Notebook: First era night happens Saturday

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The Sea Dogs will hold their first championship era night of the season on Saturday when they host the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at TD Station.

The team will honour the 2011 and 2012 Sea Dogs championship teams, which saw the club win back-to-back QMJHL titles and a Memorial Cup championship.

Former players Mike Thomas, Zack Phillips, Kevin Gagne, Ryan Tesink, Pierre Durepos, Jason Cameron, Aidan Kelly and Spencer MacDonald will all be in attendance. Former head coach Gerard Gallant will be in town as well.

First 1000 fans at tonight's game will receive a limited edition 2011/2012 Championship Era Poster. 🙌

Plus, get it signed by #SJSeaDogs alumni during the first intermission autograph session!

🎟️ » https://t.co/Lv9oltkgiG#GoDogsGo pic.twitter.com/18lBPthvNJ

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) November 2, 2024

An autograph session will be held during the first intermission. Fans can also take photos will the Gilles-Courteau Trophy.

The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a poster honouring the teams.

This is the first of three championship era nights this season. On Jan. 19 the 2017 President Cup team will be honoured while on Feb. 17 the 2022 Memorial Cup squad will be honoured.

HALLOWEEN FUN

Following their 3-2 overtime win over the Moncton Wildcats on Thursday, the Sea Dogs are now 5-2-0-0 all-time in Halloween games. They've won the last three they'e played.

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: 4-3 win vs Halifax

2024-25: 3-2 win vs Moncton (OT)

Six of the seven games the Sea Dogs have played on Halloween have been at TD Station.

Notebook: Beaten by the champs

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs can at least say they were eliminated from this year's QMJHL playoffs by the eventual champions.

The Drummondville Voltigeurs took down the Sea Dogs in a four game sweep in the opening round en route to a league championship. It's the third time in franchise history that the Sea Dogs were eliminated from post-season play by the league champion.

2010: Moncton Wildcats (league final)

2013: Halifax Mooseheads (first round)

2024: Drummondville Voltigeurs (first round)

Saint John, although they did win the 2022 Memorial Cup tournament, has not won a playoff series since the 2017 QMJHL final.

ROUGH PLAYOFFS

In terms of entertainment, this was a rough post-season in the QMJHL. There was only one Game 7 and, remarkably, only two series went six games or longer. There were eight sweeps.

What an incredibly disappointing #QPlayoffs from an entertainment standpoint. Only two of 15 series make it past Game 5 👎

— David McKnight (@mcknight_david) May 15, 2024

The situation is probably a one off but, even before this year, there was a valid conversation to be had about adjusting the league's playoff format, whether that be returning to the 1vs 16 setup or simply reducing the amount of teams that get in.

It wasn't a great year of playoff hockey across the CHL, as Ken Campbell of The Hockey News points out. There are high hopes for this year's Memorial Cup given how each champion earned their spot via sweep in the league final.

Some Leap Day news & notes

Eduardo Ibarra/Saint Mary's Huskies

HALIFAX - It'll be an all-New Brunswick affair in the Atlantic University Sport men's hockey championship.

The best-of-three series will feature the undefeated UNB Reds going up against the Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus. The series begins on Saturday in Fredericton.

The Reds, who went 30-0 in the regular season and swept the Saint Mary's Huskies in their lone playoff series, feature former Saint John Sea Dogs Kale McCallum and Nick Blagden. The Reds are, of course, coached by Gardiner MacDougall, who led the Sea Dogs to the 2022 Memorial Cup championship.

UdeM finished second in the AUS standings but were 25 points back of UNB with a 16-11-3-0 record. They swept StFX in their lone playoff series. The Aigles Bleus feature former Sea Dogs forward Jeremie Jacob.

Both teams have automatically qualified for this year's University Cup, which will be held March 14-17 in Toronto.

The teams for the 2024 University Cup in Toronto are set!

- UNB Reds
- Moncton Aigles-Bleus
- UQTR Patriotes
- McGill Redbirds
- TMU Bold
- Brock Badgers
- Calgary Dinos
- UBC Thunderbirds

Conference winners will be seeded 1-3.

