Notebook: Dogs begin season ranked third

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will open the 2021-22 regular season as the No. 3 ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League.

The Sea Dogs trail only the top-ranked Edmonton Oil Kings and the No. 2 Quebec Remparts in the pre-season rankings. The Acadie-Bathurst Titan (No. 7) and Shawinigan Cataractes (No. 9) were the only other ranked QMJHL teams.

Did your team make the list?

Introducing the @KiaCanada Top-10 Rankings: 2021-22 Preseason Edition

📝: https://t.co/50wg4GDOVr pic.twitter.com/tbk3NwuCJC

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) September 30, 2021

The Charlottetown Islanders, who the Sea Dogs will play twice this weekend,  were an honourable mention.

The Sea Dogs began last season ranked eighth in the CHL (yes, there were actually pre-season rankings last year).

TOUGH OPENING

The Sea Dogs will not have an easy start to the season.

Most QMJHL followers have the Sea Dogs, Titan and Islanders finishing at the top of the Maritimes Division in some order. Then there is the Halifax Mooseheads followed by the rebuilding Cape Breton Eagles and Moncton Wildcats.

Saint John will start the season with five straight games against either the Islanders or Titan.

The Sea Dogs kick things off with a home-and-home with the Islanders and follow that up with a home-and-home against the Titan. They then visit Charlottetown on Thanksgiving Monday.

Saint John will play both Charlottetown and Bathurst four times each in October.

SEASON PREVIEW

CBC, now one of the CHL's official broadcasters, previews the upcoming season.

CBC's first CHL broadcast is on Saturday afternoon when the Regina Pats host the Prince Albert Raiders.

Four Sea Dogs reassigned to Saint John; Kuzentsov sent to AHL Stockton

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs may have a close-to-normal lineup when they open the regular season on Friday night.

Forwards Cam MacDonald and Peter Reynolds along with defensemen William Villeneuve and Jeremie Poirier have all been reassigned to Saint John by their respective NHL clubs.

MacDonald was attending Tampa Bay Lightning camp; Villeneuve was at Toronto Maple Leafs camp; and Poirier took part in Calgary Flames camp.

Reynolds was attending Columbus Blue Jackets camp as a free agent. 

That leaves overage forward Ryan Francis as the lone Sea Dog still attending an NHL camp. The Flames prospect is eligible to play professional hockey this season but it seems more likely he'll be sent back to junior at some point in the near future.

Defenseman Yan Kuznetsov, Saint John's first-round pick in this year's CHL Import Draft, was assigned to the AHL's Stockton Heat by the Flames. It's still possible he could make his way to the Sea Dogs at some point - but we'll see what happens.

The Sea Dogs begin the regular season on Friday at home against the Charlottetown Islanders. Game time is 7 p.m.

Some NHL camp updates

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs lead the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in current players/graduates attending NHL training camps this year.

According to a CHL.ca story, the Sea Dogs have a total of 20 players - five current and 15 graduates - taking part in NHL camps.

Current players include Ryan Francis (Calgary), Jeremie Poirier (Calgary), Peter Reynolds (Columbus), Cameron MacDonald (Tampa Bay) and William Villeneuve (Toronto).

Graduates of the Sea Dogs include Bokondji Imama (Arizona), Callum Booth (Boston), Charlie Coyle (Boston), Jakub Zboril (Boston), Eric Gelinas (Carolina), Spencer Smallman (Carolina), Brett Gallant (Columbus), Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida), Mike Hoffman (Montreal), Julien Gauthier (New York Rangers), Thomas Chabot (Ottawa), Zachary Emond (San Jose), Mathieu Joseph (Tampa Bay), Matthew Highmore (Vancouver) and Nathan Beaulieu (Winnipeg).

Not included in the total are players who played with Saint John but ended their junior careers elsewhere. That list includes Nathan Larose (Anaheim), Olivier Leblanc (Columbus), Joe Veleno (Detroit), Ostap Safin (Edmonton), Joshua Roy (Montreal), Alex D'Orio (Pittsburgh) and Maxim Cajkovic (Tampa Bay).

A total of 981 current or former CHL players are attending NHL camps this year. 226 are from the QMJHL.

Unsurprisingly, the London Knights lead all CHL teams with 49 players attending camps.

A final look at the pre-season

Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs are pre-season champions.

The Sea Dogs finished with the most of points (13) of any QMJHL team during exhibition play and finished tied with the Shawinigan Cataractes for the most wins (six).

What does all of this mean? Absolutely nothing! But hey, any positive momentum heading into the regular season - especially after how the past few seasons have gone in Saint John - is, well, a positive thing.

Here are a few more stats from Saint John's eight pre-season games:

• The Sea Dogs finished with a 6-1-1-0 record with both losses coming against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
• Saint John scored a league high 45 goals for an average of 5.6 per game.
• Josh Lawrence led Saint John in pre-season scoring with nine points (five goals and four assists). He appeared in six of Saint John's eight pre-season contests, which is a lot for a veteran.
• William Dufour led the team in goals with six. He scored at least once in all four pre-season games he appeared in.
• Lawrence, Peter Reynolds and Vince Elie all scored five goals while Carter McCluskey had four.
• Riley Bezeau had a team high six assists in six games. Nico Laforge had five.
• Noah Patenaude allowed five goals on 83 shots in just over 136 minutes of work, giving him a 2.21 GAA and .940 SV%.
• Jonathan Lemieux rebounded from a rough debut. The overager allowed 10 goals on 83 shots in just under 154 minutes of work, giving him a 3.90 GAA and .880 SV%.

