Three Dogs Make CSS List

Three Sea Dogs were listed in NHL Central Scouting’s “Player to Watch” list for the upcoming 2015 draft.

An ‘A’ indicates a first round candidate, a ‘B’ indicates a second/third round candidate, a ‘C’ indicates a fourth/fifth/sixth round candidate, and ‘LV’ indicates limited viewing.

Sea Dogs defenseman Thomas Chabot received a ‘C’ rating, Nathan Noel got a ‘B’ rating, and Jakub Zboril was given an ‘A’ rating.

Chabot has an assist in three games this season, Noel three goals and three assists in four matches, and Zboril three assists in four games.

37 QMJHL players were listed by Central Scouting. Zboril, Callum Booth, Flip Chlapik, Nicolas Roy, and Daniel Sprong were all classified as ‘A’ prospects.

Sea Dogs property Jack Eichel, currently with Boston University, was given an ‘A’ rating as well.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Tuesday News & Notes

Adam Marsh was the named the QMJHL’s third star of the week on Monday.

The 17-year old forward recorded six points this past weekend. On Friday night against Bathurst, Marsh recorded two assists in Saint John’s 5-1 victory. On Saturday in Halifax, the Chicago native was named the game’s first star with two goals and two assists.

The QMJHL rookie is tied with Nathan Noel for the Sea Dogs’ scoring lead with six points.

Shawinigan goaltender Marvin Cupper and Victoriaville forward Angelo Miceli were named the week’s first and second stars, respectively.

In other news…

• Former Sea Dogs forward Oliver Cooper has been sent back to the Charlottetown Islanders by the Colorado Avalanche. Cooper was a free agent invite to Avs rookie camp.
• The Hockey News’ Ryan Kennedy has Jakub Zboril ranked 24^th for the 2015 NHL Draft.
• The Sun Sentinel has an article on Jonathan Huberdeau.
• The Sea Dogs had a record of 145-109-4-8 under David Alward’s government. You’re welcome for that info.
• Saint John plays two home games this weekend, hosting the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday night and the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Sunday afternoon.
• It sounds like Sunday’s Sea Dogs game will be on Rogers TV. No official announcement has been made yet.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Li Reassigned To USHL

The Saint John Sea Dogs have made their decision – Jurij Siska is in and Nikita Li is out.

The Sea Dogs announced this afternoon that Li has been “reassigned” to the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The move means Siska and Jakub Zboril will be Saint John’s two import players for the season.

Li didn’t look too bad in the action he saw with the Dogs. He appeared in one regular season game – Saint John’s home opener on Friday against Bathurst – and registered one shot and two penalty minutes. In two pre-season games the Russian forward had two assists.

The Sea Dogs selected Li with the 65^th overall pick in this summer’s CHL Import Draft.

The Buccaneers open the 2014-15 USHL season on Saturday against the Fargo Force. The Bucs have some sweet promotions coming up this season.

Siska, who missed all of last year with injury, has one assist in three games. Zboril has three assists in four contests.

Saint John’s next game is on Saturday night against Halifax at Harbour Station.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

RECAP: Dogs Win 6-5 (OT)

FINAL: Saint John 6, Halifax 5 (OT)

HALIFAX – What a night for Adam Marsh.

The first year forward scored two goals and added two assists in the Saint John Sea Dogs’ 6-5 comeback win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday night at Scotiabank Centre.

Mitchell Dempsey also scored a pair while singles came from Thomas Chabot and Julien Tessier. Spencer Smallman and Nathan Noel added two assists each. Sebastien Auger made 20 saves in the win.

Connor Moynihan and Timo Meier scored two goals each for the Moose while Ryan Falkenham added a solo marker. Kevin Resop made 28 saves in the loss.

Halifax led 3-0 after the first period as the Sea Dogs got into some more penalty trouble. Falkenham, Moynihan, and Meier scored for the Moose. Shots were 12-8 in favour of the homeside.

The second period was a different story. Tessier scored just 25 seconds in as he tipped an Olivier LeBlanc shot past Resop. At 2:50, Dempsey scored on a breakaway to make it a 3-2 contest. Later on, during a power play, it appeared as though Jurij Siska had tied the game but the goal was called off due to a player being in the crease.

At 16:22, Marsh scored on a perfect wrist shot to tie things up. But, the Moose quickly responded with a goal from Meier less than two minutes later. Despite being outshot 13-4 in the frame, Halifax led 4-3 after two.

Dempsey’s second of the game 23 seconds into the third tied the match at 4-4. But once again, Halifax retook the lead a few minutes later as Moynihan completed a nice passing play. Saint John tied things up again at 13:58 as Marsh netted his second. Shots in the third were 10-9 Dogs.

In overtime, Chabot scored 1:04 in to give the Dogs a 6-5 victory.

GAMEDAY 4: at Halifax

A preview of tonight’s game between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Halifax Mooseheads…

When and where: Tonight at 7 p.m., Scotiabank Centre

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs enter action today with a 1-1-0-1 record for three points and sit fourth in the Maritimes Division and 11^th overall. The Mooseheads have a record of 1-2-0-0 for two points and sit last in the Maritimes and 15^th overall.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-1 home opening win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan last night. Nathan Noel had a pair of goals while singles came from Olivier LeBlanc, Mark Tremaine, and Mathieu Joseph. The Mooseheads fell 3-0 to the Moncton Wildcats last night in their home opener.

2013-14 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 1-7-0-0 against the Mooseheads last season while Halifax went 7-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads met on August 23 in Truro and saw the Mooseheads edge the Sea Dogs 4-3 in a shootout. Vincent Watt, Matt Murphy, and Kelly Bent all scored for Halifax while Sea Dogs goals came from Samuel Dove-McFalls, Matt Green, and Mathieu Joseph.

Random stat: The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads met three times during the pre-season. The “home” team won each game.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Mooseheads: Kelly Bent

RECAP: Dogs Win 5-1

FINAL: Bathurst 1, Saint John 5

By Lorne Webster | SN Staff

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs (1-1-1) kicked off their 2014-15 home schedule with an impressive 5-1 win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (1-2-0) in front of over 4,600 fans at Harbour Station on Friday night.

After a lovely 30 minute opening ceremony, the young Sea Dogs fed off an electric crowd and came out flying. New captain Olivier LeBlanc scored a power play goal just one minute into the game. However, just before the 5:00 mark, Mark Simpson grabbed a turnover at the Sea Dogs blue line and fed Gabriel Gosselin who stuffed the puck between Sebastien Auger's pads to tie the game at 1-1. Then, three minutes later, Mark Tremaine tipped in a Jack van Boekel point shot to put the Dogs out front 2-1. The score stayed that way for the remainder of the period and the Sea Dogs also out shot the Titan 11-4.

The Sea Dogs continued to control the play into the second period. Just before the ten-minute mark, Sam Dove-McFalls stole the puck, broke down the wing and fed a lovely pass to Mathieu Joseph for a tap in.  A little over five minutes later, Nathan Noel one timed a feed from Adam Marsh for the Dogs' second power play of the night.  aint John out shot Bathurst 12-7 and went to the locker room up 4-1.

The third period was controlled primarily by the referees, who doled out penalties like candy at Halloween. Nathan Noel scored a short handed, empty net goal with 22 seconds left to finish the scoring on the night. Bathurst had 14 shots against seven for the Dogs. But Saint John's penalty kill continued its impressive start to the season by killing all 10 Titan power plays.