Tuesday, August 30, 2011

16 Sea Dogs Heading To NHL Camps

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI – A grand total of 16 players that are eligible to return to the Saint John Sea Dogs this season will be attending National Hockey League camps this fall.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League made the announcement today. In total, 89 players from their 17 club teams will be participating in NHL camps over the next few weeks.

Saint John’s total is a league high.

Alexandre Beuregard (Phoenix), Pierre Durepos (Los Angeles), Danick Gauthier (Phoenix), Scott Oke (Dallas) and Ian Saab (Vancouver) all earned free agent invites. All of them but Saab – who spent last season with the Lewiston Maineiacs (RIP) – played for Saint John in their Memorial Cup championship campaign.

Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida), Nathan Beaulieu (Montreal), Zack Phillips (Minnesota), Tomas Jurco (Detroit) and Ryan Tesink (St. Louis) were all selected in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and will be heading to their first professional camps.

Mathieu Corbeil (Columbus), Stanislav Galiev (Washington) and Stephen MacAulay (St. Louis) will all be returning to their respective rights holders.

Simon Despres (Pittsburgh), Eric Gelinas (New Jersey) and Steven Anthony (Vancouver) are all eligible to play another season of junior but could make the jump to the pro level. Despres will be playing pro for sure while Gelinas and Anthony are both long shots to return.

Of the 20 players that suited up for Saint John in their 3-1 victory over the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors in the 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup final, only Gabriel Bourret, Kevin Gagne, and Jacob DeSerres will not be attending NHL camps this coming month.

Last year’s overage forwards Mike Thomas and Michael Kirkpatrick have both signed contracts with American Hockey League teams. DeSerres, the team’s other 20-year old, will suit up for the University of Calgary this year.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

No comments:

Post a Comment