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Monday, September 30, 2024

Notebook: Crickard returns to Sydney

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
Sunday's Saint John Sea Dogs game in Sydney ended with a much different vibe than the team's last visit.

Last season on March 9, the Sea Dogs/Eagles game ended 54 seconds into the third period after Saint John head coach Travis Crickard fainted behind the bench. Crickard was transported to hospital and released the next morning.

Crickard spoke about the incident on 1270 CJCB before Sunday's game.

"I actually kind of forgot about it until I walked into the rink today and then there were a couple of people in the hallway who greeted me with a lot of enthusiasm," Crickard told Eagles broadcaster Pat McNeil. "So I was like, 'oh, I'm kind of famous here now I guess.'"

Crickard said he was feeling quite ill in the days leading up to the incident, not eating or drinking much.

"The level of support that I was provided while I was here by everyone who works in in the medical field was fantastic. Everyone was super generous and kind. But I'll have to say it was a really unfortunate thing that happened and sometimes, in retrospect, you have to think about your personal health and you need to listen to your body a little bit."

GRAVEL HONOURED
Sea Dogs goaltender Charles-Edward Gravel was named the QMJHL's player of the week on Monday. Gravel led the Sea Dogs to two road wins over the weekend, which included a 45-save performance on Friday and nine stops in a shootout on Sunday.


On Friday night in Charlottetown, Gravel put on a clinic, stopping 45 shots, including 22 of 24 in the third period alone, in a 6-2 Saint John triumph over the Islanders. Gravel was named the game’s third star while the Dogs captured their first victory of the season.

On Sunday afternoon, the Sea Dogs traveled to Sydney and doubled their win total for the young campaign with a 2-1 shootout win over the Cape Breton Eagles. Gravel was again on top of his game, first stopping 29 shots in regulation, then slamming the door in a marathon shootout, shutting out the Eagles on nine attempts.

The overage netminder is now 2-1 with a 1.95 goals against average and a .944 save percentage. The nine saves he made in Sunday's shootout tied Travis Fullerton's franchise record from the 2007-08 season.

UP NEXT
The Sea Dogs have three games coming up this week.

On Thursday, the Sea Dogs travel to Bathurst to face Gordie Dwyer and the Titan for the first time this season. Bathurst is 3-1 so far and are coming off their first loss of the season – a 2-0 home defeat to the Charlottetown Islanders on Sunday.

The Sea Dogs return home on Saturday to host the Islanders at 7 p.m. Saint John defeated Charlottetown 6-2 last Friday at Easlink Centre but allowed 47 shots in the win.

Then on Sunday, the Titan travel to Saint John to take on the Sea Dogs at 3 p.m.

Saint John is 2-2-0-0 overall this season with both of their wins coming on the road.

SEASON OF FIRSTS
It's early in Saint John's season but there have already been a few firsts.

  • William Yared, Dylan Rozzi, Cruz Scanzano, Elliot Dubé, Giuliano Caputo, Julien Bonnet, Florian Schenk and Dennis Lominac have all made their QMJHL debuts.
  • Rozzi, Dubé and Yared have all scored their first QMJHL goals. Rozzi became the latest on Sunday.
  • Along with those three scoring, Scanzano has recorded his first career QMJHL point.

Rozzi, with a goal and two assists, sits eighth in QMJHL rookie scoring. First overall pick Maddox Dagenais of the Quebec Remparts sits second (five goals and two assists) behind Rouyn-Noranda Huskies import Lars Steiner, who has five goals and six assists in four games.

PARE IN THE NEWS
Former Sea Dogs forward Cedric Pare has been in the national hockey news this week for not-so-positive reasons.

Pare, now with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, was the player who collided knee-on-knee with Patrik Laine of the Montreal Canadiens in NHL pre-season play on Saturday. Pare will not be suspended for the play.


Arber Xhekaj then went after Pare.


The 25-year-old Pare has had a couple of strong seasons in the AHL and could be on the radar for an NHL call up this year. He'll likely start the season with the Toronto Marlies.

WILDCATS OPENER
A few notes and takeaways from Saturday night's Wildcats home opener.
  • The pre-game show and player introductions were very professionally produced and even featured some literal fireworks.
  • It's election season, so Blaine Higgs was greeting fans inside and out. He was wearing a Wildcats jersey despite his riding being in Quispamsis.
  • The Wildcats introduced their entire coaching and support staff which, of course, ended with Gardiner MacDougall being introduced for their first time.
  • One other notable introduction was Mike Eagles, who is working with the Wildcats as a faceoff coach. Eagles had been doing a similar role with the Sea Dogs for the past few years and was even behind the bench for some games. Eagles and MacDougall coached against each other for years when Eagles was the head coach of the St. Thomas University men's team.
  • So Moncton's coaching staff now has three former Sea Dogs coaches on it: MacDougall, Eagles and Paul Boutilier.
  • Robert Irving was introduced as "the greatest owner in the CHL." Is it time to write a CHL owners power ranking?
  • Wildcats forward Caleb Desnoyers was injured in the first period and did not return. He did not play in Sunday's Wildcats game against the Halifax Mooseheads. Desnoyers was recently ranked 10th in Bob McKenzie's pre-season rankings for the 2025 NHL Draft.
  • Announced attendance was 6,116, which seemed kind of low compared to the eye test.

OTHER THINGS
  • The Wildcats have allowed three shorthanded goals over their past two games. That included the overtime winner in their home opener on Saturday.
  • After a surprising 4-0 start, the Halifax Mooseheads lost their first game of the season on Monday afternoon, falling 3-1 in Charlottetown. All five of Halifax's games have been played on the road. They host the Quebec Remparts in their home opener on Friday.
  • The Memorial Cup host Rimouski Oceanic are off to a 1-3-0-0 start. Their lone win came on Saturday when they defeated the Gatineau Olympiques 7-4.
  • The Oceanic and Olympiques honoured former goaltender Creed Jones before that game. Jones, who also spent time with the Sea Dogs, was killed in a motorcycle accident this summer.
  • Former Sea Dogs forward Pavel Simek has three goals in four games with the Oceanic.
  • Forward Benjamin Beaudry, who appeared in nine games with the Sea Dogs last season, continues to lead the QJHL in scoring with 20 points in seven games with the Saint-Jerome Pantheres. 
  • The Atlantic University Sport men's hockey season begins Wednesday night with the UPEI Panthers hosting the Saint Mary's Huskies. The UNB Reds play their home opener on Friday night against the Dalhousie Tigers.
  • Here's Boko Imama's pre-season fight from Sunday's Penguins/Senators game in Sudbury.
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