Scotia, the Sept. 24 Sea Dogs game scheduled to be played at Scotiabank Centre could be the Mooseheads' first game permitted to be at full capacity since March 2020.
• Sea Dogs goaltender Jonathan Lemieux has signed with the Propulsion agency, which is headed by former Moncton Wildcats goaltender Nicola Riopel.
• Charlie Coyle is engaged. 
• The Newfoundland Growlers are staying in St. John's after a messy few weeks involving their lease agreement.