Puck drop March 14 on @cbcsports pic.twitter.com/PVg1411z20

— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) February 28, 2024

A few other things...

• It's Feb. 29, a day the Sea Dogs have played only once on in franchise history. Just a couple weeks before the COVID shutdown in 2020, the Sea Dogs defeated the Cape Breton Eagles 5-4 on Leap Day at TD Station.
• The Baie-Comeau Drakkar, who will take on the Sea Dogs on Friday at TD Station, are ranked No. 1 in this week's CHL Top 10 rankings.
• With six home games remaining, the Sea Dogs are averaging 2,747 fans per game. A disappointing number no doubt, but a big final few games could still get them at or above last year's mark of 2,957.
• QMJHL Central Scouting has unveiled its second rankings for this year's QMJHL Entry Draft, which will take place June 7-8 at Moncton's Avenir Centre. The list of 90 players are projected to be picked in the first five rounds.
• 20-year-old defenseman Artem Grushnikov, the prospect involved in Wednesday's Chris Tavev deal between Calgary and Dallas, played with the Hamilton Bulldogs at the 2022 Memorial Cup in Saint John.
• Via HockeyFights.com, here's the fight between Reid Calder and Lukas Landry last Saturday in Drummondville.

Saint John's 2022 Memorial Cup championship now one year old

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

It's been one year since the Saint John Sea Dogs lifted the Memorial Cup on home ice.

Captain Vincent Sevigny scored just 2:35 into the first period to help lead the Sea Dogs to a 6-3 victory over Mason McTavish, Arber Xhekaj and the Hamilton Bulldogs in the championship game on June 29, 2022.

Along with Sevigny, Cam MacDonald, Riley Bezeau, William Dufour, Josh Lawrence and Peter Reynolds scored. Nikolas Hurtubise made 25 saves in the win.

The victory finished off a spectacular tournament inside TD Station and some fantastic community events outside. The 2022 Memorial Cup will not be forgotten in this city for some time.

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.

Drakkar, Wildcats heading to Game 7

Blizzard Facebook

The Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Moncton Wildcats have had an excellent first round playoff series - and it's not over yet.

The Drakkar forced a Game 7 with a 4-3 overtime win over the Wildcats on Monday at Avenir Centre. Matyas Melovsky scored just 23 seconds into the extra frame to secure the Drakkar the victory.

It wasn't looking like the game would even need overtime. The Drakkar held a 3-2 lead into the final minute when Vincent Labelle scored from a bad angle to tie things up. The goal came at five-on-five but with Moncton on a penalty kill and their goaltender pulled.

Labelle sends it to OT with a late shortie! https://t.co/UYssA7EM2x pic.twitter.com/paVZfBSbTM

— Moncton Wildcats (@monctonwildcats) April 11, 2023

Earlier in the third period, former Sea Dogs forward Marshall Lessard was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding. Baie-Comeau killed off that penalty though.

This was the fourth game of this series that required overtime.

Game 7 will take place Tuesday night at Avenir Centre. It's the only first round series still going in the QMJHL.

A few other notes...

• Brandon Casey and the Edmundston Blizzard will face Benjamin Roode and the Yarmouth Mariners in the Maritime Hockey League final (a very long distance one at that). The Blizzard completed a sweep of the Summerside Western Capitals on Monday.
• No teams from the 2022 Memorial Cup are still alive in the CHL playoffs. The Hamilton Bulldogs blew a 3-0 lead and fell 5-4 to the Barrie Colts on Monday, dropping the series in six games. The Edmonton Oil Kings missed the WHL post-season while the Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes were eliminated in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs.
• This was the final Bulldogs game in Hamilton for at least the next three seasons. The Bulldogs will be relocating to Brantford while the FirstOntario Centre undergoes massive renovations.
• The Prince George Cougars have advanced to the second round of the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2007. The Cougars eliminated the Tri-City Americans in six games in the opening round. Former Sea Dogs head coach Josh Dixon is an associate coach with the Cougars.
• Worth nothing as well that the Spokane Chiefs did not make the WHL playoffs. Former Sea Dogs assistant coach Stefan Legein is an associate coach with the Chiefs.

