Friday News & Notes

Tomorrow will be a big day at Harbour Station.

For the first time, the Saint John Mill Rats and Saint John Sea Dogs will play in the building on the same day. The Mill Rats take on the Halifax Hurricanes at 2 p.m. while the Sea Dogs host the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at 8 p.m.

The two teams are holding a ticket promotion for season ticket holders. From the Mill Rats’ press release:

To commemorate the first ever 'Saint John Sports Day' the two teams are offering a season ticket holder promotion: the first 500 fans that show their current season tickets at the box office will be able to purchase a $5 ticket* to the Sea Dog's playoff game as well. 

The Sea Dogs likewise are offering their season ticket holders the opportunity to attend the Mill Rats 2 p.m. game on Saturday for $5 also. *A box office fee of $1 applies.

The Mill Rats’ release claimed this was the first NBL Canada/CHL doubleheader in history, but there is some debate about that.

@SJMillRats error in article - not the 1st CHL/NBLC doubleheader. @LondonLightning & @GoLondonKnights played doubleheader April 7th 2013.

— Dan White (@danfwhite) April 6, 2016

Doubleheaders happen quite a bit in professional sports. TD Garden in Boston holds them frequently.

DOGS DAILY: Dogs Attendance Up Slightly

Halfway through their home schedule, the Sea Dogs are averaging 3,186 fans per game. While it’s not a great number, it’s actually up a small amount from last year.

Here's a look at Saint John's attendance on Christmas Eve from the past few seasons:

Season	Home Games	Average
2010-11	18	3,852 (4th)
2011-12	19	3,950 (3rd)
2012-13	18	3,639 (4th)
2013-14	17	3,029 (5th)
2014-15	17	3,135 (5th)
2015-16	17	3,186 (4th)

The website 3rd Line Grind has a post on CHL attendance and how teams are doing this year compared to last. Not surprisingly, the Quebec Remparts' attendance is way up. In fact, Quebec's average of 13,337 is better than what the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders, Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers are averaging. 

Notebook: Schedule Change at Camp

If you haven’t heard, there has been a schedule change for day three of Sea Dogs training camp.

.@SeaDogsHockey have changed their training camp schedule for Wednesday. Goalie practice 10:30a-11:30a, scrimmage 2:30p-4:30p. #SJSD10
— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SeaDogsHockey) August 13, 2014

ZBORIL SCORES AGAIN

It was another good day for Jakub Zboril and the Czech Republic at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament on Tuesday.

Zboril scored and added an assist in the Czechs hard fought 4-3 victory over Finland. Zboril had a goal and an assist against the US on Monday and two goals and two assists in a pre-tournament game against Canada on Saturday.

Zboril’s four points place him fourth in tournament scoring and first amongst defensemen.

The Czech Republic, 2-0, take on Russia today in their final preliminary round game.

Meanwhile, Team Canada improved to 2-0 with a 5-1 victory over Sweden yesterday. They face Slovakia today.

THE OTHER GREEN

John Moore talks to Matt Green about heading to his first QMJHL training camp.

Notebook: Mill Rats Staying In Saint John

The Saint John Mill Rats are sticking around.

The team announced at a press conference this afternoon that they will be moving towards a community-owned model, which will keep the basketball squad playing at Harbour Station for at least the next two seasons.

"Members of the Southern New Brunswick basketball community reached out to us to help make sure the team is here for future generations," said Mill Rats President & General Manager Ian McCarthy. "They are assembling an entity that will acquire ownership in the Mill Rats over the coming months."

According to a press release, the group is in formation and seeking additional members.

TRURO TICKETS

Tickets to the Saint John Sea Dogs’ pre-season game in Truro are now on sale.

From the Halifax Mooseheads website:

Tickets for the Halifax Mooseheads preseason game versus the Saint John Sea Dogs in Truro are on sale now. The game will take place at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre on Saturday, August 23rd at 7p.m. Tickets are available online at Ticketpro.ca or in person at the R.E.C.C. for $8.50.

According to the Moose site, last year’s contest in Truro featured a packed house of roughly 3,200 fans. The game is a fundraiser for Truro Minor Hockey.

THE NEXT HUBERDEAU?

The Score has an article on how Jonathan Drouin hopes to follow in Jonathan Huberdeau’s footsteps.

