Stanley Cup Final begins tonight in Vegas

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At this time a year ago, not many people would have picked Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly to be the Saint John Sea Dogs alumni taking part in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. But here we are.

The two former Sea Dogs coaches will lead the expansion Vegas Golden Knights into the best-of-seven NHL final, which begins tonight. The Knights will take on the Washington Capitals.

The Knights, of course, are one of the best stories in sports this season and are guaranteed to be made into a movie someday. They also feature quite a few QMJHL alumni.

Gallant and Kelly guided the Sea Dogs into three straight QMJHL finals between 2010 and 2012, winning two.

Gallant has been nominated for NHL's Jack Adams Award, which is awarded annually to the league's coach of the year.

Some other alumni notes...

• There were no former Sea Dogs players in this year's Memorial Cup, but the Hamilton Bulldogs did feature JP Laciak, a former athletic therapist with Saint John.
• Will there be any Sea Dogs alumni taking on the Toronto Marlies in this year's Calder Cup final? We'll know soon. Matthew Highmore, Chris DiDomenico and the Rockford IceHogs currently trail the Western Conference final 3-2 to the Texas Stars. Game 6 of that series goes tonight.
• DiDomenico continues to lead the AHL in playoff scoring with six goals and 17 points in 12 games.
• In the ECHL's Kelly Cup final, the Florida Everblades and Colorado Eagles are tied 1-1. The Everblades feature Michael Kirkpatrick, Stephen MacAulay, Spencer Smallman and Callum Booth. According to media reports, Kirkpatrick is currently out with a concussion.

Titan win Memorial Cup championship

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The Acadie-Bathurst Titan made history on Sunday night in Regina.

The Titan won their first ever Memorial Cup championship, dominating the host Regina Pats in a 3-0 victory. The win is the first national championship for the QMJHL since 2013 and marks just the third time a team from Atlantic Canada has lifted the trophy.

Adam Holwell, Samuel Asselin and Ethan Crossman all scored for the Titan while Evan Fitzpatrick made 28 saves in the shutout win.

Bathurst dominated the first 40 minutes, outshooting the Pats 36-11. Regina goaltender Max Paddock was the only reason the game was close heading into the third. The Pats, predictably, had their moments in the third period - outshooting the Titan 17-8 in the frame - but could not score.

The Titan, in just their second ever tournament appearance, had a fairly smooth run to the championship, finishing the preliminary round 2-1 and earning an automatic spot in the final.

This is, obviously, a huge accomplishment for the Titan franchise - a franchise that has had its struggles in just about every department over the past decade. It's also big for all small market teams across the CHL.

Acadie Bathurst Titan win the 100th MasterCard Memorial Cup

With a population just under 12,000, Bathurst, New Brunswick is the smallest city to win the Memorial Cup since Flin Flon, Manitoba in 1957 (pop. 10,234) #mmc100 pic.twitter.com/234ZAWOYSM

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) May 28, 2018

Next year's Memorial Cup will take place in Halifax - the first time it's been hosted in Atlantic Canada since 2006.

Titan take on Pats in Memorial Cup final tonight

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REGINA - The Acadie-Bathurst Titan will look to do something no QMJHL team has done since 2013 - win the Memorial Cup final.

The Halifax Mooseheads were the last team from the QMJHL to win a national title, capping off a stretch of three straight Q winners. Since then, a QMJHL team has appeared in the final just once (Rouyn-Noranda in 2016).

The Titan earned an automatic spot in the final earlier this week, finishing with a 2-1 record. They'll take on the host Regina Pats in tonight's final, who finished 2-1 in preliminary round play and defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs in Friday's semifinal.

Game time this evening is 8 p.m. The game can be seen on Sportsnet.

The Pats had a long layoff heading into the tournament after being eliminated in the first round of the WHL playoffs. They'll look to join last year's Windsor Spitfires and the 2012 Shawinigan Cataractes as recent host teams with long breaks to win the tournament. The host team has won the Memorial Cup just three times since 2007.

While the Titan's story isn't really an underdog tale - they were one of the best teams in the QMJHL all season long - it has the feel of one. The Titan are one of the smallest markets in the CHL, and for them to get to this point - especially after everything that has happened to the franchise over the past decade - is quite impressive.

The Titan's only previous Memorial Cup experience was in 1999 when they finished third.

The Titan will also look to become just the third team from Atlantic Canada to win the Memorial Cup following the 2013 Mooseheads and 2011 Saint John Sea Dogs.

News & Notes: Li on Russia roster

There is a familiar name on the Russian team that will compete in the Canada Russia Series.

Nikita Li, who played in one regular season game with Saint John in 2014-15, is on the roster. The Sea Dogs put Li, a second-round pick in the 2015 CHL Import Draft, on waivers where he was claimed by the Victoriaville Tigres.

2014-15 was Li's only season in the QMJHL, recording 10 goals and six assists in 61 regular season games. He added one goal in four playoff games.

