Ex-Dogs remain in President Cup hunt

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

While current members of the Saint John Sea Dogs will not be lifting the President Cup in June, a few former Dogs still have a shot.

Former Sea Dogs Joshua Roy (Sherbrooke Phoenix), Alex Drover (Rimouski Oceanic) and Dawson Stairs (Charlottetown Islanders) remain in the President Cup playoffs.

Roy, who won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's regular season scoring race, entered action Monday in a tie for the playoff points lead (13 points). Drover had a goal in five first round games to help the Oceanic upset his former club. Stairs, meanwhile, has been on the Islanders' top line and had a goal and three assists in four games entering play Monday.

A number of ex-Dogs had their seasons come to a conclusion in the opening round. They include Christopher Inniss (Chicoutimi Sagueneens), Evgeny Sapelnikov (Baie-Comeau Drakkar), Jonathan Lemieux (Moncton Wildcats), Kale McCallum (Val-d'Or Foreurs), Simon Hughes (Drummondville Voltigeurs) and Leighton Carruthers (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies).

Carter McCluskey, Charles Savoie and Nicholas Girouard, all members of the Cape Breton Eagles, did not make the playoffs.

Inniss, Lemieux and Girouard were all overagers and have played their final games in the QMJHL.

Here's a look at how all these former Sea Dogs performed in the regular season.

Player	Team	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Joshua Roy	SHE	66	51	68	119
Kale McCallum	VdO	68	19	50	69
Nicholas Girouard	CAP	48	20	20	40
Dawson Stairs	CAP CHA	68	16	31	47
Alex Drover	RIM	44	14	23	37
Simon Hughes	DRU	60	8	13	21
Carter McCluskey	SNB CAP	55	13	7	20
Evgeny Sapelnikov	SNB BAC	34	11	7	18
Leighton Carruthers	ROU	68	10	8	18
Christopher Inniss	SNB CHI	62	2	12	14
Charles Savoie	SNB CAP	49	3	7	10
Connor Richard	BLB	9	0	2	2

Lemieux, meanwhile, finished the regular season with a 16-19-2-2 record to go along with a 3.76 goals against average and a .894 save percentage. He appeared in 45 games split between the Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats.

It's worth noting that Sapelnikov, who missed much of the second half with an injury, led the Drakkar in playoff scoring with three goals and six points in three games.

Two 2021 draft picks of the Sea Dogs, Natan Grenier (Moncton Wildcats) and Francis Woods (Val-d'Or Foreurs), also made their QMJHL debuts with their new clubs during the regular season.