Notebook: Lee (officially) joins Mooseheads

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

As reported a couple weeks ago, former Saint John Sea Dogs assistant coach Mark Lee has officially joined the Halifax Mooseheads.

Lee, who will be an assistant coach under Brad MacKenzie, was one of three coaching staff additions announced by the Mooseheads on Wednesday.

“I couldn’t be more excited to join the exceptional staff that Brad MacKenzie, Peter, and Sam Simon have assembled,” said Lee in a Mooseheads release. “Having known Josh Hepditch for a long time and competing against him as both a player and a coach, I know our coaching styles will complement each other perfectly. The Halifax Mooseheads are not just a phenomenal organization; they are an elite brand and a top-tier franchise in the CHL. I am eager to see what we can accomplish this season as we work collectively toward bringing a championship back to Halifax.” 

“Mark’s passion for the game combined with his ability to build relationships and connect with players makes him a great addition to our coaching staff,” said MacKenzie. “He brings with him a wealth of experience from his playing career as well as recent history coaching in the QMJHL. I’m looking forward to working alongside Mark and having him work closely with our players.”

Lee, who was sitting with the Mooseheads at this year's QMJHL Entry Draft, was an assistant coach with the Sea Dogs for four seasons. He departed the organization at the same time as Travis Crickard.

DRAFT RANKINGS

The 2026 NHL Draft is just over a week away.

Over at FloHockey, Chris Peters has released his final draft rankings. Sea Dogs forward Olivers Murnieks was ranked 50th.

"He’s a good two-way player with potentially limited offensive upside, but looks like he has the jam to play down the lineup if all works out," writes Peters.

The Hockey Writers, meanwhile, listed Murnieks as one of their "sleeper picks" for this year's draft.

"His offensive game isn’t particularly exciting, but he has a decent shot and can make reasonably clever passes under pressure," they write. "There’s certainly bottom-six potential for Murnieks and his late July birthday means he has lots of development still to come."

MacDougall named CHL Coach of the Year

Gardiner MacDouagll was named the CHL Coach of the Year on Friday.

MacDouagll, who led the Saint John Sea Dogs to the 2022 Memorial Cup title, guided the Moncton Wildcats to a QMJHL championship in his first year as head coach.

From the CHL:

Named in recognition of former Ottawa 67s head coach and the CHL’s all-time winningest coach Brian Kilrea, the Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award is presented annually to the Canadian Hockey League’s top coach. Gardiner MacDougall becomes the first head coach in Moncton Wildcats history to win the CHL Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award. In his debut QMJHL season, MacDougall led the Wildcats to a 53-9-2-0 record and a .844 points percentage – eighth-best all-time in the QMJHL and 10th-best in the CHL since 2000. Under his guidance, Moncton captured the Jean-Rougeau Trophy as QMJHL regular season champions for the first time since 2005–06. Their CHL-best defensive showing (2.25 goals-against average) ranked fifth in QMJHL history, while their 144 goals against tied for the 11th-fewest in CHL history. The Wildcats also led the CHL in goal differential (+150), regulation losses (9), and penalty kill (86.4%), while setting franchise records in wins (53), points (108), regulation losses, goals against, and points percentage.

According to the CHL, he joins Craig Hartsburg (1994-95) and Gerard Gallant (2009-10) as the only coaches to win the award in their first season. Gallant, who is a PEI native like MacDougall, won the award as head coach of the Sea Dogs. He also won the award the following season.

The long-time head coach of the UNB Reds, MacDougall won U Sports coach of the year honours three times with the latest coming in 2023-24.

It will be interesting to see what MacDougall and the Wildcats are like next season. In normal times they'd likely be heading for a rebuild, but the team has gotten some American commitments in recent weeks and announced the return of goaltender (and Yale commit) Rudy Guimond on Friday.

QMJHL players to win awards on Friday included Mathieu Cataford of the Rimouski Oceanic (CHL Scholastic Player of the Year) and Maxwell Jardine of the Charlottetown Islanders (CHL Humanitarian Player of the Year).

Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna was named CHL Player of the Year. It's still unclear where he'll play next season despite speculation that he is leaning towards a commitment to Penn State.

Notebook: Laforge Memorial Cup jersey up for sale

An interesting find on eBay recently: someone is selling a Nico Laforge jersey from Saint John's first game of the 2022 Memorial Cup. The asking price is just under $1,400 Canadian.

