Notebook: It's Bathurst... again

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan not once, but twice this weekend.

If you want to the Sea Dogs win games, this might be news for you. Saint John has yet to lose in regulation time against Bathurst this season. But if you want to see a variety of teams, this is not good news for you.

These two games with be the fifth and sixth meetings of the season between the Sea Dogs and Titan — a significant number given that it's just the first week of November.

Saint John is 3-0-0-1 against Bathurst this season.

The Sea Dogs host the Titan on Friday night before travelling to the KC Irving Regional Centre on Saturday for a 4 p.m. start.

Following this weekend's games, the Sea Dogs and Titan meet three more times this season: Dec. 31 in Saint John, Feb. 2 in Bathurst and March 14 in Saint John.

HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER

The Sea Dogs will be holding their annual Hockey Fights Cancer themed game on Friday. The team will be sporting pink/purple jerseys per usual.

#HockeyFightsCancer jerseys have arrived. 💜

Join us for the game this Friday, November 3rd against the @ABTitan. Jerseys will be raffled off in support of Breasts Ahoy, a breast cancer survivor dragon boat team.

🎟️: https://t.co/LvsBJIcMkg#GoDogsGo pic.twitter.com/ShQxuJawSe

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) October 30, 2023

Friday's match will also feature intermission performances from The Artificially Hip, a Tragically Hip cover band.

QMJHL's trade period comes to an end

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It was a fairly uneventful final day of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League trade period on Friday.

The biggest deal of the day saw the Acadie-Bathurst Titan trade Montreal Canadiens prospect Riley Kidney to the Gatineau Olympiques in exchange for Donovan Arsenault, Bobby Orr and a 2025 first-round pick.

Orr, 19, was a fifth-round pick of Saint John in the 2019 QMJHL Entry Draft but never played for the club. The Halifax Mooseheads traded Orr to the Olympiques in August.

The Olympiques have gone all-in, adding the likes of Cam MacDonald, Francesco Lapenna and Alexis Gendron to an already strong lineup. Gatineau sits second in the QMJHL's Western Conference with 50 points.

Another team that's gone all-in is the Sherbrooke Phoenix, who acquired Jakub Brabenec from the Charlottetown Islanders on Friday. Brabenec was part of the Czechia squad that lost to Team Canada in the gold medal game of this year's world juniors.

Sherbrooke had four players suit up in Thursday's gold medal game: Brabenec, David Spacek, Joshua Roy and Tyson Hinds. Sherbrooke head coach Stephane Julien was also an assistant with Team Canada.

Some other notes...

• Former Sea Dogs defenseman Kale McCallum has reportedly left the Val-d'Or Foreurs to play U Sports hockey. Le Citoyen reports that McCallum had hoped to be traded to a contending team but that did not happen. The 20-year-old is fifth in QMJHL defensemen scoring with 34 points in 36 games.
• There is still no word on what will happen with 20-year-old goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise, who was not traded by the Sea Dogs before Friday's deadline. The veteran goaltender has been listed as a healthy scratch for the past couple weeks.
• Sea Dogs forward Tomasz Szczerba, who has been limited to just 11 games due to injuries this season, had his junior 'A' rights traded from the OJHL's Aurora Tigers to the MHL's Grand Falls Rapids on Friday. A Rapids press release says Szczerba will be joining the team soon.
• On the Sea Dogs radio broadcast on Friday, it was noted that 20-year-old defenseman and captain Charlie DesRoches is expected to return from injury soon. Saint John was only able to dress five defensemen in their 6-4 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads.
• Things are getting wild in the OHL with Team Canada's Shane Wright and Brandt Clarke both sent back to the league from their respective NHL clubs. It's expected that the Kingston Frontenacs, who have announced intentions to bid on hosting the 2024 Memorial Cup, will trade Wright to a contending team.
• Sportsnet's Jeff Marek reports that Team Canada's Ethan Del Mastro will be moved to the Sarnia Sting and Owen Beck will be traded to the Peterborough Petes.
• In the WHL, the already stacked Seattle Thunderbirds, who are ranked No. 1 in the CHL, have acquired the injured Colton Dach from the Kelowna Rockets. Dach, who was injured at the world juniors, is expected to be healthy in time for the playoffs.