Saint John Sea Dogs

History

Saint John was granted a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League expansion team for the 2005–06 season, and chose a harbour seal for the team's logo. The Sea Dogs' first head coach was Christian La Rue under general manager Bob LeBlanc. The Sea Dogs were also given the first overall pick at the 2005 QMJHL Draft, selecting defenceman Alex Grant. The Sea Dogs did not qualify for the playoffs in their first season of play.

During the offseason, La Rue was replaced with former London Knights assistant coach Jacques Beaulieu. Following the mid-season resignation of Leblanc, Beaulieu assumed the dual role of coach and general manager. The Sea Dogs had another first overall pick at the 2006 QMJHL Draft, where they selected defenceman Yann Sauvé. The team missed the playoffs again in 2007, and selected defenceman Simon Després first overall. The team also selected goaltender Robert Mayer third overall at the 2007 CHL Import Draft.

In 2008, the team signed coach Beaulieu's son Nathan. In the 2008–09 season, the Sea Dogs hosted the second game of the Canada–Russia Series at TD Station. The Russians defeated Team QMJHL by a score of 4–3, with the Canadian roster featuring four Sea Dogs players: Grant, Després, Sauvé, and rookie Steven Anthony (in place of an injured Chris DiDomenico). Later that season, the Sea Dogs fired Beaulieu after a first round playoff loss.

In the 2009 QMJHL Draft, the team chose future NHL forward Jonathan Huberdeau 18th overall. In the 2009 CHL Import Draft, the Sea Dogs chose Russian forward Stanislav Galiev first overall as well as Slovakian forward Tomas Jurco fourth overall. In the 2009–10 season, the Saint John Sea Dogs won 22 consecutive games beginning on October 17 until December 12. The offense was led by Mike Hoffman (45 points). Following their streak, the Sea Dogs were first place in the league.

The Sea Dogs tied a QMJHL record for most wins in a season with 58 in 2010–11, and won their first QMJHL President's Cup. In the same season, the Sea Dogs then became the first team from Atlantic Canada to win a Memorial Cup. In 2011, Yann Sauvé became the first player from the Saint John Sea Dogs organization to play an NHL game with his draft team, the Vancouver Canucks.

In 2014, the Sea Dogs were purchased by Scott McCain of McCain Foods. Trevor Georgie was named president of the Sea Dogs, previously working as a senior manager of consulting at Wasserman Media Group. He sought to attract a younger demographic to the games. The Sea Dogs won their second Memorial Cup in 2022.

Players

Team captains

• 2005–06 Vincent Lambert / Kevin Coughlin
• 2006–07 Charles Bergeron / David MacDonald
• 2007–08 Alex Grant
• 2008–09 Alex Grant / David Stich
• 2009–11 Mike Thomas
• 2011–12 Jonathan Huberdeau
• 2012–13 Jonathan Huberdeau / Pierre Durepos
• 2013–14 Sébastien Auger
• 2014–15 Olivier LeBlanc / Mark Tremaine
• 2015–17 Spencer Smallman
• 2017–18 Joe Veleno / Bailey Webster
• 2018–19 Anthony Boucher / Michael Campoli
• 2019–20 Nicolas Guay
• 2020–21 Vacant
• 2021–22 Vincent Sévigny
• 2022–23 Charlie DesRoches
• 2023–24 Peter Reynolds
• 2024–25 Eriks Mateiko / Nate Tivey
• 2025–26 Olivier Groulx

Sea Dogs Hall of Fame

• Jonathan Huberdeau (2009–2013)
• Mike Thomas (2006–2011)
• Gerard Gallant (2009–2012)
• Mike Kelly (2010–2014)
• Thomas Chabot (2013–2017)

NHL alumni

The following players have played in at least one National Hockey League (NHL) game as of the 2023–24 season:

• Nathan Beaulieu
• Thomas Chabot
• Charlie Coyle
• Simon Després
• Christopher DiDomenico
• William Dufour
• Stanislav Galiev
• Brett Gallant
• Julien Gauthier
• Éric Gélinas
• Alex Grant
• Matthew Highmore
• Mike Hoffman
• Jonathan Huberdeau
• Bokondji Imama
• Mathieu Joseph
• Tomas Jurco
• Yan Kuznetsov
• Yann Sauvé
• Joe Veleno
• Jakub Zboril

NHL first round draft picks

List of first round selections in the NHL Entry Draft:

Season-by-season results

Regular season

QMJHL season standings. OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

Playoffs

Memorial Cup

The Memorial Cup is contested annually by the champions of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), and Western Hockey League (WHL), as well as a predetermined host team. The competition consists of a round-robin, a semifinal game, and a final game. Below are the results of every game the Saint John Sea Dogs have competed in.

References

References

1. (March 24, 2005). "Saint John Sea Dogs Make a Splash Into the Q".
2. Stephens, Rick. (2023-12-08). "Sea Dogs Hope Pups Will Bring Better Days".
3. (2008-01-09). "Yann Sauve To Participate in Top Prospects Game". OurSports Central.
4. (2008-10-02). "Simon Després Named To Canadian National Under-18 Team". OurSportsCentral.com.
5. "CHL Import Draft".
6. "Nathan Beaulieu". [[Quebec Major Junior Hockey League]].
7. (August 18, 2008). "Saint John To Host Game Two Of 2008 Canada-Russia Challenge.". OurSports Central.
8. (2008-11-14). "Anthony will replace DiDomenico at the 2008 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge".
9. admin. (2009-03-30). "Sea Dogs relieve Jacques Beaulieu of his duties".
10. (2009). "2009 CHL Import Draft". Canadian Hockey League.
11. chlwebproduct. (2011-05-30). "Saint John Sea Dogs win 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup".
12. (2011-03-15). "Vancouver Canucks recall defenseman Yann Sauve". [[The Columbian]].
13. Pitts, Gordon. (May 15, 2018). "Celebrating the McCain family".
14. (January 7, 2016). "Trevor Georgie named new president of Saint John Sea Dogs". [[CBC News]].
15. Barrett, Kevin. (2022-06-29). "Saint John Sea Dogs win Memorial Cup with 6-3 victory over Hamilton Bulldogs".
16. (2017-08-18). "HUBERDEAU NAMED FIRST INDUCTEE INTO SEA DOGS HALL OF FAME".
17. (2018-08-09). "MIKE THOMAS NAMED FIRST PRESIDENT OF SEA DOGS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION".
18. Perry, Brad. (2023-06-22). "Former Sea Dogs coaches to join hall of fame".
19. Perry, Brad. (2023-01-31). "Thomas Chabot To Join Sea Dogs Hall Of Fame".
20. "Sea Dogs In The NHL".
21. Sportak, Randy. (January 9, 2024). "Calgary Flames 2020 second-round draft choice Yan Kuznetsov to make his NHL debut against Ottawa".
22. "Saint John Sea Dogs Drafted Player History".
23. "QMJHL standings".