Thursday News & Notes

The race for second-place in the QMJHL is going to come down to the wire, it seems.

With Saint John’s loss last night in Moncton and Shawinigan’s victory over Rimouski, the Cataractes moved back into second-place in the overall standings, one point ahead of the Sea Dogs. The good news for Saint John is that they still have a game in hand.

Here’s a look at Saint John’s final five regular season games:

Friday, March 11 vs Charlottetown (31-26-5-2, 2-5-1-0 vs SJ)

Saturday, March 12 vs Moncton (35-19-9-1, 6-2-0-0 vs SJ)

Tuesday, March 15 at Bathurst (25-32-3-3, 2-5-0-1 vs SJ)

Friday, March 18 at Cape Breton (34-24-5-1, 1-5-0-1 vs SJ)

Saturday, March 19 at Cape Breton (34-24-5-1, 1-5-0-1 vs SJ)

And here’s a look at Shawinigan’s final four games:

Saturday, March 12 at Val-d’Or (47-13-3-1, 1-2-0-0 vs SHA)

Sunday, March 13 at Rouyn-Noranda (50-9-3-2, 2-0-1-0 vs SHA)

Friday, March 18 vs Sherbrooke (23-31-7-2, 1-1-1-1 vs SHA)

Saturday, March 19 vs Blainville-Boisbriand (23-31-7-2, 2-0-1-0 vs SHA)

While Saint John will have to play three games against two of the league’s better second half teams (Charlottetown and Cape Breton), Shawinigan’s road contests in northern Quebec this weekend will be no easy task.

The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who have 105 points, are likely to finish first overall. While Val-d’Or and Gatineau – who play with Rouyn-Noranda in the West Division – have better records than Saint John and Shawinigan, the division winners are seeded one through three, regardless of point total.

Georgie Speaks To Young Minds

TORONTO – Sea Dogs president Trevor Georgie was a panelist at the 2016 Sports Industry Conference at the University of Toronto on Friday.

The event, hosted by UofT’s Sports and Business Association, featured a day full of panels and key note speakers from around the sports world. Georgie was on the day’s first panel on mentorship and development with the MLS’ Rachel Bonnetta, Tyler Currie of the NHLPA and Vijay Setlur from York University.

Wearing a Sea Dogs lapel pin, Georgie spoke about how his previous internships and work experience led to his new role with the Sea Dogs. He also spoke about the importance of having mentors, noting the impact Richard Peddie has had on him.

Georgie, only 28, was asked a number of questions from the students in attendance – especially after he mentioned that the Sea Dogs were open to bringing in interns to work with the team.

Sea Dogs CEO and majority owner Scott McCain was also in attendance to see Georgie speak.

In other news…

• Speaking of Georgie, he is liking Saint John, reports Country 94.
• CTV Atlantic has a story on the Sea Dogs’ return to the top of the league standings.
• According to Sea Dogs equipment manager David Kelly, the Sea Dogs will host another alumni weekend this Aug. 12-13 at Harbour Station.
• With one goal and six assists in four games, Thomas Chabot has been named the QMJHL’s third star of the week.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Zack Phillips, who has been with the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators, has been assigned to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Phillips had four shots in Chicago’s 1-0 overtime loss to Milwaukee last night.
• Julien Tessier, who the Sea Dogs traded to Chicoutimi during the holiday trading period, has returned to action. He appeared in his first game with the Sagueneens on Feb. 26 and has played in four games total. Tessier played in just 14 games with Saint John during the first half due to health reasons.
• The AUS final begins tonight in Fredericton with Mike Thomas, Stephen Anderson and the UNB Varsity Reds taking on the StFX X-Men. The series is a best-of-three.
• In the OUA, Sebastien Auger and the UQTR Patriotes will take on the Western Mustangs in the Queen’s Cup on Saturday. Auger is 6-0 this post-season with a 1.56 GAA and .949 SV%.
• This was not called a penalty shot on Saturday:

Not a penalty shot. #QMJHL pic.twitter.com/AvNyM2bavf

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) March 6, 2016

DOGS DAILY: Moose Coming To Town

The Halifax Mooseheads and Saint John Sea Dogs find themselves at opposite ends of rebuilds.