Notebook: Chabot to be inducted into Sea Dogs Hall of Fame

It was announced this past week that defenseman Thomas Chabot will be inducted into the Sea Dogs Hall of Fame in June.

“It’s an honour for me because Saint John is where it all started,” said the Ottawa Senators d-man. “I loved every minute that I spent playing and living there, I met great people along the way and created friendships that will last a lifetime.”

The Sea Dogs surprised Chabot with the news during a stop at the Bell Centre this week.

Today we got to be a part of something special as the @SJSeaDogs surprised @ThomasChabot1 with his induction into the Sea Dogs Hall of Fame! Thomas will be inducted during the Sea Dogs Hall of Fame weekend June 23-25.

Congrats, Chabby! 👏#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/TIQfewQbix

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 31, 2023

Brady Tkachuk came out for his media availability here in Montreal wearing a Thomas Chabot QMJHL Sea Dogs jersey. Just repping a buddy. pic.twitter.com/UlQoZddokb

— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) January 31, 2023

Chabot, along with former Sea Dogs coaches Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame June 23-25.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Mike Thomas have previously been inducted. According to a news release, "the 2024 Sea Dogs Hall of Fame class will be announced at this year’s ceremony."

Notebook: Dufour, Canada to play in semis

Swiss Ice Hockey Twitter

FREDERICTON - William Dufour and Team Canada will face Czechia in the semifinals of the World Junior Hockey Championship on Friday at 5 p.m. Atlantic.

Canada advanced to the final four with a 6-3 quarterfinal victory over Noah Patenaude, Vincent Despont and Team Switzerland on Wednesday. Patenaude was pulled after allowing four goals on nine shots in the first period.

Patenaude finishes the tournament with a 1-2 record to go along with a 4.22 goals against average and a .841 save percentage. Despont, meanwhile, had one assist in five games.

Swiss defender Vincent Despont just lied on the goal line to prevent Connor Bedard from scoring.

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) August 18, 2022

Dufour is averaging a point per game through five contests, scoring twice and adding three assists. The New York Islanders prospect was practicing on Canada's top line Thursday.

Team 🇨🇦 lines at practice

Roy - McTavish - Dufour
Johnson - Stankoven - Foerster
Cuylle - Gaucher - Bedard
Othmann - Ostapchuk - Desnoyers
Kidney

Injured: Greig @TSN_Edge

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) August 18, 2022

Czechia advanced to the semifinals after pulling off a 4-2 upset win over the United States in the quarterfinals. The other semifinal will see Sweden face Finland.

The gold and bronze medal games take place on Saturday.

SECOND ASSISTANT INCOMING
At Wednesday's "Meet the Coach" event at Market Square, new Sea Dogs head coach Travis Crickard confirmed that a second assistant coach, who will focus on defensive play, will be hired.

Via Instagram, Sea Dogs will indeed be hiring a second assistant coach. pic.twitter.com/DYTCmUP8zy

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) August 17, 2022

Mark Lee recently joined Saint John's staff as an assistant coach. Lee, a former PEI Rocket forward and long-time professional player,  is expected to focus on offense and the team's power play.

Saint John struggled with defensive play throughout the last rebuild, only making significant progress over the last season and a bit. The team will look to improve on that during this rebuild.

Notebook: Overagers get first touch

Vincent Ethier/CHL

The Saint John Sea Dogs' overage players were the first to lift the Memorial Cup on Wednesday.

After accepting the trophy from CHL president Dan MacKenzie, captain Vincent Sevigny handed the hardware off to forward Ryan Francis. Francis then passed the Cup to Philippe Daoust.

Here's the full trophy raising order from Wednesday's celebrations.

