Sea Dogs announce roster updates

James West

The Saint John Sea Dogs announced a number of roster moves on Wednesday.

Here's a quick rundown:

• The team will start the 2022-23 season with three goaltenders: Nikolas Hurtubise, Ventsislav Shingarov and Olivier Brideau.
• The team confirmed that 20-year-old goaltender Noah Patenaude will begin the season in the Swiss National League. "Noah is a tremendous young man who ran into an unfortunate injury last season and this season, is up against the 20-year-old rule," said Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie. "He will get an opportunity to play in Ambri but I know that he wants to, and can be a starter in the CHL this season.”
• Following cuts and Sunday's trade deadline, here's a look at who will be taking part in the second portion of Sea Dogs training camp:
• Goaltenders: Nikolas Hurtubise (20), Ventsislav Shingarov (19) and Olivier Brideau (17).
• Forwards: Jacob Beaulieu (16), Reid Calder (16), Cole Burbidge (17), Vince Elie (17), Eriks Mateiko (17), Pavel Simek (17), Jack O’Blenis (17), Danny Akkouche (18), Nico Laforge (18), Noah Reinhart (18), Tomasz Szczerba (18), Alexis Cournoyer (19), Peter Reynolds (19), Cam MacDonald (19), Connor Trenholm (19), Brady Burns (20), Marshall Lessard (20), Sam-Luca Thifault (17) and Alpha Barry (18).
• Defensemen: Jeremie Richard (16), Nicholas Bilodeau (17), Ian Dickie (17), Hunter Gartley (18), Nate Tivey (18), Jake Tracey (18), Jared Cosman (19), Vincent Despont (19) and Charlie Desroches (20) .
• The Sea Dogs confirmed that veterans Jacob Chantler, Nick Blagden, Olivier Picard and Zach Welsh will not be joining the team. Welsh, 19, is the only one of the four who is not an overager. Chantler will play in the GOJHL while Picard, according to the news release, will head to the BCHL. Blagden, meanwhile, will focus on his mental health advocacy off the ice. Welsh will be kept out with an injury. "For Zach, it’s an unfortunate situation as he suffered an injury over the summer and has not been able to participate in training camp," said Georgie.
• The Sea Dogs return to pre-season action on Sept. 9 in Fredericton, hosting the Halifax Mooseheads.

Reports: Patenaude on loan to Swiss club

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

According to several Swiss media reports, Saint John Sea Dogs goaltender Noah Patenaude will begin the season on loan with HC Ambrì-Piotta of Switzerland's National League.

The reports say that Patenaude will remain with the Swiss club until the conclusion of the Spengler Cup tournament, which is held between Christmas and New Year's.

Patenaude, who is a citizen of Switzerland and Canada, hasn't played in a Swiss circuit since the 2018-19 season. The overager has spent the past three seasons with the Sea Dogs. He is currently not listed on Saint John's pre-season roster.

The move likely means that returning veteran Nikolas Hurtubise, who is an overager like Patenaude, and 17-year-old Olivier Brideau will be the Sea Dogs' goalie tandem to start the season.

With Patenaude in Switzerland, the Sea Dogs are expected to have four overagers competing for jobs when training camp resumes: Hurtubise; defenseman Charlie DesRoches; and forwards Brady Burns and Marshall Lessard.

The QMJHL's pre-season trading period came to a close on Sunday, but overage players can still be dealt.

Patenaude recently competed at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Edmonton as a member of Team Switzerland. In 52 career games in the QMJHL, the goaltender has posted a 24-21 record to go along with a 3.78 goals against average and a .892 save percentage.

Patenaude missed the entire second half of last season - including the Memorial Cup - after suffering an injury in December.

Sea Dogs make two deals ahead of deadline

The Saint John Sea Dogs made a couple deals before the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's pre-season trade period came to a close on Sunday.

The Sea Dogs dealt 17-year-old forward Eliott Simard to the Victoriaville Tigres in exchange for 18-year-old forward Alpha Barry and a fourth-round pick in 2023.

Simard, a fifth-round pick of Saint John in the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft, had 22 goals and 55 points in 40 games with the Lévis Chevaliers of the Quebec under-18 circuit last season. In two pre-season games with Saint John this year, the Chicoutimi native had a goal and two assists.

Barry, a Bronx, NY native, spent last season with the Tigres where he registered a goal and 10 assists in 49 games. Despite technically being a New Yorker, Barry is listed as a Canadian and came up through the Quebec hockey system.

Barry was a sixth-round pick of the Tigres in the 2020 QMJHL Entry Draft.

Sunday's other Sea Dogs deal saw the team acquire 17-year-old forward Sam-Luca Thifault from the Sherbrooke Phoenix in exchange for a seventh-round pick (Val-d'Or) in 2024 and a fourth-round pick in 2025.

Thifault, a third-round pick of the Phoenix in the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft, had one assist in 21 games with Sherbrooke last season.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 3-2

FINAL: Saint John 2, Halifax 3

DARTMOUTH - The Saint John Sea Dogs wrapped up the first portion of their 2022 pre-season schedule with a 3-2 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday.

Tomasz Szczerba and Salvatore Bucaro scored for Saint John at Dartmouth's RBC Centre. Olivier Brideau played another complete game in net, making 26 stops in the loss.

Halifax had goals from Mathieu Cataford, Reece Peitzsche and Logan Crosby. Jack Milner allowed two goals on 18 shots in the first half of the contest while Mathis Rousseau stopped all 12 shots he faced in the second half.

Saint John led 2-0 in the first period but slowly let the lead slip away. Crosby scored what proved to be the game-winner at 12:44 of the third, converting on a Saint John turnover in their own zone. Vince Elie nearly tied it in the final minute with Brideau on the bench but was robbed by the pad of Rousseau.

The Sea Dogs finish the first half of the pre-season with a 2-3-0-0 record, dropping their final three games. They return to exhibition play on Sept. 9.

