Recap: Sea Dogs tie 1-1

FINAL: Saint John 1, Moncton 1

MONCTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs opened the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League pre-season with a 1-1 tie against the Moncton Wildcats on Tuesday.

Free agent forward Dax Vader scored Saint John's lone goal, which came in the second period. Free agent netminder Rhett Stoesser allowed a goal on 21 shots in the first half of the game while returnee Eric Young stopped all 22 shots he faced in the second half.

The Wildcats outplayed the Sea Dogs in the first period, leading 1-0 on a Simon Binkley goal. Shots were 18-12 in favour of the Wildcats.

The Sea Dogs were able to turn things up a notch in the second period, leading to Vader's goal. Much of the offensive pressure on the night was produced by the top line of Natan Éthier, Alexis Gauthier and Brayden Campbell.

After a scoreless third period, the game headed to an entertaining overtime period with both teams having a few good chances. The game didn't go to a shootout, instead ending in a 1-1 tie.

Shots ended 44-39 in favour of the Wildcats.

Sea Dogs make first roster moves

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

MONCTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs have made their first roster moves of training camp.

The following players were released on Tuesday.

Forwards 

Bryce Cunningham 

Ben Cross

Carter McIllwraith 

Defensemen 

Frederick Bourque 

Joshua Henry

Goaltender

Vladislav Bryzgalov

The Sea Dogs noted that overage forward Ben Cross left for personal reasons. He was on the team's training camp roster but didn't play in scrimmages. Cross recorded 11 goals and 13 assists in 60 games with Saint John last season.

Overagers still on Saint John's training camp roster include forwards Christopher Barlas, Mitchell Wagner, Natan Éthier and Angelo Fullerton along with goaltenders Rhett Stoesser and Eric Young. Wagner remains out with an injury.

Cunningham (free agent), McIllwraith (free agent), Bourque (2024 QMJHL Entry Draft), Henry (2024 QMJHL Entry Draft) and Bryzgalov (free agent) were all long shots to make the team. Henry appeared in one game with the Sea Dogs last season.

56 players remain on the team's training camp roster. An updated roster can be viewed here.

The Sea Dogs begin pre-season play Tuesday night in Moncton. They also face the Wildcats on Wednesday in St. Stephen.

Pre-Season Game Day 1: at Moncton

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

MONCTON - The 2025 Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League pre-season begins tonight for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Tonight's match against the Moncton Wildcats at Avenir Centre will be the first of seven pre-season games for the Sea Dogs. Four of those games will be played this week.

Game time tonight in Moncton is 7 p.m.

There are a number of battles for open roster spots, making this Sea Dogs pre-season an interesting one. Particular areas of interest include forward depth, the defense core and the goaltending spots, all of which could be influenced by the next few games.

The Sea Dogs held a few scrimmages and an intrasquad game over the past couple days in preparation for the pre-season. Saint John has a large group of players at camp this year and, given the number of games in a short period of time, you have to assume a lot of them will be making appearances over the next few days.

Radio/TV/Stream: None/None/Unsure

Pre-Season Records: This is the first game of the pre-season for both clubs.

2024-25 records: The Sea Dogs finished 21-43-0-0 for 42 points (sixth Maritimes/10th Eastern/17th QMJHL) last season while the Wildcats were 53-9-2-0 for 108 points (first Maritimes/first Eastern/first QMJHL).

2024-25 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-6-0-0 against the Wildcats last season while Moncton went 6-1-1-0.

Last meeting: March 15 at Avenir Centre where the Wildcats defeated the Sea Dogs 8-0. Alex Mercier had a hat trick for Moncton while singles came from Julius Sumpf, Maxime Cote, Juraj Pekarcik, Gabe Smith and Caleb Desnoyers. Mathis Rousseau stopped all 17 shots he faced in the win. Eric Young and Justin Robinson split the loss in net.

Scrimmages, intrasquad come to a close

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN – The first few days of Saint John Sea Dogs training camp concluded with an intrasquad game on Monday night at TD Station.

In a game that featured almost exclusively players that are new to the organization or have little experience, Team Thomas (white) defeated Team Smallman (blue) 11-4. After a back-and-forth first period, Team Thomas really took the game over in the final two periods.