Vincent Sevigny

Ryan Francis

Philippe Daoust

William Villeneuve

Jeremie Poirier

William Dufour

Charlie DesRoches

Josh Lawrence

Brady Burns

Nikolas Hurtubise

Yan Kuznetsov

Raivis Ansons

Riley Bezeau

Olivier Picard

Marshall Lessard

Nicholas Blagden

Peter Reynolds

Thomas Couture

Cam MacDonald

Connor Trenholm

Zach Welsh

Noah Patenaude

Nathan Drapeau

Vincent Despont

Nico Laforge

Jacob Chantler

Hunter Gartley

After his skate around, Hunter Gartley handed the trophy to head coach Gardiner MacDougall.

On Wednesday's championship win

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - For the Saint John Sea Dogs, a lot of things haven't gone according to plan over the past few years.

The coaching changes. The goaltending carousel. The Joshua Roy situation. COVID. The trade drama(s) with the Halifax Mooseheads. The first round playoff loss. And there's probably many more.

But for one night, and for much of the past two weeks, everything went right for the Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs won their second Memorial Cup championship with a decisive 6-3 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs on Wednesday night at TD Station. The Sea Dogs scored twice in the first six minutes. They defended well and got good goaltending from Nikolas Hurtubise. When momentum swung in Hamilton's favour, Saint John was able to take it right back with an equal or better blow.

Wednesday's game, simply put, was one of the best games played by this group of Sea Dogs players.

Saint John finished the Memorial Cup with a 3-0-1 record, defeating the Bulldogs twice and the rival Shawinigan Cataractes once. The team's lone loss was an overtime thriller to the Edmonton Oil Kings, which could have gone either way.

There's no doubting that Gardiner MacDouagll had a huge influence on this team, injecting new life into a group that easily could have given up on the season after a gut wrenching first round playoff loss. The team looked refreshed and prepared when it took to the ice. They had the advantage of rest, and they definitely used that to their advantage.

Memorial Cup parade to be held today

SAINT JOHN - The Memorial Cup officially arrived in Saint John via a parade on June 19. Now, almost two weeks later, the Memorial Cup will be staying in Saint John via a parade.

The Saint John Sea Dogs will celebrate their Memorial Cup championship, which was clinched with a 6-3 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs last night at TD Station, this afternoon.

The parade will begin tomorrow at noon!

Going from King St. East to the @area506fest Container Village, we can't wait to see you there! #CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/OfMtwrSzBj

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) June 30, 2022

The Sea Dogs also held a parade for their 2011 Memorial Cup win, which saw a huge turnout.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 6-3

FINAL: Hamilton 3, Saint John 6

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs are Memorial Cup champions again.

The Sea Dogs won their second Memorial Cup championship on Wednesday night at TD Station, posting a convincing 6-3 win over the Ontario Hockey League champion Hamilton Bulldogs.

Vincent Sevigny, Cam MacDonald, Riley Bezeau, William Dufour, Josh Lawrence and Peter Reynolds scored for Saint John. Nikolas Hurtubise earned the win in net, making 25 saves. 

Mason McTavish scored twice for Hamilton while Jan Mysak added a solo marker. Marco Costantini took the loss in goal, making 21 saves.

Saint John got off to a strong start, scoring twice in the first six minutes, and never really looked back. Hamilton stayed in the game and had momentum go in their favour at times, but Saint John stayed composed and responded well.

It's been a wild few years for this core group of players. It was a wild season of ups and downs. The Sea Dogs certainly took an unusual route to becoming Memorial Cup champions, but they got there - and looked very worthy of a championship on Wednesday.

Sea Dogs win 2022 Memorial Cup

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs are Memorial Cup champions.

The Sea Dogs captured junior hockey's most prestigious trophy with a 6-3 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs on Wednesday night in front of a packed house at TD Station.

Vincent Sevigny, Cam MacDonald, Riley Bezeau, William Dufour, Josh Lawrence and Peter Reynolds scored for Saint John. Nikolas Hurtubise earned the win in net.