Pre-Season Game Day 5: at Halifax

DARTMOUTH - Tonight will be the final chance for a number of Saint John Sea Dogs to make an impression.

This evening's pre-season contest against the Halifax Mooseheads will be Saint John's last until Sept. 9, making this an important game for many players. The Sea Dogs will presumably make a large number of cuts between now and the club's next exhibition contest, a game that will feature some of the team's returning, veteran players.

The Sea Dogs had a strong first couple games, defeating a young Moncton Wildcats lineup. They've struggled the past two games against an older Acadie-Bathurst Titan squad that had some QMJHL experience sprinkled in.

Game time tonight at Dartmouth's RBC Centre is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/YouTube

Pre-Season Records: The Sea Dogs are 2-2-0-0 this pre-season while the Mooseheads are 1-1-0-0.

2021-22 records: The Sea Dogs finished with a record of 47-17-1-3 for 98 points (second Maritimes/third Eastern/third QMJHL) while the Mooseheads went 38-28-1-1 for 78 points (fourth Maritimes/fifth Eastern/eighth QMJHL). Saint John was eliminated in the opening round of the QMJHL playoffs and went on to win the Memorial Cup as the host team. The Mooseheads were eliminated in the first round.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-2 loss in Bathurst on Wednesday. Nico Laforge and Chad Bellemare scored for Saint John. Justin Robinson made 27 saves in the loss. The Mooseheads are coming off a 4-3 win over the Cape Breton Eagles on Wednesday in Dartmouth. Logan Crosby, Evan Boucher, Reece Peitzsche and Stephen Davis all scored for Halifax. Jack Milner allowed two goals on 15 shots in the first half of the game. Brady James allowed a goal on 16 shots in the second half.

Notebook: Chantler returning to GOJHL

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

HALIFAX - Jacob Chantler is returning to the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

🚨 🚨 🚨 The Lincs have acquired Memorial Cup Champion, Jacob Chantler! Jacob suited up for the Saint John Sea Dogs last season, join us in welcoming him to the Stonetown! @519sportsonline @GOJHL pic.twitter.com/teMuynRkUV

— St. Marys Lincolns (@stmlincolns) August 25, 2022

Chantler, who appeared in 38 games with the Sea Dogs last season and recorded five goals and four assists, has appeared in 49 GOJHL games split over four seasons with the London Nationals and Strathroy Rockets. He'll now suit up for the St. Marys Lincolns.

The 20-year-old forward was not on Saint John's training camp roster. As an overager, he would have had a difficult road to making this year's team.

The Lincolns begin the regular season on Sept. 9.

UP NEXT
The Sea Dogs return to pre-season play on Friday night, taking on the Halifax Mooseheads in Dartmouth.

Saint John will play back-to-back games against the Mooseheads - but the second contest won't be until Sept. 9 in Fredericton. The Sea Dogs will have their veteran players in camp at that time.

The Sea Dogs, now 2-2-0-0 this pre-season, have four pre-season games remaining. Along with the pair against the Mooseheads, the Sea Dogs will face the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Sept. 11 (in Fredericton) and Sept. 18 (in Lameque, NB).

Saint John's game on Wednesday was supposed to be held in Lameque but was moved to the KC Irving Regional Centre. The Sept. 18 contest will now be in the northeastern New Brunswick town.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 7-2

FINAL: Saint John 2, Bathurst 7

James West

BATHURST - The Saint John Sea Dogs fell to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in pre-season play for a second straight night on Wednesday.

Nico Laforge and Chad Bellemare scored Saint John's only goals in a 7-2 loss to the Titan at the KC Irving Regional Centre. Justin Robinson played the entire game in net, making x stops in the loss.

Dominik Godin scored a pair of goals for Bathurst while singles came from Noah Ryan, Alexandre Lallier, Blake Pilgrim-Edwards, Izach Poirier and Joseph Henneberry. Mathis Lacroix-Goulet allowed two goals on 14 shots in the first 40 minutes. Jack Howatt stopped the three shots he faced in the third.

Gordie Dwyer's club outshot the Sea Dogs 34-17 in the game.

The Titan defeated the Sea Dogs 4-1 on Tuesday night in Fredericton.

Sea Dogs add Hansen to staff

As expected, the Saint John Sea Dogs have hired a second assistant coach.

Joining assistant Mark Lee on Travis Crickard's staff will be Jeff Hansen, a 40-year-old Calgary native who leaves the Western Hockey League for Saint John.

Hansen will be the team's defensive coordinator. He had been an assistant coach with the Lethbridge Hurricanes since the 2017-18 season and prior to that was a video coach with the Calgary Hitmen.

“It was important to find an experienced defense coach to help guide our young defensemen,” said Crickard in a news release. “Jeff worked with the defense in Lethbridge for five seasons and demonstrated the ability to develop elite defensemen (notably Calen Addison of the Minnesota Wild). Additionally, with so much teaching and learning being assisted by video, Jeff’s experience as a video coach at the international level will serve as a tremendous resource to our staff and players.”

Hansen also worked as a video coach with Hockey Canada during two World Under-17 Hockey Challenges.

Hansen was "relieved of his duties" from the Hurricanes in March.

“Jeff is a good man and a hard worker, and this wasn’t an easy decision, but we felt it was time to make a change,” said Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt in a March 11 news release. “We weren’t happy with the development of our defence and the accountability of our blue line.

"We’d like the thank Jeff for his tireless work over his five years with the organization and wish him the best in his future endeavours.”

Pre-Season Game Day 4: at Bathurst

BATHURST - The Saint John Sea Dogs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan are back in pre-season action tonight.

The Sea Dogs fell 4-1 to the Titan last night in Fredericton. Bathurst dressed a handful of veteran players while Saint John had a lineup filled with inexperience. We'll see how the two rosters compare this evening.

With veterans set to report to Sea Dogs camp in early September, this week is the final chance for several younger players to show they can make an impact. Saint John plays pre-season games tonight, Friday in Dartmouth and then won't be in action again until Sept. 9.

