“NO FREE LUNCHES”: Regiment open sophomore season with loss to Sea Dogs

Despite a nearly packed house and plenty of anticipation at the Mary Brown’s Centre to kick off their second season in the QMJHL, the Newfoundland Regiment fell short on opening night by a score of 4-2 at the hands of the Saint John Sea Dogs. 

Ontario Hockey League convert Matthew Frost scored the first goal of the Regiment season with just over six minutes remaining in the third period and newcomer Dmitriy Kubantsev netted his first goal in the QMJHL in the final minute of the contest.

The Sea Dogs’ potent power play connected three times on five opportunities, which Head Coach Gordie Dwyer says was the difference-maker in his club’s opening game of the season.

“The special teams were definitely the difference in tonight’s game,” Dwyer told NLSN.

“Our power play struggled to connect and find that next play or create those second opportunities… It’s a work in progress for us after game one. There will be some adjustments made, but we have to learn from that and special teams was a big difference, for sure.” 

Sea Dogs forward Dylan Rozzi scored a pair of power play goals in the opening period to give the visitors a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of action, outshooting the Regiment 16-5. 

Ryan Howard and Alexander Donovan paced the visitors to a 4-0 lead through two periods. The Regiment summoned some energy and pressed back with a hard-fought third period, but could not complete the comeback. 

Norris, fellow rookies earn praise in debut

Friday night’s game marked the QMJHL debut for St. John’s native Damian Norris, and caught the eye of his new head coach for his strong play on both ends of the ice.

“That’s Damian’s game,” Dwyer said.

“He got a nice ovation from the fans here, that will be a good memory for him… He was skating well and finishing his checks. He had some good back checks as well. I thought that overall for his first game in the league, he competed hard and he was true to his brand.”

With both Regiment goals by a pair of players playing their first game in a Newfoundland uniform, Dwyer couldn’t help but shout out his crop of new recruits.

“I thought the first year guys came in and actually did a good job in their first game,” he said.

“Veilleux on the back end, I thought he looked solid. It’s a big jump from U-18 hockey. Damian (Norris) and Phenwick (MacLean) they did a good job up front. Kubantsev was able to find the scoresheet. Frost came in and was able to bring some energy to the game as a 20-year-old coming in from the OHL I thought that he was a threat and played in all situations. I thought that they had some good first outings with our hockey club. It gives them something to build off.”

Talent-laden Sea Dogs a much different club compared to a year ago 

While the Regiment were a perfect 8-0-0-0 against the Sea Dogs in their inaugural season, Friday night’s season opener proved that a lot can change in a few short months. 

With a pair of prospects projected to be first round NHL draft picks in 2027 in Alexis Joseph and Jamie Glance, the Regiment’s bench boss admits that the Sea Dogs are a force to be reckoned with this season.

“They’re definitely a good hockey team,” Dwyer admitted.

“They have a lot of depth… There’s not going to be any free lunches in our division this year. Saint John is one of the top teams and we saw why. They were able to capitalize on the power play tonight. We’ll have to do a better job of tightening things up tomorrow and play our brand.”