While Saint John’s maturing roster has had a strong season and sit third overall in the QMJHL standings, the young Mooseheads are in the early stages of a rebuild and appear destined for the league’s draft lottery. The two teams meet tomorrow night at Harbour Station and again on Saturday in Halifax.

The Mooseheads have a record of 18-34-6-1 for 43 points on the year. With just nine games left on their schedule, they find themselves five points behind the 16^th-place Blainville-Boisbriand Armada who own the league’s final playoff spot. The Armada have also played two fewer games than Halifax.

While it’s possible the Mooseheads could catch the Armada – losers of five straight – they'd probably be, in the long run, better off entering the lottery for the league’s first overall pick. The Baie-Comeau Drakkar sit dead last in the league and will miss the playoffs.

Tomorrow’s game also marks the first time Bokondji Imama and Kelly Bent have been eligible to play against each other since The Incident. So that could be… interesting.

In other news…

• Saturday’s game in Halifax will be the final Saint John-Halifax meeting of the year. The Sea Dogs are 4-2-0-0 against the Mooseheads this season.
• Tomorrow’s game kicks off a busy stretch of games for the Sea Dogs with less than a month left in the regular season. Between tomorrow and March 19, the Dogs will play 12 games.
• Daniel Del Paggio, a UNBSJ student, has been named Saint John’s nominee for the Marcel-Robert Trophy as the QMJHL’s Scholastic Player of the Year.
• The Screaming Eagles are beginning a very tough road trip tonight in Gatineau. They’ll visit Rouyn-Noranda on Friday and Val-d’Or on Saturday.
• The Sea Dogs were, yet again, an honourable mention in the CHL Top 10 rankings.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Stephen MacAulay, a third-year forward with the University Cup hosting Saint Mary’s Huskies, was named a second team AUS all-star today.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

DOGS DAILY: Dogs Meet Dogs Friday

The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies may sit fourth overall, but they are the owners of the second best record in the QMJHL.

If the Huskies were in any other division in the league this season, they’d be sitting second overall with 85 points (division leaders are seeded one through three). But Rouyn-Noranda find themselves in the Q’s toughest division this season, sitting sandwiched between the first place overall Val-d’Or Foreurs (87 points) and fifth place Gatineau Olympiques (79 points).

The Huskies host the second place Saint John Sea Dogs (76 points) on Friday night at 8:30 p.m.

Rouyn-Noranda has sat at or near the top of the standings all year long, posting an impressive 40-9-3-2 overall record and a 23-2-2-0 record on home ice. The Huskies made a couple big moves during the trade period, acquiring Nikolas Brouillard and Timo Meier.

The Sea Dogs will have their hands full with the Huskies tomorrow night. Things don’t get any easier on Saturday when the Dogs travel to Val-d’Or.

In other news…

• In Future Considerations' February NHL Draft rankings, Luke Green is ranked 58^th overall.
• The Windsor Star had an article on Sea Dogs president Trevor Georgie on Jan. 31. Georgie is the youngest president in the CHL.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Zack Phillips was assigned to the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators today. Phillips had five goals and nine assists in 39 games with the AHL’s Providence Bruins this season.
• The OHL’s Flint Firebirds are still a disaster.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

DOGS DAILY: Joseph Named First Star

Sunday’s overtime hero has been named the QMJHL’s first star of the week.

With three goals and four assists in three games this week, Joseph helped the Sea Dogs win all three matches and extend their lead atop the Maritimes Division. From the QMJHL news release:

In three home games this week, the Tampa Bay Lightning prospect scored three goals, added four assists and maintained a +6 rating. Saturday, against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, he scored a shorthanded goal and added an assist in a 5-1 win. His shorthanded goal was his 6th of the season, which tied a team record held by Félix Schutz. In a high scoring game on Sunday against the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, Joseph assisted on the game-tying goal late in the third period and then came back and scored the game winner in overtime for a 6-5 victory. He currently leads the Sea Dogs with 63 points.