Tonight's game was originally set to be held in Lameque, NB but will now be played at the KC Irving Regional Centre instead. Game time is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/YouTube

Pre-Season Records: The Sea Dogs are 2-1-0-0 this pre-season while the Titan are 2-0-0-0.

2021-22 records: The Sea Dogs finished with a record of 47-17-1-3 for 98 points (second Maritimes/third Eastern/third QMJHL) while the Titan went 40-22-3-3 for 86 points (third Maritimes/fourth Eastern/sixth QMJHL). Saint John was eliminated in the opening round of the QMJHL playoffs and went on to win the Memorial Cup as the host team. The Titan were eliminated in the second round.

Last games: The Sea Dogs and Titan met last night at the Aitken Centre with Bathurst earning a 4-1 win. Louis Dumais scored Saint John's lone goal. Emile Perron, Philippe Collette, Jacob Melanson and Cole Larkin scored for Bathurst. Ventsislav Shingarov allowed two goals on 28 shots in nearly 40 minutes of action in the loss. Olivier Brideau allowed two goals on 10 shots in just over 23 minutes of play. The Titan's Joshua Fleming stopped all 13 shots he faced in 40 minutes of play. Jack Howatt allowed a goal on 11 shots in the third period.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 4-1

FINAL: Bathurst 4, Saint John 1

James West

FREDERICTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs lost for the first time this pre-season on Tuesday at the Aitken Centre, falling 4-1 to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

Louis Dumais scored Saint John's lone goal, connecting late in the third period when the game was 4-0. Ventsislav Shingarov allowed two goals on 28 shots in nearly 40 minutes of action. Olivier Brideau, who played all of Friday's Sea Dogs game in Dieppe, allowed two goals on 10 shots in just over 23 minutes of play.

Bathurst had goals from Emile Perron, Philippe Collette, Jacob Melanson and Cole Larkin. Joshua Fleming stopped all 13 shots he faced in 40 minutes of play. Jack Howatt allowed a goal on 11 shots in the third period.

New Titan head coach and general manager Gordie Dwyer, who was fired by the Sea Dogs after their first-round playoff loss, faced his former team for the first time in the home of the man who replaced him. Bathurst dressed a much more veteran lineup than Saint John with the likes of Larkin (200 regular season games played), Melanson (111 games), Ben Allison (125 games) and a few others with QMJHL experience suiting up.

No player with any significant amount of QMJHL experience suited up for Saint John. The team will not have veterans in camp until September.

The two teams meet again on Wednesday night at the KC Irving Regional Centre.

Sea Dogs announce camp cuts

Evan Richtsfeld/UNB Athletics

The Saint John Sea Dogs announced a few roster moves Tuesday morning.

The team has trimmed its active training camp roster to 35 players. The following players were released: defenseman Erik MacNiel (invite), forward Jaden Duprey (2nd-round US draft pick in 2022), defenseman Reed Pettipas (14th-round pick in 2022), defenseman Mirko Fernandez (invite), goaltender Charles-Antoine Girard (10th-round pick in 2022), forward Benjamin Beaudry (9th-round pick in 2022) and Marc-Antoine El Hawat (13th-round pick in 2022).

Here's a look at the players who remain in camp:

Forwards (21)

Player	Acquired
Danny Akkouche	Trade
Jacob Beaulieu	2022 draft (7th round)
Chad Bellemare	2022 draft (4th round)
Salvatore Bucaro	Invitee
Cole Burbidge	2021 draft (2nd draft)
Reid Calder	2022 draft (7th round)
Jack Campbell	Trade
Josh Corscadden	Invitee
Alexis Cournoyer	Invitee
Louis Dumais	Invitee
Vince Elie	2021 draft (2nd round)
Nico Laforge	Returnee
Cael MacDonald	Invitee
Campbell MacIntyre	2022 draft (14th round)
Kananga Mangala	2021 draft (14th round)
Eriks Mateiko	2022 Import Draft (2nd round)
Jack O'Blenis	2021 draft (7th round)
Noah Reinhart	Invitee
Tomasz Szczerba	Invitee
Eliott Simard	2021 draft (5th round)
Pavel Simek	2022 Import Draft (1st round)

Pre-Season Game Day 3: vs Titan

FREDERICTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs return to pre-season action tonight at Fredericton's Aitken Centre.

The Sea Dogs are off to a strong start this pre-season, posting back-to-back wins over the Moncton Wildcats last week. The team outscored the Wildcats by a combined 10-3 over the two games.

The Sea Dogs face a new opponent tonight in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan - who have a familiar face behind the bench. Gordie Dwyer, who was fired as Sea Dogs head coach not long after the team was eliminated from the first-round of the QMJHL playoffs, was recently named head coach and general manager of the Titan.

Game time tonight is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/None

Pre-Season Records: The Sea Dogs are 2-0-0-0 this pre-season while the Titan are 1-0-0-0.

2021-22 records: The Sea Dogs finished with a record of 47-17-1-3 for 98 points (second Maritimes/third Eastern/third QMJHL) while the Titan went 40-22-3-3 for 86 points (third Maritimes/fourth Eastern/sixth QMJHL). Saint John was eliminated in the opening round of the QMJHL playoffs and went on to win the Memorial Cup as the host team. The Titan were eliminated in the second round.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-1 win over the Moncton Wildcats in Dieppe on Friday. Louis Dumais, Pavel Simek, Eliott Simard, Danny Akkouche and Cael MacDonald scored for Saint John. Olivier Brideau made 22 stops in the win. The Titan are coming off a 6-2 win over the Cape Breton Eagles in Truro on Friday. Blake Pilgrim-Edwards and Gabriel Théorêt each scored twice while singles came from Dominik Godin and Brennan Murphy. Joshua Fleming allowed a goal on eight shots in the first half of the game while Mathis Lacroix-Goulet allowed a goal on nine shots in the second half.