Laforge did not play in that game or in any games at last year's Memorial Cup.

"Not worn by player but appears to have been washed by the team," notes the seller.

LAWRENCE HONOURED

Former Sea Dogs forward Josh Lawrence was named to the CHL's second all-star team on Thursday.

Here's your CHL Second All-Star Team! #CHLAwards pic.twitter.com/9R6DZkGeOc

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 1, 2023

Lawrence posted 50 goals and 119 points (his second straight season of 100+ points) in 69 games split between the Halifax Mooseheads and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. He added 12 goals and 31 points in 21 playoff games.

Lawrence's teammates were also honoured. Jordan Dumais was named a first team all-star while Alexandre Doucet was on the third all-star squad.

Notebook: Lawrence takes over scoring lead

CHL TV

Following a three-point performance on Saturday, former Saint John Sea Dogs forward Josh Lawrence now leads the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in playoff scoring.

After being held pointless in Game 1, Lawrence recorded a goal and two assists in the Halifax Mooseheads' 6-3 win over the Quebec Remparts at Videotron Centre. The victory evens up the best-of-seven Gilles Courteau Trophy final at 1-1.

The 20-year-old now has 10 goals and 18 assists in 17 games this post-season. Lawrence also continues to take the majority of important faceoffs for the Mooseheads, taking 30 in Game 1 and 29 in Game 2.

Josh Lawrence takes the lead in the playoff scoring race with his 10th! 🔥 That’s five unanswered for the Moose! #QPlayoffs | @HFXMooseheads pic.twitter.com/Hzm5FGkHsy

— QMJHL (@QMJHL) May 14, 2023

Lawrence finished the regular season with 119 points - second only to his teammate, Jordan Dumais. With Dumais out of the lineup since Game 2 of the semifinals, much of the Mooseheads offence has been led by Lawrence and Alexandre Doucet.

The league final now shifts to Halifax where Games 3 and 4 will be played Tuesday and Wednesday night, respectively. All remaining games of the series will be broadcast by TSN.

WHO'S LEFT?

Of the four teams who played in the QMJHL semifinals, two of them have never faced the Sea Dogs in the playoffs.

The Sea Dogs have never faced the Quebec Remparts or the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the Gilles Courteau Trophy playoffs. The Remparts are the lone Eastern Conference franchise the Sea Dogs have never met in the post-season. Saint John has never played the Charlottetown Islanders either, but they did meet twice when the franchise was known as the PEI Rocket.

In the Western Conference, the Sea Dogs have never played the Phoenix of the Drummondville Voltigeurs.

Notebook: Playoffs off to entertaining start

HALIFAX - It wasn't a great opening weekend for the Saint John Sea Dogs but, for the most part, the first round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs are off to a very entertaining start.

Six games went to overtime this weekend with three requiring double OT.

Three of the QMJHL's eight first round series - Baie-Comeau/Moncton, Drummondville/Victoriaville and Shawinigan/Rouyn-Noranda - are tied 1-1. Quebec, Halifax, Rimouski, Sherbrooke and Gatineau all carry 2-0 series leads.

Encore trop tôt pour juger, mais avec 6 prolongations en deux jours de séries #LHJMQ (en 16 parties), on peut parler du début de séries le plus chaudement disputé 1996.

Prometteur pour la suite...

— Mikaël Lalancette (@MikLalancette) April 2, 2023

The Mooseheads erased a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Eagles on Saturday night. Alexandre Doucet's game-tying goal, which came at 18:50 of the third period, was controversial. It was called a goal on the ice and it stayed that way after a review.

The Eagles even retweeted the below video.

Video of Alexandre Doucet's tying goal for the Mooseheads. The officials reviewed it before counting it. Good or bad call? https://t.co/JcC3vxvzeu

— Willy Palov (@WillyPalov) April 2, 2023

All eight series resume on Tuesday.

MORE TITAN TROUBLES

Here we go yet again.

Steve Turcotte of Le Nouvelliste reports that Steve Leal is still trying to finalize a purchase of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Turcotte reports that Leal's first deal to purchase the club was rejected by the QMJHL but a new arrangement could be approved by June's Entry Draft.

It's been long believed that Leal, the president and CEO of Fix Network World, would like to purchase the Titan and eventually move them to the Montreal suburbs. The Titan have been rumoured to be relocating for about 15 years so... we'll wait and see what happens.

A major question/concern about a Titan move is how the division alignments will be impacted.

