Former Saint John Sea Dog Charlie Coyle and his Minnesota Wild begin the second round of the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs Friday when they take on the defending champion Blackhawks in Chicago.

Coyle, 22, had a terrific first round series against the Colorado Avalanche, posting three goals and five points in seven games.

He was the focal point of an article on NHL.com this week.

Elsewhere, Tomas Jurco was held pointless in three playoff games for the Detroit Red Wings in their five-game series loss to the Boston Bruins in the first round.

The Slovakian winger is continuing his postseason with the Wings' AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, which are the defending Calder Cup champions.

Jurco scored his team's only goal in a 2-1 loss to the Abbotsford Heat on Wednesday. The Griffins lead the best-of-five first round playoff series 2-1.

Several other former Sea Dogs are participating in the AHL playoffs, including defencemen Alex Grant (Binghamton), Eric Gelinas (Albany), Kevin Gagne (Norfolk) and Charles-Olivier Roussel (Milwaukee).

Click HERE for more details on the AHL playoffs.

New Sea Dogs GM Darrell Young has logged thousands of kilometres in his search for talent for next season's team. His travels included a trip to the World Under-18 Hockey Championships in Finland.

Scott Briggs of the Telegraph-Journal caught up with Young upon his return.

Click HERE to see the article. (Paywall)

The Sea Dogs established several team records last season. Here are a few examples:


Quickest back-to-back goals: 7 seconds

(Noah Zilbert and Nicolas Hebert in the second period of a 5-3 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads, January 4th, 2014.)

Most saves by a goaltender in a single period: 27

(Sebastien Auger in the third period of a 4-3 win over the Moncton Wildcats, January 15th, 2014.)

Most assists by a defenceman - rookie: 21

(Thomas Chabot)

Most points by a defenceman - rookie: 22

(Thomas Chabot - tied mark established by Sebastien Rioux in 2005-06.)