Dufour's gold a major accomplishment

Embed from Getty Images

William Dufour became just the second Saint John Sea Dog to win a World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal with Team Canada on Saturday.

Dufour joins Chris DiDomenico as the only Sea Dogs to win the tournament while wearing the red and white. DiDomenico - who wore No. 25 just like Dufour - won gold with the memorable 2009 squad that featured Jordan Eberle's famous semifinal goal against Russia.

Dufour scored Canada's second goal in a 3-2 overtime victory over Finland in Saturday's gold medal game. The New York Islanders prospect was not part of the team that started the tournament at Christmas before getting postponed by a COVID-19 outbreak.

According to TSN, Dufour becomes just the 25th player all-time to win a Memorial Cup title and world junior gold in the same season.

Speak of the devil.

Asked him about it.

“To finish my junior career as a Memorial Cup champion and a World Junior champion, I couldn’t ask for anything better.” pic.twitter.com/fJq8C7HJn0

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) August 21, 2022

Simon Despres was part of the 2011 Canadian team that blew a 3-0 third period lead to Russia in the gold medal game. Thomas Chabot and Mathieu Joseph were members of the 2017 squad that fell to the Americans in a shootout in the championship game.

Here's a look at how every Sea Dog who has played for Canada at a World Junior Hockey Championship has performed.

Player	Year	Result	Points
Chris DiDomenico	2009	Gold	6GP-2G-5A-7PTS
Simon Despres	2011	Silver	7GP-0G-3A-3PTS
Jonathan Huberdeau	2012	Bronze	6GP-1G-8A-9PTS
Nathan Beaulieu	2012	Bronze	6GP-0G-1A-1PTS
Jonathan Huberdeau	2013	4th	6GP-3G-6A-9PTS
Thomas Chabot	2016	6th	5GP-0G-3A-3PTS
Mathieu Joseph	2017	Silver	7GP-1G-4A-5PTS
Thomas Chabot	2017	Silver	7GP-4G-6A-10PTS
William Dufour	2022	Gold	7GP-3G-4A-7PTS

Joe Veleno played with Team Canada at the 2019 (6th-place) and 2020 (gold) world junior tournaments but was not a member of the Sea Dogs at the time. Julien Gauthier, who played with Thomas Chabot and Mathieu Joseph in 2017, was traded to Saint John the day after the tournament ended.

Joshua Roy, a former Sea Dog and current Sherbrooke Phoenix, won gold with Dufour on Saturday.

Dufour, Team Canada win WJC gold

Embed from Getty Images

William Dufour is a champion again.

Less than two months after winning the Memorial Cup with the Saint John Sea Dogs, Dufour helped Team Canada win the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship on Saturday in Edmonton, defeating Finland 3-2 in overtime.

Dufour and former Sea Dogs forward Joshua Roy scored for Canada in regulation time while Kent Johnson scored the overtime winner.

William Dufour ➡️ wheel, snipe, celly #Isles pic.twitter.com/QBVM0xXVCv

— Nicole Shirman (@nicolefshirman) August 21, 2022

The OT goal came shortly after Mason McTavish, who lost to Dufour and the Sea Dogs in the Memorial Cup final, made a great defensive play to keep the puck out of the Canadian net.

Along with scoring, Dufour had two shots and a +2 rating in 12:15 of ice time. He finished the tournament with three goals and four assists in seven games, putting an end to an impressive season of hockey.

The updated William Dufour goal counter:
QMJHL 58 in 71
Memorial Cup: 7 in 4
World Juniors: 3 in 7
Total: 68 in 82

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) August 21, 2022

The Memorial Cup MVP will likely play with the American Hockey League's Bridgeport Islanders this season.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-1

FINAL: Saint John 5, Moncton 1

DIEPPE, NB - The Saint John Sea Dogs picked up their second straight win of the pre-season on Friday.

Louis Dumais, Pavel Simek, Eliott Simard, Danny Akkouche and Cael MacDonald all scored in Saint John's 5-1 win over the Moncton Wildcats at Dieppe's UNIplex. Invite Tomasz Szczerba, playing in his first game of the pre-season, recorded two assists.

Olivier Brideau, who will likely be one of Saint John's goaltenders this season, played the entire game in net, making 22 stops in the win. He looked calm and confident throughout the match.

Moncton's lone goal came from Ben Mercer, who tied the game at 1-1 in the second period. Simek scored late in the frame and then Saint John netted three in the third to make it a 5-1 final.

Keegan Warren allowed a goal on 14 shots in the first half of the game. Kiefer Thompson allowed four goals on 20 shots in the second half of the contest.

The Sea Dogs defeated the Wildcats 5-2 in Fredericton on Thursday. The two teams don't meet again until Oct. 1.

Pre-Season Game Day 2: at Moncton

DIEPPE, NB - The Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats meet again tonight in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pre-season action.

The Sea Dogs defeated the Wildcats 5-2 last night at Fredericton's Aitken Centre. Saint John will look to improve to 2-0 tonight when they battle Moncton at Dieppe's UNIplex. Game time is 7 p.m.

Other than letting up a bit in the third period, Saint John looked fairly solid last night in a game that featured mostly rookies. Penalties were a bit of an issue, and the team will no doubt try and clean up some of that in this game.

With this being the first week of training camp and plenty of players still around, both teams will likely have some new faces in their lineups this evening.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/None

Pre-Season Records: The Sea Dogs are 1-0-0-0 this pre-season while the Wildcats are 0-1-0-0.

2021-22 records: The Sea Dogs finished with a record of 47-17-1-3 for 98 points (second Maritimes/third Eastern/third QMJHL) while the Wildcats went 28-31-6-3 for 65 points (fifth Maritimes/seventh Eastern/12th QMJHL). Both teams were eliminated in the opening round of the QMJHL playoffs. Saint John went on to win the Memorial Cup as the host team.

