Host Saint John Sea Dogs look to shake off rust at Memorial Cup

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SAINT JOHN, NB—The Saint John Sea Dogs were counting on a lengthy playoff run in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League before hosting the 2022 Memorial Cup, but things did not go exactly to script.

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The Sea Dogs were eliminated in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs by the Rimouski Oceanic and have been sitting idle since May 12.

They also fired head coach Gordie Dwyer following the first-round loss and replaced him with University of New Brunswick coaching legend Gardiner MacDougall, and former NHL heavyweight Rocky Thompson. The Sea Dogs open the tournament on Monday (6 pm ET, TSN) when they face the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs.

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“I think the last month had been an exhilarating experience for everybody,” MacDougall said. “They went through probably the most turmoil and adversity that they’ve had as hockey players. They proved they could be very successful in the regular season, then in the playoffs, things didn’t go the way they would have liked to go.”

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The Sea Dogs had a 47-17-1-3 record through the regular season, finishing third in the QMJHL Eastern Conference standings. Rimouski finished 23 points behind Saint John in the standings, but took advantage of the shortened playoff series to pull off the upset.

Due to the regular season being disrupted by COVID-19, the QMJHL decided the first three rounds of the playoffs would be best-of-five series. Rimouski won the first game of the series, then battled back from 2-1 down to force a fifth game. Saint John lost Game 5 at home 4-3 in overtime, prompting the firing of Dwyer.

“Sometimes you can win a lot, but sometimes you can only go so far winning; you have to be knocked down a peg to go even higher winning,” MacDougall said. “That’s been our formula here and we’re trying to get better every day. Improvement is the goal since my time here.”

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MacDougall has run the men’s hockey program at UNB for the past 22 years, winning seven national championships in the process. He’ll be returning to the school at the conclusion of the Memorial Cup and the Sea Dogs will have to bring in a new head coach.

In the meantime, however, MacDougall will be trying to get the most out of junior team, going up against three playoff-hardened opponents in the process.

The Bulldogs won the Ontario Hockey League championship, defeating the Windsor Spitfires in the final. The Shawinigan Cataractes knocked off the Charlottetown Islanders in the QMJHL final, and the Edmonton Oil Kings got past the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL final.

“I have a to give a lot of credit to the players, they’ve been outstanding and very receptive,” MacDougall said. “I watched the three (championship) teams on TV almost every night for the past month and we can’t emulate that in practice.

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“We try the best we can, but we have to make up the fitness that you get from playing a best-of-seven series and all the emotions and things that come with that.”

A Memorial Cup host losing in the first round is not unique, it has happened in the past. When it does, many teams schedule exhibition games against university opponents to try and stay in game shape, but the Sea Dogs decided against it.

“We’ve been lucky that we’ve had good resource people that have helped us and that have gone on this path before and have success with it,” MacDougall said. “But the players have been tremendous and the buy-in has been terrific.”

One positive of the time off, is MacDougall had plenty of opportunity to scout and try to break down his opponents. In the Bulldogs, the Sea Dogs are facing a 107-point team, who went 16-3 in the playoffs.

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“When I got the job and then I saw the schedule, and saw we were playing the OHL champion, that day I went to our trainer and asked him to order 25 new pair of skates with faster blades on them,” MacDougall smiled. “And I also asked the trainer to order longer sticks that can intercept passes. It’s going to be a great challenge.”

After more than two decades at UNB, MacDougall jumped at the opportunity to lead the Sea Dogs at the Memorial Cup.

This is the third time the Sea Dogs have competed in the tournament, winning it all in 2011, led by Florida Panthers star Jonathan Huberdeau.

This season, the Sea Dogs are led by forwards William Dufour and Josh Lawrence, who were both born on the same day. A New York Islanders fifth-round pick in 2020, Dufour, 20, finished second in QMJHL scoring with 60 goals and 116 points. Lawrence, 20, had 31 goals and 101 points.

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“Our team proved in the regular season to be very worthy. Based on the playoffs, our analytics guy said we were ranked No. 9 in the Q, so we’re a bit of an underdog,” MacDougall said. “Then, if you took No. 9 and went across the CHL, we are probably ranked around No. 27, so even a bigger underdog.

“Then, if you said we haven’t played for the 39 days, then we’re maybe a bigger underdog. Then if you said the coach has no (major junior) experience — his only experience of him is one game with Todd McLellan in Swift Current in 1998 as an assistant, three games with Brad MacEwan in 1999 Swift Current — then you can say we’ re an overwhelming underdog. But we’ll be excited to play in the first game.”