Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, entering the league as an expansion team in 2005. The Sea Dogs play at Harbour Station, Saint John, New Brunswick, with a capacity of 6,488. On May 29, 2011, the Sea Dogs became the first team from Atlantic Canada to win the Memorial Cup.

History

The Sea Dogs filled the void left in Saint John by the departure of the AHL's Saint John Flames when the city was granted a team for the 2005–06 QMJHL season, paying a $3 million expansion fee. The Sea Dogs' expansion twins were the St. John's Fog Devils.

The Sea Dogs' very first head coach was Christian La Rue under general manager Bob "Tipper" LeBlanc, and the captaincy was split between Charles Bergeron and Vincent Lambert. The Sea Dogs were also given the first overall pick at the 2005 QMJHL Draft, selecting defenceman Alex Grant. The Sea Dogs had a weak first season and missed the playoffs.

During the offseason, Christian La Rue was fired and quickly replaced with former London Knights assistant coach Jacques Beaulieu. Beaulieu served as the head coach for the entire second season. Tipper Leblanc resigned mid-season, and Beaulieu stepped into the dual role of coach-GM.

The Sea Dogs' poor performance in their first season granted them another first overall pick at the 2006 QMJHL Draft, where they selected another defenceman, Yann Sauve. The team missed the playoffs again.

The 2007 QMJHL Draft saw the Sea Dogs land the first pick yet again, with which they selected defenceman Simon Despres. In the same draft round they selected Steven Anthony 10th overall. The team also selected goaltender Robert Mayer 3rd overall at the 2007 CHL Import Draft.

The Sea Dogs did not make a first round selection in the 2008 QMJHL Entry Draft. In the second round, the Sea Dogs used their first pick to select defenceman Kevin Gagne. Another interesting story was the addition of Jacques Beaulieu's son Nathan to the roster.

Before the 2008–09 season The Hockey News ranked the Sea Dogs the second-best team in the QMJHL, and 5th overall in the entire CHL. The team underperformed, traded stars such as Alex Grant and Chris DiDomenico at Christmas, and fired Jacques Beaulieu after a first-round playoff sweep at the hands of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

In the 2009 QMJHL Draft, they chose defensemen Pierre Durepos 10th overall and forward Jonathan Huberdeau 18th overall, in the same draft round. In the 2009 CHL Import Draft, the Sea Dogs chose Russian forward Stanislav Galiev first overall and Slovak forward Tomas Jurco fourth overall.

In the 2010 QMJHL Draft, they chose Saint Johner, Ryan Tesink 18th overall in the first round.

As of February 15, 2011, Yann Sauve became the first player from the Saint John Sea Dogs organization to play an NHL game with his NHL draft team, the Vancouver Canucks.^[1]

In the 2011 QMJHL Draft, their first pick didn't come until the second round, where they traded up from 36th to 19th with Rouya Noranda and selected New Brunswick native Oliver Cooper.

The Sea Dogs tied a QMJHL record for most wins in a season with 58 in 2011

The Sea Dogs won their first ever QMJHL presidents cup on May 15th 2011

The Sea Dogs Became the First team from Atlantic Canada to win A Mastercard Memorial Cup On May 29, 2011

400th Game

The Saint John Sea Dogs played their 400th Regular Season Game in the QMJHL on Sunday, February 13, 2011 VS the Moncton Wildcats. The Sea Dogs won the contest 3-2 in a shootout.

One Millionth Fan

On Friday, May 13, 2011, in a playoff series against the Gatineau Olympique, the Sea Dogs welcomed their one millionth fan in team history. The fan received a signed team jersey. The Sea Dogs lost the game 3-2, forcing a sixth game in the series on May 15 in Gatineau, QC.

