Dogs sign another 2002-born d-man

QUISPAMSIS - The Saint John Sea Dogs continue to go all in on youth with their defence core.

On Sunday, the Sea Dogs announced the signing of 17-year-old defenceman Kale McCallum. The signing means Saint John will have five 2002-born players on their defence core this season in McCallum, Charlie DesRoches, Jeremie Poirier, William Villeneuve and Joona Lehmus.

“This is a special signing for the Sea Dogs," said Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie in a news release. "Kale is a very smart, talented, and mobile defenceman. He is a multi-sport athlete who gives us another quality 17-year-old blue liner to join our 2002-born nucleus. He grew up watching the Sea Dogs and his family have been Season Ticket Holders for many years. He wants to be part of what is being built right here in his backyard and win a President Cup and Memorial Cup one day. He will help us do that.”

McCallum, a Quispamsis native, spent the 2017-18 season with the Saint John Vito's before joining Rothesay Netherwood last season. He was an eighth-round pick of the Sea Dogs in 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft.

McCallum looked good in Sunday's pre-season win over the Charlottetown Islanders at the qplex and has had a strong training camp.

It will be interesting to see how Saint John's defence performs this season. They are a young and still inexperienced group - but are also extremely talented and have the potential to surpass expectations. McCallum and Lehmus will be the only two of the group without a season of experience under their belt.

Saint John's next pre-season game is this Tuesday in Bathurst against the Titan.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 6-3

FINAL: Charlottetown 3, Saint John 6

QUISPAMSIS - The Saint John Sea Dogs opened up the 2019 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pre-season with a solid victory over the Charlottetown Islanders at the Quispamsis qplex, winning 6-3.

Returning forward Alexis Belisle led the way with two goals while singles came from free agent Connor McCluskey and draft picks Charles Savoie, Charles-Antoine Dumont and Carter McCluskey.

Justin Gill, Cameron Brown and Charles-Olivier Nadeau scored for Charlottetown.

Stewart Bagnell started the game in net for the Dogs and made 10 stops on 11 shots. 2019 draft pick Justin Pace took over midway through the game and allowed two goals on 11 shots.

Isaak Pelletier and Nolan Boyd combined to made 33 saves in the Charlottetown net.

The Sea Dogs website has a full game recap.

Pre-Season Game Day 1: vs Islanders

QUISPAMSIS - The Saint John Sea Dogs open up the 2019 pre-season this afternoon at the qplex.

The Sea Dogs will face the Charlottetown Islanders today at 3 p.m. Both squads have been holding practices and scrimmages over the past few days.

This is the first of three meetings between the two squads this pre-season.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/None

Records: This is the first game of the pre-season for both teams. The Sea Dogs finished 13-49-2-4 for 32 points while the Islanders finished 40-21-4-3 for 87 points.

2018-19 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-5-0-2 against the Islanders last season while Charlottetown went 7-1-1-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Feb. 24 at Eastlink Centre where the Islanders defeated the Sea Dogs 4-3 in a shootout. Jordan Maher, Daniel Hardie and Xavier Fortin scored for Charlottetown while Saint John goals came from William Poirier, Filip Prikryl and Jeremie Jacob. Matthew Welsh made 24 saves in the win. Zachary Bouthillier made 53 stops in the loss.

Pre-season begins Sunday at qplex

QUISPAMSIS - The pre-season begins on Sunday for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs will play their first match of the 2019 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League exhibition season on Sunday against the Charlottetown Islanders. Game time is 3 p.m. at the Quispamsis qplex.

This will also be the first pre-season game for the Islanders, who finished fourth in the league's Eastern Conference last season but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

Sunday's game kicks off a busy week of action for the Sea Dogs. On Tuesday the team will travel to Bathurst to take on the Titan at the KC Irving Regional Centre. Then on Thursday, the Dogs will make their first ever visit to Dartmouth's RBC Centre where they'll take on the Halifax Mooseheads. The week wraps on Friday with a "home game" against the Mooseheads at St. Stephen's Garcelon Civic Center.