Notebook: Cataractes' dream run ends

Vincent Ethier/CHL

SAINT JOHN - The Shawinigan Cataractes' Cinderella run came to an end on Monday at TD Station.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champions fell short in their two chances to advance to Wednesday's final, falling 5-3 to the Saint John Sea Dogs in their final round-robin game and 4-3 in overtime to the Hamilton Bulldogs in Monday's semifinal.

"It's been a great year. Bottom line, we're champions," said head coach Daniel Renaud after Monday's loss. "That's the message to the players. Heads up, be proud of yourself, be proud of your team. It's been a helluva year and you'll be champions forever, no matter what. Out of 12 periods we've played, we've played 11 great periods here at the Memorial Cup. One bad period. Be proud of yourself."

The Cataractes fought through a regular season that was plagued with injuries, finishing seventh in the overall standings. They were healthy when it mattered most though, allowing them to upset the top-seeded Quebec Remparts in the third-round and the favoured Charlottetown Islanders in the President Cup final.

This Shawinigan team will always be remembered for their historic overtime success, going 7-0 in OT games during the QMJHL playoffs. Ironically, it was an overtime loss that ended their season on Monday.

"OT is one shot," said Renaud. "I think we played a good overtime. We got a couple of grade A scoring chances early in the overtime. To be honest, when I saw Mavrik Bourque on the zone entry, I thought that was the game-winner because he'd done that so many times. One shot, one tip. Bottom line, we're just so proud of all the players. It's been a great year for everybody.

CHL AWARDS

Logan Stankoven of the Kamloops Blazers was named the CHL Player of the Year on Tuesday night at the Saint John Marina.

Stankoven won the award over fellow nominees Wyatt Johnston of the Windsor Spitfires and William Dufour of the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Only two awards were won by QMJHL nominees: Jordan Dumais of the Halifax Mooseheads was named the Sportsman Player of the Year and Jim Hulton of the Charlottetown Islanders was named the Coach of the Year.

The full list of award winners can be found on the CHL website.

Notebook: Dufour breaks Huberdeau record

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - William Dufour's four-goal performance Saturday pushed him into the goal scoring lead at the 2022 Memorial Cup.

Dufour ended round-robin play with six goals in three games. No other player had more than three.

Dufour is tied for the tournament's points lead with six (all goals). He's tied with the Shawinigan duo of Mavrik Bourque and Xavier Bourgault along with Hamilton's Logan Morrison. 

Morrison leads the tournament in assists with six. Saint John's Philippe Daoust has five.

Dufour has already broken Jonathan Huberdeau's team record for most goals in a single Memorial Cup and is one point away from matching the points record. Daoust has already broken the record for most assists in a single Memorial Cup by a Sea Dog.

Here's a look at Sea Dogs points leaders in previous tournaments:

2017: Points - Julien Gauthier (6); goals - Joe Veleno (3); assists - Gauthier (4)

2012: Points - Jonathan Huberdeau (7); goals - Huberdeau (5); assists - Nathan Beaulieu and Charlie Coyle (4)

2011: Points - Jonathan Huberdeau (6); goals - Tomas Jurco (4); assists - Michael Kirkpatrick and Zack Phillips (4)

SOLD OUT

Since Saturday night, the TD Station website has been showing that Wednesday's championship game is sold out.

Saturday's game between the Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes was the first of the tournament to be called a sell out. The announced attendance was 5,657.

Tickets are listed as limited for Monday's semifinal. Most of the seats remaining are in the upper bowl end zone.

Notebook: Dufour makes first all-star team

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - Saint John Sea Dogs forward William Dufour, who was recently named the QMJHL's most valuable player, has been named to the league's first all-star team.

Former Sea Dogs forward Joshua Roy was also named to the team.

The cream of the crop! Here are your First Team All-Stars for the 2021-22 season! 🤩#GoldenPuck | #QMJHL

— QMJHL (@QMJHL) June 17, 2022

Goaltender Samuel Richard will join Gardiner MacDougall's UNB Reds next season.

Dufour will be the QMJHL's representative for the CHL player of the year award.

FEDS MONEY

Saint John MP Wayne Long held a press conference at Market Square Friday, announcing a $1 million contribution to the 2022 Memorial Cup.

The Memorial Cup is here!

I'm thrilled to announce $1M federal from ACOA to support the Memorial Cup. You can feel the momentum in Saint John!

