Sea Dogs Notebook

UP NEXT

The Sea Dogs are on the road again this weekend. First, they travel to Sydney to take on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles tomorrow night at 7pm. Then on Sunday they travel to Bathurst to battle the Titan in an afternoon tilt.

Saint John, 10-11-0-0 on the season, is three points ahead of Cape Breton the QMJHL standings and two points back of Bathurst. This should be an interesting couple games.

The Dogs return home next weekend to take on the Screaming Eagles on Saturday, November 24 and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar on Sunday, November 25.

GALIEV

Well, that didn’t take long. 24 hours after being assigned to the ECHL’s Reading Royals, former Sea Dog Stanislav Galiev was back in Hershey for Bears practice today.

"The immediate thought was to get him to a mid-week game," Bears coach Mark French told PennLive.com. "With the proximity to Reading and them being at home, it made sense to put him in the lineup there and bring him back for practice. We haven't thought any further than that.”

Galiev had two shots in Reading’s 2-1 overtime victory over the Elmira Jackals last night. It’ll be interesting to see what happens from here.

“Wonder if Galiev would have stayed in Reading longer if Royals weren't about to travel to Cincy and Evansville,” tweeted Royals beat writer Jason Guarente. “ECHL could be good for him.”

Russian Machine Never Breaks also has an article on the Galiev assignment to ‘AA.’

The 20-year old has an assist in nine games with the AHL's Bears this season.

PINK

The QMJHL raised a lot of money for breast cancer research again this year.

"Our 18 teams did a remarkable job again this year to raise money and awarness towards the fight against breast cancer. I am very proud to announce that we have raised a record amount of $139,444,” said commissioner Gilles Courteau in a release.

"More than 400 pink jerseys worn by the players and developed by our official supplier, Reebok/CCM, and their partners in this endeavour, SP Apparel, was sold with the proceeds being distributed to local, regional or national organizations dedicated to the fight against breast cancer. I would like to congratulate our teams for their excellent work and thank our great fans for their generosity."

THOMAS

Former Sea Dogs captain Mike Thomas has been released by his Newfoundland senior league team.

“It wasn’t an easy phone call to make. I’ve only known him for two months, but I felt like I’ve known him a lifetime,” Conception Bay North Eastlink CeeBee Stars head coach Corey Crocker told The Telegram.

The reason for Thomas being cut?

“Mike was true to our team, a great team player, but our need right now is another defenceman,” said Crocker.

The Mess That Is The CHLPA

By Andrew McGilligan

SN Staff

You have no one to blame but yourselves.

If the people running the proposed Canadian Hockey League Players Association (CHLPA) want to know what went wrong in their attempt to unionize junior hockey players, they need to look no further than the mirror.

Missteps would be the polite way of putting it. A series of disasters, each more easily avoidable than the last is probably closer in approximation. The errors in judgement on the part of the CHLPA were such that Canadian Hockey League (CHL) commissioner David Branch probably didn’t need to get involved in squashing the proposed union (he did anyways).

All of this has detracted from the union’s goal of improving the education packages players receive as compensation for their time playing in one of the three leagues that compose the CHL.

So with its name sullied and its potential to get players unionized all but gone, what does the CHLPA do? It tries to highjack the Stanley Cup and award it to a CHL team based on an illogical format.

It’s unclear who advises the CHLPA in terms of its moves (the likely guess, given the bizarre moves, would be no one), but they should be relieved of their duties. If the CHLPA is serious about helping players and improving education packages, here are a few suggestions.

• Stay on topic: No more getting sidetracked with trying to award the Stanley Cup or any other trophy. The goal of the CHLPA is to improve education packages, so stick with that message. Do not get sidetracked with other foolishness such as feuds with people on twitter.
• Don’t just say it, show it: The CHLPA has stated it doesn’t believe the current rules surrounding education packages are fair. They cite problems such as the 12-18 month limit in accessing the education funds and the limiting of institutions in which the players can use the money. This is all well and good, but providing actual examples of how the current policies have failed players would dramatically strengthen the argument. Brett Morrison had some trouble with the QMJHL education packages which highlight concerns regarding trades of players and education requirements while playing in the league. This can all be found with a simple Google search. Morrison is one example, track down some more and you’ll have a strong case to present to current players and the public.
• Transparency: Obviously there have been some issues with who is behind the union, etc. Branch has effectively used the CHLPA’s secrecy to paint it as a shadowy organization and it worked. Your website needs to list everyone involved, their roles and how to contact them directly. The excuse of people working for the cause part-time is not good enough. By doing this, the CHL can no longer claim it doesn’t want to sit down for a meeting because it doesn’t know who the CHLPA is. Take away the stumbling block and it will either force the CHL to meet with you or explain why they don’t want to discuss issues relevant to improving a player’s experience.

This is just a short list, but the CHLPA has to make some drastic changes. If you want to be taken seriously, then act professionally, otherwise all the work done in pursuit of what appears to be a noble cause is wasted.

Galiev Assigned To ECHL Reading

Stanislav Galiev’s pro hockey career has gotten off to a bit of a rough start.

The former Saint John Sea Dogs forward has just one assist in nine American Hockey League games with the Hershey Bears this season. According to PennLive.com, Galiev had been a healthy scratch in three straight games before playing on Sunday.

