Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Notebook: Quebec road trip begins

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
It's nearly February, but Wednesday night will be the first meeting of the season between the Saint John Sea Dogs and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

The Sea Dogs will begin a three-game Quebec road trip at 8 p.m. Atlantic in the Montreal suburbs. The two will meet again in one week, this time at TD Station.

The expansion cousins haven't met in nearly a year (the last meeting was Feb. 15, 2024). The Armada currently sit 11th overall with 50 points while the Sea Dogs are 15th with 38.

The Sea Dogs have already arrived in the Montreal area, practicing at the Bell Centre on Monday.
Following Wednesday's game, the Sea Dogs will head northwest to Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d'Or for games on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

SOME STATS
Five current Sea Dogs have new reached double digits in goals.

Dylan Rozzi became the latest to reach the 10-goal mark, scoring his ninth and 10th goals of the season over the weekend. He joins Zachary Morin (12), Tyler Peddle (12), William Yared (11) and Olivier Groulx (10) in double digits. Eriks Mateiko had 14 before he was traded to the Rimouski Oceanic.

Morin sits third in QMJHL rookie goal scoring while Yared in fifth.

Peddle continues to lead the team in power play goals with seven while Groulx and Rozzi each have four.

Captain Nate Tivey continues to lead the team in points (34) and assists (23). He sits sixth in QMJHL defensemen scoring.

YOUNG TEAM
This section of the notebook likely requires an * as these rosters from Elite Prospects are often a bit inaccurate. But, they're accurate enough that we can say the following: this is one of the youngest teams in Sea Dogs history.

Elite Prospects lists this year's squad – with an average age of 17.91 – as the second youngest in team history, second only to 2013-14.

The website has Saint John tied with the Val-d'Or Foreurs as the second youngest team in the QMJHL this season. Only the Halifax Mooseheads are younger.
DOG BOWL
The Sea Dogs announced the creation of The Dog Bowl this week, a high school hockey tournament that will showcase Saint John area schools.

The tournament will take place Feb. 7-8 at TD Station prior to Sea Dogs home games. A weekend pass for the four high school games and the two Sea Dogs games can be purchased for $20.

The most noteworthy item about all this: the tournament MVP, selected by Sea Dogs hockey operations staff, will earn an invite to Sea Dogs training camp in August.

CHIPPY GAME
A couple videos from the Coach Chippy game, including some audio of him behind the Sea Dogs bench during the first period.
SUPERSTORE GAME
The Charlottetown Islanders became the first QMJHL team to wear the fan designed Real Atlantic Superstore jerseys on Sunday.
The Sea Dogs are scheduled to wear their custom jerseys on Feb. 8 against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. The CHL announced last week that all games featuring Superstore jerseys will be free to watch on CHL TV.

NEW DATE
The QMJHL's somewhat controversial decision to hold its first Prospects Game before the start of the regular season has been changed.

The league announced Tuesday that the QMJHL Prospects Game, which will highlight 40 of the circuits top players eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, will now be held Tuesday, Oct. 21 in Sherbrooke. The event was originally planned for Sept. 13, which would have been prior to the start of the regular season.

“The 2026 class is full of talent, and we can’t wait to show it off to scouts and the public alike," said QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini in Tuesday's news release. "This will be an opportunity for everyone to see the stars of tomorrow in action.”

The OHL held its first Prospects Game earlier this month in Brantford. The games replace the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, which was axed in favour of the CHL USA Prospects Challenge.

UNIVERSITY GAMES GOLD
Former Sea Dogs defenseman Kale McCallum recently helped Team Canada capture gold at the 2025 FISU World University Winter Games in Italy.


McCallum posted two goals and three assists in seven games at the event.

The 22-year-old is in his third season with the UNB Reds. The Quispamsis native spent two seasons with the Sea Dogs before being dealt to the Val-d'Or Foreurs.

BUDDY IS BACK
It certainly looks like legendary St. John's hockey mascot Buddy the Puffin will be wearing Newfoundland Regiment colours this fall.
OTHER THINGS
  • The Sea Dogs have scored first in just 15 games this season, the fewest in the league. The team is 10-5-0-0 in those games.
  • Eriks Mateiko seems to be fitting in quite well with the Rimouski Oceanic. After scoring twice against Saint John on Friday, he followed that up with another two goals on Saturday in Moncton. Mateiko now has five goals in six games with Rimouski.
  • Bay Today has a story on Sea Dogs goaltender Justin Robinson.
  • The Concordia student newspaper, The Link, has an article on former Sea Dogs goaltender and current Stinger Nikolas Hurtubise.
  • Former Sea Dogs forward Boko Imama made his debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins on the weekend. Imama has spent the majority of this season in the AHL.
  • In actual news, former Sea Dogs president and current Saint John Liberal MP Wayne Long told media last week that he may reconsider his decision to not run in the next federal election.
  • The UNB Reds have clinched the AUS men's hockey regular season title for a 17th straight season.
  • Some of the notable names that will take part in the MHL All-Star Game on Feb. 11 in Edmundston: Will Allen, Jonah Leard, Jeremie Richard and coach Greg Leland.
  • The Port City Power will not take to the court this season, the expansion club announced Monday. The team cited "financial challenges and unmet business expectations" for the decision. The Power were set to play in The Basketball League, which will still have teams in Moncton and Halifax. The regular season begins in March.
  • It looks like the Muskegon Lumberjacks and Youngstown Phantoms – who were looking to make the jump to the OHL – will remain in the USHL for at least another season. The USHL announced Monday that the league's existing 16 clubs have all signed on to play next season.
  • The ECHL's newest expansion team in Greensboro, North Carolina will be known as the Gargoyles.
  • Lastly, here's something that doesn't pop up too often: the unwrapping of a mystery pack of Sea Dogs hockey cards.
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