Saint John begins regular season play on Friday night at TD Station, hosting the Charlottetown Islanders.

Notebook: Dogs have assets to work with

Kevin Chambers/Station Nation

No matter what happens in the first half of the 2021-22 season, the Saint John Sea Dogs, as Memorial Cup hosts, will definitely be swinging some deals come the holiday trading period.

What do the Sea Dogs have to work with? For starters, a plethora of draft picks. Here's what they have for the next three drafts according to the French fan forum:

2022: 1-1CHA-2-2GAT-7-7VIC-8- 9-10MON-10GAT-11-12-13-14

2023: 1-2-3ROU-4-5-6-10-11-13-14

2024: 1-2-3-5-6-7-7VDO-8-9-10-11-12-13-14

The Sea Dogs also have a number of high end prospects - especially from this summer's draft - who could be dealt for immediate help.

Even if the Sea Dogs have a strong first half, the team will very likely still look at upgrading in some spots. Winning the Memorial Cup is hard - winning the Memorial Cup on home ice is both hard and a rare accomplishment. You don't want to have any regrets when June rolls around.

DOGS WERE IN ON BOLDUC

In non-surprising news: the Sea Dogs had strong interest in acquiring now former Rimouski Oceanic forward Zachary Bolduc.

The Journal le Soir reported last week that the Sea Dogs had been having discussions with the Oceanic about Bolduc for quite some time. Oceanic head coach and general manager Serge Beausoleil said they received a better offer from the Quebec Remparts, which is where Bolduc was dealt to in August.

The Oceanic received a 2022 first-round pick (Sherbrooke); 2022 sixth-round pick; 2023 first-round pick (Rimouski); and another 2023 first-round pick from the Remparts in exchange for Bolduc.

A first-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in the 2021 NHL Draft, the 18-year-old had 10 goals and 19 assists in 27 games with Rimouski last season.

BOUTHILLIER SIGNS IN ECHL

Former Sea Dogs goaltender Zachary Bouthillier has signed with the Maine Mariners, the ECHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins.

A former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, Bouthillier posted a 19-25 record to go along with a 4.16 goals against average and a .897 save percentage during his overage season with the Sea Dogs in 2019-20.

Bouthillier joined the UQTR Patriotes of U Sports last season but never played a game due to the pandemic.

Poirier, Villeneuve both signs ELCs

Maple Leafs Website

HALIFAX - Two Saint John Sea Dogs have signed three-year entry-level contracts with their respective NHL clubs.

Jeremie Poirier has signed an ELC with the Calgary Flames, the team announced Friday, while William Villeneuve has signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team announced Saturday.

Poirier was a third-round selection of the Flames in the 2020 NHL Draft.

"Poirier is an offensive dynamo, excellent at puck movement and a strong skater who can zip up and down the ice," writes Flames Nation. "The hole in his game is his defensive zone play and play away from the puck. But evidently the Flames have seen enough from him to think they can round him out. (He was very noticeable in both rookie camp games against Edmonton.)"

Poirier is currently at Flames training camp after taking part in the team's rookie/development camp.

"The guys are faster, the guys are bigger so plays around the net are a little tougher so you've got to bear down a little more, play more physical."

Jeremie Poirier gives his take on the first rookie game and looks ahead to tonight's rematch against the Oilers. pic.twitter.com/D5I2mvWkly

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) September 20, 2021

The 19-year-old, who is entering his fourth season with Saint John, recorded nine goals and 28 assists in 33 games last year. He added four goals and five assists in nine playoff games.

Villeneuve, meanwhile, was a fourth-round pick of the Leafs in 2020. He recently played with his fellow prospects at the Traverse City tournament where "he tallied two assists over four games with the Leafs," writes Leafs Nation.

COVID cancels Canada-Russia Series again

HALIFAX - COVID-19 has cancelled another Canadian Hockey League event.

The CHL announced Friday that the 2021 Canada-Russia Series has been cancelled due to the pandemic. From the CHL:

The Canadian Hockey League announced today that the 2021 CIBC Canada Russia Series will not be played given the ongoing challenges presented by the global pandemic.

The CHL is committed to the health and safety of its players and fans and remains optimistic about the return of the event during the 2022-23 season.

Details regarding the 2022-23 event will be announced at a later date.

The six-game, cross-country event has not been held since the 2019-20 season. The series is typically used as an evaluation tool for Team Canada's World Junior Hockey Championship roster.

The last CHL hosted event to be held was the 2020 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Hamilton. No details on a potential 2022 Top Prospects Game have been released.

The cancellation is further proof that the 2021-22 CHL season will not be as "normal" as was hoped over the summer. Although things are looking much more promising than a year ago, the fourth wave is no doubt creating concerns that there may be some stops-and-starts in some markets this year.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 3-2 (SO)

FINAL: Saint John 3, Halifax 2 (SO)

HALIFAX - The Saint John Sea Dogs ended pre-season play with a 3-2 shootout victory on Friday night.