Sea Dogs TV

In April 2008, the Sea Dogs created Sea Dogs TV, an official youtube channel which houses various team highlights, interviews, features, and basically anything related to the Sea Dogs.^[2]

2008 ADT Canada Russia Challenge co-host

On November 19, 2008, the Sea Dogs hosted game 2 of the Canada Russia Challenge, before a sell-out crowd at Harbour Station. The Russians defeated Team QMJHL by a score of 4-3. The 2008 ADT Canada Russia Challenge in Saint John included four Sea Dogs players. They were Chris DiDomenico, Alex Grant, Yann Sauvé, and Simon Despres. DiDomenico was not able to play for Team QMJHL due to an injury and was replaced by 17-year-old Steven Anthony.^[3]

22 Game winning streak

In the 2009 - 2010 season, the Saint John Sea Dogs, playing in a very strong Atlantic Division, were successful in winning 22 consecutive games. During their streak, which extended from October 17 until December 12, Saint John scored 107 goals while allowing a mere 44. The offense was led mainly by Mike Hoffman (45 points and 8 game-winning goals), Nicholas Petersen (49), Michael Kirkpatrick (44) and rookie Stanislav Galiev (40 points). The strong defensive brigade saw its veteran, Yann Sauvé, register a solid +24 differential in addition to gathering 16 points. In nets, veteran Marc-Antoine Gélinas won 15 games, allowing a meager 1.83 goals per game along with a .933 save percentage. Karel St-Laurent posted the other seven wins. Following their incredible run, the Sea Dogs have taken hold of the top spot in the QMJHL overall standings, 9 points ahead of Drummondville. Their recent string of success places the franchise amongst the best in QMJHL history.^[4]

2010 Subway Super Series co-host

Canada and Russia faced off against each other on November 8.

Championship titles

2010 QMJHL Finalist

2010 Atlantic Division Champions

2010 League Champions

2011 Maritime Division Champions

2011 League Champions

2011 President's Cup Champions

2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup Champions

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Legend: OL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss O = Out of playoffs X = Clinched playoff berth

Standing

Playoffs

• 2005–06 – Out of playoffs.
• 2006–07 – Out of playoffs.
• 2007–08 – Defeated PEI Rocket 4 games to 0 in opening round.
  Defeated Acadie-Bathurst Titan 4 games to 2 in quarter-final.
  Defeated by Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 4 games to 0 in semifinal.
• 2008–09 - Defeated by Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4 games to 0 in opening round.
• 2009–10 - Defeated PEI Rocket 4 games to 1 in opening round.
  Defeated Gatineau Olympiques 4 games to 0 in quarter-finals
  Defeated Victoriaville Tigres 4 games to 2 in semi-finals
  Defeated by Moncton Wildcats 4 games to 2 in QMJHL President's Cup Finals.
  
• 2010-2011 - Defeated Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4 games to 0 in opening round.
  Defeated Victoriaville Tigres 4 games to 1 in quarter-finals.
  Defeated Lewiston Maineiacs 4 games to 0 in semi-finals.
  Defeated Gatineau Olympiques 4 games to 2 in QMJHL President's Cup Finals.
  
• 2011 Memorial Cup
  Defeated Mississauga St. Michael's Majors 4-3
  Defeated Owen Sound Attack 3-2 in Overtime
  Defeated by Kootenay Ice 5-4 in Overtime
  Defeated Missisauga St. Michaels Majors 3-1 to win 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup

Team captains

• 2005-06 Vincent Lambert/Kevin Coughlin
• 2006-07 Charles Bergeron 31 Games/David MacDonald 28 Games
• 2007-08 Alex Grant
• 2008-09 Alex Grant 36 Games/David Stich 21 Games
• 2009-10 Mike Thomas 46 games/ Mike Hoffman 8 games
• 2010-11 Mike Thomas
• 2011-12 Jonathan Huberdeau

Team records

Current roster

Goaltenders

Defensemen

Forwards

NHL Entry Draft history

Below is a list of players that have played for the Sea Dogs organization that have been drafted into the NHL, whether on the Sea Dogs roster at the time or not.

2011 Entry Draft history

2010 Entry Draft history

2009 Entry Draft history

2008 Entry Draft history

2007 Entry Draft history

2006 Entry Draft history

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in New Brunswick

References

External links

• Saint John Sea Dogs site