Former Sea Dogs give back to the city where they got their start

NHLers return to Saint John Thousands of people are expected to descend on Sussex this weekend for the annual market. CTV’s Mike Cameron reports.

Jonathan Huberdeau could be found at the Rockwood Park Golf Course on Sandy Point Road in Saint John, Friday. While it’s far from a hockey rink, he says he still feels at home.

It has been five years since Huberdeau played for the Saint John Sea Dogs, who now plays for the Florida Panthers in the Nation Hockey League.

"Oh very well remembered,” says hockey fan, Joan Lavingne. “Everybody talks about him still,   he's our main guy."

Huberdeau returned to his hockey roots to give back to the city that gave him his start at a charity golf tournament for the Sea Dogs Foundation.

"Saint John was a really cool city and I had a lot of fun here,” Huberdeau says. “I just want to come back here and give to the people and the community that helped me get to the NHL.”

Tournament chairman, Andy Lodge says he’s grateful the former NHL player took the time to travel to take part in the event.

"Obviously he's got a lot going on, a busy man and a very popular man, not just in New Brunswick, but also Montreal, Florida and we're very thankful he was able to spend some time with us today," says Lodge.

Only a fraction of Quebec Major Junior hockey league players get the chance to take on professional contracts and garner success in the NHL, while others, take a different route to success.

One of the original Sea Dogs, Jeff Caron came back to Saint John for the tournament too.

“The Sea Dogs organization has been really good to me,” says Caron, “I was part of that first team.”

Caron scored the first ever goal for the Saint John Sea Dogs. He later decided hockey wouldn’t be his career path and recently completed a doctorate in sports psychology.

Sea Dogs president, Trevor Georgie, says a lot of the players decide to take on new roles after putting down the skates.

"The number of athletes, student athletes of ours that have gone on to become bankers and teachers and just great family men, that's equally important to us and there's more of them than the NHL players," says Georgie.

Dome of the money raised at the tournament will go towards scholarships and academic assistance for hockey players, if they decide that hockey is not in their long term future.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.