Key dates for 2023-24

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The QMJHL's 2023-24 media guide dropped on Monday, giving us all a list of the key dates for the upcoming season.

Here's a look at the dates to keep an eye on (plus a few others).

• Sept. 22 — QMJHL regular season begins
• Nov. 1-11 — 2023 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge (Charlottetown and Summerside)
• Dec. 10-17 — 2023 World Junior A Challenge (Truro)
• Dec. 17-27 — Holiday break
• Dec. 17 to Jan. 6 — Holiday trade period
• Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 — 2024 World Junior Hockey Championship (Sweden)
• Jan. 24 — 2024 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game (Moncton)
• March 23 — Final day of QMJHL regular season
• April 25 to May 5 — 2024 World Under-18 Hockey Championship (Finland)
• May 23 to June 2 — 2024 Memorial Cup (Saginaw)
• June 8 — 2024 QMJHL Entry Draft (Moncton)

The Saint John Sea Dogs begin the regular season in Bathurst on Friday. The team will play their first home game on Saturday when they host the Titan.

Of note, the Memorial Cup champion Quebec Remparts will raise their banners to the rafters of Videotron Centre on Saturday. 

The league also confirmed that its playoff format will remain the same. 

Notebook: The regular season is here

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

It's almost that time.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's regular season is just a couple days away. The schedule opens on Thursday night with the President Cup champion and William Dufour owned Shawinigan Cataractes hosting the Gatineau Olympiques.

The schedule picks up on Friday with seven games that evening. The Saturday slate includes the Saint John Sea Dogs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan opening up their seasons at TD Station. Game time is 7 p.m.

The Sea Dogs and Titan meet again on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the KC Irving Regional Centre.

Saint John travels to Charlottetown the following Friday, Sept. 30. The Dogs then play three straight games on home ice before making their first of four three-game road trips to Quebec.

MEDIA GUIDE RELEASED

The QMJHL's media guide was released on Tuesday. Here are a few things worth noting (and perhaps subject to change):

• The league's holiday trading period will take place Sunday, Dec. 18 to Friday, Jan. 6. The World Junior Hockey Championship ends on Jan. 5.
• The CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game will take place Jan. 25 in Vancouver.
• The 2023 Memorial Cup, held in Kelowna, will take place Friday, May 26 to Monday, June 5.
• The final Central Scouting list for the 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft will be released May 8.
• Capacity at TD Station is listed at 5,990 this season with total capacity listed at 6,190.

ROSZELL NO LONGER WITH WILDCATS

Tim Roszell is no longer the voice of the Moncton Wildcats.

The Wildcats quietly announced late Saturday that Marty Kingston will return as the Wildcats' play-by-play announcer, taking over from Roszell who had held the position for the last four seasons.

Kingston was previously the PA announcer at the Moncton Coliseum and was the team's play-by-play voice for three seasons.

Notebook: The Season Has Arrived

It’s time.

The Saint John Sea Dogs open up the 2015-16 regular season on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Harbour Station when they host the Halifax Mooseheads. The Sea Dogs will be without a plethora of key, returning players, meaning several youngsters will literally be put into the spotlight.

The Mooseheads opened their season up on Friday, falling 4-3 in a shootout to the Islanders in Charlottetown.

Saint John also plays on Sunday, hosting the Moncton Wildcats at 3 p.m.

GREEN RANKED

Sea Dogs defenseman Luke Green was ranked 30^th in Craig Button’s September “Craig’s List” rankings.

Most major draft publications have Green projected to be a late first round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.

Val’d-Or’s Julien Gauthier, sixth, was the highest ranked QMJHL player in "Craig's List."

MEDIA GUIDE RELEASED

The QMJHL released its annual media guide in pdf format this week.

There is always one key piece of information to take from it – the dates of the holiday trading period. This year’s period will begin on Dec. 19, 2015 and end on Jan. 6, 2016.

