Notebook: Sea Dogs thank fans

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Saint John Sea Dogs president Trevor Georgie shared a thank you message to fans earlier this week.

The letter was shared on the team's social media channels and via email (click to enlarge).

The letter comes after another challenging year for the Sea Dogs. The team has been in the league's basement for three consecutive seasons and this year missed the playoffs for the first tine since 2018-19.

As Georgie notes, there are reasons to be optimistic about the club's future. It's also noted that the team has three first-round picks in June's QMJHL Entry Draft and will have two import players next year. Saint John played the entire second half with no imports.

ELLIOTT SIGNS ATO

Former Sea Dogs forward Drew Elliott has signed an amateur tryout with the AHL's San Diego Gulls, the club announced Wednesday.

The 21-year-old appeared in 26 regular season games with the UNB Reds this season, recording 14 goals and eight assists. He added an assist in five playoff games.

Elliott, a Saint John native, split his overage season between the Sea Dogs and Drummondville Voltigeurs. In 32 second half games with Saint John, Elliott recorded 10 goals and seven assists. 

The Gulls are back in action on Friday when they host the Tucson Roadrunners. 

Memorial Cup final set

Candice Ward/CHL

It'll be the Quebec Remparts and Seattle Thunderbirds playing for the Memorial Cup title on Sunday.

The Thunderbirds defeated the Peterborough Petes 4-1 in Friday night's semifinal, earning a spot in the championship game. The Remparts, meanwhile, earned a bye straight through to the final after defeating Seattle on Monday.

The Memorial Cup championship match will take place Sunday night at 8 p.m. Atlantic and can be seen on TSN.

Quebec defeated Seattle 3-1 in that preliminary round game. Despite being outshot 36-22, the Remparts had an impressive defensive performance, keeping quality Seattle scoring chances to a minimum.

Both squads finished 2-1 in the preliminary round. Quebec's lone loss came on Tuesday when they dropped a meaningless game (for the Remparts, anyways) to the Petes.

It's certainly not a shock to see these two meeting in the final. Quebec finished first in the QMJHL regular season standings and had a relatively smooth ride to the Gilles-Courteau Trophy championship. Seattle likely has the most star power of any team in junior hockey and defeated two very tough opponents, the Kamloops Blazers and Winnipeg Ice, in the WHL playoffs.

The Remparts, who feature former Saint John Sea Dogs forward Charles Savoie, will look to win their first Memorial Cup since 2006. If Quebec wins, it will be the fourth straight national championship for the QMJHL.

No WHL team has won the Memorial Cup since the 2014 Edmonton Oil Kings. No WHL champion has appeared in the final since 2015 when the Kelowna Rockets fell to the Oshawa Generals in Quebec City.

The host Blazers were eliminated by the Petes in Thursday's tie-breaker game, blowing a 4-1 lead and falling 5-4 in overtime. This is the first time since 2016 in Red Deer that the host team did not qualify for the final. It's also the first time since the 2014 London Knights that the host will finish in last-place.

Memorial Cup off to lopsided start

Candice Ward/CHL

The 2023 Memorial Cup has gotten off to a lopsided start.

The first three games of the tournament have all been decided by three or more goals, highlighted by the Kamloops Blazers hammering the Peterborough Petes 10-2 on Sunday.

Here's a look at the results from the opening three games:

Game 1: Quebec 8, Kamloops 3

Game 2: Seattle 6, Peterborough 3

Game 3: Kamloops 10, Peterborough 2

It's a significant difference from last year's tournament in Saint John where only one game — the championship match — was decided by three goals or more.

Game 1: Hamilton 3, Saint John 5

Game 2: Shawinigan 4, Edmonton 3

Game 3: Saint John 3, Edmonton 4 (OT)

Game 4: Shawinigan 3, Hamilton 2

Game 5: Edmonton 2, Hamilton 4

Game 6: Saint John 5, Shawinigan 3

Semifinal: Hamilton 4, Shawinigan 3 (OT)

Final: Hamilton 3, Saint John 6

The lopsided start to year's event could easily turn around this week (and likely will now that I've spent the time writing this). We were blessed with a few incredible games last year, so hopefully we get at least a couple this year.