This afternoon it was announced that the talented Russian forward had been assigned to the East Coast Hockey League’s Reading Royals, the ‘AA’ affiliate of the Washington Capitals. The Royals website has him listed on their lineup sheet for tonight’s game against Maxime Clermont and the Elmira Jackals.

For some perspective on this, we turn to some tweets from Corey Pronman, the wise man who writes for HockeyProspectus.com.

Sea Dogs Notebook

OVI

Saw this at Cleve’s Source for Sports over the weekend. Looking good, Ovechkin cut-out.

LONG

Sea Dogs president Wayne Long was a guest on CBC Radio’s Information Morning last week. He talks about the team’s first quarter of the season, Jonathan Huberdeau/trade deadline, and other things. Listen to that HERE.

COYLE

Gone Puck Wild does a great job at re-evaluating the trade that brought former Sea Dogs forward Charlie Coyle from the San Jose Sharks to the Minnesota Wild.

“Regardless of where Coyle ends up playing the rest of this season, one thing is certain; the Minnesota Wild have a bright, young star on their hands and while it cost them a great d-man to get him,  the trade that brought Charlie Coyle to Minnesota is one that they’ll be glad they made,” writes Derek Stykalo.  “Not only potentially for this season, but for many more to come.”

Coyle has seven goals and three assists in 14 games with the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros this season.

BLB

A Habs Eyes on the Prize blogger made the trip to Blainville-Boisbriand on Sunday to see the Armada take on the Sea Dogs. They recap their game experience.

“I didn't really count scoring chances or possession, but by eyeballing it and confirming with the shot clock, I'd be comfortable saying that the Armada fired 30 more shots through the course of the game than the Sea Dogs,” Andrew Berkshire. “The teams didn't look so much like they were at the opposite ends of a league's standings, it looked like they belonged in different leagues.”

Well that’s nice to hear.

AROUND TOWN

The Sea Dogs will be out in the community today. From their Facebook page:

It is a big community day for the Sea Dogs! First, #27 Oliver Cooper and #24 MacKenzie Brown will be at McDonalds in the North End from 5 pm - 6 pm signing autographs! 

Also #16 Andreas Tsogkas and #37 Stephen Anderson will be visiting the Shannex complex in Quispamsis tonight from 5:30-6:30 pm! 

Come and meet your Sea Dogs today!

Cool.

Remember Them?

Here are a few tidbits on some former Saint John Sea Dogs...

• The Houston Aeros recalled former Sea Dog Nick Petersen on Monday. According to the Aeros website, “Petersen leads the (ECHL’s Orlando) Solar Bears in scoring with 19 points, posting eight goals and 11 assists in 14 games with Orlando. He is currently fourth in the ECHL in points and tied for ninth in assists.” Petersen was in the Houston lineup this afternoon against San Antonio, a game the Aeroes won 7-5. Charlie Coyle and Zack Phillips also played.
• Speaking of Coyle, his hot start is continuing with the Aeros. He now has seven goals and three assists in 14 games. He is 10^th in American Hockey League rookie scoring.
• The Milwaukee Admirals called up Charles-Olivier Roussel yesterday. In eight ECHL games with the Cincinnati Cyclones, the former Sea Dogs defenseman has a goal and two assists. The Ads return to action on Friday against the Oklahoma City Barons.
• How about Scott Oke (pictured)? The former Sea Dogs forward is 19^th overall in QMJHL scoring with 10 goals and 17 assists in 21 games with the Rimouski Oceanic this season. The Sea Dogs traded Oke, the rights to Maxime Gravel, and a third round pick to the Oceanic for a first and seventh round pick.
• Ex-Sea Dogs defenseman Gabriel Bourret is also having a pretty solid season offensively with the Gatineau Olympiques. Bourret has two goals and 11 assists in 19 games.
• In the most lopsided hockey game I have ever watched live, former Sea Dogs goaltender Travis Fullerton made six saves in a 6-1 UNB Varsity Reds win over the St. Thomas Tommies last Friday. UNB outshot STU 28-1 through 40 minutes and 45-7 overall. UNB probably had another 45 shots go wide of the net or were blocked.

Sea Dogs back in action on Friday in Cape Breton.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 1, Armada 8

A collection of recaps from yesterday’s 8-1 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada…

Our recap. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes you have to play the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada on the backend of a three-in-three road trip.

Le Nord Info’s recap. The Armada scored a lot of goals.

Sports Du Nord’s recap. The first period was close!

The Canadian Press' recap. At Boisbriand, Que., Danick Martel had three goals and an assist and Marcus Hinds scored twice as the Armada (15-5-2) crushed Saint John (10-11-0), which has dropped back-to-back contests.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs were playing in their third game in as many nights and fell to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 8-1 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Sunday.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Benjamin Hade, Matthew Highmore, Mackenzie Brown, Pierre Durepos, Spencer Smallman, Michael Mastrangelo, and Jurij Repe on Sunday afternoon.

According to News 88.9, Michael Mastrangelo received a two-game suspension for his fight on Saturday night. Jurij Repe was out with an “upper body injury” that he suffered in the first period of Saturday’s game.

Jason Seed and Jakub Izacky – who were both hurt on Friday in Sherbrooke and did not play on Saturday – returned to the Saint John lineup.