Sea Dogs sign Barlas

Ottawa 67's

The Saint John Sea Dogs have added another overager to their training camp roster.

The Sea Dogs announced the signing of 20-year-old free agent forward Chris Barlas on Friday. He's expected to join the team for training camp, which begins this weekend at TD Station.

“We are excited to be adding Chris to our team. He brings a wealth of experience that checks a lot of boxes in what we are looking for in a 20-year-old this season,” said Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Travis Crickard in a statement. “Sea Dogs fans can expect a gritty two-way forward with a strong offensive touch. Everyone in Ottawa spoke highly of Chris’s character and leadership, which will make for a strong addition on the ice and in our room.”

Barlas has spent the past four seasons with the OHL's Ottawa 67's. In 67 games last season, the Ottawa native posted 13 goals and 18 assists.

In 220 career OHL games, Barlas posted 36 goals and 44 assists. He was the 12th overall pick in the 2021 OHL Priority Selection.

He's listed at 5'10" and 185 lbs.

The Sea Dogs now have seven overagers attending training camp: forwards Barlas, Mitchell Wagner, Natan Éthier, Ben Cross and Angelo Fullerton; and goaltenders Eric Young and Rhett Stoesser. Éthier (Shawinigan) and Fullerton (Cape Breton) are on loan from other QMJHL teams.

The Sea Dogs will hold a scrimmage on Sunday night at 7 p.m. at TD Station. They begin pre-season play on Tuesday in Moncton.

This and that on a Saturday

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

It's been a disappointing season for the Drummondville Voltigeurs, which resulted in general manager Philippe Boucher stepping down earlier this week.

The Volts, despite having what most would consider an above average lineup, are 21-24-4-1 on the season, placing them last in the Central Division and sixth in the Western Conference. The team made a coaching change earlier in the season but the move hasn't had a significant impact on results.

Boucher was under contract until the completion of the 2025-26 season.

The Volts have won back-to-back games since the move, defeating the Cape Breton Eagles 3-2 in overtime and then putting an end to the Halifax Mooseheads' point streak with a 6-4 win Friday night.

Some other notes...

• The Mooseheads' epic point streak came to an end at 25 games with that loss in Drummondville. Halifax hadn't lost in regulation time since Nov. 27. The loss came just hours after the Zachary L'Heureux indefinite suspension was announced by the league.
• The Mooseheads and Quebec Remparts have both clinched playoff spots. Quebec has an eight-point lead on Halifax in the standings.
• The Remparts suffered a rare loss on Friday, falling 5-4 in Chicoutimi. Former Sea Dogs forward Charles Savoie had a fight in that game - the first fighting major handed to the Remparts this season.
• In an unexpected move, the Val-d'Or Foreurs fired general manager Pascal Daoust on Wednesday (the same day Boucher resigned). The Foreurs have been tumbling in the standings - but that was expected given that the team traded away Justin Robidas and Alexandre Doucet.
• The Daoust firing is certainly notable from a Saint John standpoint as the Sea Dogs and Foreurs have been frequent trade partners in recent years. The Foreurs currently own Saint John's first-round pick in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft, which will likely be a lottery pick.
• Oddly, the day after Daoust's firing, the Foreurs defeated the Victoriaville Tigres 7-0. The Tigres sit fifth overall in the league.
• Val-d'Or's first-round pick is currently owned by the Moncton Wildcats - and they're no doubt enjoying the Foreurs' fall down the standings.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Connor Trenholm was not in Moncton's lineup on Friday due to an injury. Trenholm took a puck to the face late in the first period on Wednesday at TD Station and did not return.
• The Gatineau Olympiques defeated the Ottawa 67's 5-2 on Thursday. The 67's currently sit first overall in the OHL standings. The two meet again Saturday in Gatineau in front of a sold out Slush Puppie Centre.
• More inter-league play, please. It's time to make the investment.
• The Atlantic University Sport men's hockey regular season comes a close on Saturday. Former Sea Dogs forward Matt Green and the Dalhousie Tigers will be the lone team to miss the playoffs. Green enters Saturday's season finale tied with Campbell Pickard for the Dalhousie lead in scoring (seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points).
• The UNB Reds (Gardiner MacDougall, Kale McCallum and Nick Blagden) and Saint Mary's Huskies (Dawson Theede) have earned first-round byes in the AUS playoffs.
• Check out this save by former Sea Dogs goaltender Thomas Couture. The Acadia Axemen commit now has a 21-15 record to go along with a .910 save percentage and 2.81 goals against average with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies this season.

