Friday, January 13, 2023

Notebook: Blagden, McCallum join UNB

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
Two former Saint John Sea Dogs have joined the UNB Reds for the second half of the Atlantic University Sport season.

Defenseman Kale McCallum and forward Nick Blagden will both suit up for Gardiner MacDougall's squad. Both are 20-year-olds and were still eligible to play junior hockey this winter.

McCallum, a Quispamsis native, spent two seasons in Saint John before being traded to the Val-d'Or Foreurs. He's been one of the QMJHL's top offensive defensemen the past two seasons. McCallum recorded 34 points in 36 games with Val-d'Or in the first half, currently placing him sixth in defensemen scoring.

Blagden, meanwhile, appeared in four games with Saint John this season before announcing his retirement from the sport - a retirement that was short lived. He's also played with the Southern Senior Hockey League's River Valley Rock this season.
Blagden won a Memorial Cup championship with MacDougall and the Sea Dogs last June.

“Coach Mac is an icon in Saint John,” said Bladgen in a news release. “Without him, that team wouldn’t have won the Cup. He provided us with the motivation in our toughest times.”

Heading into play this weekend, UNB sits first in the AUS men's hockey standings with a 16-3-0-1 record.

BACK IN PRINCEVILLE
Newly acquired defenseman Tristan Dassylva is back with the QJHL's Princeville Titans. The 17-year-old told the Quebec outlet CIMT/CHAU that he will spend the rest of the season with the club.

Dassylva, acquired by the Sea Dogs during the holiday trade period, made his Saint John debut on Jan. 8. He appeared in 10 games with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar earlier this season.

CIMT/CHAU notes that Dassylva was teammates with Sea Dogs rookie forward Jacob Beaulieu last season with the College Notre-Dame Albatros.

Princeville sits second in the QJHL standings behind Nikolas Hurtubise and the Terrebonne Cobras. 

NEW NUMBERS
A few new Sea Dogs players means a few new numbers.

10 - Giuseppe Ianniello
15 - Alex Drover
34 - Harrison Ballard
47 - Nathan Casey
56 - Luka Benoit

No. 10 was worn last season by Riley Bezeau while Chad Bellemare wore No. 34 for a couple games earlier this season. No. 47 has been worn very infrequently since Simon Despres' departure, being worn only by Cole Foston (14 games), Cael MacDonald (one game) and Zach Welsh (eight games).

Benoit is just the third player to wear No. 56, joining Christopher Inniss and Nick Blagden.

Drover, meanwhile, is wearing No. 15 after wearing No. 14 during his previous Sea Dogs stint. Ian Dickie and Hunter Gartley are the most recent players to sport the number.

HIGHMORE AN ALL-STAR
Former Sea Dogs forward Matthew Highmore has been named to the American Hockey League All-Star Classic roster.

Highmore, a member of the Springfield Thunderbirds, will suit up for the Atlantic Division All-Stars. It's the second time Highmore has been named to the AHL all-star event.

The 26-year-old has seven goals and 31 points in 34 games with Springfield this season. Highmore spent last season with the Vancouver Canucks. 

The All-Star Classic will be held Feb. 5-6 in Laval.

NEW POD EPISODE
This week on The Hockey News on the Q, The Athletic's Scott Wheeler joins us to talk world juniors; Will and I discuss the QMJHL trade deadline; we take a look at the New Jersey Devils' Q prospects; and Rimouski's Jan Sprynar is in the 2023 NHL Draft spotlight.
OTHER THINGS
  • The Sea Dogs conclude their three-game Quebec road trip on Saturday, visiting the Rimouski Oceanic at 5 p.m. Atlantic. The Sea Dogs have dropped four straight games while the Oceanic are 8-1-0-1 in their last 10.
  • In a showdown of the QMJHL's top teams on Thursday, the Halifax Mooseheads edged the Quebec Remparts 2-1 in a shootout. It was a bit of a snoozer of a game until the final half of the third period when play finally picked up. The Mooseheads certainly impressed with their ability to play a strong defensive game.
  • 139 CHL players were named to the NHL Central Scouting's midterm rankings, which were released on Friday. Four members of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens were ranked.
  • TSN+ is now a thing and, according to a news release, will feature "live coverage of CHL games in addition to those broadcast on TSN’s national television feeds."
  • The Score has a feature on how some of the blockbuster trades we've seen across the CHL over the past week were completed.
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