Notebook: Groulx named Dogs captain

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - Olivier Groulx has been named captain of the Saint John Sea Dogs, the team announced Thursday.

Veteran forward Jacob Beaulieu along with overagers Angelo Fullerton and Natan Éthier have all been named alternate captains.

“We are delighted to name Olivier, Angelo, Natan and Jacob as our captains for the upcoming season,” Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Travis Crickard said in a news release. “Olivier has earned the captaincy because he fully embodies our team’s values of humble, hunger and honour every day.”

Groulx is the 24th captain in franchise history and will play his third season with the Sea Dogs. The 18-year-old wore an 'A' last season.

HALIFAX TO HOST

The QMJHL Entry Draft is coming east.

During the league's season opening press conference on Tuesday, it was confirmed that Halifax will host the 2026 QMJHL Entry Draft, which is scheduled for June 5-6.

“The QMJHL is very pleased and excited to hold its 2026 draft presented by Fenplast in the beautiful city of Halifax, a very important market in our league,"said QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini in a statement. "The players, families and teams present at the draft will be able to fully enjoy the beautiful attractions of the city.”

It's the first time the event will be held in Halifax.

Quebec City hosted the draft this past June. Moncton hosted in 2024.

Also, it sounds like the OHL may have an in-person draft in the near future as well.

Thursday stuff: Gens take Game 1

TSN

The OHL kicked off the three CHL league championships on Thursday. Some news and notes...

• The Oshawa Generals handed the London Knights their first loss of the playoffs, taking Game 1 of the OHL final 4-2. Cal Ritchie scored the winner on a power play with 3:25 remaining in the third. The Generals went 3/9 on the man advantage. Game 2 will take place Saturday.
• The WHL final between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Spokane Chiefs gets underway on Friday.
• In the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs, the Colorado Eagles are through to the next round following a 3-1 series win over the San Jose Barracuda. William Dufour did not play in any games in the series.
• The Charlotte Checkers fell 3-2 to the Providence Bruins on Wednesday. The Checkers lead that best-of-five series 2-1 with Game 4 taking place Friday. Riley Bezeau has not played in any games in the series.
• Spencer Smallman and the Hershey Bears must win on Friday to keep their season alive. The Bears trail the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 2-1 in the best-of-five series. Smallman has one goal in three games.
• In the ECHL's Kelly Cup Playoffs, Nicolas Guay had an assist and three shots while Vincent Sevigny had two shots in the Trois-Rivieres Lions' 4-1 win over the Norfolk Admirals. The Lions lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.
• Matt Murphy was held off the scoresheet in the Fort Wayne Komets' 2-1 loss to the Toledo Walleye. Toledo leads the best-of-seven series 3-2.
• The Maritime Hockey League champion Edmundston Blizzard played their first game at the Centennial Cup on Thursday, defeating the CCHL champion Rockland Nationals 4-3 in overtime. The Blizzard take on the Melfort Mustangs of the SJHL on Saturday afternoon.

  Philippe Collette gets the overtime winner as the @BlizzardEdston defeat Rockland 4-3 to open their 2025 #CentennialCup schedule. pic.twitter.com/TKxtzO2irw

  — The MHL (@THEMHL) May 9, 2025

• The USHL final featuring Tynan Lawrence and the Muskegon Lumberjacks facing Brady Peddle and the Waterloo Black Hawks begins Friday.

Notebook: Mateiko lone ex-Dog in QMJHL final

Embed from Getty Images

Eriks Mateiko scored one of the biggest goals of his career on Wednesday night.

The former Saint John Sea Dogs captain scored late in double overtime to give the Rimouski Oceanic a 4-3 Game 7 victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes, a win that sent the Oceanic to the QMJHL final. The Oceanic play Game 1 of the QMJHL championship series against the Moncton Wildcats on Saturday night at Avenir Centre.

LES FRISSONS SONT ENCORE LÀ! 🥶😱@LHJMQ #gonicsgo pic.twitter.com/1WKBvj2meB

— L'Océanic de Rimouski (@oceanicrimouski) May 7, 2025

Mateiko has appeared in just 12 of Rimouski's 17 playoff games due to injury. He's posted six goals and three assists, placing him in a tie for second in team goal scoring.

In the regular season and playoffs combined, Mateiko has now scored 16 game-winning goals in his 175-game QMJHL career.

Mateiko will be the lone former Sea Dog skating in the series. Behind the Moncton bench will be Gardiner MacDougall, who guided Saint John to the 2022 Memorial Cup title. Moncton's staff also includes former Sea Dogs assistant coach Paul Boutilier, who is a defensive coordinator with the Wildcats this season.

There would have been a former Sea Dog in the QMJHL final no matter who won the Oceanic/Cataractes series. Vince Elie recorded six goals and six assists in 16 playoff games with Shawinigan, placing him third in team scoring.

LAFORGE COMMITS TO LAKERS

Nico LaForge has committed to the Nipissing University Lakers men's hockey team for the 2025-26 U Sports season.

The former Sea Dogs forward spent this past season with the OJHL's Coburg Cougars where he recorded 15 goals and 23 assists in 52 games. He added a goal and two assists in five playoff contests.

LaForge is the second Sea Dogs alumnus to commit to Nipissing recently. Forward Danny Akkouche will also be joining the North Bay, ON based school for this coming season.

"I'm a two-way forward with strong work ethic," LaForge explained in a Lakers news release. "I expect our team to be in an underdog position and surprise some teams this year. Nipissing is a good place to play with some great opportunities and it is close to home."

