Friday, March 4, 2022

Notebook: Ex-Dogs in town Saturday

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
HALIFAX - The Saint John Sea Dogs will face a couple of familiar faces for the first time on Saturday.

Forwards Charles Savoie and Carter McCluskey, who the Sea Dogs traded to the Cape Breton Eagles at the deadline, will face their former club for the first time since being dealt. The Sea Dogs and Eagles meet on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at TD Station.

McCluskey has two goals and an assist in eight games with Cape Breton while Savoie has a goal and a helper in seven contests.

The Eagles also feature former Sea Dogs forward Nicholas Girouard who has 11 goals and 11 assists in 22 games.

The Dogs and Eagles have not met since Oct. 16 in Saint John. They'll meet a total of seven times in the second half.

On Sunday, the Sea Dogs host the Halifax Mooseheads at 3 p.m. Saint John posted a 7-1 victory in Halifax on Wednesday.

CHL CANCELS CANADA-RUSSIA GAMES
As expected, the Canadian Hockey League officially announced the cancellation of the 2022 Canada-Russia Series on Wednesday. The league did not, however, take the rumoured/reported step of banning Russian and Belarusian players from the upcoming CHL Import Draft.

Here's the full statement from the CHL:

The Canadian Hockey League strongly condemns the recent actions by Russia involving military force in Ukraine and encourages a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

In addition to supporting the measures announced by the International Ice Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada barring Russia and Belarus from international competition, the Canadian Hockey League today announced the cancellation of the 2022 Canada Russia Series. The date and format for the 2022 CHL Import Draft has yet to be determined and will be announced at a later date.

The Canadian Hockey League is committed to the safety and well-being of all of its current players and is supportive of their continued development regardless of their country of origin.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is having quite an impact on junior hockey.

JAY IN BEIJING
If you've been wondering why Sea Dogs equipment manager Tyler Jay hasn't been behind the team's bench recently...
TICKET BOOKLETS
The Sea Dogs confirmed this week that, even in these paperless times, ticket booklets will be printed for the 2022 Memorial Cup. You must purchase ticket packages by April 1 in order to receive a booklet.
Physical ticket booklets are becoming more and more uncommon even for major sports tournaments.

SAPELNIKOV HURT
Former Sea Dogs forward Evgeny Sapelnikov will be out of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar lineup for an undetermined amount of time after suffering an injury during a Feb. 27 game, which required surgery.
The Belarusian forward has five goals and four assists in 10 games with Baie-Comeau. He was dealt to the Drakkar in the Raivis Ansons trade.

WOODS MAKES DEBUT
Francis Woods made his QMJHL debut on Thursday.

Traded to the Val-d'Or Foreurs in the Marshall Lessard deal, Woods suited up in the team's Thursday game in Rouyn-Noranda where he registered two hits. The 16-year-old forward was slotted into the team's fourth line.
A third-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft, Woods has 15 goals and 10 assists in 32 games with the Gatineau Intrepide this season.

MHL PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Former Sea Dogs defenseman Ben Roode was named the Maritime Junior Hockey League's defenseman of the month for February.


The 20-year-old from Dartmouth, NS was one of four blueliners to register five points in February, second-most in the MHL. Roode had one goal and two assists in a 5-3 win over Pictou County on February 17th and two assists in a 6-1 win over Valley on the 23rd. He took just one minor penalty last month, despite continuing to log heavy minutes on the ice against the opposition's best lines. Roode also continues to impress on the powerplay and penalty kill for Yarmouth. The Gongshow MHL Top Defenseman in December, Roode is second in league scoring among blueliners with four goals and 20 assists in 31 games. He's also second in assists and powerplay points.

Roode appeared in two games with the Sea Dogs in 2020-21. He's in his second season with the Mariners.

WILSON COMMITS

The 21-year-old spent parts of two season with the Sea Dogs. In 2017-18 he recorded five goals and three assists in 38 games. The next season he posted a goal and four assists in 52 games. He was a ninth-round pick of Saint John in the 2017 QMJHL Entry Draft.

In 115 career QMJHL games split between the Sea Dogs and Chicoutimi Sagueneens, Wilson recorded eight goals and nine assists.

This season with the MHL's Valley Wildcats -  where he is the club's captain - he has 14 goals and 20 assists in 28 games.

OTHER THINGS
  • The Acadie-Bathurst Titan, Mooseheads and Sea Dogs enter action Friday all tied for second in the Maritimes Division with 50 points each. The Titan have the advantage having played three fewer games than the Moose and Dogs. The Charlottetown Islanders have an 11-point lead on the three teams.
  • The Islanders fell to fifth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Shawinigan Cataractes, meanwhile, were ranked seventh while the Quebec Remparts were ninth. The WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings were ranked first. 
  • William Dufour continues to lead the QMJHL in goals with 36. Charlottetown's Patrick Guay sits second with 32.
  • In the points race, Dufour (70 points) enters the weekend just four points back of Sherbrooke's Joshua Roy (74 points) for the league lead.
  • In his latest Chronicle Herald column, Willy Palov looks at some of the hot topics around the league this season.
  • A sign that things are really starting to return to normal: the Islanders are organizing a fan bus trip to the team's April 16 road game in Bathurst.
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