This funding is supporting the new ball hockey rink, as well as upgrades to TD Station, the press box, and Wi-Fi. pic.twitter.com/el2mzES6K1

— Wayne Long (@MPWayneLong) June 17, 2022

According to news release, "funding for this project is provided through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI) program."

The money will "support marketing, promotional and Fanfest activities such as the concert series and an outdoor ball hockey facility, as well as infrastructure including VIP tents, staging, lighting, press box upgrades, and wi-fi improvements."

Chabot named CHL Defenceman of the Year

Embed from Getty Images

Thomas Chabot has been named the Canadian Hockey League's Defenceman of the Year.

This afternoon's announcement wasn't a huge shock. Chabot has been considered one of the best players in junior hockey all year, winning the MVP award at the world juniors, QMJHL playoff MVP award, and the QMJHL Defenceman of the Year award.

From a CHL press release:

Ottawa Senators prospect Thomas Chabot of the Saint John Sea Dogs is the CHL’s Defenceman of the Year after scoring 10 goals and 35 assists for 45 points in just 34 games played. The 20-year-old from Ste-Marie-de-Beauce, QC, was also a member of Canada’s National Junior Team earning a silver medal and Tournament MVP honours at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship. The 18th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft helped the Sea Dogs to a first place finish in the QMJHL this season. Finalists for the award were Edmonton Oilers prospect Ethan Bear of the Seattle Thunderbirds and Darren Raddysh of the Erie Otters.

The 20-year-old recorded two goals and two assists in four games at this year's Memorial Cup.

Chabot is the first Sea Dog to win the award. He's the first QMJHL player to win the honour since Moncton's David Savard in 2010.

Here's the full list of CHL Award winners:

Top Prospect: Nolan Patrick, Brandon Wheat Kings
Top Scorer: Sam Steel, Regina Pats
Sportsman of the Year: Nick Suzuki, Owen Sound Attack
Humanitarian of the Year: Tyler Wong, Lethbridge Hurricanes
Scholastic Player of the Year: Sasha Chmelevski, Ottawa 67’s
Coach of the Year: Ryan McGill, Owen Sound Attack
Rookie of the Year: Nico Hischier, Halifax Mooseheads
Goaltender of the Year: Michael McNiven, Owen Sound Attack
Defenceman of the Year: Thomas Chabot, Saint John Sea Dogs
Player of the Year: Alex DeBrincat, Erie Otters

Sea Dogs head coach Danny Flynn was nominated for the CHL Coach of the Year Award.

The Memorial Cup Final Is Tonight

The Halifax Mooseheads look to become the second Maritime team to win the MasterCard Memorial Cup tonight.

The Mooseheads take on the Portland Winterhawks in the Memorial Cup Championship Game tonight at 8pm on Sportsnet. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champs defeated the Western Hockey League champs 7-4 earlier in the tournament.

The 2011 Saint John Sea Dogs are the only previous team from Atlantic Canada to win the historic trophy. Halifax will look to join the Sea Dogs in that exclusive club and also bring the Memorial Cup to the QMJHL for a third consecutive year.

There are a ton of comparisons between this year’s Mooseheads and the 2011 Sea Dogs. Like Saint John did two years, Halifax got the bye straight through to the final and has had several days to prepare for this game.

The biggest connection between the Dogs and Moose is Stephen MacAulay who was part of the 2011 Saint John squad. MacAulay, playing in the final game of his unreal junior career, will look to become the first player to ever appear in four President Cup finals, win three President Cups, and win two Memorial Cups.

So that’s that. Good luck, Mooseheads.

Some other stuff…

• Former Sea Dogs captain Alex Grant had two goals, three shots, and a +1 rating as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Syracuse Crunch 4-2 in the opening game of the AHL’s Eastern Conference Final. Game 2 is tonight.
• The Oklahoma City Barons evened up the AHL Western Conference Final at 1-1 with a 4-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins last night. Tomas Jurco had two shots for the Griffins.
• Some more pictures from the Reading Royals’ Kelly Cup win last night can be found over at Sweetest Hockey on Earth.
• In less than 24 hours, the PEI Rocket will no longer exist. Details about the team’s rebranding, new name of the team, image of the new logo, 2013-14 season ticket campaign, and the latest additions to the recently announced ownership group (upon final sale of the team) will be released tomorrow at a 10am press conference.
• QMJHL winners at last night’s CHL Awards: Dominique Ducharme (Halifax Mooseheads) was named the Old Dutch Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year, Valentin Zykov (Baie-Comeau Drakkar) was named the BMO Rookie of the Year, and Jonathan Drouin (Halifax Mooseheads) was named the CCM Player of the Year.

