Notebook: Lapierre back to Bathurst

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SAINT JOHN - The Acadie-Bathurst Titan received an early Christmas gift on Wednesday.

The Washington Capitals announced that 19-year-old forward Hendrix Lapierre has been sent back to junior where he'll rejoin the Titan. Lapierre was acquired by the Titan in the off-season after recording eight goals and 23 assists in 21 games with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens last year.

Lapierre recorded one goal in six games with the Capitals.

The news is a huge boost to a Titan team that has gone just 2-6-0-2 in their past 10 games after a hot start.

Lapierre appeared in just one pre-season game with the Titan, recording a goal and an assist against Saint John. Oddly, it may be some time before the Sea Dogs see the Capitals prospect in action again. The two teams have already played each other four times and will meet three times between Dec. 18-31 - when Lapierre will likely be in Edmonton with Canada's world junior team. The Sea Dogs and Titan won't meet again until Feb. 23.

FRANCIS' IMPACT

In many ways, the Sea Dogs have looked like a different team since the return of Ryan Francis. 

The Sea Dogs are 3-1 since his return. That included a 4-3 win over the Halifax Mooseheads in his season debut.

"As the game against the Mooseheads wore on, Francis was even more dominant and the rest of the team followed him," wrote Willy Palov in his Chronicle Herald column. "That intangible quality will be invaluable in Saint John where they need that kind of spark, not to mention the elite production the former Cape Breton Eagles star will provide."

Francis has two goals and three assists in four games this season.

Notebook: Dufour on fire

Micheal Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - Saint John Sea Dogs forward William Dufour was named to the QMJHL's Team of the Week on Monday after recording four goals and three assists in three games the week prior.

The New York Islanders prospect is off to a strong start again this week, registering a goal and two assists in Friday's 4-3 Sea Dogs loss to the Charlottetown Islanders.

Dufour now has 10 goals in 11 games this season which continues to lead the league (as of Saturday afternoon). His three-point night on Friday also pushed him into third overall in scoring with 18 points (again, as of Saturday).

Dufour entered Saturday tied with a few others for the most goals in the entire CHL.

COMING UP

The Sea Dogs are back in action on Sunday, hosting the Halifax Mooseheads at 3 p.m. at TD Station.

This will be the first meeting of the season between the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads. The last time they met in regular season play was Nov. 14, 2020.

Following Sunday's contest, the Sea Dogs will play 10 straight games against Quebec-based teams. That stretch gets rolling on Thursday when the team begins in a three-in-three road trip with stops in Quebec City, Shawinigan and Drummondville.

The Sea Dogs' next home game isn't until Nov. 12.

SPOOKY SUNDAY

Sunday will mark the sixth time in Sea Dogs history that the team has played on Halloween. Saint John is 3-2-0-0 all-time in games played on Oct. 31.

2010-11: 7-0 win at Rouyn-Noranda

2012-13: 2-1 loss vs Blainville-Boisbriand

2015-16: 5-3 win vs Val-d'Or

2019-20: 6-1 loss vs Rimouski

2020-21: 5-3 win vs Cape Breton

2021-22: ? vs Halifax

Notebook: All QMJHL teams, arenas will require proof of full vaccination

FREDERICTON - If you want to watch QMJHL hockey this season, you'll need to be fully vaccinated.

With Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick all requiring some form of vaccination proof to enter non-essential businesses, that left the Charlottetown Islanders as the lone QMJHL team without any provincial mandate. This past week, the Islanders opted to join the rest of the league.

"While we will do our best to minimize the changes to our hockey season, games will not be operating the same as they have in the past," reads an Islanders statement. "We have adjusted our operational plan to maximize cleaning, sanitization, and safety for attendees, staff and volunteers. All staff, volunteers, and attendees must be fully vaccinated (plus 14 days after the second dose) to attend a game this season."

The Sea Dogs will open the regular season with a home-and-home against the Islanders. The team's will meet at Charlottetown's Eastlink Centre on Oct. 2.

MEMORIAL CUP DECISION SOON

Will this be the week the host of the 2022 Memorial Cup is finally announced? It's looking that way, but we'll see.