VICTOIRE!!!! @tom_couttt tout simplement incroyable!!!#LHJMQ pic.twitter.com/WZMAiJFBpr

— Huskies de Rouyn-Noranda (@HuskiesRn) February 9, 2023

Notebook: Sea Dogs return to home ice

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs are back home.

After playing five straight games on the road, the Sea Dogs return to TD Station ice on Wednesday night, hosting the Moncton Wildcats in an intriguing matchup. Saint John, despite losing back-to-back games, has been playing well in recent weeks while Moncton has been heading in the opposite direction, dropping six straight and going 1-9-0-0 in their last 10 games.

The Sea Dogs will quickly return to the road and travel to Charlottetown for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with the Islanders on Friday.

Following Friday's match, the Sea Dogs will play four straight at home, including a Sunday afternoon contest against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Note that this is the makeup game for Saint John's postponed Sept. 24 home opener. Also note that this is a 2 p.m. start on Super Bowl Sunday.

STANDINGS UPDATE

It's looking like every game will matter for the Sea Dogs down the stretch.

Heading into action Wednesday, the Sea Dogs have 36 points, placing them three points back of the final playoff spot. The top-16 teams in the QMJHL's overall standings qualify for the post-season.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Sea Dogs have plenty of matchups remaining against the Titan, Islanders and Cape Breton Eagles, so this could be a fun finish.

Cataractes return to Saint John

Vincent Ethier/CHL

The stakes were just a little bit higher the last time the Shawinigan Cataractes took on the Saint John Sea Dogs at TD Station.

The long-time rivals met in the final game of the round-robin portion of the 2022 Memorial Cup with a bye to the championship game on the line. The Cataractes led 3-0 after the first period but the Sea Dogs, led by a four-goal performance from William Dufour, went on to earn a 5-3 victory.

The Cataractes fell in the Memorial Cup semifinal to the Hamilton Bulldogs while the Sea Dogs went on to beat the Ontario Hockey League champions in the final.

Very few players from that Cataractes-Sea Dogs game will be in either lineup Wednesday night when the two meet at TD Station. Game time is 7 p.m.

Peter Reynolds, Brady Burns and Charlie DesRoches are the only Sea Dogs who played in that game who are still with the team.

Shawinigan, the defending QMJHL champions, are having a respectable season given their roster turnover. The Cataractes sit 10th overall in the league with a 20-19-1-2 record.

The Sea Dogs sit 17th overall with a 14-24-1-1 record.

A few other notes...

• The Sea Dogs play their next three games at home. Following Wednesday's match against Shawinigan, Josh Lawrence and the Halifax Mooseheads visit Saint John for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.
• Lawrence was named to the QMJHL's Team of the Week. With 64 points in 41 games, the 20-year-old sits in a tie for third in league scoring.
• The Mooseheads have earned points in 16 straight games (14-0-2-0). The Moose host the Cataractes on Thursday before travelling to Saint John.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Dawson Theede is back playing with the National Lacrosse League's Halifax Thunderbirds. Theede had two goals in Halifax's 17-8 loss to the Toronto Rock in Hamilton on Saturday.
• Due to arena scheduling issues, it looks like the OHL's Ottawa 67's will play their first-round playoff games at Gatineau's Slush Puppie Centre, according to Le Driot. 

Quick Hits: Sea Dogs locked into No. 3 seed in Eastern Conference

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs are now locked into third-place in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Eastern Conference.