Following Friday's game, the Sea Dogs will break until Friday, Sept. 6, where they'll return to action to host the Islanders in the first QMJHL exhibition game to be held at Grand Falls' Centre E.& P. Sénéchal.

Saint John will close out the pre-season on Friday, Sept. 13 at Charlottetown's Eastlink Centre against the Isles followed by a game on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Fredericton's Aitken Centre against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

The regular season begins on Sept. 20 for the Sea Dogs where they'll host the Mooseheads at Harbour Station.

Dogs, TD announce partnership

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs made a major announcement on Wednesday morning in the Harbour Station parking lot.

The Sea Dogs and TD Bank Group confirmed a long rumoured major partnership - which includes the naming rights to Harbour Station. Interestingly, the new name of the arena was not announced nor confirmed - that will come at a later date, according to a press release.

The Sea Dogs and Harbour Station have been trying to find a naming rights partner for several years now. The failure to find a partner had/has caused some friction with the team's lease arrangement, which has been in the news some this summer.

Wednesday's announcement is good news for the Dogs, the building and the City of Saint John, who still own the building. The deal should give all sides some financial relief.

The news release states that this is a five-year sponsorship agreement, which begins this year. TD will host minor hockey practices with the Sea Dogs, deploy hockey-based community initiatives and elevate the in-game experience through music events.

It'll be interesting to see what other benefits come from the deal. Since Scotiabank purchased the naming rights to the Halifax Metro Centre, the building has undergone some extensive upgrades, which include new concessions, seats, floor and clock. Harbour Station will no doubt, at the very least, get some fresh looks.

The Sea Dogs don't play any pre-season games at Harbour Station this year. The team's first game will be the regular season opener on Friday, Sept. 20 against the Halifax Mooseheads.

Sea Dogs making "big announcement" Wednesday

SAINT JOHN - Some added excitement and intrigue has been added to the opening of Saint John Sea Dogs training camp.

In a press release sent out on Tuesday, the Sea Dogs said they'll be making a "big announcement" at 9 a.m. Here's the the release:

The Saint John Sea Dogs are gearing up for their 15th season and we’re inviting everyone to join us for a big announcement. As our players step on the ice to kick-off Training Camp 2019, we have a new off-ice teammate joining us in Saint John and we need you ready to welcome them on Wednesday, August 14th at 9:00 a.m. in the east end parking lot of Harbour Station. 

We invite our Season Ticket Members, our partners and members of the media to attend and join us in welcoming this new teammate to the Saint John Sea Dogs family. 

The Saint John Sea Dogs have been a staple of hockey in New Brunswick for 15 years and have shared unparalleled success with the community during that time. Three President Cup Championships and a 2011 Memorial Cup have been won by the Port City’s team and brought home to where they belong, right here in Saint John, NB. We’re ready to show you what’s next! 

Doors to the event will open at 8:00 a.m. with the announcement taking place at 9:00 a.m. Light refreshments and snacks will be served. This is a free event.

The first idea that comes to mind is, at long last, a naming rights deal for Harbour Station. Team president Trevor Georgie told the Telegraph-Journal that "this new sponsor has deep-rooted ties to New Brunswick and growing regional ties."

Given Georgie's comments and the fact that the Sea Dogs' graphic for this event has green text, you have to think TD might be the party involved. Frank McKenna is the obvious New Brunswick connection and the company recently opened a huge corporate office in Moncton. They also have a green logo.

The Sea Dogs and Harbour Station have been trying to find a naming rights partner for several years now, and not having the rights sold has created some issues and friction with the team's lease arrangement - which has created some press this off-season. Hopefully, if this announcement is about naming rights for the building, this resolves some of those issues and gives both sides a financial boost.

We'll get some answers tomorrow morning.