NCAA playoffs begin for ex-Dogs

Michigan Tech

The NCAA hockey conference playoffs have barely started and there's already been one upset led by a former Saint John Sea Dog.

Former Sea Dogs goaltender Charles-Edward Gravel made 47 saves to help the Mercyhurst Lakers defeat the Canisius Golden Griffins 5-2 in the single-game elimination first round of the Atlantic Hockey America playoffs on Tuesday.

The victory advances the Lakers, who finished last in the AHA regular season with a 5-18-3 record, to the quarterfinals. Mercyhurst will face the top-seeded Bentley Falcons in a best-of-three series that begins on Friday.

Out of the 63 teams in college hockey, the Lakers were ranked 62nd by the NPI rankings with an overall record of 6-26-3. Only Alaska-Anchorage was worse.

Gravel went 3-20-3 with a 3.29 goals against average and a .904 save percentage in the regular season.

A number of other conferences begin their playoffs on Friday.

In the NCHC, Matteo Mann and Colorado College will face defending national champion Western Michigan in the first round. In the CCHA, Noah Reinhart and Michigan Tech will take on Bowling Green. 

Over in the ECAC, Nate Tivey and Quinnipiac have a bye through to the quarterfinals after winning the regular season. The Bobcats are ranked seventh in the NPI.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-3

FINAL: Blainville-Boisbriand 3, Saint John 5

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs pulled off an upset win on Wednesday at TD Station.

Dylan Rozzi scored what proved to be the game-winner in the second period as the Sea Dogs defeated the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 5-3. It's the second straight loss for the Armada, who sit fourth overall in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League standings.

Rozzi scored a pair of goals while Olivier Groulx, Everett Baldwin and Angelo Fullerton also converted. Arseni Radkov had a strong performance in net, making 41 saves in the victory – including 16 in the third period.

The Sea Dogs never trailed in this game but couldn't pull away until the second period when Rozzi scored 1:01 after Baldwin, giving Saint John a 4-2 lead.

The Armada cut the lead to 4-3 at 15:23 of the third and pulled goaltender William Lacelle with 2:08 remaining. The Sea Dogs quickly took advantage with Fullerton scoring into the empty net at 18:00, making it 5-3.

The Armada heavily outshot the Sea Dogs all game with shots ending 44-22 in favour of the visitors. But the Sea Dogs, led by Radkov, were able to shutdown the Armada offense just enough – which included keeping Justin Carbonneau, the QMJHL leader in goals, to just two assists.

Torkel Jennersjo, Bill Zonnon and Mateo Nobert scored for the Armada. Lacelle made 17 stops in the loss.

The Sea Dogs have now won three of their past four games and are 2-1 under Brian Casey.

Game Day 58: vs Armada

Sebastien Gervais/Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs welcome some familiar faces to TD Station tonight.

Jacob Beaulieu, Elliot Dubé and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada make their first and only appearance of the season in Saint John. Game time is 7 p.m.

This will be the final time the Sea Dogs face a Western Conference team this season. 

Saint John will look to rebound from a tough 5-4 home loss against the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday, a loss that saw the Sea Dogs allow the game-winning goal in the final minute of the third period. The loss ended a two-game winning streak.

The Armada, who sit fourth overall in the QMJHL standings, are on a lengthy road trip that began Friday in Rimouski and continued Sunday in Charlottetown. They'll now play a three-in-three, visiting Saint John, Halifax and Moncton on consecutive nights.

Stream/TV/Radio: FloHockey/None/Sea Dogs Audio Network

Records: The Sea Dogs are 21-31-5-0 for 47 points (eighth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Armada are 35-15-5-1 for 76 points (second Western/fourth QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-4 home loss to the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday. Angelo Fullerton had two goals for Saint John while Jabez Seymour and Everett Baldwin also scored. Rafaël Courchesne made 42 saves in the loss. The Armada are coming off a 7-4 loss in Charlottetown on Sunday. Justin Carbonneau had a hat trick for Blainville-Boisbriand while Matt Gosselin also scored. William Lacelle made 24 stops in the loss.

Sea Dogs attendance on the rise

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs are poised to have their best season at the box office since before the pandemic.

With three home games remaining, the Sea Dogs are averaging 3,109 fans per game, a number that will likely increase when their home schedule concludes on March 14. The last few home games of the regular season are typically some of the most attended.

