Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs |
Switzerland was scheduled to play the Czech Republic on Thursday in Red Deer but the game was cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols.
It’s my understanding that one player from CZE/SUI has tested positive. That positive test will need to be confirmed. This game has been postponed for precautionary reasons. The player will be isolated. All players are tested every day. Stay tuned, as they say. https://t.co/xabs9SYo7L
— Bobby Margarita (@TSNBobMcKenzie) December 23, 2021
Switzerland's first game of the tournament is scheduled for Monday against Russia. They'll also play the United States (Dec. 28), Slovakia (Dec. 30) and Sweden (Dec. 31) in the preliminary round. All of those games will be played in Red Deer.
If the QMJHL (including the three New Brunswick based clubs) does indeed resume play on Jan. 7, the Sea Dogs have some big games coming up.
Here's a look at some of January's marquee Sea Dogs games:
Jan. 8 vs Sherbrooke
Jan. 20 vs Quebec
Jan. 21 vs Gatineau
Jan. 27 at Charlottetown
If the league's pause goes further into January, those games against Quebec based clubs may be logistically challenging to reschedule for later in the year. Fingers crossed they happen as it would be great to see how Saint John's new lineup stacks up against some of the league's top teams.
The Sea Dogs venture to Quebec just one more time this season, visiting Baie-Comeau, Chicoutimi and Rimouski in early February.
MACDONALD INTERVIEW
Sea Dogs forward Cam MacDonald was recently a guest on the Halifax-based High Button Podcast.
Sea Dogs forward Cam MacDonald was recently a guest on the Halifax-based High Button Podcast.
TICKET UPDATE
According to the Telegraph-Journal (paywall), "around 80 per cent of tickets" have been sold for the 2022 Memorial Cup, which will be hosted in Saint John June 4-13.
Tickets went on sale to the general public on Dec. 6. Information on ticket packages is available on the CHL website.
VILLEMAIRE MAKES ECHL RETURN
Here's something you don't see everyday: Maxime Villemaire recently played in his first ECHL game in nearly a decade.
The Trois-Riviers Lions have been calling up several players from the LNAH to fill holes in their roster. Villemaire suited up for the Lions on Dec. 18 in their 5-2 home win over the Maine Mariners. He has since been released by the club.
Villemaire appeared in 15 ECHL games with the Gwinnett Gladiators in 2012-13, recording one assist. The 29-year-old has since been playing in the LNAH, mostly with Riviere-du-Loup. He has a goal and eight assists in nine games this season.
Villemaire spent parts of two seasons with the Sea Dogs, helping the team win the President Cup in 2012.
OTHER THINGS
- New Sea Dogs defenseman Vincent Sevigny was one of the silver winners of the QMJHL's Dr. Sylvain Simard Award. "Sevigny also obtained his college diploma (DEC) by successfully completing four applied sciences classes at Cegep de Victoriaville," reads a QMJHL release.
- There's no doubt some concern in U Sports men's hockey that the longer the season is paused, the more players are likely to leave school and find playing time elsewhere. The University of Guelph has lost three players to the pro ranks already.
- 49-Sport looks at what this pause means for Atlantic University Sport.
- Before the Acadie-Bathurst Titan acquired Miguel Tourigny on Thursday, one name that was thrown out there by Robert Lagace of the Acadie Nouvelle: former Sea Dog Kale McCallum, who is having a great season with the Val-d'Or Foreurs.
- Really bizarre move by the IIHF to cancel all of its January events and not even attempt to play them later in the year.
- Merry Christmas.
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