Riley Bezeau scored the only goal of the shootout as the Sea Dogs edged the Halifax Mooseheads at Scotiabank Centre. William Dufour and Cole Foston scored in regulation time while Jonathan Lemieux made 33 saves in the win.

Markus Vidicek and Senna Peeters scored for Halifax. Brady James made 38 saves in the loss.

It was not a pretty game at times with both teams producing plenty of turnovers and sloppy play. Both sides were missing some of their top players due to NHL training camps - and it showed at times.

The Sea Dogs, once again, played a physical and feisty game, not backing down from any scrums or rough stuff. They also got great, timely goaltending from Lemieux.

Saint John ends the pre-season with a 6-1-1-0 record. They open the regular season on Friday at home against the Charlottetown Islanders.

Pre-Season Game Day 8: at Halifax

HALIFAX - The pre-season, at long last, comes to an end tonight for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs will play their eighth and final exhibition contest against the Halifax Mooseheads under the bright lights of the Scotiabank Centre at 7 p.m.

Both teams are still missing several regulars due to NHL camps.

This is Saint John's first trip across the Nova Scotia border since Nov. 18, 2020 when they faced the Cape Breton Eagles in Sydney.

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

Pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 5-1-1-0 this pre-season while the Mooseheads are 5-1-0-0.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Fredericton on Saturday. William Dufour, Kobe Burt and Cole Foston scored for Saint John. Noah Patenaude made 38 stops in the loss. The Mooseheads are coming off a 2-1 win in Moncton on Saturday. Senna Peeters and Zachary Beauregard scored for Halifax. Mathis Rousseau only had to make 15 stops in the victory.

2021 pre-season head-to-head: This is the first and only meeting between the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads this pre-season. 

2020-21 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 1-0-1-1 against the Mooseheads last season while Halifax went 2-0-0-1 against Saint John.

Plenty of current, former Sea Dogs attending NHL main camps this year

Maple Leafs Instagram

National Hockey League training camps are underway for several current and former Saint John Sea Dogs.

Current Sea Dogs (indicated below with the *) attending camps include Ryan Francis, Jeremie Poirier, Peter Reynolds, Cam MacDonald and William Villeneuve. Charlie DesRoches (Buffalo) and Brady Burns (Edmonton) attended rookie/development camps but did not advance to main camps.

Here's a look at the current and former Sea Dogs attending NHL training camps this year.

Anaheim Ducks: Nathan Larose

Arizona Coyotes: Bokondji Imama

Boston Bruins: Charlie Coyle, Jakub Zboril and Callum Booth

Calgary Flames: Ryan Francis* and Jeremie Poirier*

Carolina Hurricanes: Eric Gelinas and Spencer Smallman

Columbus Blue Jackets: Brett Gallant, Olivier Leblanc and Peter Reynolds*

Detroit Red Wings: Joe Veleno

Edmonton Oilers: Ostap Safin

More on Saint John's 2022 host selection

Kevin Chambers/Station Nation

How was Saint John chosen to host the 2022 Memorial Cup?

"In choosing Saint John as the host, there were three things that stuck out," said CHL president Dan MacKenzie in a speech in Saint John on Wednesday. "First, a comprehensive ticket sales plan to ensure Harbour Station is full each night of the event - even when the Sea Dogs are not playing. No. 2, a strong community event portfolio that included the opportunity to leave a lasting physical legacy in Saint John. And finally, the commitment of the bid committee to ensure the event will be operating on a sustainable footprint; be a celebration of the game and the history of this trophy; and inclusive for all."

The Sea Dogs and Quebec Remparts were the only two teams to submit bids. Saint John was officially awarded the tournament on Wednesday morning, a little more than 10 years after the team came up short to host the 2012 tournament.

MacKenzie was asked about the CHL's selection criteria during the question and answer period of Wednesday's news conference.

"One of the things that's very important to the CHL as we come out of COVID is to be in a place where we're going to have an environment for the Memorial Cup and a true celebration," MacKenzie said. "Part of that includes full buildings and full buy in. Not to say that the other bid didn't have that, but we felt, and you could hear it from the speeches today, that this is really important to the group here. 

"The commitment level in terms of full buildings and full community buy in and some of the other elements that were discussed - diversity, inclusion and environmental sustainability - those are all factors that played in to putting the bid a little bit further ahead."

Saint John to host 2022 Memorial Cup

It's happening: the Saint John Sea Dogs will host the 2022 Memorial Cup.

The Canadian Hockey League awarded the Sea Dogs the tournament on Wednesday morning. The team will hold a press conference later this afternoon at TD Station.

“We are extremely excited to be granting the rights to host this event to Saint John for the first time,” said CHL president Dan MacKenzie in a news release. “The bid committee did a fantastic job of outlining how Saint John will embrace the Memorial Cup with its Maritime hospitality to create an atmosphere that both celebrates the game and leaves a lasting legacy in the community.”

The Sea Dogs beat out the Quebec Remparts to host the prestigious junior hockey championship, which is scheduled to take place June 3-12, 2022.

