DIDO DEALT TO BLACKHAWKS

Late Wednesday night, a former star Sea Dog saw his rights traded in a major National Hockey League transaction.

Chris DiDomenico, drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 2007 NHL draft, was traded to Chicago in a deal that saw the Leafs acquire Chris Versteeg. There were several other pieces involved in the deal as well.

From a Maple Leafs press release:

Brian Burke, president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, announced a multi-player trade with the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday evening. The Maple Leafs have obtained right-winger Kris Versteeg and the rights to left-winger Bill Sweatt (pronounced SWEHT). In exchange, the Blackhawks will receive forwards Viktor Stalberg, Chris DiDomenico and Philippe Paradis.


In the post-season, DiDomenico has 19 goals and 56 assists in 43 games. That includes a league championship with the Voltigeurs in 2009, a Final that saw him severely break his leg by going feet first into the end boards.

The Woodstock, Ontario came back to play in the post-season with Drummondville last year before the squad bowed out in the semi-finals against the Moncton Wildcats. He is expected to will likely play in the American Hockey League next year.

DiDomenico is famously known across the land for his work with the gold medal winning 2009 Canadian national junior team.

The center is the first Sea Dog to ever be dealt in a NHL trade.DiDomenico recorded 90 goals and 161 assists in 203 career QMJHL games. He played three-and-a-half seasons in Saint John before being traded to Drummondville at the 2009 trade deadline.

HOFFMAN'S JOURNEY GETTING LOTS OF ATTENTION AT SENATORS CAMP

Mike Hoffman has been an underdog his entire career. But even if he is long shot to make the National Hockey League’s Ottawa Senators this season, he will accept it.

"If I'm not ready to make that jump (up to the National Hockey League), I don't want to make that jump and just be sitting on the bench or not playing," said Hoffman to NHL.com.

"I've got to get bigger and stronger, put on some weight and battle more," admitted Hoffman, who is more than willing to start his pro career in the American Hockey League with the Binghamton Senators.

The now-former Saint John Sea Dog standout is attending the Senators’ Development Camp for the second straight year after being selected by the club with the 130th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

But Hoffman went undrafted his first time around, which allowed him to rip up the QMJHL in 2008-09 with the league champion Drummondville Voltigeurs.

“I was a late bloomer growing up, and I didn't develop as quickly as most guys did, so it just took me a little time to catch up to them," said Hoffman to the Ottawa Citizen, one of 30 players attending the Senators' development camp, that runs through Friday.

"Maybe if I got picked in my actual draft year, maybe it would have only been late in the seventh round," he said. "But waiting and coming back, and having another good year as a 19-year-old (in 2008-09) helped out."

With 46 goals last season, the Kitchener native broke Saint John’s single season goal record. He added 39 assists in his 56 regular season games.

"That's my job on the ice, that's what I have to do," Hoffman said when asked about the offensive numbers he produced in his final two seasons of junior hockey. "I'm a points guy and I have to put the puck in the net. If I'm not doing that, I'm not on my game ... That's my type of game and if I'm going to succeed in the future at the professional level, that's what I'm going to do."

His remarkable and unique story is getting a lot of attention at Senators camp. Not drafted into the Ontario Hockey League, Hoffman was signed by the Gatineau Olympiques and eventually picked up by Drummondville. He was then an integral part of a blockbuster deal that saw him end up in Saint John last year. With some hard times behind him, Hoffman has become a legitimate NHL prospect.

"Tremendous offensive talent. Tremendous offensive upside," said Pierre Dorion, the Senators' director of player personnel. "He really snaps the puck really hard and has the ability to score, and he's got NHL speed. He's just got to compete more on a consistent basis."

The 20-year is not projected to make the Sens this year.

The Senators are hosting a five-on-five scrimmage tonight at the Bell Sensplex beginning at 7:30 ADT. Hoffman will play on Team Black with Bobby Butler, Mike Clemente (G), Corey Cowick, Eric Gryba, Taylor Nelson (G), Jim O’Brien, Michael Sdao, Marcus Sorensen, Mark Stone, Shawn Szydowski, Chris Wideman, and Patrick Wiercioch.

DALLAS INVITES KIRKPATRICK

Despite going undrafted, Michael Kirkpatrick still has a chance at fulfilling his National Hockey League dream.

That dream could take a step forward this week as the Saint John Sea Dogs center was invited to the Dallas Stars’ development camp yesterday.

The daily schedule includes both on- and off-ice workouts, and all on-ice practice sessions are open to the public and will be held at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas. According to a Stars press release, the session will feature “over 30 of its top prospects.”

The camp begins this Thursday, July 1 and ends on Wednesday, July 7.

Kirkpatrick attended Minnesota Wild rookie camp last fall after a breakout 2008-09 campaign that saw him lead the Sea Dogs in scoring. Despite his efforts, he has gone undrafted in the NHL Draft both this year and last.
Last season, the North Sydney native scored 29 goals and added 54 helpers in 67 games, improving his point total from the previous season by 19. In the playoffs, the third year Sea Dog registered 15 goals and 16 assists in 21 games.

All-time, Kirkpatrick has 77 goals and 92 assists in 203 career QMJHL games. He also played with the league all-star team at the 2009 Subway Super Series.

To view the full schedule for the camp, click HERE.

To view the full roster for the camp, click HERE.