Sea Dogs Notebook

Via the very cool website Frozen Faceoff, here’s what centre ice at Harbour Station looks like. Check out their site to see centre ice logos from all over the QMJHL and other leagues.

CHL AWARDS

The Canadian Hockey League Awards Showcase will be held later today in Saskatoon. A full list of nominees can be found here.

No current Sea Dog is nominated for an award, but former Dog Kevin Gagne is up for the Post Defenceman of the Year Award. He was named the QMJHL Defenceman of the Year a few months ago.

Gagne played four-and-a-half seasons with Saint John before being traded to the Rimouski Oceanic in December. In 62 games split between the Sea Dogs and Oceanic, the 21-year old registered 17 goals and 54 assists.

The Anaheim Ducks prospect played in five games with the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals after the Oceanic were eliminated from the post-season. He had one assist.

MACAULAY

Stephen MacAulay’s junior hockey career comes to an end tomorrow night as the Halifax Mooseheads take on the Portland Winterhawks in the 2013 Memorial Cup Final. Game time is 8pm on Sportsnet.

@smacaulay9 Never a QMJHL player won 3 PRES.CUP after playing 4 LG FINALS, and won 2 MEM.Cup. Jacques JR Locas won only 1 MemCp #MakeHistory
— Denis Demers (@lhjmq_hdd8) May 23, 2013

Some articles on the former Sea Dog:

• The Star Phoenix - MacAulay hopes for Cup win in tribute to his mom
• The Chronicle Herald - Moose mission: Bring title home
• Yahoo! Sports - Memorial Cup 2013: Stephen MacAulay parlays passion, poise into helping Halifax Mooseheads reach final 

No CHL Awards For Dogs

Not surprisingly, the Saint John Sea Dogs came away empty handed at yesterday’s Canadian Hockey League Awards in Shawinigan.

The only player nominated was Mathieu Corbeil who was up for the Vaughn Goaltender of the Year Award. That went to the London Knights’ Michael Houser who was also nominated for CCM Player of the Year.

Only three players from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League won awards. Quebec’s Vincent Barnard was named the Home Hardware Humanitarian Player of the Year, Cape Breton’s Jonathan Brunelle was named the Subway Scholastic Player of the Year, and Quebec’s Mikhail Grigorenko was named the BMO Rookie of the Year.

Bathurst’s Zach O’Brien, who hasn’t recorded a single penalty minute in his entire career, was not named FRAM Sportsman of the Year. That award went to Brandon’s Mark Stone.

Here are the full list of award winners.

Jack Link’s Top Prospect of the Year – Nail Yakupov (Sarnia Sting)

FRAM Sportsman of the Year – Mark Stone (Brandon Wheat Kings)

Dodge Top Scorer of the Year – Brendan Shinnimin (Tri-City Americans)

Home Hardware Humanitarian Player of the Year – Vincent Barnard (Quebec Remparts)

Subway Scholastic Player of the Year – Jonathan Brunelle (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)

Old Dutch Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year – Jim Hiller (Tri-City Americans)

BMO Rookie of the Year – Mikhail Grigorenko (Quebec Remparts)

Vaughn Goaltender of the Year – Michael Houser (London Knights)

Post Foods Canada Defenceman of the Year – Dougie Hamilton (Niagara IceDogs)

CCM Player of the Year – Brendan Shinnimin (Tri-City Americans)

Tri-City’s Brendan Shinnimin earned both the Chrysler Top Scorer and CCM Player of the Year Award.  He is the first player since Alexander Radulov in 2005-06 and Sidney Crosby in 2004-05 to win both major awards in the same season.

In other news, Shreddies is now the official cereal ofthe CHL.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

GALLANT NAMED CHL'S BEST

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – For the second straight year, Saint John Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant has been named the Canadian Hockey League’s top coach.

Gallant was awarded the Brian Kilrea CHL Coach of the Year Award today in Mississauga at the annual awards banquet. Jacob DeSerres was up for Goaltender of the Year and Simon Despres for Defenseman of the Year but both came away empty handed.