Congratulations to the @SJSeaDogs, hosts of the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by @KiaCanada.https://t.co/MKQ7uJyHFB pic.twitter.com/elAjM6CCGv

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) September 22, 2021

Saint John is just the third Maritime city to host the event following in the footsteps of Halifax (2000 and 2019) and Moncton (2006). This is the first time the Maritimes will host the event back-to-back in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's three-year hosting cycle.

If everything goes as planned, the 2022 tournament will be the first to be held since 2019 due to the pandemic. There are plenty of unknowns between now and June - but let's hope things are in much better shape eight months from now.

Today's announcement is bittersweet for Scott McCain and the Sea Dogs who were devastated after losing the 2012 bid to the Shawinigan Cataractes. 10 year later they finally have their tournament.

More to come...

The wait is almost over

Wednesday is the big day.

The Canadian Hockey League is expected to announce the host of the 2022 Memorial Cup at 10:30 a.m. Atlantic via news release. Both the winning and losing organizations will hold press conferences later in the afternoon.

The Saint John Sea Dogs and Quebec Remparts were the only teams to submit bids.

The Sea Dogs have never hosted the event but came close in 2012, falling short to the Shawinigan Cataractes. They would become just the third Maritime host city of the prestigious event (Halifax 2000 and 2019 and Moncton 2006).

The Remparts previously hosted the event in 2003 and 2015 in their old home, the Colisee Pepsi.

The Telegraph-Journal (paywall) has a good breakdown of Saint John's bid.

It shouldn't be a stressful morning at all! Enjoy everybody.

Memorial Cup announcement coming

Folks, this could be the week.

We could finally, maybe, perhaps find out who will host the 2022 Memorial Cup in the coming days. This according to le Journal de Quebec's Kevin Dube, who reports an announcement could be made Wednesday.

Tout demeure encore à être confirmé, mais l'annonce de la ville hôtesse de la Coupe Memorial 2022 devrait (finalement!) se faire mercredi en avant-midi.

— Kevin Dubé (@KDubeJDQ) September 20, 2021

This means Wednesday morning will either be one of the great moments in Saint John Sea Dogs franchise history or another painful loss. The team came up short to Shawinigan the last time they bid in 2012.

The Sea Dogs and Quebec Remparts are the only two teams bidding to host the tournament. Mikael Lalancette had a great breakdown of the two teams and cities in le Soleil.

The tournament will be held June 3-12, 2022.

The easy pick here is the Remparts because, well, it's Quebec City and it's the Remparts. But as we all learned in 2012, there is a lot more to these bids than counting a city's hotel rooms and arena capacity. Saint John should, in theory, benefit from losing its previous bid - much like Shawinigan did 10 years ago.

I'd be more confident in Saint John's bid if the past year-and-a-half hadn't been a global disaster. If the QMJHL/CHL want to bring the Memorial Cup back from its pandemic break in one of the league's best and biggest buildings, it's hard to fault them for that.

Having said all that, I think this has a chance of going either way. We'll see what happens Wednesday.

Notebook: All QMJHL teams, arenas will require proof of full vaccination

FREDERICTON - If you want to watch QMJHL hockey this season, you'll need to be fully vaccinated.

With Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick all requiring some form of vaccination proof to enter non-essential businesses, that left the Charlottetown Islanders as the lone QMJHL team without any provincial mandate. This past week, the Islanders opted to join the rest of the league.

"While we will do our best to minimize the changes to our hockey season, games will not be operating the same as they have in the past," reads an Islanders statement. "We have adjusted our operational plan to maximize cleaning, sanitization, and safety for attendees, staff and volunteers. All staff, volunteers, and attendees must be fully vaccinated (plus 14 days after the second dose) to attend a game this season."

The Sea Dogs will open the regular season with a home-and-home against the Islanders. The team's will meet at Charlottetown's Eastlink Centre on Oct. 2.

MEMORIAL CUP DECISION SOON

Will this be the week the host of the 2022 Memorial Cup is finally announced? It's looking that way, but we'll see.

Mikael Lalancette has a great breakdown in le Soleil about the bidding process. A few tidbits:

• In 2019, there were reports that the Halifax Mooseheads had guaranteed the CHL $1 million in order to host the event. According the Lalancette, that guarantee has been removed to allow more teams/markets the chance to bid.
• Both the Sea Dogs and Remparts are planning on offering reasonable ticket prices, like the Mooseheads did in 2019.
• The arena situation is an interesting one. Obviously the Videotron Centre is a significant upgrade over TD Station - but TD's uptown location, in my probably very biased opinion, is much better than Videotron's, which fans would have to commute to each game.

CASEY MOVES TO THE AJHL
It appears Brandon Casey has made the move to the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

Casey appeared in the Grande Prairie Storm's regular season opener on Friday, recording an assist in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Drayton Valley Thunder.

The 19-year-old appeared in nine regular season games and three playoff contests with Saint John last season.

With Casey and Benjamin Roode both playing junior A this season, that would seem to put 17-year-old Hunter Gartley on the inside track of grabbing the seventh-defensemen spot on this year's roster. Gartley appeared in just two games last season due to an injury.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 4-3 (OT)

FINAL: Bathurst 4, Saint John 3 (OT)

FREDERICTON - The Acadie-Bathurst Titan erased a two-goal deficit and went on to defeat the Saint John Sea Dogs 4-3 in overtime on Saturday at the Aitken Centre.

