Monday, March 18, 2024

Three games to go in playoff race

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
It's shaping up to be quite a finish for the QMJHL's final playoff spot.

With three regular season games remaining, the Saint John Sea Dogs and Quebec Remparts are in a race for the 16th and final playoff position. Both teams have 46 points but Saint John owns the tiebreaker, meaning if the regular season ended right now, the Sea Dogs would get in.

Here's the upcoming schedule for both clubs and their record this season against each opponent.

Saint John: Wednesday vs Moncton (1-7-0-0), Friday vs Halifax (2-3-1-0), Saturday vs Halifax (2-3-1-0)

Quebec: Wednesday vs Blainville-Boisbriand (1-2-0-0), Friday at Rimouski (0-5-1-0), Saturday vs Rimouski (0-5-1-0)

Again, both teams have 46 points and Quebec can't catch Saint John in the tiebreaker (regulation wins plus overtime wins, which are 18-14 in favour of the Sea Dogs). So Saint John just needs to match Quebec in points to get in.

How will this all shake down? Quebec's game on Wednesday feels like the Remparts' best chance to earn a point a two. They're winless against the Oceanic this season and Rimouski is still fighting for playoff positioning in the middle of the Eastern Conference. Both weekend games could have meaning for Rimouski.

The biggest wildcard for Saint John is what the Halifax Mooseheads opt to do on the weekend. The Moose already know their first playoff opponent (Bathurst) and the weekend games could mean very little to nothing for them. Will they opt to rest some regulars? That could open the door for Saint John if they're in need of a point or two.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

UNB completes undefeated season with University Cup title

CBC Sports
The UNB Reds completed a dominant, undefeated season with a national championship on Sunday.

UNB defeated the UQTR Patriotes 4-0 in the championship game of the 2024 University Cup at Toronto's Mattamy Athletic Centre. It's the second straight national title for the Reds and the 10th in school history.

There's no question that this year's UNB team will go down as one of the greatest university teams of all-time. The Reds went 30-0 in regular season play, swept their way through the Atlantic University Sport playoffs and then went 3-0 at nationals. To add to the dominance, they didn't allow a single goal at the University Cup, outscoring opponents 15-0 over three games.
UNB has not lost a game — exhibition, regular season or playoff — in over a calendar year.

The Reds include former Sea Dogs defenseman Kale McCallum, forward Nick Blagden and, of course, head coach Gardiner MacDougall, who once again proved to be the master of the short tournament.

MacDougall has been behind the bench for nine of UNB's 10 national championships. Former Sea Dogs head coach Mike Kelly led UNB to their first national title in 1998.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 8-4

FINAL: Charlottetown 4, Saint John 8
Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs moved back into a playoff spot on Sunday at TD Station.

The Sea Dogs made the most of their scoring chances in an 8-4 win over the Charlottetown Islanders. The victory gives Saint John 46 points on the season and moves them into a tie with the Quebec Remparts for the QMJHL's 16th and final playoff spot — but Saint John owns the first tiebreaker.

Shots in the game were 45-24 and the Sea Dogs weathered a few storms from the Islanders in the win. Patrick Leaver, who also started Saturday night's game in Charlottetown, once again made some key stops in the victory.

Tyler Peddle and Drew Elliott each scored a pair of goals for Saint John while singles came from Nico Laforge, Brody Fournier, Jacob Beaulieu and Matteo Mann. The Sea Dogs, who were without Eriks Mateiko again, finally got their secondary scoring rolling.

Simon Hughes, Ross Campbell and Kyle Powers scored for Charlottetown. Carter Bickle was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 11 shots. Aksels Ozols allowed three goals on 12 shots in relief.

The Sea Dogs led 2-0 after one despite getting outshot 17-7. Laforge scored a weird goal from the corner that fooled Bickle and then, with 32 seconds remaining, Fournier scored on an odd man rush while shorthanded.

Saint John continued to make the most of their opportunities in the second period. Beaulieu made it 3-0 at 10:37 and then, just 11 seconds later, Elliott scored following a turnover behind the Charlottetown net to chase Bickle from the game.

Ozols, who played in Saturday's Islanders win over the Sea Dogs, didn't fare much better in net. At 14:55, Peddle entered the zone, kept the puck and slid a backhand shot under the Charlottetown netminder to make it 5-0 Saint John.

Hughes got the Islanders on the board at 16:28 of the second and then the Islanders scored two quick goals in the third to make it a 5-3 game. At 5:08 of the third, Peddle ripped a shot over the shoulder of Ozols to stop some of the Charlottetown momentum and give Saint John a three-goal lead again.