The Quebec Remparts, who are looking to bring the Memorial Cup to the QMJHL for a fourth straight tournament, have two intriguing games remaining in the preliminary round: Monday night against the Seattle Thunderbirds and Tuesday against the Peterborough Petes. Most have the Thunderbirds as the favourites to win the event while the Petes must win to stay alive.

2023 Memorial Cup begins Friday

Vincent Ethier/QMJHL

The Quebec Remparts have departed for Kamloops, BC where they'll try and win a fourth straight Memorial Cup championship for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The Remparts earned their spot in the four-team tournament with 5-4 victory over the Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday, taking the Gilles-Courteau Trophy final in six games. They did so while staying fairly healthy, which should be beneficial heading into their tournament opener.

Quebec will be thrown into a hostile environment immediately, taking on the host Kamloops Blazers on Friday night at 10 p.m. Atlantic. The Blazers were eliminated in the third round of the Western Hockey League playoffs and haven't played since May 8.

The Remparts finished the QMJHL playoffs with an impressive 9-0 record on the road. Quebec will be the home team for their other two preliminary round games: May 29 against the Seattle Thunderbirds and May 30 against the Peterborough Petes.

Will MacLaren and I discussed the QMJHL final and the Remparts' Memorial Cup hopes on this week's episode of The Hockey News on the Q.

.@willmacwriter and @station_nation recap the @QMJHL final, preview the Quebec Remparts' #MemorialCup pursuit, discuss Guy Boucher to Rimouski rumors, #GoHabsGo prospects and more: https://t.co/oGtMwUpKfX

— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) May 24, 2023

The Petes and Remparts met at the 2006 Memorial Cup in Moncton. Quebec, led by Patrick Roy behind the bench, went on to win the national championship that year, defeating the QMJHL champion and host Wildcats in the final.

Host teams have had a good run of late at the Memorial Cup, appearing in the championship game in each of the past four tournaments. Saint John won last year and Windsor did the same in 2017. The Blazers have an impressive roster and are certainly a worthy and capable host.

League championship series are set

Seattle Thunderbirds

The Memorial Cup host team has once again come up short in winning their league championship.

The Kamloops Blazers, who will host the Canadian Hockey League's championship tournament later this month, fell in six games to the Seattle Thunderbirds in the Western Hockey League's Western Conference final. The Thunderbirds and their stacked lineup will face the Winnipeg Ice, the CHL's No. 1 ranked team for much of the season, in the WHL final.

The past 13 Memorial Cup host teams have come up short in winning their league championship. The last team to do it were the 2008 Kitchener Rangers, who went on to lose to the Spokane Chiefs in the national final.

The last host team to win both their league championship and the Memorial Cup were the 2005 London Knights, arguably the best junior hockey team of all-time.

The Blazers, who dropped Game 6 on home ice Monday night, won't play again until May 26 when they host the QMJHL champions to open the tournament. Kamloops' break is significantly shorter than what the Saint John Sea Dogs went through last year after losing in the first round.

The Blazers, led by the likes of Logan Stankoven and Olen Zellweger, have a team that is certainly capable of winning the Memorial Cup on home ice. The Sea Dogs (2022), Windsor Spitfires (2017) and Shawinigan Cataractes (2012) have all done so recently as host teams - and all three missed out on playing in their league final.

The WHL final between the Thunderbirds and Ice begins Friday in Winnipeg - but not at the 1,400-seat Wayne Fleming Arena. The Ice announced Monday that their home games for the championship series will be played at the Canada Life Centre, home of the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose. Both the Jets and Moose have been eliminated from the playoffs.