Harijs Brants scored the overtime winner to give Bathurst the all-important pre-season extra point. Dylan Andrews, Jaxon Bellamy and Noah Ryan also scored for Bathurst. Jack Howatt made 28 saves in the win.

William Dufour, Kobe Burt and Cole Foston scored for the Sea Dogs. Noah Patenaude made 38 saves in the loss.

Both teams were missing a bunch of regulars due to NHL camps so the result of this game is kind of... whatever.

Saint John is now 5-1-1-0 in pre-season play with both losses coming against Bathurst.

Dufour opened the scoring at 7:08 of the first period. Burt doubled Saint John's lead at 4:15 of the second, putting a rebound past the Titan 'tender.

Bathurst got on the board at 15:40 of the middle frame. Not long after a Brady Stone penalty expired, Andrews put a rebound over a down Patenaude to make it 2-1.

The Titan evened things up at 5:31 of the third. Patenaude was down after a flurry of action in the crease, allowing Bellamy to score from the slot and make it 2-2.

At 12:03, Foston scored his first of the pre-season to put Saint John back in front, 3-2.

With 35.4 seconds remaining, Ryan backhanded a shot past Patenaude to tie the match up again and send things to overtime tied at 3-3.

Brants ended things at 4:57 of the extra frame. With Nathan Drapeau the lone man back on a two-on-one, Brants kept the puck and ripped a shot past Patenaude to make it a 4-3 final.

Pre-Season Game Day 7: vs Titan

FREDERICTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan met on Aug. 28 in what felt like a regular season preview.

Both teams dressed most of their regulars prior to players departing for NHL training and development camps. But, with NHL rookie camps and tournaments now in full swing, many of those players are gone for a bit, meaning tonight's meeting should have plenty of different faces in the lineup.

That Aug. 28 game saw the Titan defeat the Sea Dogs 6-5 - Saint John's only loss of the pre-season so far. They are 5-1 entering play this evening.

Game time at the Aitken Centre in Fredericton is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/None

Pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 5-1-0-0 this pre-season while the Titan are 2-3-0-0.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-2 win over the Moncton Wildcats in Dieppe last Sunday. William Dufour netted a pair of goals while singles came from Olivier Picard, Peter Reynolds Riley Bezeau and Josh Lawrence. Jonathan Lemieux stopped 26 shots in the win. The Titan are coming off a 4-1 home win over the Charlottetown Islanders last Sunday. Cameron MacLean scored twice while Cole Huckins and Jacob Melanson also scored. Chad Arsenault made 27 saves in the win.

2020-21 records: The Sea Dogs finished the regular season with a 15-14-3-1 record for a .515 points percentage (third Maritimes) while the Titan went 21-10-1-1 for a .667 points percentage (second Maritimes).

2020-21 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs went 5-6-1-0 against the Titan in the regular season while Bathurst went 7-4-0-1 against Saint John.

2021 pre-season head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 0-1-0-0 against the Titan this pre-season while Bathurst is 1-0-0-0 against Saint John.

Several Dogs attending NHL rookie camps

NHL.com

A sign that things are much more normal this year than last: NHL prospect camps and tournaments are back.

Among the events making a return is the Traverse City Prospect Tournament, which began on Thursday in Michigan. This year's tournament features the Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues and the Detroit Red Wings. The event comes to an end on Monday.

Notable names for Sea Dogs followers include:

Columbus Blue Jackets: Peter Reynolds

Detroit Red Wings: Joe Veleno

Toronto Maple Leafs: William Villeneuve and Cedric Pare

College hockey players are not attending with school back in session, meaning Saint John draft pick and Blue Jackets prospect Guillaume Richard, a Providence College commit, is not participating.

The Arizona Coyotes are hosting the Arizona Rookie Faceoff, which features teams from the Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights. Notable names include:

Anaheim Ducks: Nathan Larose

Colorado Avalanche: Shane Bowers (yeah, we're including him)

San Jose Sharks: Zachary Emond

Vladislav Kotkov is not attending Sharks camp with hopes, reportedly, of heading to the KHL.

Sea Dogs game to air on CBC

The Saint John Sea Dogs will appear on national television at least once this season.

The CHL announced the 2021-22 CBC broadcast schedule on Thursday, which features six games airing nationally in October and November.

The games, which will all air on Saturdays at 4 p.m. Atlantic (conveniently before Hockey Night in Canada), include the Sea Dogs visiting the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Nov. 6. Drummondville has always been a popular spot for national broadcasts.

The other QMJHL game to air will see the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies taking on the Shawinigan Cataractes on Oct. 9.

The first game CBC will broadcast is on Oct. 2 when the Prince Albert Raiders visit Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats. The full CBC schedule can be found on the CHL website.

The CHL news release notes that "in addition to being broadcast on CBC TV, all six games will also be available via CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and the free CBC Gem streaming service. Beginning in November, CBC Gem, CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app will offer live streaming coverage of one CHL game per week through the end of the regular season. The schedule for these games will be confirmed in the coming weeks."

No further details on CBC's broadcasts - like who will be doing play-by-play - have been released. This will be the first year of a "multi-platform, multi-year broadcast rights partnership" between the CHL and CBC.

