It’s been quite the week for the Saint John Sea Dogs. On Thursday, the team brought in veteran defenceman Matt Murphy from the Québec Remparts in exchange for Pierre-Luc Lurette, a pair of second-round picks in 2016 and 2018 and a fifth-rounder in 2017. The 20-year-old has an extensive resumé, including President Cup and Memorial Cup wins with Halifax in 2013.
This time last year, he went from Halifax to the Memorial Cup host Québec Remparts. Murphy broke into the league with the Val-d’Or Foreurs who drafted him fifth overall in 2011. Overager Adam Bateman was traded to the Remparts in the deal, but the former Windsor Spitfire won’t be reporting to the team.
The story of the week also involved the Sea Dogs and Bokondji Imama, who came off the bench to try to fight Kelly Bent of the Halifax Mooseheads. Imama was upset 20-year-old Bent took a couple extra shots on 15-year-old Joseph Veleno in a dust-up along the boards. The league came down hard on Imama, handing him a 15-game suspension. On the Halifax side, Bent received five games.
Hockey’s all about unwritten rules or the Code, including one in junior where overagers don’t go after rookies. Veleno is the first player in the “Q” with exceptional player status, making him the youngest player to ever play in the league. Imama, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, may have broken a lot of rules by coming off the bench and landing more punches on the officials than Bent, but him upholding the hockey code means he’s receiving support from the hockey community as well.
Sea Dogs GM Darrell Young issued a statement throwing support behind Imama, saying the team “will do everything possible to ensure he is in the best possible shape physically, mentally and emotionally for his return to the lineup at the end of January.”
Former Remparts captain Kurt Etchegary and former teammates Alexandre Ranger and Justice Dundas took to Twitter to support Imama, who was also suspended four games last season for physical abuse of officials during a game against Rimouski.
Respect and support @bokojr defending a teammate. Gotta hold people accountable when they break unwritten rules. Hockey needs more like him.
— Kurt Etchegary (@KurtEtchegary) December 12, 2015
Definition d'un vrai : @bokojr #respect
— Alexandre Ranger (@petitrange) December 12, 2015
@bokojr true teammate sticking up for veleno after that, wish I could be there battling alongside with Ya still #class #respect
— Justice Dundas (@ServingJustice_) December 12, 2015
While all this was going on, Luke Green became the first Sea Dogs defenceman to score a hat-trick while playing against his hometown team. Green, a 2016 NHL Draft-eligible player, has seven goals and 11 assists on the year.
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Here are some other non-Sea Dogs QMJHL notes from the weekend:
Team Canada hopefuls
All right, one last Sea Dogs note: Thomas Chabot survived the first round of cuts at the Team Canada selection camp for the world juniors. Other QMJHL players still on the team include goalies Mason McDonald (Charlottetown) and Samuel Montembeault (Blainville-Boisbriand), blueliner Jérémy Lauzon (Rouyn-Noranda) and forwards Anthony Beauvillier (Shawinigan) and Julien Gauthier (Val-d’Or).
Montembeault was added to the selection camp roster after Mackenzie Blackwood received an eight game suspension from the OHL that will keep the goalie out of the first two games of the tournament in Finland. Boston Bruins first-rounder Lauzon was added to the roster as an injury replacement for Jake Walman.
Cape Breton forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, also a 2016 draft-eligible, was cut Sunday.
The Sherbrooke shake
The Phoenix won their first game under interim coach Stéphane Julien on Friday, 8-2 over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Before jumping to conclusions about the shakeup making a change, remember the Drakkar are dead last in the league. On Wednesday, Sherbrooke head coach Judes Vallée and GM Patrick Charbonneau were sacked after a 12-15-3-2 start. Pretty lousy for a team that looked like a President Cup contender on paper in the pre-season. Part-owner Jocelyn Thibault is the new sheriff in town, taking over the GM reigns. The Phoenix currently sit in 13th place.
Val-d’Or are unstoppable
When the CHL Top 10 rankings come out later this week, the Val-d’Or Foreurs deserve to be the top rated QMJHL team. Currently ranked sixth, the Foreurs have now won 14 games in a row. They don’t deserve top spot just because they’re piling up Ws but because of who they’ve been beating.
This weekend, they picked up a pair of wins over two CHL top 10 teams, 4-1 over Gatineau (7) on Friday and a 5-4 in overtime against Shawinigan (8) on Saturday. They now lead the league in goals scored with 156, two more than Moncton.
Armada lose top scorer
The Blainvile-Boisbriand Armada will be without overager Philippe Sanche for three to four months after the forward underwent surgery on a fractured leg. The 5-foot-5, 152-lb. winger has 29 points on the year, most on a team that’s 17th in league scoring.
Brisebois gets paid
Acadie-Bathurst Titan defenceman Guillaume Brisebois signed an entry-level contract with the Vancouver Canucks this week. The Canucks drafted the 6-foot-2, 187-lb. player 66th overall in June. He has five goals and eight assists for the struggling Titan.