History
The Sea Dogs filled the void left in Saint John by the departure of the AHL's Saint John Flames when the city was granted a team for the 2005–06 QMJHL season, paying a $3 million expansion fee. The Sea Dogs' expansion of the worldtwins were the St. John's Fog Devils.
The Sea Dogs' very first head coach was Christian La Rue under general manager Bob "Tipper" LeBlanc, and the captaincy was split between Charles Bergeron and Vincent Lambert. The Sea Dogs were also given the first overall pick at the 2005 QMJHL Draft, selecting defenceman Alex Grant. The Sea Dogs had a weak first season and missed the playoffs.
During the offseason, Christian La Rue was fired and quickly replaced with former London Knights assistant coach Jacques Beaulieu. Beaulieu served as the head coach for the entire second season. Tipper Leblanc resigned mid-season, and Beaulieu stepped into the dual role of coach-GM.
The Sea Dogs' poor performance in their first season granted them another first overall pick at the 2006 QMJHL Draft, where they selected another defenceman, Yann Sauvé. The team missed the playoffs again.
The 2007 QMJHL Draft saw the Sea Dogs land the first pick yet again, with which they selected defenceman Simon Després. In the same draft round they selected Steven Anthony 10th overall. The team also selected goaltender Robert Mayer 3rd overall at the 2007 CHL Import Draft.
The Sea Dogs did not make a first round selection in the 2008 QMJHL Entry Draft. In the second round, the Sea Dogs used their first pick to select defenceman Kevin Gagné. Another interesting story was the addition of Jacques Beaulieu's son Nathan to the roster.
Before the 2008–09 season The Hockey News ranked the Sea Dogs the second-best team in the QMJHL, and 5th overall in the entire CHL. The team underperformed, traded stars such as Alex Grant and Chris DiDomenico at Christmas, and fired Jacques Beaulieu after a first-round playoff sweep at the hands of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
In the 2009 QMJHL Draft, they chose defensemen Pierre Durepos 10th overall and forward Jonathan Huberdeau 18th overall, in the same draft round. In the 2009 CHL Import Draft, the Sea Dogs chose Russian forward Stanislav Galiev first overall and Slovak forward Tomas Jurco fourth overall.
In the 2010 QMJHL Draft, they chose Saint Johner, Ryan Tesink 18th overall in the first round.
As of February 15, 2011, Yann Sauvé became the first player from the Saint John Sea Dogs organization to play an NHL game with his NHL draft team, the Vancouver Canucks.
In the 2011 QMJHL Draft, their first pick didn't come until the second round, where they traded up from 36th to 19th with Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and selected New Brunswick native Oliver Cooper.
The Sea Dogs tied a QMJHL record for most wins in a season with 58 in 2011.
The Sea Dogs won their first ever QMJHL presidents cup on May 15, 2011.
The Sea Dogs Became the first team from Atlantic Canada to win a MasterCard Memorial Cup on May 29, 2011.
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