TSN will also be airing CHL games nationally this year.

The CHL also confirmed the pricing for CHL TV on Thursday. Seasons passes, monthly passes and single-day passes will all be available for purchase. "The high-quality CHL TV streaming service is available on the Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV platforms, via mobile with iOS and Android, and the Safari and Google Chrome web browsers," reads a news release.

Proof of vaccination arrives in NB

If you want to watch junior hockey in New Brunswick this year, you'll need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The provincial government announced Wednesday that "beginning Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 11:59 p.m., people will be required to show proof of vaccination when accessing certain events, services and businesses, and anyone entering New Brunswick must preregister their travel."

Among the places that will require proof of full vaccination are "indoor festivals, performing arts and sporting events," which Quebec Major Junior Hockey League games presumably fall under. To enter, people will have to show "proof of vaccination and government-issued identification" if they are 12 and older. 

The province's press release provides further details - and also mentions that a QR code system to easily show proof of vaccination should be rolled out next month.

The first QMJHL game in New Brunswick that will be impacted by these new rules is a Sept. 26 pre-season contest between the Charlottetown Islanders and Moncton Wildcats in Bouctouche.

Further details on how all of this will work will no doubt be announced before the regular season begins on Oct. 1.

Two Sea Dogs, Wildcats suspended

A pair of Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats have received multi-game suspensions following Sunday's pre-season contest in Dieppe.

Saint John's Brendan Milson has been suspended three games for a staged fight and for being a repeat offender. Moncton's Francis Langlois, meanwhile, has been suspended for two games for a staged fight.

Milson and Langlois fought late in the first period of Sunday's game and both were given game misconducts for the staged fight.

#DefendTheDen https://t.co/JuCNUvBCnA pic.twitter.com/P5bNBoUoys

— Denis Leblanc (@DenisL_1981) September 12, 2021

The 19-year-old Milson was called up by the Sea Dogs from the Miramichi Timberwolves for this game.

Saint John's Adam Bowness and Moncton's Maxim Barbashev have both received three-game suspensions for a staged fight and accumulation of codes. The two fought late in the third period on Sunday with Saint John leading by more than two goals - which the league considers a no-no.

The 19-year-old Bowness was also called up by the Sea Dogs for this game. Bowness, now formerly of the Campbellton Tigers, recently had his Maritime Junior Hockey League rights traded to the Amherst Ramblers.

The Wildcats have three pre-season games remaining, so both Langlois and Barbashev should be good to go once the regular season rolls around.

The Sea Dogs have now had four players suspended this pre-season. Milson and Bowness join Jack O'Blenis (one-game for instigating of a fight in the final five minutes of a game with a two-goal difference) and Hunter Gartley (two-games for cross checking).

Notebook: Rogers TV won't air NB Q games

Rogers TV New Brunswick Facebook

Local Rogers TV stations in the province are not expected to air New Brunswick-based QMJHL games this season.

Broadcaster Gerry Green confirmed the news on Twitter.

Disappointed to hear we @RogersTVNB will NOT be carrying the @QMJHL games from SJ, Moncton and Bathurst this season. It was a great run and I'll miss it terribly. Some hilites to remember from Feb/20.@PQMiramichi @TTSeanHatchard @MrCDobson @BruceHallihan https://t.co/AoIucswlx9

— Gerry Green (@GGreenMachine) September 8, 2021

Rogers TV was not listed as a broadcast partner in the QMJHL's media guide. The network's included were RDS, TSN, CBC, TVA Sports, Eastlink and Optik TV.

The Saint John Sea Dogs, Moncton Wildcats and Acadie-Bathurst Titan have had around 15-25 games broadcast each season since 2014-15 on Rogers TV.

It does seem that local Rogers TV stations in Ontario will continue to air OHL games. A recent London Knights pre-season game was broadcast on Rogers TV in London.

FRIDAY'S GAME
UNB and Fredericton police have released more details on Friday's campus evacuations, which forced the pre-season game between the Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats, scheduled to be played at the Aitken Centre, to be cancelled.

The UNB campuses remained closed until midnight. They are now open and have returned to normal operations. We want to thank the university community for your patience and cooperation during this investigation.

— UNB (@UNB) September 11, 2021

The game will not be rescheduled. The UNB Reds, who are hosting Saint John's pre-season games this year, have announced details on what to do if you had purchased tickets to the game.

QUINN LEAVING SEA DOGS

Jon Quinn, the long-time Sea Dogs in-game announcer and director of marketing and communications, is leaving the team at the end of this week.

"While my time with the team will most likely be defined by all the yelling I did from the stands and the time (well) spent embarrassing unsuspecting fans with the promise of gift cards, that doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the opportunities I was given and the unique experiences I shared with the organization," Quinn wrote in a LinkedIn post on Monday.

"To my office family who make magic happen 34+ times a year, you are the best at what you do," he added. "I will always cherish the time we spent together, the many successes we shared, the bad times and the good."

Quinn has been the team's in-game host and held a variety of other roles since 2014.

Memorial Cup announcement delayed again

It doesn't appear the Canadian Hockey League will be announcing the host of the 2022 Memorial Cup this week.

The announcement was originally planned for the week of Sept. 6 but was pushed to this week. According to Kevin Dube of le Journal de Quebec, the announcement has been pushed forward yet another week.