Like Huberdeau, Drouin was sent back to junior for additional seasoning after being a high NHL draft pick. Huberdeau had 72 points in 37 games in his final full season of junior while Drouin had 108 in 46 games.

Huberdeau, after the lockout ended, won the NHL’s rookie of the year award. Drouin, who is basically a lock to make the Bolts, will look to do the same.

THE NEXT BIG THING?

Could Tomas Jurco become a star in the NHL? That’s a question, using advanced statistics, the Red Wings blog Winging it in Motown examined last week.

Jurco played in 36 games with the Red Wings last season, recording eight goals and seven assists.

Friday Stuff

The poll results on the QMJHL website can be cruel sometimes.

Some other Friday notes:

• The Sea Dogs’ five-game homestand ends this weekend with a matchup against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar on Saturday night and then a Sunday afternoon contest against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Following Sunday’s game, Saint John doesn’t play at home again until February 7^th.
• Saint John is still two points back of the Sherbrooke Phoenix, who hold the QMJHL's final playoff spot, with a game in-hand. The Phoenix host Charlottetown tonight and the last-place Shawinigan Cataractes tomorrow.
• "Playing defense on a weak team isn't easy, but it is hard to duplicate the experience that he is gaining,” writes Hockey’s Future about Olivier LeBlanc.
• Cool article on CBC.ca about Eric Gelinas, who comes from a baseball family, playing hockey at Yankee Stadium this weekend. The New York Rangers take on Gelinas and the New Jersey Devils outdoors on Sunday.
• The Mill Rats attendance numbers are not good… yet are quite good in comparison to other NBL Canada teams.
• Lastly, Sea Dogs president Wayne Long is performing tonight at the Saint John Ale House. Show starts at 10pm.

Good Luck To The Mill Rats

Best of luck to the Saint John Mill Rats who begin their season tonight in Halifax. We don’t know much about the team or the league or basketball in general but it does seem like they have loaded up for this season.

The Mill Rats play a ridiculous amount of home games in December and January. 

Sea Dogs Notebook

MILLEN

Remember Charlie Millen? He played three games with Saint John in 2011-12, going 0-2-0-0 with a 5.38 goals against average and a 0.831 save percentage. He’s played for a bunch of teams over the past year and is currently with the Ottawa Jr. Senators of the Central Canada Hockey League.

An unreal save Millen made the other day is making its rounds round the interweb. Via Buzzing The Net:

Millen is the son of Hockey Night in Canada’s Greg Millen.

THE WEEKEND

The Sea Dogs play their first home game since January 5 tomorrow night when they host the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at 7pm. The Eagles currently sit out of the playoff picture in 17^th place overall.

On Sunday, the Sea Dogs take on the Moncton Wildcats at 3pm at the Station. Saint John is 4-1-0-0 against Moncton this season but got blasted 7-1 on Wednesday at the Coliseum.

Saint John enters action this weekend on a five-game losing streak and are 2-8-0-0 in their last 10.

NO TRADE

Another good read over at Buzzing The Net – this time on why the Sea Dogs didn’t trade Jonathan Huberdeau’s QMJHL rights.

“Nobody was close,” Mike Kelly said about the offers he got for Huberdeau. Kelly added that it was quite complicated getting the compensation part of a possible deal worked out.

Kelly also talks about the Sea Dogs rebuild and how that is going.

RATS RESCHEDULE

SAINT JOHN – Any playoff date issues for the opening round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League post-season at Harbour Station appear to be gone.

The Premier Basketball League’s Saint John Mill Rats announced today that their Saturday, March 26th game against the Halifax Rainmen has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 29th. Game time remains the same.

Ever since the Mill Rats scheduled was announced the fourth weekend of March looked like trouble for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Originally, the Mill Rats had games scheduled for March 26 (a Thursday), March 28 (Saturday), and March 27 (Sunday). The first round of the QMJHL playoffs traditionally begins on the following Friday after the regular season ends (the season ends Sunday, March 20). Hosting Game One was never a problem, but the big question was when Game Two would be held with Saturday and Sunday unavailable. Playing the game on Monday would probably be costly as well as push the entire series schedule back.

But now, Friday and Saturday look like they are good to go and we will witness playoff hockey.

Who the Sea Dogs will play in the first round has still not been determined as the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and Halifax Mooseheads are in an epic battle in the basement of the QMJHL. Both teams have seven games left with the Mooseheads currently up two points on the Screaming Eagles.

