Five years ago, the Saint John Sea Dogs reached the pinnacle of success in Canadian junior hockey – the Memorial Cup. Now, after a few rough seasons, the Sea Dogs are once again setting themselves up for cup contention.
The Sea Dogs are ranked first in the Maritimes Division and third overall in the Q-League.
“We're like most teams, battling to get as high as we can in the standings,” says Danny Flynn, Sea Dogs head coach. “We're trying to secure first place in our division, but also try and move up as high as we can in the overall standings.”
With only two-and-a-half weeks left in the regular season, Coach Flynn says he’s confident his team’s success will continue.
“It is a young team, there's only four 19-year-olds on the team, but there's a good group of veteran players and a good core of leaders in the room and like we said, we're optimistic as we head down the stretch,” says Flynn.
In 2011, the Saint John Sea Dogs won the Memorial Cup. Over the past few years they've spent time rebuilding, but players are hopeful that this is the year they bring the cup home once again.
“I think hard work and consistency is huge for our team,” says player Spencer Smallman. “If we come and work hard every night, play our game, then we're going to give ourselves a good chance to win. That comes with good preparation. If we prepare for games then we're going to be ready and we're going to give ourselves a chance.”
“We have a lot of talent in our team, we have the talent for sure,” says player Thomas Chabot. “I don't think there is teams that are way better, like a couple years ago, like Halifax a couple years ago, everyone knew they were going to win. But I don't think we have it this year. It's pretty open this year for the title.”
The Sea Dogs are currently on a four game winning streak and they hope to keep the Ws coming for the remaining eight games of the regular season.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ashley Blackford