La décision de l'équipe hôtesse de la Coupe Memorial 2022 a, encore une fois, été repoussée d'une semaine. On devrait donc finalement savoir qui de Québec ou Saint-Jean l'emporte, la semaine prochaine.

— Kevin Dubé (@KDubeJDQ) September 13, 2021

Only two teams submitted bids: the Saint John Sea Dogs and the Quebec Remparts.

If Saint John wins, it will be the first time the city has hosted the event - but it will be the second consecutive time a Maritime team has hosted during the QMJHL's turn in the three-league rotation. The Remparts most recently hosted in 2015 in their old home, the Colisee Pepsi.

The tournament has not been played since 2019 in Halifax due to the pandemic.

The 2022 tournament will be held a little later than usual, currently scheduled for June 2-12.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 6-2

FINAL: Saint John 6, Moncton 2

DIEPPE, NB - A three-goal first period pushed the Saint John Sea Dogs past the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday at the Dieppe UNIplex.

William Dufour scored two of Saint John's three goals in the period while Olivier Picard, playing in his first game with his new club, added the other. The Sea Dogs also outshot the Wildcats 16-7 in the first thanks to some power play time.

Peter Reynolds, Riley Bezeau and Josh Lawrence also scored. Jonathan Lemieux rebounded from a tough outing against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan a couple weeks ago, making 26 stops in the win.

Gabriel Bernier and Etienne Morin scored for Moncton. Vincent Filion made 29 saves in the loss.

The six goals were nice, but the bigger story of this game was Saint John's physical play and nastiness. Hits were just 11-8 in favour of the Wildcats, but the Sea Dogs were not afraid to play a more physical game than we've seen in recent seasons. A lot of that was brought by callups who no doubt wanted to impress with their opportunity.

The victory improves Saint John's pre-season record to 5-1.

Pre-Season Game Day 6 (for real this time): at Moncton

DIEPPE, NB - The Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats will try, once again, to return to pre-season action today.

The two teams were scheduled to play in Fredericton on Friday night but the game was cancelled due to a bomb threat on the UNB campus. Hopefully that doesn't happen this afternoon in Dieppe where the Sea Dogs will play their first ever game at the new UNIplex.

It's been a long break for both teams. The Sea Dogs have not played since Aug. 28 while the Wildcats haven't seen action since Aug. 27.

A number of regulars will be out of the lineup due to NHL rookie camps kicking off this weekend.

Puck drop this afternoon is 4 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/Wildcats YouTube?

Pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 4-1-0-0 this pre-season while the Wildcats are 2-3-0-0.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-5 loss in Bathurst on Aug. 28. William Dufour had a pair of goals while singles came from Charles Savoie, Peter Reynolds and Brady Burns. Jonathan Lemieux allowed six goals on 20 shots in the first half of the game while Noah Patenaude stopped all 13 shots he faced in the second half. The Wildcats are coming off a 7-4 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads in Dartmouth on Aug. 27. Charles-Antoine Pilote scored two Moncton goals while singles came from Alexis Daniel and Thomas Auger. Giovacchino DiMattia allowed four goals on 18 shots while Nicholas Sheehan allowed three goals on 22 shots.

2021 pre-season head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 2-0-0-0 against the Wildcats this pre-season while Moncton is 0-2-0-0 against Saint John.

Sea Dogs pre-season game cancelled

FREDERICTON - Tonight's pre-season game between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats in Fredericton has been cancelled - not postponed. The game will not be rescheduled.

The UNB Reds, who are hosting Saint John's pre-season games this year, tweeted that ticket information will be communicated on Monday.

The cancellation comes after UNB campuses in Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton had been evacuated for unknown reasons.

We will continue to follow the direction of local police authorities. The situation is continuously being reassessed. Further details will be provided as soon as they become available.

— UNB (@UNB) September 10, 2021

UNB later tweeted that "at this time, there is no immediate threat. We have no updates to report, but will communicate the most up-to-date information through the UNBsafe app. The safety of our UNB community is our number one priority and access to the UNB campuses is restricted until further notice."

The Sea Dogs have played two games at the Aitken Centre already this pre-season, winning both. They host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the building next Saturday.

The Sea Dogs and Wildcats play each other on Sunday afternoon in Dieppe.

Pre-Season Game Day 6: vs Wildcats

FREDERICTON - Saint John Sea Dogs hockey is still a thing!

After a nearly two week break, the Sea Dogs are back in pre-season action this evening, hosting the Moncton Wildcats at Fredericton's Aitken Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.

Saint John is 4-1 in exhibition action with their only loss coming on Aug. 28 in Bathurst, a game that saw them lose 6-5 after trailing 6-1.

A few regulars will presumably be out of the lineup due to NHL rookie camps getting underway.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/None

Pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 4-1-0-0 this pre-season while the Wildcats are 2-3-0-0.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-5 loss in Bathurst on Aug. 28. William Dufour had a pair of goals while singles came from Charles Savoie, Peter Reynolds and Brady Burns. Jonathan Lemieux allowed six goals on 20 shots in the first half of the game while Noah Patenaude stopped all 13 shots he faced in the second half. The Wildcats are coming off a 7-4 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads in Dartmouth on Aug. 27. Charles-Antoine Pilote scored two Moncton goals while singles came from Alexis Daniel and Thomas Auger. Giovacchino DiMattia allowed four goals on 18 shots while Nicholas Sheehan allowed three goals on 22 shots.