Of note, the Sea Dogs and Eagles play each three times this month - two in Saint John and one in Sydney.

Photo Credit: Facebook

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

ST. LAURENT OFF TO SOLID START
Former Sea Dogs netminder Karel St. Laurent is off to a solid start with the British Columbia Junior ‘A’ Hockey League’s Surrey Eagles.

St. Laurent made his debut on November 4th in Langley, an 8-4 Eagles win. Saint John’s backup goaltender in 2008-09 and 2009-10 made 37 saves in the victory. He then backstopped Surrey to a 5-4 overtime win over Langley the next night.

"He hadn't played for two or three weeks and he admits in the first game there were one or two goals he would like back," Eagles head coach Matt Erhart told Surrey Now last Tuesday. "He was better the next two nights; he made some big saves for us, especially in the third period and overtime Friday. He's been really solid for us."

"He played major junior hockey for the past three years," the coach said. "He's been on a really good team for the past two years as one of the two goalies playing for them. When he became available we thought he would be a good addition to the team."

THE POUTINE
SN reader Paul Leger has been telling us about his dream of having poutine sold at Harbour Station for quite awhile.

So, Paul has created a online petition to help support the movement. Apparently, Harbour Station doesn’t currently have the proper equipment to make the cheese and gravy goodness. We encourage everyone to sign, mainly because Harbour Station menu options are few and far between.

We still don’t know how you can have a QUEBEC Major Junior Hockey League team and not sell poutine.

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

PINK IN THIS HERE RINK
The Sea Dogs host 'Pink in the Rink' Saturday evening at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station when they take on the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

From the Sea Dogs’ website:

Fans are invited to wear pink to this contest, which will feature a game-worn jersey auction in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Silent bids will be accepted at Sea Dogs Central (Section S, arena concourse) up until the 17:00 mark of the second period. Successful bidders will receive their jerseys directly from the players themselves at the conclusion of the post-game Alpine Three Stars presentation.

READY TO ROLL
Jacob De Serres is officially a Sea Dog.

“The 20-year-old Calgarian officially signed with the Sea Dogs on Tuesday morning after joining the club on Sunday night,” reports the team’s website.

The former Brandon Wheat King is expected to play at some point this weekend.

Karel St. Laurent, who fell ill in his final game as a Dog, still remains on the clubs roster per the Sea Dogs webpage. It is not clear where the goaltender will end up.

NO TOP 10 FOR THE DOGS
For the first time in a long time, the Saint John Sea Dogs were left off the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings two weeks ago. After defeating the Moncton Wildcats and Montreal Juniors last weekend, the Sea Dogs were left off the prestigious yet meaningless list this week as well.

The rankings are made by a group of NHL scout.

The Everett Herald had a good column on how odd the rankings can be at the start of the year.

"MILL RATS" STAY THE SAME

Saint John’s new professional basketball team will have the same name as it did last season in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was announced this afternoon that the Professional Basketball League squad will be named the “Saint John Mill Rats” for the upcoming season.

Also at today’s press conference held at Brunswick Square, the Mill Rats unveiled their new logo for the 2011 PBL season (pictured above).

"From what I've learned since I've been here, the fabric of this city is an industrial heritage, hard work, people are proud of putting in a day's work,” said team president Ian McCarthy to the CBC.

Before mocking Station Nation about the EA Sports preview video, News 91.9 interviewed McCarthy, saying that he hopes merchandise will be available to buy by September 1. He also said a new, updated website is in the works.

Unlike when the team played out Manchester, the hoops unit will go with a mill worker theme rather then a rat theme.

"It's a person who looks like they have come out of a mill yard, as opposed to an animal," McCarthy said to News 88.9.

"They wear the number 3 which is in honour of Rip Seely who is a famous basketball player from Saint John".

The team, who sold over 200 season tickets in the first three weeks of sales, will begin training camp in December and the regular season in January – hopefully. There are reports that if the PBL and a Puerto Rican basketball league join forces, the league will begin play in October.

The Mill Rats and Saint John Sea Dogs have stated that they hope to create a partnership this year. That includes the possibility of playing a doubleheader at Harbour Station.

Finally, McCarthy gave the quote-of-the-summer to CBC New Brunswick:

"It's a person, he's got a hard hat, he's got a hammer hanging off his waist. He's ready for a hard day's work."