Breaking - Expect the CHL to announce it is allowing Russian and Belarusian players back into the import draft.
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) April 4, 2024
CHL teams have been notified Russian and Belarusian players will be available in the July 3rd Import Draft. The decision was made via Board vote and will be officially announced tomorrow.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 4, 2024
Russians and Belarusians have been banned from the annual draft since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The logistics of physically getting these players to North America still isn't the simplest, so it'll be interesting to see how many get picked.
TSN's Darren Dreger noted that the Canada Russia Series will not be making a return (yet, at least).
PLAYOFF LEADERS
After recording just five points in March, Pavel Simek turned it up a notch in the playoffs.
Simek was Saint John's playoff points leader, posting two goals and three assists in the four-game series loss to the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Drew Elliott was the only other Sea Dog to score more than a single goal.
A positive sign for next season was the play of Egan Beveridge in the playoffs. The rookie recorded four assists in four playoff games. Defenseman Nicolas Bilodeau, meanwhile, had a goal and two helpers.
The Sea Dogs were without their best forward, Eriks Mateiko, in the playoffs due to an injury. They were also without veteran forward Tyler Peddle in the final two games due to a suspension.
PEDWAY NEWS
The City of Saint John has announced that the Saint Patrick Street Pedway will be closed beginning April 10 and is expected to reopen at the end of October.
Instead of fixing the constantly broken escalators every couple days, the City is simply getting rid of them. From the press release:
During this improvement project, the two aging escalators will be removed and replaced by new wide stairs and an additional elevator will be installed. These necessary upgrades will result in a significant reduction in annual energy and maintenance costs and are required to provide an improved level of service to the community. Once complete, the new stairs and second elevator will allow for reliable and fast access to Brunswick Square, City Hall, Market Square and the Canada Games Aquatic Centre through the Pedway system.
While TD Station is not referenced, this will have some impact for Sea Dogs fans come the fall.
The Newfoundland Growlers are no more.
The ECHL announced Tuesday that the Growlers franchise has been shutdown "for failure to fulfill its obligations under the ECHL Bylaws." Newfoundland had six games remaining on their schedule plus potential playoff games.
The Growlers have already been removed from the league's standings. With the QMJHL, AHL (twice) and ECHL all leaving St. John's over the past 20 years, the future of hockey in the market is certainly in question.
Deacon Sports and Entertainment, the owner of the Growlers, also owns the ECHL's Trois-Rivieres Lions. That franchise was facing similar issues but was saved — at least for this season. That's of particular interest to the QMJHL as the Trois-Rivieres market, despite its closeness to Shawinigan, could be a potential landing spot for a junior team.
OTHER THINGS
- Victoriaville's Nathan Darveau, one of the QMJHL's top goaltenders over the past couple seasons, has committed to the Universite de Moncton for next season.
- Great to see the support the Eagles are getting right now. Cape Breton averaged 4,173 fans for their two playoff home games last weekend.
- On the flip side, it's been a rough year attendance wise for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. The Armada averaged 1,539 fans for their first two playoff games.
- Ethan Gauthier (four goals and four assists) and Peter Repcik (three goals and five assists) each had eight points in their first round series against Saint John. Former Sea Dogs forward Noah Reinhart had two goals.
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