Mikael Lalancette has a great breakdown in le Soleil about the bidding process. A few tidbits:

• In 2019, there were reports that the Halifax Mooseheads had guaranteed the CHL $1 million in order to host the event. According the Lalancette, that guarantee has been removed to allow more teams/markets the chance to bid.
• Both the Sea Dogs and Remparts are planning on offering reasonable ticket prices, like the Mooseheads did in 2019.
• The arena situation is an interesting one. Obviously the Videotron Centre is a significant upgrade over TD Station - but TD's uptown location, in my probably very biased opinion, is much better than Videotron's, which fans would have to commute to each game.

CASEY MOVES TO THE AJHL
It appears Brandon Casey has made the move to the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

Casey appeared in the Grande Prairie Storm's regular season opener on Friday, recording an assist in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Drayton Valley Thunder.

The 19-year-old appeared in nine regular season games and three playoff contests with Saint John last season.

With Casey and Benjamin Roode both playing junior A this season, that would seem to put 17-year-old Hunter Gartley on the inside track of grabbing the seventh-defensemen spot on this year's roster. Gartley appeared in just two games last season due to an injury.

Sea Dogs game to air on CBC

The Saint John Sea Dogs will appear on national television at least once this season.

The CHL announced the 2021-22 CBC broadcast schedule on Thursday, which features six games airing nationally in October and November.

The games, which will all air on Saturdays at 4 p.m. Atlantic (conveniently before Hockey Night in Canada), include the Sea Dogs visiting the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Nov. 6. Drummondville has always been a popular spot for national broadcasts.

The other QMJHL game to air will see the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies taking on the Shawinigan Cataractes on Oct. 9.

The first game CBC will broadcast is on Oct. 2 when the Prince Albert Raiders visit Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats. The full CBC schedule can be found on the CHL website.

The CHL news release notes that "in addition to being broadcast on CBC TV, all six games will also be available via CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and the free CBC Gem streaming service. Beginning in November, CBC Gem, CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app will offer live streaming coverage of one CHL game per week through the end of the regular season. The schedule for these games will be confirmed in the coming weeks."

No further details on CBC's broadcasts - like who will be doing play-by-play - have been released. This will be the first year of a "multi-platform, multi-year broadcast rights partnership" between the CHL and CBC.

TSN will also be airing CHL games nationally this year.

The CHL also confirmed the pricing for CHL TV on Thursday. Seasons passes, monthly passes and single-day passes will all be available for purchase. "The high-quality CHL TV streaming service is available on the Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV platforms, via mobile with iOS and Android, and the Safari and Google Chrome web browsers," reads a news release.

CHL games officially coming to TSN, CBC

It's official: the Canadian Hockey League will have a new television home this fall.

As has been rumoured/reported for some time now, the CHL has signed "multi-year broadcast partnerships" with TSN, RDS and CBC.

From the CHL:

Beginning with the 2021-22 season, the new partnerships include approximately 30 regular-season games each year delivered by TSN, in addition to select playoff coverage and the comprehensive suite of CHL national events. Additionally, the agreement includes approximately 20 French-language broadcasted games on RDS, early-season weekend games broadcasted by CBC Sports, as well as digital streaming rights featuring a CHL TV broadcast each week during the regular season on TSN, RDS, and the free CBC Gem streaming service.

The thought of TSN's world junior-like coverage coming to CHL events is certainly an exciting thought. It'll be interesting to see what the broadcast plan looks like - and also how CBC fits into all of this. CBC getting in on the rights deal had not come up in previous rumblings.

The CHL & TSN have announced a new multi-year broadcast partnership, so who better to join the show than one of the OHL’s biggest stars, projected 2022 1st overall pick Shane Wright. pic.twitter.com/RY9l6HX1P2

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 21, 2021

The streaming rights situation is also interesting. How does this all impact CHL TV - and in particular will the QMJHL finally be moving away from Neulion?

CHL hames have been airing on Sportsnet since 1998. Sportsnet signed a 12-year deal with the CHL in 2014 which has, obviously, come to an end early.

Sportsnet/Rogers wanting to get out of its CHL contract is not a huge surprise given the amount of financial cuts the network has made in recent years. Its $5.2 billion NHL rights deal has yet to deliver the expected return.

Sportsnet's national rights deal with the NHL comes to an end in 2025-26 - and that will likely have some sort of impact on the future of the CHL's TV rights as well. First though, we'll see how the next few seasons go.