LaForge, who played some U18 and U15 hockey in North Bay, spent parts of three seasons with the Sea Dogs and was part of the 2022 Memorial Cup team.

Dates, format announced for first CHL USA Prospects Challenge

The inaugural CHL USA Prospects Challenge will take place this November in London and Oshawa.

The Canadian Hockey League unveiled the details of the new event on Tuesday. Games will be played Tuesday, Nov. 26 in London and Wednesday, Nov. 27 in Oshawa. Tickets will go on sale Oct. 1.

According to the news release, " the CHL USA Prospects Challenge will see the top first-year NHL Draft-eligible prospects from the CHL’s Member Leagues – Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) – face-off against those from the U.S. National Under-18 Team in a two-game series."

News of the new event – which will replace the CHL NHL Top Prospects Game – was confirmed by the CHL in June.

This should be a fascinating event especially as the CHL/NCAA recruiting war is expected to take a major turn over the new few years. Braxton Whitehead of the Regina Pats announced his commitment to Arizona State University for the 2025-26 season even though no rules have been changed yet.

The CHL provided a few additional details about the event's future in Tuesday's news release.

Set to be a part of the calendar over the next three seasons, the CHL USA Prospects Challenge will see players from the CHL and NTDP’s U18 team compete before hundreds of NHL scouts and thousands of fans in an effort to improve their draft stock ahead of the upcoming NHL Draft. Players for the CHL team will be provided by NHL Central Scouting as selected by the NHL’s 32 clubs, and much like other national events in the CHL, the hosting duties of the CHL USA Prospects Challenge will rotate between the CHL’s three Member League markets each year.

While not confirmed, next year's event will presumably take place in QMJHL territory with the Memorial Cup being held in the WHL.

League finals set; Memorial Cup host out early again

OHL

Winning the Memorial Cup as the host team? That's hard. Winning your league as the Memorial Cup host team? That's proven to be even harder.

The Saginaw Spirit, the host of this year's Memorial Cup tournament, were eliminated from the Ontario Hockey League playoffs in the third round by the London Knights. The Spirit's last game was on May 5 and they won't play again until May 24 when they host the Western Hockey League champions.

Remarkably, Saginaw's elimination means no Memorial Cup host team has won their respective league since the 2008 Kitchener Rangers. No host team has won both the Memorial Cup and their respective league since the 2005 London Knights, considered one of the greatest junior teams of all-time.

Here is how each Memorial Cup host has done in their league playoffs since the last host champion (Kitchener) in 2008.... pic.twitter.com/W0Xx0JglIM

— Steve McLean (@SteveMcLean888) May 5, 2024

Since 2008, three host teams have managed to lift the Memorial Cup on home ice: the 2012 Shawinigan Cataractes, the 2017 Windsor Spitfires and the 2022 Saint John Sea Dogs (the Sea Dogs were, oddly, involved in all three of those tournaments).

It's fair to say that this is officially a trend – and can the Rimouski Oceanic stop it by winning the Gilles Courteau Trophy next year?

For the 14th straight CHL season the Memorial Cup host will not win their league title. Last time the host did win their league was Kitchener in 2008.
The longest stretch before this one was 7 seasons on two different occasions, 1988-1994 & 1998-2004.

— Steve McLean (@SteveMcLean888) May 5, 2024

With Saginaw out in the third round, all three league championships will have a berth in the Memorial Cup on the line.

Notebook: QMJHL final begins Thursday

Baie-Comeau Drakkar

The Gilles Courteau Trophy final between the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Drummondville Voltigeurs will begin on Thursday at the Henry Leonard Centre.

The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League has unveiled the full schedule for the championship series. The winner advances to the 2024 Memorial Cup in Saginaw.

Here's the full schedule:

1- Thursday, May 9, 8 p.m., in Baie-Comeau 

2- Friday, May 10, 8 p.m., in Baie-Comeau 

3- Monday, May 13, 8 p.m., in Drummondville 

4- Tuesday, May 14, 8 p.m., in Drummondville 

5- Thursday, May 16, 8 p.m., in Baie-Comeau* 

6- Saturday, May 18, 8 p.m., in Drummondville* 

7- Tuesday, May 21, 8 p.m., in Baie-Comeau* 

*if necessary

All games will be broadcast on TSN and RDS.

Noah Reinhart of the Voltigeurs is the lone former Saint John Sea Dog taking part in the final.

MACDOUGALL POST-GAME

Here's former Sea Dogs head coach Gardiner MacDougall speaking after leading Team Canada to an IIHF Under-18 World Championship on the weekend.

Memorial Cup Participants Finalized

The four teams that will participate in the 2015 Memorial Cup in Quebec City have been confirmed.

The Oshawa Generals become the final team to book their ticket to the tournament, defeating Connor McDavid and the Erie Otters last night to win the OHL championship.

The Kelowna Rockets won the WHL title earlier this week. The Rimouski Oceanic and Quebec Remparts have already earned spots as well.

Here is the full schedule for this year’s tournament:

Friday, May 22: Kelowna vs Quebec

Saturday, May 23: Rimouski vs Oshawa

Sunday, May 24: Quebec vs Oshawa

Monday, May 25: Rimouski vs Kelowna

Tuesday, May 26: Oshawa vs Kelowna

Wednesday, May 27: Quebec vs Rimouski

Thursday, May 28: Tie-breaker game

Friday, May 29: Semifinal game

Sunday, May 31: Championship game

In the QMJHL final, neither team has yet to win a home game. Quebec took a 3-2 series lead with a 3-2 victory in Rimouski last night. Game six is on Sunday afternoon in Quebec City.