Memorial Cup Champion Sea Dogs parade through Saint John

Hundreds of Saint John Sea Dogs fans took to the streets on Thursday afternoon to celebrate their hometown team.

The Sea Dogs captured the 2022 Memorial Cup Wednesday in a 6-3 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League.

To properly celebrate winning the trophy on home ice, the team cruised through Uptown for a celebratory parade.

“I’m overwhelmed with joy and emotion. It’s an awesome thing, the Sea Dogs, to win the Memorial Cup a second time, but to win it at home,” one overjoyed fan told Global News.

Split into two groups, half of the team piled into an old school Saint John Fire engine, while the remaining members of the squad hopped into a Canadian Coast Guard boat, being pulled by a vehicle.

Together, the two vehicles made their way down King Street to the Area 506 Waterfront Container Village.

1:26 Saint John Sea Dogs win Memorial Cup after skating past Hamilton Bulldogs

“An excellent way to celebrate the win with the community, and there were lots of families there today, and it was great to just continue that success,” resident Wendy Anderson remarked about the parade.

Following the Wednesday night victory, the Sea Dogs are now two-time Memorial Cup Champions, with their previous triumph having come in 2011.

Speaking to a large crowd Thursday, Saint John Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie said they could probably use a third Memorial Cup, hinting his team will be back on the hunt come next season.

“These guys here represent for me what Saint John is. They’re resilient, passionate, they wear their heart on their sleeve, they’ve been through ups and downs, but boy oh boy, this last 10 days, this city has been on fire,” Georgie said.

Hosting the illustrious tournament has meant the City of Saint John has received national coverage in recent days, which many believe has shone a positive light on the region.

“We’ve been calling it Palm Springs of the east,” Georgie noted.

“But, you know what, after yesterday, Palm Springs is Saint John of the west.”

The Sea Dogs are the first team to capture the Memorial Cup since 2019 and the first host team to do so since 2017.