Joseph now has points in nine straight games and goals in four straight. In fact, the Lightning prospect has failed to score just one time over his past nine contests. He also has goals in six straight home games.

Gatineau’s Yakov Trenin and Shawinigan’s Philippe Cadorette were named the second and third stars of the week, respectively.

In other news…

• With Marc-Antoine Turcotte healthy, the Sea Dogs have sent goaltender Alex D’Orio back to midget AAA.
• As Sportsnet points out in their latest QMJHL blog, Sam Povorozniouk is having by far the most productive season of his junior career. In 249 career OHL games, Povorozniouk had 47 goals. This season he has 30 goals in 53 games with Saint John.
• The Sea Dogs (74 points) kick off quite possibly the toughest road trip in team history on Wednesday night in Shawinigan (74 points). They then travel to Rouyn-Noranda (85 points) for a Friday night game and visit Val-d’Or (85 points) on Saturday.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

DOGS DAILY: Dogs Sign A Pair

Embed from Getty Images

The Sea Dogs announced a couple of organizational depth moves today.

The team has signed defenseman Michael Waugh of the NB/PEI Major Midget Hockey League’s Miramichi Rivermen and forward John Warren of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s London Nationals.

Waugh, 17, has eight goals and 16 assists in 33 games with the Rivermen this season. This is his third season with the club.

Warren, who is listed at just 5’7” and 160 lbs, is third on the Nationals in scoring this season with 28 goals and 53 points in 26 games. A 13^th round pick of the London Knights in the 2013 OHL draft, Warren has played in 32 career games with the Knights and has registered five goals and two assists. Warren turned 19 in January.

"He has a history of scoring, but he can also play a responsible, two-hundred-foot game," Sea Dogs general manager Darrell Young said in a press release. "He had lots of interest from teams around the QMJHL, and we're fortunate he agreed to join our organization."

According to the Sea Dogs, both players will remain with their current clubs for the rest of the season.

In other news…

• The 2016-17 edition of the Sea Dogs got some good news today: the regular season will start on Sept. 22 rather than early September. The QMJHL’s board of governors approved the move today. Training camps will start Aug. 17. It’s good news for the Sea Dogs who will have plenty of players taking part in NHL training camps this fall.
• Last night’s Sea Dogs win gives them 33 of the season, which is one more than they got all of last season. Saint John will have their best finish since the 2011-12 season when they won 50 games.
• Nathan Noel (17), Matthew Highmore (12) and Sam Povorozniouk (12) all kept their point streaks alive last night. Mathieu Joseph also has goals in four straight home games.
• The Dogs slipped out of the CHL Top 10 this week but were an honourable mention.
• If you hadn’t heard, goaltender Alex D’Orio was recalled this week and backed up Alex Bishop on Wednesday. Will he start on Saturday against the league’s worst team?
• The Sea Dogs have officially clinched a playoff spot, by the way.
• Luke Green is the QMJHL nominee for the CHL play of the week this week. You can vote for him here.
• Thomas Chabot was named Craig Button’s 42nd best NHL-affiliated prospect.
• This happened:

DOGS DAILY: Del Paggio, Smith Suspended

The Sea Dogs will be without forward Daniel Del Paggio for the next three games.

Del Paggio was suspended by the QMJHL on Friday for his hit on Conor Garland in Wednesday's game. Garland left the game and did not return but did play in Moncton’s Friday night match against Victoriaville.

The QMJHL website has a very lengthy explanation of the suspension.

There are reports that Will Smith, who ran over and injured Sea Dogs goaltender Marc-Antoine Turcotte, has received a two-game suspension. That has not been posted on the QMJHL website. 

In other news…

• The Sea Dogs are back in action on Saturday night at 7 p.m. when they host the Victoriaville Tigres.
• Former Sea Dogs goaltender Jacob DeSerres was traded by the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles to the Adirondack Thunder this past week. Michael Kirkpatrick is a member of the Thunder.
• The Guardian has an article on former Sea Dogs defenseman Will Thompson. 
• If you’ve been wondering what Danny Wicks, who played six games with Saint John in 2011-12, is up to these days.
• Hockey’s Future has an article on Luke Green.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

DOGS DAILY: Green, Team Orr Victorious

The QMJHL had a good night at the 2016 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game last night in Vancouver.