ON THE TV

The Sea Dogs will be one of just two Maritimes Division teams to appear on MAtv this season.

The Quebec network released their full QMJHL broadcast schedule earlier this week. Saint John’s Nov. 21 game in Chicoutimi will air live on MAtv, giving Joe Veleno and company some airtime in Quebec.

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are the only other Atlantic team that will air on MAtv this year.

The broadcast schedules for Sportsnet and TVA Sports have not yet been released.

The QMJHL Media Guide Is Out

The  QMJHL released their 2014-15 media guide this afternoon. The guide can be downloaded from the league’s website.

Here are a few observations from a quick glance through:

• First time in a few years the cover does not feature a QMJHL team holding the Memorial Cup.
• Telus is no longer listed as an official sponsor of the league. Videotron is, however.
• Page nine is sweet, displaying some important dates that are difficult to find on the interweb. The holiday trading period runs from December 19 to January 6.
• The league averaged 3,394 fans per game last season, the lowest average since the 2003-04 campaign.
• Saint John’s Memorial Cup ring can be seen on page 21.
• In 618 regular season franchise games, the Sea Dogs are 313-305.
• Saint John’s 23 points at home last season were the fewest in team history.

The league will hold a press conference tomorrow afternoon where it is expected details on new television and webcast rights will be announced.

Gallant On TPS

Gerard Gallant was a guest on The Pipeline Show this past Saturday.

The Saint John Sea Dogs head coach talked about a number of topics, most notably Stainislav Galiev’s wrist injury. Gallant said Galiev will likely be out of action another four to five weeks.

The other topics discussed in the interview:

• The Memorial Cup celebrations and the motivation created by not being the host team for this year’s tournament.
• The depleted lineup the Sea Dogs dressed for the first few weeks of the season.
• The hot start and future of Danick Gauthier.
• The play of Jonathan Huberdeau. “He’s got his head on right.”
• The play of Nathan Beaulieu.
• The possibility of Zack Phillips playing for Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships.
• Galiev’s injury and his roll with the team.
• How Charles-Olivier Roussel has played since being picked up by the Sea Dogs.
• The play of Mathieu Corbeil.
• Turk signing a contract extension.

The full interview can be downloaded here.

NO RADIO FOR TONIGHT'S TILT

Fans looking to listen to tonight’s Saint John Sea Dogs game are out of luck. News 88.9, the official broadcaster of the Sea Dogs, is part of the national radio network covering tonight’s Olympic hockey game between Canada and Russia.

Saint John is in Gatineau with puck drop set to go at 8:30 pm.

The Sea Dogs left us this message on our Facebook page:

Game will actually not covered live tonight on News 88.9 due to the National broadcast of the Canada vs Russia game. If you want to tune into this game, we suggest purchasing the web cast!

It is unknown if Tim Roszell will be working the webcast tonight without a radio feed. The unfortunate part is that the Sea Dogs are in Quebec, meaning that both the visiting webcast and radio feeds are in French.

After tonight’s game, the Dogs head to Val-d’Or to face the Foreurs on Friday at 8:30 pm. The last part of their three game road swing goes Saturday at 5:00 pm in Rouyn-Noranda.

Friday’s game is also in doubt if Canada comes out victorious tonight against Ovechkin and the Russian’s. Both of the men’s hockey semi-final games are on Friday but it is unclear if Canada will play in the early or late game.

This may be the first time ever in the five year history of the Sea Dogs that a game has not been broadcasted over the airwaves. We can’t recall this ever happening before.

If there is no English video, in-game Tweets and post-game coverage will be put on hold.

On the Telus website, it costs $6.95 for a live single game or $3.95 for a single archived game.

Tonight’s game on News 95.7 in Halifax featuring the Mooseheads hosting Bathurst is also cancelled. Also, the QMJHL’s weekly “Inside the Q” radio program in postponed due to “technical issues.”