Saint John Sea Dogs remain leading team in CHL, but lack main roster -Minor League Hockey Update
Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) might have done an amazing job last season winning the Memorial Cup against Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), in a clean 3-1 series, but as they look
to enter the new season, their lacking that superstar roster which is busy in training camps of their own.
Being the only QMJHL team to have brought back the Memorial Cup after Quebec Remparts in 2006, the players on the line-up who worked so hard did certainly not go unnoticed. To be exact, 16 players of the team are participating in National Hockey League (NHL)
training camps with various franchises for a spot in the North American major league.
For the new season, the Mastercard Memorial Cup tournament is scheduled to be held in Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada, and according to league commissioner, Gilles Courteau, it will be thrilling to see which team can takeover when the time comes.
"I think (the league) is going to be very balanced, with lots of parity, and it will be interesting to see what other team goes to Shawinigan for the Mastercard Memorial Cup", Courteau said Wednesday on the conference call.
The most prominent players that are currently working out to participate in training camps for a shot in the NHL from Saint John Sea Dogs are, Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers), Tomas Jurco (Detroit Red Wings), Zack Phillips (Minnesota Wild), Nathan
Beaulieu (Montreal Canadiens) and Stanislav Galiev (Washington Capitals).
Losing players is an opportunity to recruit more talent in the eyes of Sea Dogs head coach, Gerard Gallant, who is still confident about his teams playing ability.
"I think we're going to score a lot of goals again this season'', said Coach Gerard Gallant."When you lose defencemen the quality of Despres, Gelinas and Bourret it's definitely going to hurt a little, but we still have a good returning group on the blue-line”.
Ultimately, Sea Dogs are not the only team that will lose players who aspire to go into the major league. Every team has some player or players who will be signed on, which makes the competition fiercer than it already is.
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