With three games remaining in their regular season schedule, the most points the Sea Dogs can finish with is 98. That means they won't be able to catch the Quebec Remparts (100 points) or Charlottetown Islanders (99 points).

The Sea Dogs also can't be caught by the fourth-place Acadie-Bathurst Titan who have struggled (and limped) down the stretch.

Finishing third means the Sea Dogs will play the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference in the first round. Right now that would be the Rimouski Oceanic who have 75 points with two games remaining. The Oceanic could still catch the fifth-place Halifax Mooseheads who have 76 points with one game remaining.

The Sea Dogs were 1-1-0-0 against the Oceanic this season and 6-2-0-0 against the Mooseheads.

A few other notes...

• Sherbrooke's Joshua Roy now leads the QMJHL in points with 113 while William Dufour is second with 112. Both have three games remaining in the regular season.
• Charlottetown's Patrick Guay has tied Dufour for the league lead in goals with 53. Guay and the Islanders have two games remaining.
• The Mooseheads are playing some of their best hockey of the season right now, winning their sixth straight game Tuesday night in Moncton. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games. The Moose have one game remaining in the regular season: a visit to last-place Cape Breton on Sunday.
• Only two QMJHL teams - the Charlottetown Islanders and Quebec Remparts - made the year-end CHL Top 10 rankings, which appears to summarize the year's rankings. The Winnipeg Ice were ranked first.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Alex Drover played in his first game with the Rimouski Oceanic since March 8 on Wednesday. Drover scored his 12th goal of the season in his return from injury.
• Former Sea Dogs head coach Josh Dixon and the Prince George Cougars have been eliminated from the WHL playoffs. The Cougars were swept by the favoured Portland Winterhawks, dropping Game 4 by score of 2-1 on Wednesday. Dixon is an associate coach with the Cougars.
• On TSN's Insider Trading, Chris Johnston reported that an announcement on which Canadian city/cities will host the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship will be made soon. "We're going to know soon," said Johnston. "There's already been some talks it's going to be Halifax and Moncton, that they're the favourites among the five bids. Hockey Canada has not made a final decision."
• This may already be out there, but Canada's schedule for this summer's world juniors in Edmonton will see the team play Latvia (Aug. 10), Slovakia (Aug. 11), Czechia (Aug. 13) and Finland (Aug. 15). The quarterfinal (Aug. 17), semifinal (Aug. 19) and bronze/gold medal (Aug. 20) matches will take place afterwards.
• As noted by Le Droit's JF Plante, former Sea Dogs goaltender Charlie Millen is now a linesman in the OHL. Millen appeared in three games with Saint John during the 2011-12 season. According to his LinkedIn, Millen also works AHL games and Hockey Canada sanctioned matches.
• The school formerly known as Ryerson University will have a new name for its sports teams this coming season, reports Ben Steiner. The school, now known as Toronto Metropolitan University, will no longer be the home of the Rams.
• The OHL's Ottawa 67's could have a new home in the coming years. The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, who own the 67's, unveiled proposed plans to build a new 5,500-seat arena that would be ready for the 2024-25 season. The 67's current home, located underneath one of the football grandstands, has been dying a slow death for some time.

Report: Crete to join Sea Dogs

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The Saint John Sea Dogs are reportedly adding a forward to their roster.

According to JF Plante of Le Droit, 19-year-old forward Yanic Crete is set to join the team.

Yanic Crête de L’Orignal va poursuivre sa carrière dans la @CHLHockey. L’attaquant de 19 ans passe des @Ottawa67sHockey aux @SJSeaDogs. Chance de jouer au tournoi de la Coupe Memorial.

— jf plante (@jfplante_Droit) October 22, 2021

Crete retweeted Plante's tweet, which would seem to confirm the news.

Crete spent the 2019-20 season with the OHL's Ottawa 67's where he recorded seven goals and three assists in 41 games. In 2018-19, Crete recorded two assists in 14 games with the 67's along with 13 goals and 15 assists in 48 games withe CCHL's Hawkesbury Hawks.

