MacDougall officially named Dogs' coach

The Coaches Site

Gardiner MacDougall has officially been named the new (temporary) head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs made the move official on Tuesday afternoon via press release. The team will hold a news conference Wednesday at noon at the Delta Brunswick.

The surprising news of Gordie Dwyer's firing and MacDougall's hiring broke on Sunday by both national and Quebec media. The Sea Dogs had not made any official comment until Tuesday.

From the press release:

“After our upset loss in the first round, we took a step back and saw a need to support our players and staff differently in preparing for, and competing in the Memorial Cup tournament” said Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie. “We identified a small group of winning coaches with experience having won tournaments. There are no active coaches in Canada that have prepared teams for and won more tournaments than Gardiner. He’s a motivator and has coached in high pressure situations.”

MacDougall, the long-time head coach of the highly successful University of New Brunswick men's hockey program, will return to his role with the Reds following the conclusion of the Memorial Cup.

The Sea Dogs and MacDougall have less than a month to get acquainted and prepare for their Memorial Cup opener on June 20. The team tweeted that Tuesday marked MacDougall's third day with the club.

Working hard 💪

Third day on the job for Coach MacDougall! pic.twitter.com/XGTEzmvG1Y

— x - Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) May 24, 2022

The staff section of the Sea Dogs' website has been updated to reflect the MacDougall hiring. The rest of Saint John's existing coaching staff remains intact.

The decision to fire a head coach this close to the start of the Memorial Cup is a highly unusual move. Something like this hasn't been done since 2000 - but in that case, an associate coach was promoted to head coach.

It will be interesting to hear more from Sea Dogs management at Wednesday's news conference. Georgie and MacDougall will both be present.

The Sea Dogs have also confirmed that former Windsor Spitfires head coach and Saint John Flames great Rocky Thompson has been added to the coaching staff as a "Memorial Cup advisor."