Sea Dogs to practice in Riviere-du-Loup

It's official: the Saint John Sea Dogs are leaving the province and heading to Riviere-du-Loup to practice.

The Sea Dogs announced Monday that the team is departing for the Quebec city to temporally train due to the current COVID-19 restrictions in New Brunswick. From the Sea Dogs:

“It’s important that we allow our student athletes to continue training as it’s vital for their health, morale, and psychological well-being” said Sea Dogs President & General Manager, Trevor Georgie.

Other Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams have permission to train under certain restrictions in Nova Scotia and Quebec. There is no restriction in New Brunswick’s mandatory order for teams to train outside the province.

“Our players need to be ready to play games once we restart and high-level athletes can’t stop training completely over an extended period of time” said Georgie. “This is a temporary solution and we will continue to follow our rigorous protocols. We look forward to returning home to TD Station and performing for our fans soon.”

The Moncton Wildcats announced Monday - in a press release worded very similar to the Sea Dogs' - that the team will travel all the way to Quebec City to train. The Wildcats said just a few days ago they weren't "actively pursuing" an out-of-province practice location.

Radio-Canada reports that the Acadie-Bathurst Titan will practice in Carleton-sur-Mer, which is less than two hours away from Bathurst.

Under New Brunswick's current restrictions, the provinces three QMJHL teams can't play games or hold practices. The good news is that these Level 3 restrictions could end next week - but they also might not!

"Yes, the thing could go off the rails, but it's not looking like that at this stage."

— Jacques Poitras (@poitrasCBC) January 21, 2022

A move back to the old Level 2 would at least allow for practices - although the province has been known to adjust what is and isn't allowed in each level. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Saint John's next scheduled game is set for Feb. 5 on home ice against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. It's unclear at this time if the Sea Dogs will have the clearance to play that game - or if the league will even want to if fans aren't permitted.