It’s the second straight year that the former Detroit Red Wings tough guy has won the honour. He claimed the trophy last season – his first year as head coach – after helping the Sea Dogs go 53-13-1-2 record in the regular season and guided the team to the league final.

This season, Saint John had one of the greatest seasons in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League history. They went 58-7-1-2 in the regular season, lost just three games en route to their first President’s Cup win, and will play in the Memorial Cup championship game tomorrow.

The honour is certainly well deserved.

Now the question becomes – will he return to the Sea Dogs bench next season or will a National Hockey League team come knocking?

As Willy Palov noted in his Chronicle Herald column on Friday, his 111-19-2-4 regular season record and that fact that he has put the Sea Dogs into back-to-back President’s Cup finals have to have gotten him noticed by NHL brass.

Gallant spoke about possibly moving back to the NHL to the CBC, saying:

"I'm not going to jump at something that doesn't feel comfortable to me," he said at the Memorial Cup tournament in Mississauga, Ont. "I'm not going to lose any sleep if I stay in Saint John next year or the next five years."

"I'm just like the players — if I get an opportunity and it's the right thing, I'm going to go."

‘Turk’ already has NHL coaching experience with the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Islanders.

Last summer, there were some rumblings that Gallant would land in Tampa Bay because of his relationship with Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman. Guy Boucher was eventually hired in Tampa and helped the Lightning reach the Eastern Conference final.

There are plenty of NHL coaching vacancies - Minnesota, New Jersey, Dallas, Ottawa and Florida – and you have to think that he is at least in the conversation for one of those jobs.

CHL AWARDS CEREMONY TODAY

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Three members of the Saint John Sea Dogs are up for Canadian Hockey League awards. The annual CHL Awards Ceremony takes place this afternoon at 3:30 pm at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga.

Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant is nominated for CHL Old Dutch Coach of the Year award for the second straight season. Gallant won the award last year after guiding Saint John to the league final. This year, ‘Turk’ led the Sea Dogs to their first Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship and finished the regular season with an unreal 58-7-1-2 record, good to be ranked No. 1 in Canada for most of the campaign.

Since taking over the coaching duties in 2009-10, the Sea Dogs have an insane regular season record of 111-19-2-4.

Other nominees are Mark Reeds of the Owen Sound Attack and Don Nauchbaur of the Spokane Chiefs.

Jacob DeSerres is nominated for the PERT Plus Goaltender of the Year award. DeSerres had a QMJHL best goals against average of 2.22 in the regular season. He also had a 0.916 save percentage and a 27-3-0-0 record. In the post-season he had a league best 2.00 GAA to along with a 12-3-0-0 record and a 0.916 save percentage.

Also up for the award is Team Canada netminder Marc Visentin of the Niagara Ice Dogs and Darcy Kuemper of the Red Deer Rebels.

Lastly, Simon Despres is nominated for CGC Defenseman of the Year award. The Team Canada member had 13 goals and 28 assists in just 47 regular season games. In the playoffs, he added four markers and eight helpers in 19 contests.

Also nominated are Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires and Stefan Elliot of the Saskatoon Blades.

The full list of nominees and awards can be seen below:

GALLANT NAMED CHL COACH OF THE YEAR

Saint John Sea Dogs Head Coach Gerard Gallant was named the Canadian Hockey League’s Old Dutch Coach of the Year this afternoon at the league’s awards show in Brandon, Man.

The former Detroit Red Wing tough guy beat Dale Hunter of the London Knights and Mark Holick of the Kootenay Ice to capture the award.

It is the first Sea Dog won CHL award in the clubs five-year franchise history.

Gallant, along with Hockey Operations Director Mike Kelly, was hired by the club on April 24, 2009 following the firing of head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu.

The two made an immediate impact, drafting the likes of Pierre Durepos, Jonathan Huberdeau, Stanislav Galiev, and Tomas Jurco among others.

Gallant led the Sea Dogs to a franchise first Atlantic Division and regular season title. Saint John finished atop the league with a record of 52-15 for 107 points and a 0.776 winning percentage.

The Sea Dogs set a number of team records including most points (109), most wins (52), and longest winning streak (22 games).

In the post-season, Gallant led his young squad all the way to their first birth in the President’s Cup Final. Despite falling in six games to the Moncton Wildcats, Saint John finished with a strong 14-7 record in the playoffs. The Final series featured “Turk” trying to climb over the median that separated the two team’s benches at the Moncton Coliseum.