OLIVER-DARES INVITED TO U-17 CAMP

A 2010 Saint John Sea Dogs third round draft pick has been invited to Hockey Canada's Atlantic Centre of Excellence Summer Evaluation Camp for Team Atlantic U-17 , which will run from July 11th-15th, 2010 at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Devon Oliver-Dares, drafted 54th overall by Saint John in this past month’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft, was one of 44 players invited to the summer camp. Of those players, twenty-two will be selected over the coming months to be part of the squad which will compete in the 2011 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Winnipeg, Manitoba from December 29th, 2010 - January 4th, 2011.

Team Atlantic will be joined at the event by four other Canadian regional teams and five international delegations.

Team Atlantic's final roster is expected to be announced in November.

With their second pick of the draft, Saint John selected the Dartmouth Subways forward. With the Subways last year, the 5’10”, 175 lbs Olivier-Dares recorded 18 goals and 22 assists in just 30 games played. Olivier-Dares was ranked by QMJHL Central Scouting to go in the middle of the third round.

Greg Leland, the Sea Dogs’ Hockey Administration Coordinator, is the Head Coach of Team Atlantic. His assistants are Stephane Leblanc and Doug Jackman.

“With the top 44 players in our region of Canada able to participate in a highly competitive environment, it should prove to be a terrific opportunity for these elite athletes to be challenged amongst their peers," said Leland in a release.

Last year’s U-17 team finished seventh with a record of 1-3-1 while playing in Timmons, Ontario. The squad featured Sea Dog Aiden Kelly and Saint John’s first round pick in June’s Entry Draft - Ryan Tesink.

Team Atlantic’s best finish came in 2005, when an entry featuring James Sheppard (Minnesota Wild, NHL), Brad Marchand (Boston Bruins, NHL), Alex Grant (Wilkes-Barre Penguins, AHL), Andrew Bodnarchuk (Providence Bruins, AHL), and Robert Slaney (Toronto Marlies, AHL) captured bronze in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Oliver-Dares joins Jonathan Huberdeau and Simon Despres as Sea Dogs who will be attending Team Canada evaluation camps.

To view the full roster and Sea Dogs press release, click HERE.

Some moving pictures of Oliver-Dares’ work after the jump.

DOGS PASS ON IMPORT DRAFT

By Bert Richardson
Station Nation Staff

As expected, the Saint John Sea Dogs were silent on Canadian Hockey League Import Draft day.

The Port City squad passed on both of their picks. The first was 54th overall and the second was at 114th overall. With such low picks, there was likely a small market in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to trade either of the selections.

Saint John was one of only two teams to pass on a pick in round one. The other team was our good friends located in Moncton.

Each team in the CHL is permitted to carry two European Import players each season. These players are selected annually at the Import Draft, with the order of selection rotating through each of the three leagues in the CHL using an inverse order of their final regular season standings from the 2009-10 season.

With solid imports Stanislav Galiev and Tomas Jurco already on board for next year, the Sea Dogs had no choice but to skip on their picks. The Wildcats are expected to have Sea Dog killer Marek Hrivik back next season and, who knows, maybe even Kirill Kabanov will show up for a game or two.

The Prince George Cougars selected defenseman Martin Marincin with the first overall pick. The first QMJHL team to pick, the Halifax Mooseheads, took Czech forward Martin Frk third overall.

To view the full list of selections, click HERE.

With that, all expected off-season events are now completed. The Sea Dogs will likely (as they have done in season's past) kick off the 2010-11 campaign on August 1 with their marketing and season ticket launch. Training camp is set to start a few weeks later.

DOGS NOT EXPECTED TO PICK TODAY

The Canadian Hockey League Import Draft begins this morning at 10:00 am ADT as all 60 teams from across the country will select up to two players as the day goes on.

Each team in the CHL is permitted to carry two European Import players each season. These players are selected annually at the Import Draft, with the order of selection rotating through each of the three leagues in the CHL using an inverse order of their final regular season standings from the 2009-10 season.

The Western Hockey League’s Prince George Cougars currently hold the number one selection in the 2010 CHL Import Draft followed by the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Halifax Mooseheads.

Metro Halifax, in partnership with International Scouting Services, created a list of five of the top prospects expected to go early in this morning’s action. Martin Frk, Victor Rask, Nicklas Jensen, Joel Armia, and Sondre Olden are all listed as possible top five picks.

The Saint John Sea Dogs will likely not select in today’s draft with two impact imports already on their roster in Stanislav Galiev and Tomas Jurco. Teams can either trade their pick or choose not to use at all. With Saint John scheduled to make their first selection at 7:20 pm with the 54th overall pick, there likely will be no market for the pick. Thier second selection is 114th overall.

The Dogs were in the spotlight of last year’s event, selecting first and fourth overall.

It was announced in the Telegraph-Journal the same morning that the team would take Russian forward Stanislav Galiev with the first overall pick. The Sea Dogs would then select 16-year old Slovakian Tomas Jurco fourth overall.

Galiev recorded 15 goals and 45 assists in 67 regular season games and added another eight markers and 11 helpers in 21 playoff matches. Along with playing the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, the right winger was selected by the Washington Capitals in the third round of this past weekend’s NHL Entry Draft.

Jurco, already a top prospect for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, recorded a team rookie record 26 goals in 64 games while adding another 25 assists. In the post-season, Jurco scored seven goals and recorded 11 assists.

Despite both players having an impact last season, the majority of fans were confused  with the fact that Saint John did not take the highly touted Kirill Kabanov. The troubled Russian would be selected by Moncton with the seventh overall pick – beginning an epic soup opera that took place all year.

The Mooseheads are expected to take a skilled forward who can score goals with their first pick. The Herd finished dead last in the league last year and at the bottom of the circuit in goals scored.

Yahoo! Sports “Buzzing The Net” has several items to watch for today.

For pick-by-pick results, visit the CHL website.