A night of QMJHL hockey outdoors

TROIS-RIVIERES, QC - The temperatures were low but the vibes were high at the Hippodrome racetrack on Friday night.

The Victoriaville Tigres edged the Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in the second game of the 55 Cup, a four-team tournament that also includes the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Shawinigan Cataractes. Victoriaville and Drummondville will meet in Sunday's final while Sherbrooke and Shawinigan will play for third on Saturday.

The Hippodrome is quite a venue, with horse racing on this site dating all the way back to 1830. This was my 14th outdoor hockey game and fourth non-NHL – but a couple of those non-NHL games were played the day after an NHL game at the same venue. The Hippodrome had an impressive setup given that these QMJHL games are the highlight of a week long hockey festival.

The most challenging part of the event was finding the entrance. Once fans made their way in, they were greeted to an area of food trucks and sponsorship activations.

There was also a merchandise trailer.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 7-4

FINAL: Saint John 4, Moncton 7

Daniel St-Louis/Moncton Wildcats

MONCTON - It wasn't a win, but the Saint John Sea Dogs at least made a game of it on Thursday at Avenir Centre.

The Sea Dogs managed to climb out of a 4-1 deficit and tie it 4-4 early in the third period. But the red hot Moncton Wildcats fired off three goals in the final frame to take it 7-4.

The loss extended Saint John's losing streak to five games – but the Sea Dogs at least showed some resilience in this game. Much of this losing skid has seen Saint John get down and stay down.

The Sea Dogs got off to a rough start, going down 2-0. Saint John started to gain some momentum though and Alexis Joseph made it 2-1 at 14:39 – only to have the Wildcats score two minutes later. Saint John's inability to carry momentum has been a problem.

Saint John outshot Moncton 22-6 in the second period and exited the frame down 4-3. It was an unexpected outburst given that the Sea Dogs have struggled in second periods of late.

Olivier Groulx tied it up at 4-4 at 2:27 of the third with a shorthanded marker. But the Wildcats would go on to score three to make it a 7-4 final.

Shots were 49-33 in favour of Saint John, which was certainly a positive. Defensively the struggles continue with the Sea Dogs having now allowed seven of more goals in four of their past five games.

Joseph, Groulx, Alexander Donovan and Olivier Duhamel all scored for Saint John. Rafaël Courchesne made 26 stops in the loss.

Teddy Mutryn and Caleb Desnoyers each scored twice for Moncton while singles came from Niko Tournas, Adam Fortier-Gendron and Matthew Virgilio. Rudy Guimond made 45 stops in the win.

Game Day 26: at Moncton

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

MONCTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs will look to put a bad weekend behind them tonight.

The Sea Dogs are coming off a three-in-three that saw them fall in each contest and get outscored 20-7. Saint John has dropped four straight games and allowed at least five goals in each of them.

Unfortunately for the Sea Dogs, their schedule doesn't get any easier.

Saint John will travel to Moncton tonight to take on the Wildcats at 7 p.m. Moncton is one of the hottest teams in the league right now, going 8-1-0-1 over their past 10 games.

A positive for the Sea Dogs: the Wildcats have been very average on home ice this season, going 5-4-1-0 – and one of those losses was against Saint John.

Stream/TV/Radio: FloHockey/None/Sea Dogs Audio Network

Records: The Sea Dogs are 10-14-1-0 for 21 points (ninth Eastern/17th QMJHL) while the Wildcats are 16-6-2-1 for 35 points (second Eastern/third QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-2 loss to the Cape Breton Eagles in Fredericton on Sunday. Alexis Joseph and Angelo Fullerton scored for Saint John. Rafaël Courchese was pulled after allowing four goals on 12 shots. Justin Robinson stopped all 26 shots he faced in relief. The Wildcats are coming off a 3-2 shootout win in Drummondville on Sunday. Alex Mercier and Teddy Mutryn scored for Moncton. Rudy Guimond made 32 saves in the win.

Dogs look to turn things around vs 'Cats

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

MONCTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs will look to turn things around on Thursday night against the Moncton Wildcats.

While it's a mismatch on paper – the Wildcats are 16-6-2-1 overall and sit second in the Eastern Conference – the Sea Dogs, 10-14-1-0, have had recent success at Avenir Centre. Saint John is 1-0 in Moncton this season and are an impressive 10-7-1-1 over the past five seasons.

Saint John will need all the positivity and good vibes they can generate given their recent struggles. The Sea Dogs head into Thursday's game on a four-game losing streak and went a disappointing 3-8-0-0 in November. Eight of their 11 games last month were played at TD Station/Aitken Centre.

The Wildcats, meanwhile, have been heading in the opposite direction. They are 8-1-0-1 in their last 10 games and have collected points in each of their past six games.

The Sea Dogs and Wildcats meet Thursday night in Moncton and Sunday afternoon in Saint John. This will certainly be a challenging couple games for the Dogs but, at the same time, there is an opportunity here to really turn their momentum around.

These are the first two of 10 games the Sea Dogs will play in December. Just four of those 10 games will be played at TD Station.