The former Columbus Blue Jackets Head Coach defeated Danny Flynn of the Wildcats and Mario Duhamel of the Drummondville Voltigeurs to win the QMJHL’s Coach of the Year award in March.

Sea Dogs sniper Mike Hoffman fell short of capturing the two awards he was nominated for. The Ottawa Senators prospect was nominated for both the CCM Player of the Year Award and Husky Sportsman of the Year.

Jordan Eberle and his clutch goal scoring skills captured the Player of the Year honor. The Regina Pat forward was not present to accept his award because he has been participating at the World Hockey Championships in Cologne, Germany.

Jordan Bast of the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors was named Sportsman of the Year.

In other awards, Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers was given the Top Prospect award, Brandon Kozun of the Calgary Hitmen was awarded the Top Scorer trophy, Ryan Hayes of the Whalers was named Humanitarian of the Year, Dominic Jalbert of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens was named the Scholastic Player of the Year, Matt Puempel of the Peterborough Petes was named Rookie of the Year, Jake Allen of the Voltigeurs was named Goaltender of the Year, and David Savard of the Wildcats was named Defenseman of the Year.

DOGS UP FOR THREE CHL AWARDS

Mike Hoffman is looking to add to his large collection of trophies.

The Saint John Sea Dogs center is up for two Canadian Hockey League awards tonight which will be presented at Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium in Brandon, Man. Tickets are only $10.00 to see some of the best and brightest from the three junior leagues.

Hoffman is nominated for the CCM Player of Year and Husky Sportsman of the Year.

The 20-year old who led the Sea Dogs in scoring this past season is up against Canadian junior hero Jordan Eberle of the Regina Pats and top prospect Tyler Seguin from the Plymouth Whalers for Player of the Year honors.

The Sportsman of the Year award nominees are Hoffman, Jordan Bast of the Moose Jaws Warriors, and Ryan Spooner of the Peterborough Petes.

“Mike definitely had an outstanding season for us,” said Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant to the Telegraph-Journal. “He's one of the top players and it's a great accomplishment for him."

Gallant is also up for a national award. The rookie bench boss is up against Mark Holick of the Kootenay Ice and Dale Hunter of the London Knights for Coach of the Year.

Hunter’s assistant in London is former Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu.

"When you have a good team and you do your work in the summertime and your team does real well, then you get recognized as a coach," Gallant said.

The only other player in Sea Dogs franchise history to be nominated for a CHL award was Payton Liske, who fell short of obtaining the Scholastic Player of the Year honor last season.

The ceremony is believed to take place at 3:00 pm local time (5:00 pm AST) according to CHL.ca.

The full list of awards and nominees can be seen below:

Jack Link’s Top Prospect of the Year:
Brett Connolly, Prince George Cougars
Tyler Seguin, Plymouth Whalers
Brandon Gormley, Moncton Wildcats

Husky Sportsman of the Year:
Jason Bast, Moose Jaw Warriors
Ryan Spooner, Peterborough Petes
Mike Hoffman, Saint John Sea Dogs

Chrysler Dodge Top Scorer of the Year:
Brandon Kozun, Calgary Hitmen
Taylor Hall, Windsor Spitfires and Tyler Seguin, Plymouth Whalers
Sean Couturier, Drummondville Voltigeurs

Home Hardware Humanitarian of the Year:
Matt Fraser, Kootenay Ice
Ryan Hayes, Plymouth Whalers
Nick MacNeil, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

Subway Scholastic Player of the Year:
Adam Lowry, Swift Current Broncos
Erik Gudbranson, Kingston Frontenacs
Dominic Jalbert, Chicoutimi Sagueneens

Old Dutch Coach of the Year:
Mark Holick, Kootenay Ice
Dale Hunter, London Knights
Gerard Gallant, Saint John Sea Dogs

BMO Rookie of the Year:
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Red Deer Rebels
Matt Puempel, Peterborough Petes
Petr Straka, Rimouski Oceanic

Prospects Hockey Goaltender of the Year:
Martin Jones, Calgary Hitmen
Chris Carrozzi, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors
Jake Allen, Drummondville Voltigeurs

Right Guard Defenceman of the Year:
Tyson Barrie, Kelowna Rockets
Jacob Muzzin, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
David Savard, Moncton Wildcats

CCM Player of the Year:
Jordan Eberle, Regina Pats
Tyler Seguin, Plymouth Whalers
Mike Hoffman, Saint John Sea Dogs