Notebook: Rare 3-in-3 for Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs will play their only three-in-three of the entire season this weekend.

Traditionally, if the Sea Dogs were to be playing a three-in-three, it would likely take place on the road in Quebec. But times have changed. This three-in-three will be all home games with the third contest being played in a non-QMJHL venue.

The Sea Dogs will host the Charlottetown Islanders on Friday and the Cape Breton Eagles on Saturday with both of those games being played at TD Station. On Sunday, the Sea Dogs and Eagles will travel to Fredericton to play in the first regular season QMJHL game to take place in the city.

Tickets to Sunday's game are still available – but they are limited. 

The Sea Dogs will play three games at Fredericton's Aitken Centre this season. They'll also take on the Gatineau Olympiques on Thursday, Jan. 8 and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar on Sunday, Feb. 1.

NEW MASKS

Both Sea Dogs goaltenders recently debuted new masks, becoming the first netminders to sport the club's new logo.

Here's a look at Rafaël Courchesne's new mask. He had been wearing a green mask from his time with the Saint-Hyacinthe Gaulois.

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

And here's Justin Robinson's new look. He had been wearing his mask from last season which featured Saint John's 20th anniversary logo.

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

GUELPH LANDS MEMORIAL CUP

The Guelph Storm will host the 2027 Memorial Cup, the CHL announced last week.

The Storm have played in six Memorial Cup tournaments – most recently in 2019 in Halifax – and hosted the event in 2002. The Storm franchise has yet to win the trophy.

“We are thrilled to be bringing the 2027 Memorial Cup presented by Kubota to Guelph,” said CHL president Dan MacKenzie in a news release. “The Storm put forward an outstanding bid that showcased not only their organizational strength, but also the passion, vision, and community spirit that make the Royal City such a special junior hockey market. With the Memorial Cup returning to Guelph in the same year the city marks its bicentennial, fans can expect an unforgettable event that celebrates Guelph’s history and the tournament’s rich tradition, while providing a world-class experience for players, fans, and partners alike.”

Kelowna will host the 2026 Memorial Cup. The QMJHL will host in 2028.

Notebook: Back-to-back coming up

Mike Bernard/Charlottetown Islanders

After playing five straight games against Quebec teams, the Saint John Sea Dogs will get a major taste of the Maritimes coming up.

The Sea Dogs will play their next seven games against just three teams: they'll face the Moncton Wildcats three times and the Charlottetown Islanders and Cape Breton Eagles both twice.

Six of those seven games will be played at home (which includes the Nov. 30 game in Fredericton), a stretch that begins Thursday and Friday when the Sea Dogs host the Islanders and Wildcats, respectively. 

The Islanders sit first in the Eastern Conference but have been on a slide of late, going 4-5-0-1 in their past 10 games. They've played 23 games already, tying them for the most in the league.

The Wildcats, meanwhile, continue to struggle with consistency. They sit fourth in the Eastern Conference with most of their troubles coming on home ice. They're an impressive 8-2-1-0 away from Avenir Centre, which may not be good news for the Sea Dogs on Friday.

This is an oddly scheduled week for the Sea Dogs. They'll play Thursday and Friday night and then have both Saturday and Sunday off.

MONCTONIAN RECAP

A couple Sea Dogs prospects were in action at this year's Monctonian.

Forward Eliot Tozer, a 12th-round pick of the Sea Dogs in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft, finished with a goal and five assists in three games with the Saint John Vito's. Tozer, who is wearing an 'A' for the Vito's this season, finished in a tie for the team's scoring lead.

The Vito's went 2-1-0 at this year's tournament.

In 15 regular season games, Tozer has seven goals and six assists.

Goaltender Jase MacPherson and the Kensington Wild, meanwhile, went 2-0-1. MacPherson, a second-round pick of the Sea Dogs in this year's draft, went 1-0-1 with a 2.18 goals against average. Shots on goal were not recorded at the event.

In eight regular season games, MacPherson is 5-3 with a 2.96 GAA and .896 save percentage. He's also appeared in one game with the MHL's Summerside Western Capitals.

Sea Dogs resume pre-season Friday

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs are back in pre-season action Friday night.

The Sea Dogs will host the Moncton Wildcats at 7 p.m. at Woodstock's AYR Motor Centre. It will be Saint John's first trip to Woodstock for a Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League exhibition game.

The Sea Dogs are still looking for their first win of the pre-season. They're 0-2-2-0 with a tie through five games.

This will be the fourth and final meeting between the Sea Dogs and Wildcats. Moncton has won two of them with the third ending in a tie after overtime.

Saint John will play one more pre-season game before the real stuff begins Sept. 19. On Saturday, the Sea Dogs will travel to PEI to play the Charlottetown Islanders at UPEI's MacLauchlan Arena. Puck drop is 7 p.m.

The Sea Dogs and Islanders have yet to meet this year. Charlottetown is also winless with a 0-3-0-0 record.

A few other news and notes...

• Guelph and Kitchener are the finalists to host the 2027 Memorial Cup, the CHL announced Thursday. The winner will be announced "between late November and early December 2025." Kingston and Niagara were also in the running. The 2026 tournament will be held in Kelowna. 
• Kubota has been named the presenting partner of the Memorial Cup. Shout out to tractors.
• Quebec City and Trois-Rivieres will host the 2029 IIHF World Junior Championship, Hockey Canada announced Thursday.
• Former Sea Dogs defenseman Giuliano Caputo has been named captain of the QJHL's Terrebonne Cobras. Caputo appeared in 16 games with Saint John last season.
• It could be a challenging first year of NCAA hockey for former Sea Dogs goaltender Charles-Edward Gravel. College Hockey Insider Mike McMahon projects Mercyhurst University to be the second worst team in college hockey this season – but also believes Gravel has a strong shot at being the team's No. 1 goaltender as a freshman.
• The QMJHL uploaded this video featuring some of Saint John's best plays from last season.