With two goals and an assist, Victoriaville’s Pascal Laberge was named player of the game in Team Orr’s 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Team Cherry. Cape Breton’s Pierre-Luc Dubois added a goal and two assists.

Though held pointless, Luke Green had a good game on defense in the Team Orr victory. Paired with Jake Bean, Green started the game and was praised a few times throughout the broadcast. His friendship with goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick was mentioned several times as well.

Luke Green and Team Orr MVP Pascal Laberge after the #CHLTopProspectsGame. #OctagonHockey pic.twitter.com/6fGGZKLVgh

— Allan Walsh (@walsha) January 29, 2016

In other news…

• The Sea Dogs were an honourable mention in the CHL Top 10 Rankings again this week. Weirdly, Moncton, who still sits ahead of Saint John in the standings, was not ranked or mentioned.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Oliver Cooper has been named captain of the Charlottetown Islanders. Cooper replaces Quinn O’Brien who suffered a season ending injury.
• Here’s Dylan Wells of the Peterborough Petes interviewing Luke Green.
• It’s been fairly quiet on the 2017 Memorial Cup hosting front, which will be in an OHL city (it appeared to be heading to the QMJHL at one time). Windsor officially expressed some interest this week. The Spitfires bid on both the 2011 and 2014 tournaments but lost.
• The Sea Dogs return to action tonight when they take on the Oceanic in Rimouski at 8:30 p.m.

Photo via Mooseheads Twitter

DOGS DAILY: Highmore Named Third Star

Matthew Highmore has been rewarded for his impressive production of late.

The QMJHL named Highmore the third star of the week after registering three goals and four assists during Saint John’s three-in-three. Sherbrooke goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick and Gatineau forward Vitalii Abramov were named the first and second stars of the week, respectively.

Highmore has been unbelievable in the month of January, recording eight goals and eight assists in eight games. He has points in seven straight games and has been held goalless just three times this month.

After a disappointing offensive season last year, Highmore has already tied his career high in points with 50, set in the 2013-14 season. With 17 goals, he is also nearing his career high of 19 set during 2013-14.

Highmore is Saint John’s leading scoring, sitting one point ahead of Mathieu Joseph.

DOGS DAILY: Paul Heads Back To Jr. A

Matt Paul is no longer with the Saint John Sea Dogs.

As confirmed by Tim Roszell on last night’s 96.1 NewSong FM pre-game show, Paul was released because he wanted to return to junior ‘A.’ The Sea Dogs claimed Paul off waivers from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Jan. 7.

The 18-year-old defenseman appeared in two games with Saint John, recording two assists. He also played in two games with the Screaming Eagles back in September. In total, Paul has played in 19 QMJHL games over the past three seasons.

In 23 games with the MHL’s Amherst Ramblers this year, Paul has one goal and nine assists.

In other news…

• In four shootouts this season, the Sea Dogs have scored an impressive nine goals on 12 attempts, which gives them a league leading .750 shooting percentage.
• In case you hadn’t heard, the Sea Dogs were an honourable mention in this week’s CHL Top 10 rankings. Val-d’Or, Rouyn-Noranda, Moncton and Gatineau were all ranked.
• Rogers TV analyst Craig Eagles shares his thoughts on Jakub Zboril’s season in his latest blog post.
• In this week’s “Inside the Numbers” on the QMJHL website, it’s noted that Matt Murphy is nearing the 300 game mark, something only 40 other defensemen have done in league history. Kevin Gagne and Pascal Amyot are two of them.
• The Charlottetown Islanders website has an article on Pierre-Olivier Joseph. The 16-year-old defenseman credits former Sea Dog and current Islanders forward Oliver Cooper for the help in transitioning to the QMJHL.
• Julien Tessier has arrived in Chicoutimi, reports Le Quotidien. Tessier, who was traded to the Sagueneens during the holiday trade period, hasn’t played a QMJHL game since Nov. 14 due to health issues.
• The Moncton Wildcats have been outscored 17-3 over the past two games. Their division lead over the Sea Dogs is now at six points – and Saint John has three games on hand.
• Some of the highlights from last night's Sea Dogs win:

DOGS DAILY: Hoffman, Beaulieu Injured

Mike Hoffman is listed as “day-to-day” after a scary incident in Monday's Ottawa Senators game. The play happened in the second period Sens' game in San Jose.