The Sea Dogs averaged 2,811 fans per game last season, which was an increase from the previous year. This will be the second straight year that Saint John's attendance has increased, a positive sign especially given that the on-ice product has continued to struggle.

As has been written about at length in recent seasons, the Sea Dogs are one of the only teams in the CHL that hasn't fully rebounded at the gate post-pandemic. The team is likely to come close to that 2019-20 average this season.

Season	Total	Average
2015-16	123,399	3,629 (4th)
2016-17	142,829	4,201 (3rd)
2017-18	144,723	4,257 (4th)
2018-19	116,511	3,427 (5th)
2019-20	107,042	3,345 (6th)*
2020-21	25,123	1,478 (3rd)**
2021-22	89,846	2,643 (5th)***
2022-23	100,536	2,957 (7th)
2023-24	93,850	2,760 (8th)
2024-25	89,948	2,811 (10th)

*Final two home games cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

**All 17 home games played under COVID-19 capacity restrictions

***Three home games played under COVID-19 capacity restrictions

Saint John's full all-time attendance figures can be found here.

The Sea Dogs currently sit sixth in league attendance, trailing Quebec (9,106), Halifax (7,952), Newfoundland (5,061), Moncton (4,863) and Chicoutimi (3,459).

While attendance at TD Station is up, winning on home ice has been a problem. The Sea Dogs have a home record of 10-17-2-0, which is the fourth worst in the QMJHL.

Saint John finished 12-20-0-0 at TD Station in 2024-25.

The Sea Dogs will be in tough on Wednesday night when they host the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, who sit fourth overall in the QMJHL standings. Saint John closes out their home schedule March 13-14 when they host the Halifax Mooseheads for a pair of games.

Saint John nearing playoff clinch

Bruno Girard/Chicoutimi Sagueneens

It's still not a guarantee, but the playoffs are very likely for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The top-16 teams in the overall Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League standings qualify for the playoffs. The Sea Dogs currently sit 15th with 47 points, which is 10 points more than the 17th-place Rimouski Oceanic (who have lost 18 straight games) and 17 points more than the last-place Baie-Comeau Drakkar (who have lost nine straight).

While it's still possible for the Sea Dogs to miss the playoffs, it is very unlikely.

Saint John has seven regular season games remaining. They're looking to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2023-24 season when they were swept by the Drummondville Voltigeurs.

The Sea Dogs have not won a playoff series since 2017 when they captured the QMJHL championship. Excluding the provincial tournament thing in 2021, Saint John has won just three playoff games during that span.

No matter who the Sea Dogs end up facing in this year's playoffs, they will be major underdogs. Here's what the playoff picture would look like if the season ended today.

Eastern Conference

1. Chicoutimi vs 8. Saint John

2. Moncton vs 7. Halifax

3. Newfoundland vs 6. Quebec

4. Charlottetown vs 5. Cape Breton

Western Conference

1. Drummondville vs 8. Gatineau

2. Blainville-Boisbriand vs 7. Victoriaville

3. Rouyn-Noranda vs 6. Val-d'Or

4. Shawinigan vs 5. Sherbrooke

Saint John is likely to remain the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, meaning they'll face either the Chicoutimi Sagueneens or Moncton Wildcats. 

The Sea Dogs, oddly enough, are 2-0 against the Sagueneens this season. Saint John beat Chicoutimi 6-5 at TD Station way back on Oct. 5 and 6-5 in overtime at Georges Vezina Centre on Dec. 11.

Against Moncton this season, the Sea Dogs are 1-6-0-0.

The Sea Dogs are back in action on Wednesday when they host the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada at 7 p.m.

Some Sunday stats

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - Everett Baldwin tied a Saint John Sea Dogs franchise record on Saturday.

Baldwin scored his 13th goal of the season in Saint John's 5-4 loss to the Charlottetown Islanders, tying the team record for most goals by a rookie defenseman in a single season.

Baldwin ties Jakub Zboril who posted 13 goals during the 2014-15 season.

In terms of points, Baldwin now has 36 on the season, tying him with Luke Green for the third most by a Sea Dogs rookie defenseman. Nicolas Bilodeau (43 points) and Radim Salda (41) still sit ahead of him.

The Sea Dogs have seven games remaining in the regular season. 

Baldwin has three goals and four assists over his past six games. Seven of his 13 goals have come since Jan. 4.

The Tampa Bay Lightning prospect is committed to Providence College for next season.