Notebook: Dufour, Canada to play in semis

Swiss Ice Hockey Twitter

FREDERICTON - William Dufour and Team Canada will face Czechia in the semifinals of the World Junior Hockey Championship on Friday at 5 p.m. Atlantic.

Canada advanced to the final four with a 6-3 quarterfinal victory over Noah Patenaude, Vincent Despont and Team Switzerland on Wednesday. Patenaude was pulled after allowing four goals on nine shots in the first period.

Patenaude finishes the tournament with a 1-2 record to go along with a 4.22 goals against average and a .841 save percentage. Despont, meanwhile, had one assist in five games.

Swiss defender Vincent Despont just lied on the goal line to prevent Connor Bedard from scoring.

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) August 18, 2022

Dufour is averaging a point per game through five contests, scoring twice and adding three assists. The New York Islanders prospect was practicing on Canada's top line Thursday.

Team 🇨🇦 lines at practice

Roy - McTavish - Dufour
Johnson - Stankoven - Foerster
Cuylle - Gaucher - Bedard
Othmann - Ostapchuk - Desnoyers
Kidney

Injured: Greig @TSN_Edge

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) August 18, 2022

Czechia advanced to the semifinals after pulling off a 4-2 upset win over the United States in the quarterfinals. The other semifinal will see Sweden face Finland.

The gold and bronze medal games take place on Saturday.

SECOND ASSISTANT INCOMING
At Wednesday's "Meet the Coach" event at Market Square, new Sea Dogs head coach Travis Crickard confirmed that a second assistant coach, who will focus on defensive play, will be hired.

Via Instagram, Sea Dogs will indeed be hiring a second assistant coach. pic.twitter.com/DYTCmUP8zy

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) August 17, 2022

Mark Lee recently joined Saint John's staff as an assistant coach. Lee, a former PEI Rocket forward and long-time professional player,  is expected to focus on offense and the team's power play.

Saint John struggled with defensive play throughout the last rebuild, only making significant progress over the last season and a bit. The team will look to improve on that during this rebuild.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-2

FINAL: Moncton 2, Saint John 5

Evan Richtsfeld/UNB Athletics

FREDERICTON - Cole Burbidge led the Saint John Sea Dogs to a pre-season win over the Moncton Wildcats on Thursday at Fredericton's Aitken Centre.

Burbidge, a second-round pick in 2021 who likely has a roster spot already secured on this year's Sea Dogs team, recorded two goals and an assist to lead Saint John to a 5-2 win over their provincial rivals on the opening night of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's pre-season.

Ried Calder, a seventh-round pick of the Sea Dogs in this year's draft, had a goal and two assists playing on the top line with Burbidge and Eliott Simard. Vince Elie and Danny Akkouche also scored.

Quicy-Nicolas Supprien and Ben Mercer had Moncton goals. The Wildcats hit a couple posts in the final few minutes of the third but could not score another.

Justin Robinson started the game and stopped all 25 shots he faced in the Saint John crease. Charles-Antoine Girard played the second half of the contest, allowing two goals on 14 shots.

Moncton's Eli James allowed four goals on 16 shots in the first half of the game. Anthony Leblanc allowed a goal on 10 shots in the second half of the contest.

The two teams meet again on Friday night in Dieppe.

Pre-Season Game Day 1: vs Wildcats

FREDERICTON - The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pre-season begins tonight for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats at 7 p.m. at Fredericton's Aitken Centre. It's the first of eight pre-season games for the Sea Dogs. All four of the team's home matches will be played at the Aitken Centre.

If it feels like just yesterday that the Sea Dogs were playing... well they sort of were. The team has had less than two months off since lifting the Memorial Cup on home ice on June 29.

This is the beginning of a rebuild for the Sea Dogs with much of last season's team either traded or moving on to professional hockey. But with so many roster spots available, it does make for an interesting training camp and pre-season. Saint John's exhibition contests should be fairly intense with so many players having legitimate shots of making the squad.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/None

Pre-Season Records: This is the first game of the pre-season for both clubs.

2021-22 records: The Sea Dogs finished with a record of 47-17-1-3 for 98 points (second Maritimes/third Eastern/third QMJHL) while the Wildcats went 28-31-6-3 for 65 points (fifth Maritimes/seventh Eastern/12th QMJHL). Both teams were eliminated in the opening round of the QMJHL playoffs. Saint John went on to win the Memorial Cup as the host team.

Sea Dogs hire Lee as assistant coach

The Saint John Sea Dogs have hired Mark Lee as an assistant coach.

The news surfaced on Tuesday when the East Coast Blizzard, an under-18 team in Newfoundland that Lee had been the head coach of, tweeted the news. The Sea Dogs have not made an official announcement about the hire.

Massive Congratulations to our own Mark Lee! Mark has been named an Assistant Coach with the Memorial Cup Champion @SJSeaDogs! Wishing you all the best in NB, Mark!
The @NLU18MHL continues to be an amazing development path for both players and team staff. #NLProud pic.twitter.com/92xzprwKv6

— East Coast Blizzard (@EC_Blizzard) August 16, 2022

Saltwire reports that Lee was offered the position on Saturday, arrived in Saint John on Sunday and was on the ice for the first day of training camp on Monday.

Lee and Sea Dogs head coach Travis Crickard are both Newfoundlanders. Saltwire reports that "at the recent Hockey NL high-performance program camp, where both are part of the province’s Canada Winter Games coaching staff, Crickard approached Lee about coming on board with the Sea Dogs."

The 37-year-old Lee spent one season as a player in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, recording 11 goals and 25 points in 65 games with the PEI Rocket in 2003-04. His junior career also saw him play with the Maritime Hockey League's Amherst Ramblers.

Lee has a lengthy resume of professional hockey play, suiting up in the AHL and ECHL along with stops in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy and Romania. His final season as a player came in 2018-19. According to Elite Prospects, Lee has been behind the the Blizzard bench since the 2019-20 season.