Hoffman left the game and did not return. The former Sea Dogs forward has 20 goals and 16 assists in 42 games with Ottawa this season.

Meanwhile, Nathan Beaulieu left Tuesday’s Montreal Canadiens game with a lower body injury.

DOGS DAILY: Big Weekend For LeBlanc

Former Sea Dogs defenseman Olivier LeBlanc had an impressive weekend.

With a total of three goals and two assists in two games against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles alternate captain was named the QMJHL’s first star of week.

Olivier Leblanc (@3LeBlanc), a @BlueJacketsNHL pick, has the game winner for @CBSEHockey tonight in Sydney pic.twitter.com/g97pvYCd6n

— Kris Abbott (@EastlinkKris) January 17, 2016

LeBlanc, who returned from a three-game suspension handed to him following a hit to head on Saint John’s Oliver Felixson, now has five goals and 27 points in 38 games with the Screaming Eagles this year.

Cape Breton is in third place in the Maritimes Division with 50 points, which is seven points back of second place Saint John. The Sea Dogs also have three games in hand.

The Eagles could inch closer to the Dogs this weekend if they are able to pick up some points when the two meet on Friday and Saturday at Harbour Station.

Meanwhile, Victoriaville’s Alexandre Goulet and Moncton’s Conor Garland were named the second and third stars of the week, respectively.

DOGS DAILY: Games Are Coming

Hosting teams heading in opposite directions, the Saint John Sea Dogs will look to extend their winning streak this weekend.

On Friday night, the Sea Dogs host Daniel Sprong and the Charlottetown Islanders. While the Isles didn’t go into full on buy mode at the trade deadline, they have improved their lineup and are expected to be a better club in the second half.

Charlottetown, 16-21-3-2, are in desperate need of wins if they want to avoid an extremely challenging first round playoff matchup.

On Saturday, the Sea Dogs face Kelly Bent and the Halifax Mooseheads at Harbour Station. The Moose are in rebuild mode, dealing away Danny Moynihan and Timo Meier during the trading period.

The Moose and Dogs have met since the Veleno/Bent/Imama incident but this will be the first time Bent is eligible to play. Bokondji Imama remains suspended.

Saint John enters play this weekend on a five-game winning streak.

In other news…

• Looking ahead, the Sea Dogs play a three-in-three next week with a road game in Charlottetown on Thursday followed by back-to-back home games against Cape Breton. The Friday game will be broadcast on Sportsnet.
• After clearing waivers, former Sea Dogs defenseman Alex McQuaid was assigned to MHL Summerside by the Islanders on Tuesday. The d-man remains sidelined with a broken foot, though.
• In Damien Cox’s latest draft rankings at Sportsnet.ca, Bathurst's Vladimir Kuznetsov crept into the top 30.
• Mike Kelly served as head coach for the Florida Panthers on Wednesday. The Panthers lost 6-0 to Sam Bennett.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

DOGS DAILY: Theede vs Bent

A couple of former Sea Dogs dropped the gloves on Tuesday night in Halifax.

During the first period of the Titan-Mooseheads games, Dawson Theede and Kelly Bent fought. Here’s video, via John Moore:

Theede was in Saint John’s lineup for the Bent/Veleno/Imama incident in December. Theede now has four fights this season.

Bathurst won the game 7-3, giving the Titan (4^th) a four-point lead over the Mooseheads (6^th) in the Maritimes Division standings.