Some other news and notes...

• The Sea Dogs are now averaging nearly four goals against per game (3.96) and have allowed five or more goals in each of their past four games. 
• Saint John has allowed the first goal in each of their past three games.
• The Wildcats currently sit third overall in the league with 35 points. Only Chicoutimi and Blainville-Boisbriand – who each have 37 points – have better records.
• Wildcats captain Caleb Desnoyers enters play Thursday on a six-game point streak. He posted two goals and three assists during Moncton's three-in-three Quebec road trip last weekend. With Team Canada's world junior selection camp roster expected to be announced next week, Desnoyers is likely a little extra motivated to have a strong few games.
• After lighting up the Sea Dogs last weekend, Cape Breton Eagles forward Romain Litalien was named the QMJHL 's player of the week. Litalien now has four goals and seven assists in six games against Saint John this season.
• Newfoundland's Justin Larose continues to lead the QMJHL in scoring with 43 points (17 goals and 26 assists) in 26 games. His 26 assists leads the league.
• Shawinigan's Felix Lacerte has scored a league high 22 goals in 23 games.
• There will be four outdoor QMJHL games played this week at a racetrack in Trois-Rivieres. Victoriaville, Sherbrooke, Drummondville and Shawinigan will each play two games between Thursday and Sunday.

Notebook: The Beaulieu/Murphy fight

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Jacob Beaulieu is getting plenty of praise for his fight against Will Murphy during Saturday's game against the Cape Breton Eagles.

Beaulieu, listed at 5'9" and 175 lbs, dropped the gloves with Murphy, listed at 6'4" and 211 lbs, during the first period. Both players were given fighting majors and game misconducts.

The game was 1-1 at the time and the Saint John Sea Dogs went on to lose the game 7-3. Saint John allowed four goals in the second period and were outshot 17-8.

After the game, the fight brought this interesting response from Sea Dogs head coach Travis Crickard, calling his team's response "sad."

Really interesting comments from Travis Crickard on Jacob Beaulieu’s fight with Will Murphy.

Calls his team’s response to the fight “sad.” pic.twitter.com/nT3hf5nXoz

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) November 30, 2025

DUFOUR DEBUTS

William Dufour made his Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins debut on Friday.

Dufour had one shot and was a +1 in the Penguins' 4-1 victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He played on the team's third line with Aidan McDonough and Gabe Klassen. 

Former Sea Dogs forward Boko Imama was also in the Penguins' lineup. Raivis Ansons did not dress.

On Saturday, Dufour posted three shots and was a -2 in the Penguins' 6-2 loss to the Hershey Bears. Imama also played in that game, recording 14 penalty minutes.

Dufour has been on a professional tryout with the Penguins for a few weeks. These were his first AHL games since last season's Calder Cup Playoffs.

GLANCE SCORES VS CHL

17-year-old forward Jamie Glance, a sixth-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2024 QMJHL Entry Draft, scored twice in the USNTDP's victory over Team CHL in this year's CHL USA Prospects Challenge.

Glance had an empty net goal in the United States' 4-2 win over Team CHL in the opening game and then scored again as the Americans fell 4-3 in the second game. The USA won the event by scoring in "super overtime."

Jamie Glance gives USA a 3-1 lead on the power-play! pic.twitter.com/uQwoeKRI23

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) November 27, 2025

Glance is in his second year with the USNTDP and is committed to Boston University for the 2027-28 season.

A month to forget for Sea Dogs

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs began November one game over .500, sitting 11th overall in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League and were coming off a two-game sweep of the Cape Breton Eagles.

A month later, the Sea Dogs are leaving November four games below .500, sitting second-last in the QMJHL and were swept on home (sort of) ice by the Eagles.

It was a brutal month for the Sea Dogs to say the least. Let's look at some numbers.

• Saint John went 3-8-0-0 during November, a disappointing record any month, but especially this one given that the team played eight of their 11 games on home ice (when you include the Fredericton game).
• The Sea Dogs are now 5-9-0-0 at home this season after going 2-6 at TD Station/Aitken Centre in November. 
• The Sea Dogs entered November with a respectable -2 goal differential. It's now at -15 after getting outscored 45-32 during the month. That's a goals per game average of 2.91 and a goals against per game average of 4.09. The last-place Baie-Comeau Drakkar are currently averaging 4.26 goals against per game.

If the QMJHL playoffs started today, the Sea Dogs would not be in them. They have the second fewest points (21) and second worst winning percentage (.420).

This team is struggling big time right now. The numbers show it. The eye test shows it.

The fan frustration with this team's recent results is nothing like I've seen since, well, ever. And it makes sense. A reminder that this franchise has not won a playoff series since 2017. A reminder that this franchise has delivered only a few months of success since 2017. The Sea Dogs have finished above .500 just twice since 2017 – and one of those seasons was the weird COVID year of 2020-21 when they finished one game over.

If there is any fan base in junior hockey that understands the highs and lows of the junior hockey cycle, it's Sea Dogs fans. When this fan base is losing patience, that says something.