It sounds like Lee will be running Saint John's power play, which means the team's other assistant coach - assuming they hire a second - will presumably be focused on defensive play.

Sea Dogs to meet in WJC quarterfinal

IIHF

William Dufour and Team Canada will clash with Noah Patenaude, Vincent Despont and Team Switzerland in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship.

Dufour and the Canadians defeated Finland 6-3 on Monday to earn top spot in Group A. Dufour, who had several quality scoring chances in the game, scored into an empty net late in the third period to secure a Canada victory.

William Dufour gives Canada their 3 goal lead back with an empty netter! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/nI73dHhJyq

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 16, 2022

The New York Islanders prospect now has two goals and three assists in four games.

Earlier on Monday, Patenaude made 20 saves to help the Swiss defeat Austria 3-2 and grab a spot in the quarterfinals. Despont only had 6:29 of ice time and recorded one shot on net.

Attilio Biasca of the Halifax Mooseheads scored with 4:07 remaining in the third period to give Switzerland the win.

POWERPLAY GOAL! Attilio Biasca connects on the rebound to give @SwissIceHockey a 3-2 lead with a few minutes to go!#WorldJuniors #SUIAUT pic.twitter.com/FcbcjP3SlP

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 15, 2022

Switzerland finished 1-3-0 in the preliminary round while Canada went 4-0-0-0. The Canadians will be the heavy favourites in Wednesday's quarterfinal match, which begins at 8 p.m.

The other quarterfinals have Finland facing Germany, Sweden taking on Latvia and the United States battling Czechia. The Latvians, who are without Sea Dogs forward Raivis Ansons, pulled off a surprising 5-2 win over Czechia on Sunday, which ultimately eliminated Slovakia. 

The semifinals take place Friday and the medal games on Saturday.

Breaking down Saint John's camp roster

Sea Dogs Instagram

Here's a quick breakdown of the Saint John Sea Dogs' training camp roster, which was released on Monday morning.

The roster consists of 29 forwards, 16 defensemen and seven goaltenders.

Forwards

Player	Acquired
Danny Akkouche	Trade
Benjamin Beaudry	2022 draft (9th round)
Jacob Beaulieu	2022 draft (7th round)
Chad Bellemare	2022 draft (4th round)
Salvatore Bucaro	Invitee
Cole Burbidge	2021 draft (2nd draft)
Brady Burns	Returnee
Reid Calder	2022 draft (7th round)
Jack Campbell	Trade
Josh Corscadden	Invitee
Alexis Cournoyer	Invitee
Louis Dumais	Invitee
Jaden Duprey	2022 US draft (2nd round)
Vince Elie	2021 draft (2nd period)
Marc-Antoine El Hawat	2022 draft (13th round)
Coleman Jenkins	2020 US draft (1st round)
Nico Laforge	Returnee
Eliot Lahaie	Invitee
Marshall Lessard	Returnee
Cael MacDonald	Invitee
Cam MacDonald	Returnee
Campbell MacIntyre	2022 draft (14th round)
Kananga Mangala	2021 draft (14th round)
Eriks Mateiko	2022 Import Draft (2nd round)
Jack O'Blenis	2021 draft (7th round)
Peter Reynolds	Returnee
Eliott Simard	2021 draft (5th round)
Pavel Simek	2022 Import Draft (1st round)
Connor Trenholm	Returnee

Notebook: Pre-season games coming soon

Somewhat legitimate hockey games return this week.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League begins pre-season play on Thursday, which includes the Saint John Sea Dogs hosting the Moncton Wildcats at Fredericton's Aitken Centre at 7 p.m.

The Sea Dogs and Wildcats meet again on Friday, travelling to Dieppe's UNIplex. The two teams met in Dieppe last season as well.

The following week, the Sea Dogs play a home-and-home with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and then travel to Dartmouth to play the Halifax Mooseheads, which will be Saint John's final pre-season contest until Sept. 9.

The Sea Dogs will play eight pre-season games in total this year. All four of their home pre-season games will be played at the Aitken Centre. Tickets to the Fredericton games are on sale.

The Pre-Season is less than a week away! 🎉

All of our home games are being hosted by the @UNBAthletics at Coach Mac's home rink in Fredericton.

Grab your tickets at https://t.co/8cQKIqeDah now! We can't wait to see you there. pic.twitter.com/diQroUHuXK

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) August 12, 2022

Saint John begins regular season play on Sept. 24 at TD Station, hosting the Titan.

TRADES FINALIZED

The Sea Dogs have finalized a couple deals that took place during the holiday trade period.

Confirmed last Monday on the QMJHL website, the Moncton Wildcats have traded 2024 sixth-round (Saint John) and seventh-round (Val-d'Or) picks to the Sea Dogs in exchange for a second-round pick in 2025. The Sea Dogs also gave the Victoriaville Tigres a 2025 third-round pick in exchange for nothing.

This deals are presumably related to the Philippe Daoust and Nikolas Hurtubise trades made at the deadline.

Sea Dogs release training camp details

The Saint John Sea Dogs, at long last, have released details surrounding the club's 2022 training camp.

The team begins camp today (Monday) at Peter Murray Arena on the west side. All practices and scrimmages are open to the public.

Scrimmages begin today at 1:15!

All practices are open to the public and at the Peter Murray Arena.

Swing by and get your first look at the 2022-23 Sea Dogs! pic.twitter.com/0lRwbbDMNa

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) August 15, 2022

The club also unveiled its training camp roster on Monday morning.

Training camp kicks off today! 🥳

Welcome and good luck to all the players participating! pic.twitter.com/eAqNcWcCjL

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) August 15, 2022

The Sea Dogs begin pre-season play on Thursday at Fredericton's Aitken Centre, hosting the Moncton Wildcats.

Catching up on some stuff

Here we go.

The shortest off-season in Saint John Sea Dogs history comes to an end Monday as the team begins its training camp. The Sea Dogs begin pre-season play on Thursday at Fredericton's Aitken Centre, hosting the Moncton Wildcats.