In other news…

• Jason Bell, acquired by the Titan from the Sea Dogs during the holiday trading period, played in his second game with Bathurst on Tuesday night.
• The Titan are now 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 games. They don’t play the Sea Dogs again until Jan. 30 in Bathurst.
• Rogers TV colour commentator Craig Eagles has a blog post on Luke Green.
• Before Sunday’s game, Mathieu Joseph was named the Sea Dogs’ player of the month while Oliver Felixson was named the student of the month.
• The Florida Panthers’ 12-game winning streak came to an end last night with a 3-2 overtime loss in Vancouver. Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and led all Panther forwards in ice time (21:29) in a second star performance.

DOGS DAILY: The Panthers Are Good

If you haven’t noticed, the Florida Panthers have been playing some good hockey of late.

The Panthers, who feature former Sea Dogs head coaches Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly along with forward Jonathan Huberdeau, have won an impressive 12 straight games. Their latest victory came last night when they defeated the Oilers in Edmonton.

Florida will look to win their 13^th straight tonight in Vancouver against the Canucks.

The Panthers’ run of success has pushed them into second overall in the NHL’s Eastern Conference with a 26-12-4 record for 56 points. Only Stanislav Galiev’s Washington Capitals (32-7-3) have a better record in the east.

Gallant, Kelly and Huberdeau are no strangers to stringing together victories with one another, having won 22 straight with Saint John during the 2009-10 season. Gallant compared the two streaks in a recent Miami Herald article.

“This is the NHL, and there’s no bad teams,” he said. “With the parity in this league, you take any team lightly and you’re going to lose.  

“In junior we had such a good team that most nights there wasn’t much competition for us. To win 11 games in a row in the National Hockey League, your team has to be doing something right, so we’re really happy with the way we’re playing.”

Huberdeau, who scored the game-winner on Sunday, has three goals and 10 assists in his past 12 games.

DOGS DAILY: Fights Have Happened

After Dawson Theede was traded to Bathurst on Monday, a lot of Sea Dogs fans expressed their concern over the lack of toughness and physical presence on this year’s team. Saint John may not be the most physical squad in the league this season, but when it comes to fighting, they are amongst the league leaders.

While fighting doesn’t give a complete picture of how physical a team is, it is considered an attribute. And based on Saint John’s fighting numbers, the Sea Dogs aren’t afraid to mix it up in comparison to the rest of the QMJHL.

According to HockeyFights.com, the Sea Dogs have had 31 fights this season – the second most in the league. Entering action tonight, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles led the league in fisticuffs with 32.

Shockingly, Nathan Noel continues to lead the Sea Dogs in fights this year with five in 33 games. Nico Blachman has four while Bokondji Imama, Adam Marsh, Spencer Smallman and Theede all have three. Entering play tonight, no player in the league had more than six fights this season.

Speaking of Theede, he made his debut with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan tonight in Rimouski.

DOGS DAILY: Chabot, Zboril Eliminated

There won’t be any medals from the World Junior Hockey Championship coming back to the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Both Thomas Chabot and Jakub Zboril were both eliminated from medal contention today in Helsinki. Chabot and the Canadians fell 6-5 to Finland in the quarterfinals while the United States hammered Zboril and the Czech Republic 7-0.

Chabot had one shot and two minutes in penalties in the game, finishing the tournament with three assists in five games. The Sea Dogs defenseman had a fairly strong world juniors playing with Joe Hicketts.

Zboril had two shots, two minutes in penalties and an even rating in the Czech loss. He had one assist in five games at this year’s tournament.

Former Sea Dogs forward Juraj Siska was also eliminated today as Slovakia fell 6-0 to Sweden. Siska had one goal and one assist in five games.

Monday’s semifinals will see Finland take on Sweden and Russia battle the United States.

