Saint John Sea Dogs avoid rust in opening night win over Hamilton at Memorial Cup

The host Saint John Sea Dogs certainly had the deck stacked against them a few ways on the opening night of the 2022 Memorial Cup in Saint John on Monday evening.

They hadn’t played since losing to the Rimouski Oceanic in overtime on May 12 to be eliminated from the QMJHL post-season. They were being led by an interim coach in Gardiner MacDougall who had never coached a single QMJHL game. They were playing a battle-tested Hamilton Bulldogs team that recently edged the Windsor Spitfires to capture the OHL crown.

But those potential challenges didn’t really materialize, as Saint John played a strong game en route to a 5-3 victory over the Bulldogs. The Sea Dogs scored first and never trailed in…