Saint John's off-season lasted only a month-and-a-half with the club having played its last game on June 29. During that time the team took part in the summer trade period, QMJHL Entry Draft, CHL Import Draft and named a new head coach.

This year's Sea Dogs team will look significantly different than the team that lifted the Memorial Cup on TD Station ice on June 29. While the team will be taking a step a back in terms of wins, the roster turnover and fight for spots does make for a much more intriguing training camp and pre-season.

There will be plenty of time to discuss Saint John's roster for the 2022-23 campaign. So here are some headlines and random thoughts as hockey makes its return for another year.

• William Dufour, who will likely play in the American Hockey League this season, has a goal and three assists in three games with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Canada returns to action on Monday, taking on Finland at 7 p.m.
• Vincent Despont, Noah Patenaude and Team Switzerland are 0-3 so far at the world juniors. The team's final preliminary round game is on Monday against 0-3 Austria. Despont has been held pointless so far while Patenaude has posted a 3.78 GAA and .868 SV%.
• I can't be the only one who is finding the world juniors a rough watch this year. The Hockey Canada scandals, the summer weather, the crowd sizes, not having one of the top teams (Russia) taking part... it all adds up. Will be interesting to see what the vibes are like come December in Halifax and Moncton.
• Speaking of Patenaude, the Sea Dogs' goaltending situation will be a storyline to follow during training camp. The team currently has two overage goaltenders set to return in Patenaude and Nikolas Hurtubise.
• I'm nervous (more so than usual) about the future of the Titan in Bathurst. If the deal with Steve Leal is finalized, which reportedly includes plans to relocate the team to the Montreal area, I have a hard time picturing this team playing in Bathurst beyond this season. They won't have a new arena built in the Montreal area by then, but the WHL's Winnipeg Ice have made a similar situation work for a few years now, and there's surely a temporary spot in Montreal they can play. Keeping the team in Bathurst as a "lame duck franchise" probably wouldn't go too well (it never works well in any sport).
• One of the biggest questions/concerns about the Titan possibly leaving Bathurst is what this does to the divisional alignment. There is no simple solution there - and you have to wonder what the team owners in the Maritimes think about this possible move.
• Congrats to former Sea Dogs captain Jonathan Huberdeau on getting paid. And congrats to Mathieu Joseph as well. Will be neat having Huberdeau playing in Canada where he'll be talked about significantly more in the media. Huberdeau will also be wearing No. 10 in Calgary instead of his usual No. 11.
• The Charlottetown Islanders have some of the best video production in the QMJHL. They'll finally have a proper scoreboard to show it off at some point this season, reports Saltwire.
• Charlottetown's Eastlink Centre, widely considered to be one of the worst arenas in the QMJHL, will be home to plenty of hockey this season. Along with Islanders home games, the building will host the University Cup and Canada Winter Games in the new year.
• Even if you don't follow college hockey, the University of Michigan's firing of Mel Pearson is quite a story.

Dwyer named Titan head coach and GM

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Gordie Dwyer is back in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan named Dwyer the club's new head coach and general manager on Thursday. The late off-season move comes after the Titan's Jason Clarke, who took general manager responsibilities along with his head coaching role in June, left the club for an assistant coaching gig with the American Hockey League's San Diego Gulls.

“I’m honoured and excited for the opportunity presented to me to lead the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. I’m thrilled about joining the organization, the community of Acadie-Bathurst and looking forward to a competitive training camp,” Dwyer said in a release.

Dwyer coached the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 47-17-1-3 record in the 2021-22 regular season but was fired after the team's first-round playoff loss to the Rimouski Oceanic. Dwyer was replaced by UNB's Gardiner MacDougall for the Memorial Cup.

Along with coaching the Sea Dogs, Dwyer has had QMJHL coaching roles with the PEI Rocket/Charlottetown Islanders and Shawinigan Cataractes. There was speculation that Dwyer was a leading candidate for the head coaching position in Cape Breton this off-season.

According to the Titan's release, Dwyer has signed a four-year contract with the club. The Dalhousie, NB native will have his hands full with a Titan club that will take a step back this season. The team will also have plenty of off-ice distractions with relocation rumours swirling.

Dwyer and the Titan face the Sea Dogs in pre-season action on Aug. 23 at the Aitken Centre. The Titan will also be the visitors in Saint John's regular season opener on Sept. 24 at TD Station. Having Dwyer in attendance for Saint John's Memorial Cup banner raising will be... interesting.

Dufour scores in Team Canada opener

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

William Dufour scored in Team Canada's tournament opening victory over Latvia on Wednesday at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Dufour scored Canada's fifth goal in a 5-2 win. The New York Islanders prospect also had an assist, six shots and a +1 rating in 12:31 of ice time.

William Dufour puts Canada ahead 5-2! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/duBGn5lNyX

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 11, 2022

William Dufour (NYI) with his 66th goal in his last 76 games (QMJHL, Memorial Cup, World Juniors), from his favourite spot to boot. Heck of a year.

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) August 11, 2022

Charlottetown Islanders defenseman Lukas Cormier, a Sainte-Marie-de-Kent native, also scored in the victory. Former Sea Dogs forward Joshua Roy had an assist in 18:32 of ice time on Canada's top line with Connor Bedard and Mason McTavish.

Summer WJC begins Tuesday

Vincent Ethier/CHL

It appears as though three members of the Saint John Sea Dogs' Memorial Cup winning team will suit up in this summer's unique version of the World Junior Hockey Championship.

The 2022 edition of the tournament will be played this month after being cancelled in the winter by a COVID-19 outbreak. The event, which will be played entirely at Edmonton's Rogers Place, begins on Tuesday.

Forward William Dufour will suit up for Team Canada while defenseman Vincent Despont and goaltender Noah Patenaude will play for Switzerland.