In more pleasant news…

• The Sea Dogs officially announced the signing of Weeks Crushers defenseman Mark Kennedy today. According to general manager Darrell Young in a press release, “he will be with us for the next nine days in order to understand what it takes to play major junior hockey, and to learn what our expectations are as an organization."
• Saint John also announced this morning that defenseman Alex Bernier will remain with the team for the rest of the season. Forward Alex Lafreniere has also been reassigned to the Saint John Vito’s.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Noah Zilbert sits third in MHL scoring with 16 goals and 50 points in 28 games with the Woodstock Slammers. Riley Craft, a former Vito who has attended Dogs training camp in the past, is second in league scoring with 20 goals and 50 points.
• Mike Thomas, Stephen Anderson and the UNB Varsity Reds host Gabriel Bourret, Scott Oke and the Concordia Stings tonight at 7 p.m. and tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Aitken Centre.
• The Florida Panthers, winners of seven straight games and eight of their last 10, have given former Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant a contract extension. It’s reportedly through 2019.

DOGS DAILY: Canada To Play Finland

Team Canada’s struggles at this year’s world juniors continued yesterday in a 5-2 loss to Sweden.

Three power play goals propelled the Swedes to the win and a perfect 4-0 record in preliminary round play. This is hard to believe:

Last WJC where Sweden lost a round-robin game, Canada had Carey Price in net.

— Szymon Szemberg (@Sz1909_Szemberg) December 31, 2015

Thomas Chabot assisted on Canada’s first goal, firing a shot from the point that created a rebound for Mitchell Stephens to put in. The Sea Dogs defensemen finished the game with one point, three shots and a +1 rating. He now has three assists in four games at this year’s tournament.

With regulation time losses to the United States and Sweden and needing a shootout against Switzerland, Canada finishes a disappointing third in Group A. They’ll face a very tough challenge in the quarterfinals on Saturday when they take on Finland at noon.

Finland posted a 5-4 victory over Jakub Zboril and the Czech Republic yesterday. The Czechs will face the United States tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

Former Sea Dogs forward Juraj Siska had four first period shots in Slovakia’s 2-1 loss to Russia. The Slovaks will face Sweden tomorrow and Russia will take on Denmark.

DOGS DAILY: Sprong Show Coming

The Daniel Sprong show will make its first Harbour Station appearance of the 2015-16 season tomorrow evening. The Sea Dogs host Sprong and the Charlottetown Islanders at 7 p.m. for a New Year’s Eve tilt.

Sprong was reassigned to the Islanders by the Pittsburgh Penguins a couple weeks ago. The 18-year-old made an immediate impact in his return to the QMJHL, scoring two goals in Charlottetown’s 4-1 win in Cape Breton on Monday.

Tomorrow night’s contest will be Sprong’s 19th career game against Saint John. Sprong is averaging over a point-per-game in his QMJHL career but is averaging slightly under that in his career against the Sea Dogs. 

   

Season	GP vs SJ	Goals	Assists	Points
2013-14	9	5	1	6
2014-15	9	4	6	10
Total	18	9	7	16

The Islanders, who sit 16^th overall in the QMJHL standings with a 14-19-2-1 record entering their home game tonight against the Moncton Wildcats, appear as though they will be buying during the holiday trade period now that Sprong is back. So far they’ve acquired Samuel Blais and Guillaume Beaudry and dealt David Henley and Alexandre Goulet.

DOGS DAILY: About Last Night

Blowing a four-goal third period lead certainly doesn’t happen every day. While Sea Dogs fans may not have liked what they saw last night at Harbour Station, at least it turned a lopsided game quickly into a very entertaining 20-plus minutes of hockey.

The Sea Dogs certainly missed defensemen Thomas Chabot and Jakub Zboril in the game. D-man Bailey Webster was also out with an injury as were strong defensive forwards Samuel Dove-McFalls and Spencer Smallman. This isn’t a team that’s going to blow a four-goal lead too often when they have all their regulars dressed.

A few other notes from the game:

• Saint John now has a -10 goal differential in third periods this season. They are +6 in first periods and +11 in second periods.
• This was just the fifth time this season overall – and second time on home ice – that the Sea Dogs have lost a game when leading after two periods. On the other side, this was Bathurst’s third win of the year when trailing after two and the first time they’ve done so on the road.
• As noted in our pre-game, Bathurst’s five-goal third period tied a league high for goals scored in a third this season.

The Sea Dogs and Titan meet again tonight at 7 p.m. in Bathurst.