Mason McTavish scored twice for Hamilton while Jan Mysak added a solo marker. Marco Costantini took the loss in goal.

The Sea Dogs advanced to the championship game following a 2-0-1 record in the round-robin portion of the tournament. The team earned a bye straight to the final thanks to a 5-3 victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes on Saturday.

It's the second Memorial Cup championship for Saint John and first since 2011.

This was the fourth time the Sea Dogs had played in the tournament and the first on home ice. They lost in the semifinals in 2012 in Shawinigan and 2017 in Windsor.

This was the first time the Sea Dogs clinched a championship on home ice.

More to come...

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.

Sea Dogs excited to play in final

Vincent Ethier/CHL

SAINT JOHN - It's easy to tell that Gardiner MacDougall has had a significant influence on the Saint John Sea Dogs in his short time as head coach.

Ahead of the 2022 Memorial Cup championship game - MacDougall's final match with the club - players continued to speak about the "better every day" motto that the veteran head coach brought to the Sea Dogs.

"I'm very excited," said captain Vincent Sevigny ahead of the Sea Dogs' showdown with the Hamilton Bulldogs. "I think all the boys are excited to play that game. We're happy to be there at this moment and we'll do anything to win that game.

"In each practice we try to be better every day. It's our mindset. Same thing for today. That game, we'll try to get better and to win it."

Pre-game thoughts from @SJSeaDogs head coach Gardiner MacDougall, as well as William Dufour and Vincent Sevigny, ahead of tonight's #MemorialCup final! pic.twitter.com/5a6b68c1GL

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 29, 2022

Sevigny no doubt wants to lead the Sea Dogs to a better result than their last "winner-take-all" game on home ice. Sevigny was a -4 in the team's 4-3 overtime loss to the Rimouski Oceanic back on May 12, a loss that eliminated the Memorial Cup hosts from the President Cup playoffs.

William Dufour has already posted better numbers at the Memorial Cup (six goals in three games) than the first-round of the playoffs (two goals and two assists). He's likely the leading candidate for tournament MVP if Saint John is victorious tonight.

Memorial Cup Game Day: Final vs Bulldogs

SAINT JOHN - It all comes down to this.

For the second time in Saint John Sea Dogs history, the club will play in the Memorial Cup final. Just like in 2011, they'll play a team from southern Ontario, this time the Hamilton Bulldogs, with a national championship on the line. Game time is 7 p.m. at TD Station.

Winning a Memorial Cup is a rare and difficult opportunity. Winning a Memorial Cup on home ice is an even rarer opportunity. The Sea Dogs have a chance to do that tonight, which would go down as one of the greatest sports moments in this city's history.

The players know what is on the line. Most will not get this close to winning the Memorial Cup again in their careers. And this is certainly the only chance for this group of Sea Dogs to win a championship together.

It's been quite a journey for this core group of Sea Dogs. They had a few rough seasons (to put it lightly), were put through several coaching changes, dealt with the impacts of COVID and then suffered a first-round loss in the playoffs ahead of hosting the Memorial Cup. It hasn't been easy reaching this point. But here they are, one win away from reaching their goal.

The Sea Dogs defeated the Bulldogs in the opening game of the round-robin. Hamilton has gotten better as the tournament has gone on though and could bring their best game tonight. Saint John will need to be ready, and falling down 3-0 in the first period like they did against Shawinigan would not be ideal.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, will be looking to win their first Memorial Cup in their first final appearance. The last Ontario Hockey League team to lift the trophy was the 2017 Windsor Spitfires.

Will Sea Dogs finally celebrate at home?

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will look to do something they've never done before on Wednesday: win a championship on home ice.

The Sea Dogs have won three President Cup titles and one Memorial Cup championship, all of which were clinched on the road. Only once has the team even had the opportunity to raise a trophy on home ice: Game 5 of the 2011 President Cup final, which the Sea Dogs dropped 3-2 before winning the series in six games.

A few other things to think to about it...