The L'Original, Ont. native did not play last season due to the pandemic.

Crete was a third-round pick of Ottawa in the 2018 OHL Draft.

Elite Prospects has Crete listed at 6'1" and 179 lbs.

If Crete is with the Sea Dogs to stay, that likely means one of the bottom four forwards - Cole Foston, Adam Bowness, Carter McCluskey and Nico Laforge - will be sent down at some point. Laforge, it's believed, couldn't be sent down until Christmas due to his age.

Notebook: OHL requiring full vaccination

The Ontario Hockey League will require all players, staff and billet families to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for the 2021-22 season.

From the Canadian Press:

The policy applies to "OHL Community Members," including people who attend training camp, practices, games or play in the league, and it specifically references players, coaches, trainers, team and league staff, officials, volunteers and billet families.

It adds that the league will work with members who do not want to be vaccinated to figure out a path forward.

CP notes that all community members must be fully vaccinated two weeks prior to the start of training camp, which is just a few weeks away. The OHL's pre-season begins on Sept. 3 and regular season on Oct. 7.

The OHL was the only major junior league to not play last season. The league still faces border challenges with its three American clubs.

The QMJHL and WHL have not announced vaccination plans publicly.

Hearing it will be the same in all 3 Canadian junior leagues. Vaccinations will be required from all players and league personnel. https://t.co/GjZNHL5YC4

— Allan Walsh (@walsha) July 20, 2021

DUFOUR INVITED TO WJC CAMP

New Sea Dogs forward William Dufour has been invited to Canada's national junior team summer development camp, which takes place July 28 - Aug. 4 near Calgary.

Five goaltenders, 16 defensemen and 30 forwards received invitations. 12 QMJHL players were amongst the 51 players invited.

Dufour, acquired by the Sea Dogs in June, recorded 17 goals and 12 assists in 23 games with the Drummondville Voltigeurs last season.

The 2022 world juniors take place Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer.

PRE-SEASON = SOON

Thursday's announcement about the Sea Dogs holding home pre-season games in Fredericton was a good reminder: training camp is just a few weeks away.

The Sea Dogs begin pre-season play on Thursday, Aug. 19 at the Aitken Centre and will presumably begin training camp a few days prior to that.

Saint John will play nine pre-season games in total: five in August and four in September. The team begins regular season play on Oct. 1 at TD Station.

The province announced Friday that all pandemic restrictions will be removed on July 30, which should help create a much more normal training camp this year (fingers crossed) compared to last.

QMJHL's return to St. John's seems likely

SAINT JOHN - The QMJHL's return to Newfoundland is becoming more of a question of "when" rather then "if."

RDS' Stephane Leroux reported yesterday that there is a group in St. John's working to bring a team back to Newfoundland, which would be a first since the Fog Devils (RIP) left for Verdun in 2008.

At the league's annual press conference, held this afternoon in Saint John, commissioner Gilles Courteau confirmed that St. John's is interested in getting back into the league and that a group has been formed to evaluate the application.

Leroux reported that Courteau has met with Newfoundland labour officials regarding the class against lawsuit against the CHL and the classifying of players as amateurs. That's certainly not the only issue surrounding St. John's, as costs - particularly travel - are obviously a concern.

But the biggest issue at the moment seems to be what team will relocate to St. John's?

Courteau said on Friday that the league will not expand to 19 teams, which makes sense. The only option for St. John's is relocation, and, at this time anyways, there is no obvious team knocking on death's door. But, as we saw with Lewiston (RIP), that can change and become public in a hurry. Even for a team that's struggling but doing ok, the St. John's group could make a purchasing offer that would be hard to refuse.

If there's any team reaching the point of impending doom, it seems to be the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, which is ironically the former Fog Devils franchise. The team's attendance isn't great - but also not terrible. Laval getting an AHL team this season could cause problems though and there are issues surrounding Quebecor owning a majority of both the Armada and Quebec Remparts franchises.

It sucks to see a team move, but it will happen at some point. And the destination seems very likely to be Newfoundland.