Sunday, August 20, 2023

Notebook: Sea Dogs hire new coach

SAINT JOHN - Max Essiambre has been named the Saint John Sea Dogs' new goaltending and video coach.

Essiambre replaces long-time video and goaltending coach Brian Fleming, who has left the club for other career opportunities.

“I am absolutely thrilled to join the Saint John Sea Dogs,” said Essiambre in a news release. “The opportunity to work with a talented group of players and contribute to the team’s success is a dream come true.”

The 33-year-old has spent the past couple seasons in the Ottawa area, working with the University of Ottawa men's hockey team last season and the CCHL's Hawkesbury Hawks in 2021-22. His previous experience also includes working as a goaltending coach with the Miramichi Rivermen under-18 team.

INJURY UPDATES
The Sea Dogs are dealing with a few injuries before the season even begins.

Forwards Sam-Luca Thifault and Nico Laforge along with defenseman Jeremie Richard all had surgery during the off-season and aren't quite ready to go yet, reports Kevin Barrett of Postmedia.
The news creates a few more holes in Saint John's lineup that the club will need to — at least temporarily — fill.

WELCOME BACK
On Tuesday night, the Sea Dogs will play their first "normal" pre-season game at TD Station in nearly five years.

The Sea Dogs haven't played a pre-season game at their home venue since 2020 — but those games were played under COVID capacity restrictions. The last time the club played "normal" exhibition games at their normal home was in 2018.

The Sea Dogs played their home pre-season games at Fredericton's Aitken Centre each of the past two seasons. In 2019 they played home games in Quispamsis, St. Stephen, Grand Falls and Fredericton.

FREE STREAM
The CHL announced last week that there will be a number of pre-season games streamed for free on CHL TV over the next few weeks. One of those games features the Sea Dogs.

Saint John's home game on Sept. 15 against the Charlottetown Islanders will be broadcast for free on CHL TV.

The first game of the year that will air is this Tuesday when the Drummondville Voltigeurs host the Sherbrooke Phoenix. 

According to the CHL website, "in order to gain access to these preseason games on CHL TV, fans simply need to either log in or create a free account on CHL TV. CHL TV is accessible on the CHL mobile app, in addition to Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire, and online at watch.chl.ca. Fans can download the free CHL app via the App Store and Google Play."

CASEY COMMITS
Former Sea Dogs defenseman Brandon Casey has committed to playing with the University of Manitoba Bisons for this coming season.

Casey spent his overage season with the Maritime Hockey League's Edmundston Blizzard where he registered three goals and 25 assists in 48 games. He added six assists in 14 playoff games.

A Newfoundlander, Casey appeared in nine games with Saint John during the 2020-21 COVID season. He also played in three games during the New Brunswick playoff tournament thing.

This signing is a bit notable as not many Atlantic Canadians join Canada West programs.

HOCKEYPROSPECT.COM ENDS Q COVERAGE
In tragic news, HockeyProspect.com has announced an end to their QMJHL Entry Draft coverage.


Today, we are announcing that we are discontinuing our coverage of the QMJHL Draft, starting with the 2023/2024 draft season. We have been proud of the significant number of scouts that we have graduated to various QMJHL teams over the span of a decade. Unfortunately, due to continued severe losses to our QMJHL Draft scouting team, we will not be able to cover the QMJHL Draft for the upcoming season. We want to thank all of you who have supported our QMJHL Draft coverage throughout the years.

HockeyProspect.com has been producing a QMJHL draft guide since the 2012-23 season.

OTHER THINGS
  • This probably won't help ticket sales for Saint John's regular season home opener: Classified will be performing at the AREA 506 Waterfront Container Village on Sept. 23, the same night as the Sea Dogs' game against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
  • Sea Dogs forward Eriks Mateiko was listed in Scott Wheeler's (paywall) pre-season rankings for the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft over at The Athletic.
  • The Hockey News ranked former Sea Dogs defenseman William Villeneuve as the No. 5 prospect in the Toronto Maple Leafs system.
  • Silver Seven ranked former Sea Dogs forward Philippe Daoust as the 25th best player under the age of 25 in the Ottawa Senators system.
  • The Win Column discusses where Calgary Flames prospects are likely to be playing this coming season, which includes ex-Dogs defenders Jeremie Poirier and Yan Kuznetsov.
  • Former Sea Dogs forward Joe Veleno, a restricted free agent, has still not signed a contract for the upcoming season. He told RDS that he is not concerned about the situation and he and the Detroit Red Wings continue to negotiate.
  • Former Sea Dogs defenseman Olivier Leblanc has signed with French club Angers for the upcoming season. The 27-year-old spent last season in the AHL and ECHL. He was a member of the ECHL champion Florida Everblades squad.
  • Le Journal de Quebec has a story on 14-year-old Alexis Joseph, who is getting some buzz as a possible exceptional status player.
  • There was some significant U Sports coaching news last week when StFX announced that long-time head coach Brad Peddle was leaving for an amateur scouting position with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Peddle will remain StFX general manager. His son, Drummondville Voltigeus forward Tyler Peddle, was drafted by the Blue Jackets in this year's NHL Draft.
  • Alex Grant, the original Sea Dog, seems to be settling in nicely with his KHL club.
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