Monday, January 12, 2026

Notebook: Robinson signs with Summerside

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
Justin Robinson has signed with the Maritime Junior Hockey League's Summerside Western Capitals, it was announced on Saturday.

The Sea Dogs traded Robinson to the Moncton Wildcats on deadline day in the deal involving Max Vilen and Carl-Otta Magnusson. The Wildcats, it appears, added Robinson for depth as they're keeping Jacoby Weiner as Rudy Guimond's backup.

The 19-year-old has spent the past three seasons in the QMJHL, recording a 17-40-2 record to go along with a 4.10 goals against average and a .885 save percentage, playing with Sea Dogs teams that were not defensively strong.
Robinson joins a Capitals team that is hosting the Centennial Cup national championship this season. Entering play Monday, they sit in a tie for first in the MHL standings with a 22-7-4-3 record.

Robinson did not dress for the Capitals on Sunday or Monday.

The Capitals traded 19-year-old netminder George Gallant – a Summerside native – to make room for Robinson.

SPARTANS WIN DOG BOWL
The St. Stephen High School Spartans are Dog Bowl AAA champions, defeating KVHS in overtime on Sunday night at TD Station.

Spartans goaltender Daniel Blanchard, who made 95 saves in the tournament, was named Dog Bowl MVP, earning an invite to Sea Dogs training camp in August. The 17-year-old spent the 2023-24 season with the Saint John Vito's.
The Hampton High School Huskies won the AA side, defeating Simonds High School.

GENDRON DEBUTS
Aigles Bleus Facebook
Justin Gendron had an impressive debut with the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus on Saturday.

Gendron had a goal, three shots and was a +1 in UdeM's big 6-1 home win over the UNB Reds. The victory kept the Aigles Bleus in first-place in the Atlantic University Sport men's hockey standings.

Gendron was named the game's third star and one of the team's players of the game.

It was announced the morning before the game that Gendron had signed with the club for the second half. The Sea Dogs released the 20-year-old forward earlier in the week.

COMING UP
One of the most challenging road trips of the season is on deck for the Sea Dogs.

Saint John will play three games in four nights in Quebec, which includes facing two of the top teams in the Western Conference.

On Wednesday, the Sea Dogs kick things off in Rouyn-Noranda with an 8 p.m. tilt against the Huskies. Rouyn-Noranda currently sits second in the Western Conference and fourth overall in the QMJHL with a 22-11-3-2 record.

The next night, the Sea Dogs will travel to Val-d'Or and take on the Foreurs at 8 p.m. After a day off Friday, Saint John will visit Jacob Beaulieu, Elliot Dubé and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Armada have had a challenging month but are still amongst the league's contenders, sitting fourth in the Western Conference with a 21-12-5-1 record.

BALDWIN STAYS HOT
Everett Baldwin scored his ninth goal of the season on Sunday, keeping him fifth in QMJHL defensemen goal scoring.
The Tampa Bay Lightning prospect now has five goals and four assists in seven games since the second half started.

Notably, Baldwin's four-point night on New Year's Eve nearly tied the Sea Dogs franchise record for points in a game by a defenseman. The record is five and is owned by Simon Despres (2007-08) and Nathan Beaulieu (2009-10).

GALLANT RETURNS HOME
Former Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant has returned home due to health reasons, Pierre LeBrun reported Monday.
Gallant was named head coach of the KHL's Shanghai Dragons (who are based in Russia) in August. According to TSN, "the team currently sits ninth in the East on 43 points, six behind Spartak for the final playoff spot."

Daily Faceoff reports that former Sea Dogs head coach Mike Kelly, who had been an assistant under Gallant, will take over.

"It will be Kelly’s first head coaching role in senior men’s professional hockey, having previously only served as a head coach with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs from 2012 to 2014," writes Ben Steiner. "In December, the club announced that former NHLer Alexei Kovalev would serve as a midseason assistant coach through the end of the campaign."

HHOF AT WJC
Forgot to post this last week, but there were a few Sea Dogs items in the Hockey Hall of Fame exhibit at the IIHF World Junior Championship fan fest.

On display were a Charlie Coyle Team USA stick; some Thomas Chabot Team Canada socks; and Eriks Mateiko's Team Latvia jersey.
OTHER STUFF
  • There is still hope that the Sea Dogs will receive their new Under Armour jerseys before the end of the season. The Halifax Mooseheads continue to wear old CCM jerseys as well.
  • Sunday's game ended a five-game homestand for Saint John (which included a game in Fredericton). They went 2-2-1-0 with all three of their defeats being one-goal losses to the Newfoundland Regiment. The Sea Dogs are now 8-13-1-0 at TD Station/Aitken Centre, the third worst home record in the QMJHL.
  • The Sea Dogs will play their third and final Fredericton "home" game on Sunday, Feb. 1 against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.
  • Feels like former Sea Dog Karel St. Laurent has been an emergency practice goaltender for the Habs for 20 years.
  • Former Sea Dogs forward Brady Burns has been named one of Acadia University's athletes of the week. Per a release, "Burns, a third-year community development student from Port Williams, N.S., recorded five points on the week, opening the second half of the season with an assist in an 8–0 win over Dalhousie before posting two goals and two assists in a 6–2 victory over STFX. He finished the week a team-best plus-6."
  • Crazy goal scored by Newfoundland's Marek Danicek on Sunday in Saint John. A goal of the year candidate.
  • Gatineau is leaving Atlantic Canada with a win. They earned a 4-3 overtime victory in Charlottetown on Sunday to end a six-game road trip. They finish the trip 1-3-2-0 – and it cost head coach Alexis Loiseau his job, who was fired on Monday. Once again, GM Serge Beausoleil will take over behind the bench.
    • Gatineau's next two games: a home-and-home with the OHL's Ottawa 67's.
  • Another team on a big road trip right now: the Cape Breton Eagles. They're in the middle of a six-game swing through Quebec.
  • Moncton's new top line of Gavin Cornforth, Alex Mercier and Caleb Desnoyers is going to be a problem for teams. 
  • Speaking of Moncton, there will be a big showdown between the Wildcats and Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Saturday at Avenir Centre. Sportsnet's Hockey Day in Canada is being held in Moncton that day and a a big crowd is expected.
  • The recently signed Ivan Ryabkin is expected to make his Charlottetown Islanders debut on Friday. A second-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, the Russian forward spent the first half of the season with the AHL's Chicago Wolves. He spent part of last season with Tynan Lawrence and the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks.
  • The Islanders have also added Scott Harris as an executive senior advisor. The Charlottetown native has an extensive resume of scouting at the NHL level.
  • After a rough weekend that saw them lose 5-2 to UPEI and 6-1 to Moncton, UNB's run as regular season AUS champions will likely come to an end this year. With 10 games to play, they sit six points back of first-place and will need a lot of things to go their way with four teams ahead of them.
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