2021 pre-season head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 2-0-0-0 against the Wildcats this pre-season while Moncton is 0-2-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Aug. 20 in Moncton where the Sea Dogs defeated the Wildcats 7-2. Vince Elie scored three goals while Saint John had solo markers from Cam MacDonald, Brandon Casey, Jack O'Blenis and Peter Reynolds. Luke McPhee and Alex Mercier scored for Moncton. Ventsislav Shingarov allowed two goals on 15 shots while Olivier Brideau stopped all 21 shots he faced in the Saint John net. For Moncton, Dawson Rowe allowed six goals on 12 shots while Thomas Couture allowed a goal on 15 shots.

CHL TV prices seem pretty good

While the Canadian Hockey League has yet to make any official announcement, it appears streaming junior hockey online just became much more affordable.

All three CHL leagues will be part of CHL TV this season. This week, pricing was posted on the streaming service, with league season passes costing $109.99 while a full CHL all-access pass will cost $159.99. Those prices do not include taxes and other fees.

Each pass is good for live and archived games.

Many season ticket members across the league have been sent discount codes for the streaming service.

Last season, a monthly pass to watch QMJHL games through Neulion's QMJHL Live was $39.99 while individual games were $7.99.

The WHL used the CHL TV service last season. There were some bumps along the way, but overall it was a pretty good. The expectation is that many of the hiccups and complaints from last season were resolved over the summer.

The QMJHL has been using Neulion since the 2014-15 season. The league was expected to make the switch to Verizon - the host of CHL TV - last season, but it all fell apart late in the process. The new webcasts were expected to have a higher minimum standard in each rink, giving fans a much better broadcast experience.

Along with a new streaming platform, CHL games will also be broadcast nationally on TSN, CBC and RDS this season instead of Sportsnet and TVA Sports. Rogers TV is not expected to be broadcasting games locally in New Brunswick this season, but that has not been officially announced.

Roode returns to Yarmouth

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Benjamin Roode is back with the Yarmouth Mariners.

The Mariners tweeted that Roode, who played 23 games with the Maritime Hockey League club last season, has rejoined the team after taking part in Saint John Sea Dogs training camp.

We are proud to welcome back @Benroode18 after a strong showing at @SJSeaDogs camp. Welcome back Ben! pic.twitter.com/PygXMg2eBA

— Yarmouth Mariners (@MarinersHockey) September 2, 2021

Roode appeared in two games with Saint John last season. The 19-year-old would have been used sparingly if he cracked the Sea Dogs lineup this year, likely sitting as the seventh defensemen on most nights. He'll see significantly more ice time with the Mariners.

The Dartmouth native recorded two goals and 13 assists in his 23 MHL games last season.

With Roode departed, that seemingly leaves 17-year-old Hunter Gartley and 19-year-old Brandon Casey as the remaining two d-men fighting for a roster spot.

The team's top six will presumably be made up of William Villeneuve, Jeremie Poirier, Charlie DesRoches, Christopher Inniss, Nathan Drapeau and Vincent Despont.

The Sea Dogs return to pre-season action on Friday, hosting the Moncton Wildcats at the Aitken Centre.

Notebook: Less than one month away

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season is less than a month away.

The regular season begins on Thursday, Sept. 30 with the President Cup champion Victoriaville Tigres hosting the Shawinigan Cataractes. The following night, Friday, Oct. 1, is when the season really gets going with all 18 teams in action - including the Sea Dogs hosting the Charlottetown Islanders at TD Station.

The Sea Dogs and Islanders meet again the following night at Eastlink Centre.

Before the regular season gets going, the Sea Dogs still have four pre-season games remaining. They'll take on the Moncton Wildcats in Fredericton on Friday, Sept. 10; travel to Dieppe to face the Wildcats on Sunday, Sept. 12; host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the Aitken Centre on Saturday, Sept. 18; and close out exhibition play on Friday, Sept. 24 in Halifax.

STATS AND STUFF

Here's a quick look at some pre-season stats as the QMJHL enters the Labour Day break.

• Saint John has scored a league high 33 goals in five pre-season games. A lot of that may have to do with the defensive units their opponents dressed - but it's still a positive sign.
• Carter McCluskey and Nico Laforge each have a team high eight points.
• Vince Elie, who has been cut from the team's camp roster, still leads the team in goals with five. McCluskey, Josh Lawrence and Peter Reynolds each have four.
• Laforge leads the team in assists with five.
• Noah Patenaude has allowed just one goal on 41 shots. Olivier Brideau (four goals against on 52 shots) and Ventsislav Shingarov (five goals against on 63 shots) also had strong performances before departing.

MACARTHUR VS SJ

Bennett MacArthur's three-point performance against Saint John last Saturday in Bathurst was a reminder of just how good he's been against the Sea Dogs over the past year.

2020-21 regular season: 12GP, 11G, 3A

2021 playoffs: 3GP, 3G, 1A

2021 pre-season: 1GP, 2G, 1A