Here's a look at the scoring summary.

First Period

Goaltenders: Thomas - Rhett Stoesser; Smallman - Vladislav Bryzgalov

1-0 - Smallman Goal - Patryk Zubek

1-1 - Thomas Goal - Alexis Gauthier

2-1 - Smallman Goal - Nolann Héroux

3-1 - Smallman Goal - Nolann Héroux

3-2 - Thomas Goal - Angelo Fullerton

3-3 - Thomas Goal - Natan Éthier

4-3 - Thomas Goal - Alexander Donovan

Second Period

Goaltenders: Thomas - Anthony Alessi; Smallman - Rafaël Courchesne

5-3 - Thomas Goal - Josh Frenette

6-3 - Thomas Goal - Angelo Fullerton

Third Period

Goaltenders: Thomas - Sam Pitcher; Smallman - Jase MacPherson

7-3 - Thomas Goal - Kabir Shahi (PP)

8-3 - Thomas Goal - Bryce Cunningham

9-3 - Thomas Goal - Josh Frenette

10-3 - Thomas Goal - Alexis Gauthier

10-4 - Smallman Goal - Everett Baldwin

11-4 - Thomas Goal - Angelo Fullerton

The Sea Dogs begin pre-season play on Tuesday night when they visit the Moncton Wildcats. The two will also meet Wednesday in St. Stephen and Friday in Fredericton.

Training camp set to begin

SAINT JOHN – It's that time.

Saint John Sea Dogs training camp really kicks off Sunday at TD Station with the first scrimmages taking place. As discussed previously, this is probably one of the most intriguing camps in the team's history given where they are at in the rebuild cycle and the NCAA rule change factor.

Up front, there are quite a few spots presumably already locked in. There are definitely a few spots still up for grabs though, which will create for an interesting pre-season. Saint John has some very skilled forwards both returning and making their debuts – but it's a group that is still a bit young. I'm keeping an eye on a few things up front:

• Of the young forwards, who is ready to take a big step this season and really make an impact?
• Who will grab the spots near the bottom of the forward group typically reserved for the grinder and defensive types?
• Can Saint John find the right mix of forwards to really get the offense clicking?

The backend is fascinating because we could see a nearly complete overhaul. There are going to be a few tough calls here, which will make for a competitive camp. While the 48 hour NCAA rule is gone, you have to wonder if there may be some guys who choose to leave simply because they're not going to get the ice time they want. Could we see some trades? This will be interesting to watch.

The goaltending spots seem to be wide open, and it feels like there is a chance anyone could step up and win a job. While many of these goaltenders have interesting resumes, only a few have CHL experience. Saint John's No. 1 goaltender might be in this group, but you also have to assume the team is keeping an eye out for potential options elsewhere as well.

Here are a few additional notes on Saint John's camp roster.

Notebook: Hlinka bronze for Team Canada

Hockey Canada

Team Canada is coming home with a bronze medal from this year's Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Canada fell 4-3 in a shootout to the United States in Friday's semifinal, forcing them into the bronze medal match. Canada edged Finland 3-0 on Saturday to claim the third-place spot.

The US defeated Sweden 5-3 to win gold.

Team Canada's lineup included Sea Dogs defenseman Cameron Chartrand. Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Travis Crickard was behind the bench as an associate coach.

Thomas Rousseau of the Sherbrooke Phoenix was the only other QMJHL player on the team.

Fredericton native Tynan Lawrence of the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks posted a goal and two assists in five games.

SEARS COMMITS

16-year-old forward Finnegan Sears has committed to Boston College for the 2027-28 season.

Sears was a sixth-round pick of the Sea Dogs in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft. He's the only member of Saint John's 2025 draft class not slated to attend training camp.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Boston College has received a commitment from 5 ⭐️ recruit Finn Sears. The Massachusetts native is the No. 9 ranked player in the US & was recently named to the U17 NTDP. Sears had 53 points in 28 games last season with Three Rivers School.

BC is on the board! pic.twitter.com/uwGPdqYlYZ

— Puck Preps (@PuckPreps) August 15, 2025

The Massachusetts native is committed to play with the USNTDP this season. He posted 22 goals and 31 assists in 28 games at The Rivers School last season.