• Raising the Memorial Cup on home ice has proven to be difficult in recent years. Since 2000, the host team has appeared in the final 11 times but won only five times.
• This is the fourth straight tournament that the host team has advanced to the final. Halifax (2019) and Regina (2018) both lost while Windsor (2017) was victorious. Like the Sea Dogs, those three host teams did not win their league championship (the Mooseheads lost in the final).
• The Sea Dogs will look to become the third straight QMJHL team to win the Memorial Cup, joining Rouyn-Noranda (2019) and Bathurst (2018).
• The Bulldogs will be looking to win their first Memorial Cup championship. The city of Hamilton does have a couple previous champions though, most recently the Hamilton Fincups (now the Erie Otters) in 1976.
• Sea Dogs head coach Gardiner MacDougall has led the UNB Reds into 10 University Cup championship games, winning seven. That includes a 2-1 record when the championship game was played on home ice.
• The Sea Dogs are 1-2 all-time in must-win games at the Memorial Cup, winning the 2011 final before losing in the semifinals in both 2012 and 2017. This Sea Dogs group, of course, dropped a must-win game earlier this year when they lost Game 5 of the opening round to the Rimouski Oceanic.
• Saint John also had a bye to the final in 2011. That year, they defeated the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors in the opening game of the tournament and did so again in the championship game.
• The Sea Dogs are 4-4 all-time against teams from the OHL at the Memorial Cup. Saint John's 5-3 win over the Bulldogs in the tournament opener ended a four-game losing streak against OHL clubs.

Sea Dogs to face Bulldogs in final

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Hamilton Bulldogs will face the Saint John Sea Dogs in the 2022 Memorial Cup final on Wednesday at TD Station.

Jan Mysak scored at 10:08 of overtime to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 win over the Shawinigan Cataractes in Monday night's semifinal. 

Hamilton had regulation time goals from Artem Grushnikov, Mason McTavish and Logan Morrison. Marco Costantini made 33 saves in the win.

Mavrik Bourque, Olivier Nadeau and William Veillette scored for the Cataractes. Antoine Coulombe got the start in goal once again, making 39 saves in the loss.

The two teams entered the third period tied 2-2. It looked as though Hamilton may have taken the lead with 12:27 remaining in the period but the goal was called off due to an official blowing the whistle before the puck crossed the line. Shawinigan quickly capitalized when an Angus Booth point shot was redirected by Veillette to give the Cataractes a 3-2 lead at 10:01.

Hamilton would respond though. At 13:56, Ryan Winterton found Morrison in the slot who beat Coulombe five-hole to tie the game at 3-3 and send it into overtime.

After the teams traded some quality chances in the overtime period, a low Nathan Staios point shot was redirected past the pad of Coulombe to send the Bulldogs into the final.

The Sea Dogs and Bulldogs will meet in the national final on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at TD Station. The game is sold out.

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.

Sea Dogs will know final opponent tonight

Vincent Ethier/CHL

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will find out who they are playing in the 2022 Memorial Cup final tonight.

The Sea Dogs will face the winner of this evening's semifinal between the Shawinigan Cataractes and Hamilton Bulldogs. Saint John defeated Shawinigan 5-3 on Saturday to earn a bye to Wednesday's championship game.

Saint John has also defeated Hamilton in this year's tournament, winning the event's opening game 5-3 last Monday.

The Bulldogs dropped their first two games of the tournament, losing to Saint John and Shawinigan, but advanced to the semifinal by defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-2 on Friday. Hamilton, who has been and continues to get banged up, has seemingly been getting better as the tournament has gone on.

Hear from @BulldogsOHL head coach Jay McKee, as well as captain Colton Kammerer and Logan Morrison, ahead of tonight's semi against Shawinigan. #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/7ngtbuu8XA

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 27, 2022

Hamilton made it to the 2018 Memorial Cup semifinal where they lost 4-2 to the host Regina Pats.

Shawinigan, meanwhile, defeated the Sea Dogs in the 2012 Memorial Cup semifinal to advance to the final.

Game time tonight is 7 p.m. at TD Station.