Notebook: Changes at TD Station

Fans will notice a few changes to the TD Station concessions when the Saint John Sea Dogs open their regular season home schedule on Saturday.

The most obvious is the relocation of Tim Hortons, which has moved from its spot behind/above the Ice Bar to a more spacious location behind/above the visitor's bench. The new Tims accepts debit/credit, which was not available at its previous location.

Only a couple of the main concessions — which were OVG360 branded, the new operator of TD Station — were open during the pre-season but it looks like some new menu items have been added. We'll see what other changes have been made on Saturday.

The Sea Dogs begin regular season play on Friday in Bathurst before returning home to host the Titan on Saturday at 7 p.m.

While nothing has been officially announced, tickets for Saturday's game are listed for just $8.05 on the TD Station website. Parking is listed at $7, a $2 increase from the pre-season and last season.

SCOUTING CHANGES

The Sea Dogs announced a number of changes to their scouting staff last week.

From the Sea Dogs website:

• Justin Landry has been promoted to assistant to the general manager
• Marc-Olivier Heredia has been promoted to head of player personnel and head scout
• Chris Hatzitolios has been promoted to hockey operations assistant
• Sean Mundey and Andy Lehoux will return to the scouting staff. Senior advisor Wayne Mundey is also back.
• Trevor Scott has been hired as a scout

OUR 18

The Sea Dogs were featured in the league's "My 18" season preview series on Sunday.

Now entering Year 2 following their Memorial Cup win, the @SJSeaDogs will look to continue climbing up the standings this season! ⬆️

🗒️ : https://t.co/5C1s2dluZ4#Pogo | #Our18 pic.twitter.com/BJAWSnRLNF

— QMJHL (@QMJHL) September 17, 2023

BREEN NAMED CAPTAIN

Lynden Breen of Grand Bay-Westfield has been named one of the captain's of the University of Maine Black Bears men's hockey team for the upcoming season.

Introducing the Captains of your 2023-24 Maine Black Bears 🫡

📝: https://t.co/h8RrfMrNW0#blackbearnation | #JourneyNorth pic.twitter.com/A0Gv3D374X

— Maine Men’s Ice Hockey (@MaineIceHockey) September 14, 2023

Breen, who wore an 'A' last season, recorded 21 goals and 15 assists in 36 games with the Black Bears last year, his third with Maine.

The 22-year-old forward was a fifth-round pick of Saint John in the 2017 QMJHL Entry Draft.

Breen joins the Nadeau brothers, Josh and Bradly, as New Brunswickers on the Black Bears for this upcoming season.

REMPARTS GET NEW JERSEYS

The Quebec Remparts will have new (or old?) jerseys for the upcoming season. They are very sharp.

TURCOTTE LEAVES NEWSPAPER

One of the leading QMJHL insiders has left the newspaper game.

Steve Turcotte, the long-time Shawinigan Cataractes writer at le Nouvelliste, has joined the Cataractes organization.

AVIS DE NOMINATION

Nous sommes fiers d’annoncer l’arrivée de Steve Turcotte dans notre grande famille.
Il agira à titre de Directeur communications, marketing et gestion hockey après une fructueuse carrière de plus de 20 ans dans le domaine des médias. https://t.co/tAmlkGjxLK pic.twitter.com/dGyJPTnG5q

— Cataractes de Shawinigan (@Cataractes_Shaw) September 11, 2023

OTHER THINGS

• The QMJHL's pre-season ended on Saturday. Shawinigan had the best record (6-1-1-0) while Val-d'Or had the worst (1-6-0-1).
• The Cape Breton Eagles and Halifax Mooseheads were only able to play five pre-season games due to their Friday matchup being cancelled by the storm.
• Jiri Klima, a 17-year-old from Czechia and a first-round CHL Import Draft pick of the Shawinigan Cataractes, led the league in pre-season scoring with 13 points (seven goals and six assists) in eight games.
• Will MacLaren and I are back for another season of "The Hockey News on the Q" podcast. Our first episode of the new season will drop this week.