Memorial Cup Notebook: Sea Dogs advance to tournament semi

WINDSOR, Ont. – Just 24 hours after coming out on the wrong end of a 12-5 decision, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Saint John Sea Dogs have new life.

Sitting at 0-2 and needing a victory, the Sea Dogs earned a spot in the playoff round of the 2017 MasterCard Memorial Cup thanks to a 7-0 victory over the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday night at the WFCU Centre.

Joe Veleno paced the Sea Dogs with two goals and an assist while Bokondji Imama also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists.

Spencer Smallman added a goal and an assist for the Sea Dogs. Cole Reginato, Mathieu Joseph and Chase Stewart also scored for Saint. John.

After being pulled on Monday night, Callum Booth made 31 saves for the shutout.

“It was great to get that first win under our belt,” said Saint John Coach Danny Flynn. “We have a lot of kids who care a lot and didn’t want to go home after tonight.”

Flynn would talk about being scoreless through the opening period as a key as the Sea Dogs avoided falling behind early.

“Our goal was to try to be in the game at the first (television) time out,” Flynn said. “We tried to break (the game) down into smaller segments. Let’s have a good start and let’s have that seventh game mentality and let’s try to win that first segment until we get to the first timeout.”

Saint John finishes the round robin with a 1-2 record while Seattle finishes fourth at 0-3.

Rookie goaltender Carl Stankowski got the start, making 10 saves on 14 shots before being pulled in favour for overage Rylan Toth, who stopped 11 shots the rest of the way for Seattle.

“It felt really good until they scored the second goal,” said Seattle Coach Steve Konowalchuk. “We were getting some shots and we were playing up-and-down hockey. The wheels fell off really quickly when they scored that second goal.”

Despite the winless tournament, Konowalchuk said struggling isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Getting kicked in the butt is a part of life,” Konowalchuk said, adding that the team set a new standard for the organization by winning the WHL title.

The Sea Dogs will move into the tournament semifinal on Friday night. Saint John’s opponent will be determined following Wednesday’s round robin finale between the Erie Otters, champions of the Ontario Hockey League, and the Windsor Spitfires, the tournament host.

With both Erie and Windsor entering the game with identical 2-0 records, the winner of that game will advance directly into the championship game on Sunday while the loser will face Saint John in the semifinal.