After exchanging power play goals to make it 7-4, the Islanders pulled their netminder with over six minutes remaining. Elliott finally found the empty net at 16:23, making it an 8-4 final.

Game Day 65: vs Islanders

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will once again try and sneak back into a playoff spot today.

The Quebec Remparts, who currently own the QMJHL's 16th and final playoff spot, lost 5-0 to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar yesterday. A win by the Sea Dogs this afternoon would push them into a tie with the Remparts with 46 points. Saint John currently holds the tiebreaker, which would push them into 16th.

Following today's action, both the Sea Dogs and Remparts will have three regular season games remaining.

Saint John will face the Charlottetown Islanders today at 3 p.m. at TD Station. The two met last night at Eastlink Centre in a game that the Isles controlled for the most part — but there were some glimpses from Saint John. We'll see what they can do in this one.

TV/Radio/Stream: None/Sea Dogs Radio/CHL TV

2023-24 regular season records: The Sea Dogs are 18-38-5-3 for 44 points (sixth Maritimes/10th Eastern/17th QMJHL) while the Islanders are 25-32-5-2 for 57 points (fifth Maritimes/eighth Eastern/14th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs and Islanders met last night in Charlottetown where the Isles won 6-2. Cole Huckins, William Shields, Ross Campbell, Simon Hughes, Matthew Butler and Alexis Michaud all scored for Charlottetown. Tyler Peddle and Brody Fournier scored for Saint John. Aksels Ozols made 23 saves in the win. Patrick Leaver made 38 stops in the loss.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

UNB, UQTR advance to gold medal game

Curtis Martin/TMU Bold Athletics
It'll be a classic gold medal matchup between university hockey powerhouses at the 2024 University Cup.

The No.1 seeded UNB Reds and the No. 2 seeded UQTR Patriotes will meet at 6 p.m. Atlantic in the national championship game in Toronto. UNB won last year's University Cup title while UQTR won in 2022.

The Reds will be looking for their 10th national championship while the Patriotes will be looking for their sixth.

After going 30-0 in regular season play and sweeping their way through the Atlantic University Sport playoffs, it's been a smooth ride at nationals for the Reds. UNB beat Brock 4-0 in Thursday's quarterfinal and then hammered the host TMU Bold 7-0 in Saturday afternoon's semifinal.

Former Sea Dogs defenseman Kale McCallum had a goal in UNB's win over TMU. The Reds also feature former Sea Dogs forward Nick Blagden and head coach Gardiner MacDougall.
A win by UNB on Sunday — which would complete the perfect season — would certainly put this year's team in the conversation (if they're not there already) for the best in U Sports history.

UQTR, this year's OUA champions, beat UdeM 5-1 in the quarterfinals and then edged McGill 5-4 in a close semifinal contest. 

Sunday morning/afternoon's bronze medal game will feature former Sea Dogs William Poirier and McGill taking on Kevin Gursoy and TMU.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 6-2

FINAL: Saint John 2, Charlottetown 6
Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
CHARLOTTETOWN - The Saint John Sea Dogs came up short in their final road game of the regular season.

The Charlottetown Islanders had points from 10 different players in a 6-2 victory over the Sea Dogs on Saturday at Eastlink Centre. The loss was Saint John's 13th straight defeat away from TD Station.

The story was similar to a lot of road games for Saint John: they got behind early and couldn't generate enough quality scoring chances to get back in it. The Sea Dogs got within two goals late in the second period but that would be as close as they would come.

Cole Huckins, William Shields, Ross Campbell, Simon Hughes, Matthew Butler and Alexis Michaud all scored for Charlottetown. Aksels Ozols made 23 saves in the win.

Tyler Peddle and Brody Fournier scored for Saint John. Patrick Leaver made 38 stops in the loss.

Like in many of their recent road matches, the Sea Dogs had a rough first period, trailing 3-0 and getting outshot 14-9. 

Saint John got on the board at 5:54 of the second period when Peddle scored. But the momentum was short lived with Hughes converting just 18 seconds later. The Sea Dogs did have some offensive pressure applied late in the period and were rewarded with a Fournier goal with 38 seconds remaining.

The Sea Dogs struggled to generate great chances in the third period, getting outshot 16-5 in the final frame. Butler added some insurance at 9:22 to make it 5-2 and Michaud secured the win with an empty net goal in the final minute.