Dufour was not named to Canada's roster for the winter version of the tournament but will now step in to replace several of the players who aren't available due to NHL commitments. The New York Islanders prospect no doubt earned himself a spot by his strong, MVP-calibre performance at the Memorial Cup.

Both Despont and Patenaude were left off Switzerland's roster in December due to injuries. Patenaude missed the entire second half of the season with an injury while Despont was used sparingly after the trade deadline. It will be interesting to see how much they play over the next couple weeks.

Sea Dogs forward Raivis Ansons, meanwhile, will not suit up for Latvia. In an article on the IIHF website, it says Ansons is "unavailable at this time" while a Latvian media outlet reports that it was Ansons' decision, citing the long season he's coming off. The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect had four goals and nine points in five games with Latvia at this year's Division 1 Group A tournament.

Dufour and Ansons will likely play in the American Hockey League this coming season. Patenaude, who will be overager, and Despont are both eligible to return to the Sea Dogs.

Canada's first game is Wednesday night against Latvia. Switzerland will also open the tournament on Wednesday, facing Sweden. 

Sevigny signs with AHL Islanders

Vincent Ethier/CHL

Vincent Sevigny is the latest member of the Saint John Sea Dogs' 2022 Memorial Cup championship team to sign an American Hockey League deal.

The Bridgeport Islanders, the AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders, signed the Sea Dogs' captain on Friday. This will be Sevigny's first year of professional hockey after completing his junior career by lifting the Memorial Cup in June.

The 21-year-old defenseman was acquired by Saint John from the Victoriaville Tigres during the holiday trade period. Sevigny recorded 11 goals and 36 points in 37 game with Saint John in the second half.

After a rough opening round playoff series against the Rimouski Oceanic, Sevigny, like many of his teammates, rebounded during the Memorial Cup tournament. The captain had a goal and an assist in four games - which included opening the scoring in the final.

Sevigny won the President Cup with the Tigres in 2020-21.

Memorial Cup makes eventful St. John's visit

The Memorial Cup has been making the rounds around Atlantic Canada, Quebec and soon Ontario this summer.

Like the Stanley Cup champions each year, Saint John Sea Dogs players and coaches are getting a day or two with the Memorial Cup in their hometown. It's been a busy summer for the trophy - but perhaps none more so than this past week in St. John's.

Before being officially named the team's new head coach on Friday, Travis Crickard seemed to take the trophy just about everywhere in the Newfoundland and Labrador capital. The Cup's visit conveniently coincided with Regatta week.

Crickard named Sea Dogs head coach

CHL

Travis Crickard has been named head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The St. John's native has been an assistant coach with the Sea Dogs since last November, helping the team win the Memorial Cup in June.

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity general manager Trevor Georgie and owner Scott McCain have given me to be Saint John’s head coach,” Crickard said in a news release. “Coming off our Memorial Cup run I look forward to building upon and honouring the Sea Dogs’ success by developing the next wave of Sea Dogs athletes on the ice and young men off the ice. I also endeavour to create a lasting legacy as a community-focused coach.”

This will be Crickard's first stint as a head coach at the Canadian Hockey League level. His previous work also includes stints as an assistant coach with the OHL's Ottawa 67's and WHL's Kelowna Rockets. The Rockets won the WHL title in 2015 before falling in the Memorial Cup final to the Oshawa Generals.

“Being a head coach in the CHL is something I dreamed about since I was 18 years old,” said Crickard. “Today, that dream has been realized and I have many people to thank from this past season for their support toward this achievement and transition into the head coach role. My family and I are really excited about staying in Saint John where we feel at home. In the next few weeks, we will hire new assistant coaches and welcome many new faces and returning veterans to training camp. We look forward to icing a team that the fans can be proud of."

The move comes as no surprise after Georgie said he was leaning towards hiring an internal candidate as the squad's next head coach. Gardiner MacDougall has returned to his role with the UNB Reds and assistant Stefan Legein has moved on to the WHL's Spokane Chiefs.

Dufour named to Team Canada

Vincent Ethier/CHL

Memorial Cup legend William Dufour has been named to Team Canada's roster for this summer's World Junior Hockey Championship.

Dufour, 20, was not included on Canada's roster for this past winter's event, which was cancelled a few days in due to a COVID-19 outbreak. After an excellent season and an impressive Memorial Cup performance, the Saint John Sea Dogs forward will help fill some of the holes left by players who are focusing on NHL camps this summer.

Players that were on the Dec. roster but won't be in Edmonton this August: Kaiden Guhle (MTL), Owen Power (BUF), Xavier Bourgault (EDM), Mavrik Bourque (DAL), Dylan Guenther (ARI), Jake Neighbours (STL), Cole Perfetti (WPG), Justin Sourdif (FLA) and Shane Wright (SEA). https://t.co/AgUNk4E8vq

— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) August 1, 2022

Dufour was one of six players from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to make the team. The others are former Sea Dogs forward Joshua Roy (Sherbrooke), Riley Kidney (Bathurst), Nathan Gaucher (Quebec), Elliot Desnoyers (Halifax) and Lukas Cormier (Charlottetown).

In 66 regular season games with the Sea Dogs this pat season, Dufour recorded 56 goals and 116 points. He added two goals and two assists in Saint John's five-game first-round series loss to the Rimouski Oceanic.

The New York Islanders prospect flourished under Gardiner MacDougall at the Memorial Cup, posting seven goals and eight points in four games, earning tournament MVP honours. That included a legendary four-goal performance in Saint John's final round-robin game against the rival Shawinigan Cataractes.

Mason McTavish (Hamilton) and Sebastian Cossa (Edmonton), who played against Dufour at the Memorial Cup, will now all be teammates with Team Canada.

According to a Hockey Canada release, the squad "will gather in Calgary for a training camp at the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex on the Tsuut’ina Nation, Aug. 2-7, before travelling to Edmonton." Canada's first tournament game will be on Aug. 10 against Latvia.