According to Elite Prospects, Li has three assists in 17 games with the KHL's Spartak Moscow this season.

The Canada Russia series begins on Monday in Prince George.

Some notes...

• Speaking of the Canada Russia Series, Sportsnet has list of players to watch at the event. No. 1 on the list? Sea Dogs forward Mathieu Joseph.
• The Sea Dogs' Jan. 7 in Halifax will be broadcast nationally on Sportsnet. Game time has been adjusted to 4 p.m.
• The Tampa Bay Lightning website has a feature on Mathieu Joseph. 
• How about the Ottawa Senators' handling of Thomas Chabot? The blog Silver Seven looks at that.
• It certainly appeared the Ottawa 67's were destined to host the Memorial Cup in 2018. They have withdrawn their bid though, according to TSN Radio host.
• Sea Dogs prospect Shane Bowers was ranked 20th in the Sportsnet's November NHL Draft rankings. Bowers has six goals and six assists in 11 games with the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks this season.
• Meanwhile, Bowers was ranked 24th in ISS' November rankings.
• The Sea Dogs fell to the "honourable mention" category in the CHL Top 10 this week.
• Saint John takes on the Titan in Bathurst tomorrow night at 7 p.m. They return home on Sunday to take on the Charlottetown Islanders at 3 p.m.
• Mathieu Joseph and Thomas Chabot both appear a new CHL on Sportsnet commercial:

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Monday News & Notes

LONDON, Ont. – Thomas Chabot had quite a performance on Sunday.

Playing in Ottawa’s third and final game of the annual NHL rookie tournament in London, Chabot recorded four assists in the Senators’ 6-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Thomas Chabot warming up. pic.twitter.com/mzrwq80Fub

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) September 18, 2016

Chabot will no doubt get a long look from the Sens at the team’s main training camp.

2018 Memorial Cup bid guidelines coming

By Friday, the CHL is expected to unveil the bidding guidelines for the 2018 Memorial Cup.

The CHL confirmed last week that the 2018 tournament, which will be the 100^th Memorial Cup championship, can be bid on by any of the 60 CHL clubs.

Despite rumours that have circulated over the past couple years, the format for the tournament will remain the same with a host team and the champions of the QMJHL, OHL and WHL.

Interested clubs must submit their intent to bid by Sept. 1, 2016. The CHL will make its decision in the first week of February, 2017.

The 2017 Memorial Cup will be held in Windsor.

The Sea Dogs have stated their intentions to bid on the 2019 tournament, which will be the next Memorial Cup the QMJHL hosts.

In other news…

• It appears the Kitchener Rangers, who hosted back in 2008, are interested in bidding on the 2018 Memorial Cup.
• It might have been a rough year for the CHL Import Draft.
• Gerard Gallant is back on PEI.
• Bleedin’ Blue has an article on former Sea Dogs forward Sam Povorozniouk.
• 17-year-old forward Craig Ryan, who had 15 goals and 19 assists in 37 games with the Cape Breton West Islanders last season, has been invited to Sea Dogs training camp.

Isles Update: Mulgrave's @Cryan_7 will be attending the @SJSeaDogs camp this summer. #TheFactoryOfGuts pic.twitter.com/Ypf0HRUbSG

— CB West Islanders (@CBWestIslanders) July 9, 2016

Report: Ontario May Host In '17 & '18?

There could be a major snag in the Saint John Sea Dogs’ hopes of hosting the 2017 Memorial Cup.

This year’s Memorial Cup tournament will be held in Quebec City (QMJHL) and next year’s in Red Deer (WHL). The 2017 tournament would normally be held in an OHL city, but with the 100^th anniversary of the trophy coming up in 2018, it has been believed that the CHL would break the rotation and give the QMJHL the 2017 tournament and the OHL the 2018 edition.

The Sea Dogs have been saying for well over a year now that they want to host – and, obviously, ultimately win – the 2017 Memorial Cup. They have made it clear that they are building for 2017 and appear to have the team set up nicely to go for it that year. But a report in today’s Telegraph-Journal (paywall) puts the hosting part of the plan in jeopardy.

According to Scott Briggs, in 2018 “the CHL is considering Toronto as host, the site of the first Memorial Cup in 1919” and “now it appears an Ontario Hockey League team will also host in 2017 and Toronto in 2018, albeit with a revised format that could potentially involve more teams.”

After going through the pain of losing the 2012 bid to Shawinigan, this is something that probably wouldn't go over too well with Sea Dogs fans.

This is all speculation right now (a QMJHL spokesperson told Briggs that this is one of several possibilities) and none of this is set in stone, meaning the QMJHL could still end up hosting in 2017. Perhaps the more significant part of all of this is the potential format change involving more teams. There are unlimited formatting possibilities, and the CHL – and Sportsnet - no doubt want to try and get the national championship the level of hype and exposure the NCAA gets.