Monday, October 14, 2024

Notebook: Sea Dogs attracting small crowds early this season

The Saint John Sea Dogs have been a pleasant surprise on the ice. Off the ice, attendance for games at TD Station has not been too pleasant.

Through six home games, the Sea Dogs are averaging 2,550 fans per game, placing them 10th in the 18-team QMJHL. They're slightly behind small markets Shawinigan and Victoriaville.

Crowds are typically lower this time of year compared to the winter months – but Saint John's average attendance is down nearly 500 fans per game from where it was at this point a year ago. The Sea Dogs averaged 3,011 fans per game after six home games last season.

Saint John's last three home games have seen particularly small crowds.

Sunday, Oct. 6 - 1,859
Friday, Oct. 11 - 2,006
Saturday, Oct. 12 - 2,150

The Oct. 6 attendance of 1,859 was Saint John's smallest regular season crowd since Dec. 17, 2022 when 1,813 watched the Sea Dogs host the Cape Breton Eagles.

COMING UP
Just how "for real" is this Sea Dogs team? We could get a good indication this week.

The Sea Dogs will play three games in four nights this week, beginning with a Thursday night contest in Moncton. The Wildcats enter play on Monday with a 5-1-1-0 record and have already defeated the Sea Dogs once this season.

The Sea Dogs will then play a Friday-Sunday home-and-home against the Maritimes Division leading Acadie-Bathurst Titan, with the first game taking place at the KC Irving Regional Centre. The Titan are a surprising 7-3-0-0 this season and have won four straight games.

Sunday's game at TD Station will be Saint John's final game until Halloween night.

LOMINAC UPDATE
Forward Dennis Lominac no longer appears on Saint John's active roster, presumably to make room for Zachary Morin.

The Michigan native appeared in seven games with the Sea Dogs but did not record any points. He last appeared in a game on Oct. 6 against the Titan.

The 18-year-old was signed by the Sea Dogs last month. He appeared in 58 games with the OHL's Sarnia Sting last season, recording three goals and two assists.

CHARTRAND TO CANADA

The 16-year-old defenseman has a goal and 13 assists in 16 games with the US-based Bishop Kearney Selects this season. He's committed to Boston College for 2027.

Chartrand was a first-round pick of Saint John in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft. The team will have to make a decision in the coming months: keep his rights or release him and receive a compensation pick in the 2025 draft.

Notably, Sea Dogs head coach Travis Crickard will be behind the bench of Team Canada Red. The team will also include Romain Litalien (Cape Breton), Maddox Dagenais (Quebec) and Chad Lygitsakos (Shawinigan).

The event begins Nov. 3 in Sarnia.

DESIGN A JERSEY
The design a jersey contest has finally made its way to the QMJHL. The promotion has been taking place in the OHL and WHL for years.
Saint John's theme night schedule has the jerseys being worn Feb. 8 when the Sea Dogs host the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

2023 DRAFT IMPACT
Saint John didn't have a first-round pick in the 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft but have complied an impressive roster of players from that class.

With the signing of Zachary Morin, the Sea Dogs now have six of the top 40 players picked in 2023.

Round 1, 19th overall - Zachary Morin (Blainville-Boisbriand)
Round 2, 22nd overall - Olivier Groulx (Shawinigan)
Round 2, 30th overall - Egan Beveridge (Saint John)
Round 2, 32nd overall - Elliot Dubé (Gatineau)
Round 2, 33rd overall - Olivier Duhamel (Saint John)
Round 2, 40th overall - Benjamin Amyot (Saint John)

Morin did not sign with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and was put into the 2024 draft where Saint John selected him. Groulx and Dubé were acquired via trade.

MORE ST. JOHN'S TALK
The QMJHL's return to St. John's is starting to feel a bit inevitable at this point. There's still been nothing but rumours, but the amount of talk is much more intense than anything in recent years.
As Radio Canada notes, the Titan have been for sale since January.

Obviously, there a number of issues of having a team in Newfoundland that will need to be sorted out. But this is pretty much it for St. John's. The AHL and ECHL aren't coming back. Either make the QMJHL work or have no high level hockey.

FUN FACTS
Some fun facts that the Sea Dogs dropped a few weeks ago.
OTHER THINGS
  • Charles-Edward Gravel so far this season: 4-2-0-0 with a 2.27 GAA and .950 SV%. He also has one shutout.
  • The UNB Reds are off to a 4-0 start and some of that success is due to the hot start of former Sea Dogs captain Peter Reynolds. The rookie forward leads Atlantic University Sport in goals with five. Drew Elliott, meanwhile, has three goals and an assist while Kale McCallun has a goal and three helpers.
  • The Calgary Flames are off to a strong start and so is Jonathan Huberdeau. The 31-year-old has three goals and two assists so far this young season, which included a four-point performance against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
  • Former Sea Dogs defenseman Eric Gelinas was among the cuts from Laval Rocket training camp last week. The 33-year-old has spent the past six seasons in Europe – and is likely to return there. He played 64 games with the Rocket in 2017-18.
  • Zachary Morin's agent is former Sea Dogs defenseman Charles-Olivier Roussel, who spent the 2011-12 season with Saint John. He helped the club win the President Cup that season. 
  • UQTR will host the 2027 University Cup at Colisee Videotron in Trois-Rivieres. It will be the first time in 43 years that the school has hosted the event.
  • The ECHL regular season begins this Friday.
  • TSN's Julia Tocheri, who has been the in-game reporter for CHL games the past couple years, has left the network, she announced Thursday.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)