Sunday, March 24, 2024

Notebook: Veterans finish hot

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
Veteran players carried the Saint John Sea Dogs in the last five games of the regular season.

Overage forwards Brody Fournier and Drew Elliott each had strong offensive outputs to end the year while Tyler Peddle turned it on as well. Here's what all three produced in Saint John's final five games.

Tyler Peddle: six goals and three assists
Drew Elliott: four goals and one assist
Brody Fournier: six goals and three assists

Fournier enters the playoffs with goals in five straight games.

The Sea Dogs won three of their final six games and lost another in a shootout to clinch a playoff spot. 20-year-old goaltender Patrick Leaver played the entirety of those games.

It's worth noting that Coen Miller had quite an end to his regular season as well, posting a goal and seven assists in his past five games.

HOME RECORD
After much talk about Saint John's home woes all year, the Sea Dogs finish the regular season with an 11-17-3-3 record at TD Station.

It's the sixth fewest wins the Sea Dogs have had on home ice in one season in team history. The record low is eight which was set in 2017-18 and the COVID year of 2020-21.
Only the last-place Val-d'Or Foreurs had fewer home wins than Saint John this season. Val-d'Or had a 10-21-3-0 record on home ice.

PLAYOFF FOES
The Sea Dogs will face the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the playoffs for the first time.

With Drummondville crossed off the list, the only teams the Sea Dogs haven't faced in post-season play are the Sherbrooke Phoenix and Quebec Remparts. It's worth noting that Saint John has never played the Charlottetown Islanders either but did play the PEI Rocket twice.

MEMORIAL CUP TEAMS
All four teams from last year's Memorial Cup — host Kamloops Blazers, WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds, OHL champion Peterborough Petes and QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts — did not qualify for the playoffs in their respective leagues.
As for the four teams that played at the 2022 Memorial Cup in Saint John, here's how they performed this year.

Saint John (host): 20-39-5-4 (16th overall)
Shawinigan (QMJHL champion): 30-34-3-1 (12th overall)
Hamilton/Brantford (OHL champion): 37-20-9-2 (seventh overall)
Edmonton (WHL champion): 27-37-3-1 (18th overall)

Of the four teams from the 2022 tournament, only the Edmonton Oil Kings missed the playoffs this year.

CHAMPION OUT
This is hard to believe given recent trends, but the Quebec Remparts are just the seventh QMJHL champion to miss the playoffs the following year. Saint John is one those seven.
MAINE FALLS IN SEMIS
The Maine Black Bears fell 4-1 to Macklin Celebrini and the Boston University Terriers in the Hockey East semifinals on Friday.

Lynden Breen of Grand Bay-Westfield scored Maine's lone goal. Newfoundland's Ryan Greene scored a pair for BU.

Despite the loss, Maine still qualifies for the NCAA tournament, which is essentially college hockey's sweet 16. They'll play the Cornell Big Red in the opening round on Thursday in Springfield, MA.

PIPELINE SHOW
A bit dated now, but I went on The Pipeline Show this week to discuss the race for the QMJHL's final playoff spot.
OTHER STUFF
  • Sea Dogs goaltender Patrick Leaver played in some or all of Saint John's final nine games. He made the most saves of any goaltender in the QMJHL this season.
  • Officially, this is the fifth straight season the Sea Dogs have qualified for the playoffs. That includes the 2019-20 playoffs that weren't played and the provincial tournament thing in 2020-21. The Sea Dogs have not made it past the opening round of the playoffs since winning the President Cup in 2017.
  • Weather likely played a factor, but the Sea Dogs had 4,004 fans attend their regular season finale on Saturday, which has traditionally been the largest attended home game of the season. Saint John had 5,545 fans watch their final regular season game last year. The Sea Dogs didn't surpass the 5,000 fan mark for any home game this year.
  • In an intermission interview with Bruce Smith on Saturday, former Sea Dogs forward Peter Reynolds was asked about where he'll play next season. The overager said he'd look at pro possibilities as well as U Sports, noting a number of universities have expressed interest.
  • Joshua Roy's NHL season is over after getting injured by blocking shot last week. Roy recorded four goals and five assists in 23 games with the Montreal Canadiens.
  • The Val-d'Or Foreurs finished the regular season on a 15-game losing streak. The Cape Breton Eagles enter the playoffs having won nine straight while the Drummondville Voltigeurs have won seven.
  • The Memorial Cup host Saginaw Spirit finished the OHL regular season with 102 points, placing them just two points back of the regular season champion London Knights.
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