Notebook: Hlinka bronze for Team Canada

Hockey Canada

Team Canada is coming home with a bronze medal from this year's Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Canada fell 4-3 in a shootout to the United States in Friday's semifinal, forcing them into the bronze medal match. Canada edged Finland 3-0 on Saturday to claim the third-place spot.

The US defeated Sweden 5-3 to win gold.

Team Canada's lineup included Sea Dogs defenseman Cameron Chartrand. Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Travis Crickard was behind the bench as an associate coach.

Thomas Rousseau of the Sherbrooke Phoenix was the only other QMJHL player on the team.

Fredericton native Tynan Lawrence of the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks posted a goal and two assists in five games.

SEARS COMMITS

16-year-old forward Finnegan Sears has committed to Boston College for the 2027-28 season.

Sears was a sixth-round pick of the Sea Dogs in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft. He's the only member of Saint John's 2025 draft class not slated to attend training camp.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Boston College has received a commitment from 5 ⭐️ recruit Finn Sears. The Massachusetts native is the No. 9 ranked player in the US & was recently named to the U17 NTDP. Sears had 53 points in 28 games last season with Three Rivers School.

BC is on the board! pic.twitter.com/uwGPdqYlYZ

— Puck Preps (@PuckPreps) August 15, 2025

The Massachusetts native is committed to play with the USNTDP this season. He posted 22 goals and 31 assists in 28 games at The Rivers School last season.

Notebook: Gallant to the KHL

Former Saint John Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant is officially off to the KHL.

Gallant was named the head coach of the Shanghai Dragons on Wednesday after several weeks of rumours, signing a two-year deal. It's the first coaching stint in the KHL for the 61-year-old.

The Dragons made the announcement with this rather awesome video.

THE MASTER IS HERE pic.twitter.com/0hAK9XYzuU

— Shanghai Dragons (@shadragons) August 13, 2025

The Dragons are formerly the Kunlun Red Star, who were based in Beijing prior to the pandemic. The club has played in Russia since 2020 and are expected to play in Saint Petersburg this year.

Gallant, who coached the Sea Dogs for three seasons from 2009 to 2012, hasn't had a full time coaching gig since the 2022-23 season when he led the New York Rangers.

Mike Kelly, shockingly, will be joining Gallant's staff as an assistant coach.

HLINKA UPDATE

Team Canada improved to 3-0 at this year's Hlinka Gretzky Cup with a 5-0 victory over Czechia on Wednesday.

The Canadians previously defeated Finland, 5-3, and Switzerland, 9-1. Canada will play the United States in Friday's semifinals. The gold and bronze medal games are set for Saturday.

Sea Dogs defenseman Cameron Chartrand has been held pointless so far at the tournament. Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Travis Crickard, meanwhile, is an assistant coach with the team.

NEW VENUES

Some Sea Dogs pre-season venues have changed yet again. 

The team's Aug. 23 and Aug. 28 games – both against the Newfoundland Regiment – will be held at Fredericton's Willie O'Ree Place. The two games were originally set to be played at Fredericton's Grant Harvey Centre and Lady Beaverbrook Rink, respectively.

Both games are Regiment "home" contests. Newfoundland will be holding the first portion of their training camp and entire pre-season schedule in Fredericton due to the Canada Games taking over most venues in the St. John's area.

Tickets to both games can be purchased online.

Notebook: Bezeau, Checkers fall in final

Embed from Getty Images

Riley Bezeau and the Charlotte Checkers came up short in the Calder Cup final.

The Checkers fell in six games to the Abbotsford Canucks in a series that concluded on June 23. The Canucks took Game 6, 3-2, in Charlotte to win their first Calder Cup.

Bezeau appeared in just one game in the final. He finishes the playoffs with three goals in five games.

The 23-year-old completed his third season of professional hockey. He appeared in 24 regular season AHL games with the Checkers and five ECHL contests with the Savannah Ghost Pirates.

Bezeau spent parts of three seasons with the Sea Dogs, helping the team win the Memorial Cup in 2022.

JOSEPH INTERVIEW

First overall pick Alexis Joseph was a recent guest on the QMJHL's Around the Maritimes podcast. The interview begins at the 33-minute mark below.

The future Sea Dogs forward talks about his playing style, his time playing under-18 hockey, draft weekend, who he models his game after, his Canadiens fandom, goals for his rookie season, Atlantic Canada and more.

MACPHERSON MEDIA

A couple features on Jase MacPherson, the Kensington Wild goaltender who the Sea Dogs selected in the second-round of this year's QMJHL Entry Draft.

The Eastern Graphic has a story on MacPherson getting picked by Saint John.

“I think that’s probably the best team I could have gone to. I have a good opportunity to crack that squad next year,” MacPherson said.

The 16-year-old was also selected by the Summerside Western Capitals in the recent MHL Draft. Justin Harrison, Summerside's director of scouting, provided his thoughts on MacPherson to the Journal Pioneer. 

"He’s a great goalie. He’s a big kid. He’s going to have a really good shot at the Quebec league," said Harrison. "We fully expect him to go and be very successful with the Sea Dogs. With the new rules opening up with the NCAA, there are so many moving parts with the Quebec league now, so if he’s not there it’s great to have a guy who is close to home and we know is a fantastic goalie. If he plays for Summerside, that’s going to be awesome.”