Station Nation

LIVE BLOG: Remparts vs Sea Dogs

2012-02-17T15:16:00.001-04:00

SAINT JOHN - Tonight's Sea Dogs/Remparts game will be broadcast nationally in high definition on Sportsnet. As always, our live blog will be in HD as well. Follow along for updates.

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=e2acd9a9ca" &amp;amp;gt;SN Live Blog: Remparts vs Sea Dogs&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

GAMEDAY 57: vs Remparts

2012-02-17T15:12:00.000-04:00

GAMEDAY

Quebec Remparts vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight at 8pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: Sportsnet | LiveBlog: SN

Harbour Station

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – Winners of 10 straight, the Saint John SeaDogs look to extend their winning streak to 11 tonight with the nationalspotlight on them. The Sea Dogs host the Quebec Remparts at 8pm at HarbourStation in a game that can be seen live coast-to-coast on Sportsnet.

Saint John enters action tonight with a record of40-14-0-2 for 82 points. They are one-point up on the Shawinigan Cataractes forfirst-place overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The Dogs have are 22-5-0-1 at Harbour Station this seasonand have won five straight at home.

The Remparts enter tonight’s game with a record of34-14-5-2 and sit third in the tough Telus East Division and fifth overall inthe QMJHL with 75 points. They are six points back of the Shawinigan Cataractesfor the division lead. Quebec has struggled of late, winning just five of theirlast 10.

The Remparts are 17-8-3-0 on the road this season andhave outscored opponents 107-82.

PROMOTIONS

The Sea Dogs are asking fans to bring donations ofnutritious cereal or breakfast bars to Friday’s game against the QuebecRemparts. All cereal collected will go to the breakfast programs at sevenCommunity/PALS Schools in the city of Saint John.

It is also Country Music Night at Harbour Station,sponsored by CHSJ Country 94. Fans are encouraged to wear their cowboy bootsand hats, on-air personalities will be in attendance and country music will beplayed throughout the game.

THE NUMBERS

	Quebec	Saint John
Record	34-14-5-2 (3rd East)	40-14-0-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	22-5-0-1
Road Record	17-8-3-0	- - -
Streak	1-0-0-0	10-0-0-0
Last 10	5-4-1-0	10-0-0-0
Goals For	227	235
Goals Against	161	152
Overall PP	27.7% (2nd)	22.2% (9th)
Home PP	- - -	22.9% (12th)
Road PP	25.5% (2nd)	- - -
Overall PK	84.1% (1st)	79.4% (6th)
Home PK	- - -	84.5% (4th)
Road PK	83.2% (3rd)	- - -
PIM/GAME	12.1 (17th)	16.5 (6th)

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a dominating 10-1 win overthe PEI Rocket on Wednesday in Charlottetown. Jonathan Huberdeau, Tomas Jurco,and Maxime Villemaire each scored twice while singles came from Charlie Coyle,Danick Gauthier, Oliver Cooper and Stanislav Galiev. Coyle, Huberdeau, and RyanTesink all added two assists apiece. Mathieu Corbeil made 21 saves for the win.

The Remparts are also coming off a blowout win. Theydefeated the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 9-1 on Tuesday night at Pepsi Colisee. MikhailGirgorenko and Adam Erne each scored twice while singles came from AnthonyDuclair, Martin Lefebvre, Gabriel Desjardins, Frederick Roy, and Marc-AntoineCarrier. Francois Brassard made 17 saves in net for thevictory.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Sea Dogs and Remparts have met twice previously thisseason with each side winning once.

On October 23 at Harbour Station, Danick Gauthier scoredtwice with solo markers coming from Tomas Jurco, Jason Cameron, Nathan Beaulieuand Charles Roussel in a 6-0 Saint John victory. Jonathan Huberdeau added three assistswhile Mathieu Corbeil stopped all 22 shots he faced. Louis Domingue allowed sixgoals on 49 shots.

On November 22 at the Quebec Colisee, Mikhail Grigorenkohad a hat trick for Quebec in a 4-1 win over Saint John. Patrick Walsh had theother Quebec goal while Zack Phillips scored for Saint John. Mathieu Corebilallowed four goals on 33 shots while Louis Domingue made 26 saves for the win.

SCORING LEADERS

Zack Phillips leads Saint John in scoring with 71 points(27G, 44A) in 49 games this season. Danick Gauthier leads the club in goalswith 39 on the year while Phillips has registered a team high 44 assists.

Frederick Roy leads Quebec in scoring with 70 points(21G, 49A) in 52 games this year. Mikhail Grigorenko leads the Remparts ingoals with 31 while Roy’s 49 assists are a team high.

PROBABLE GOALTENDERS

Mathieu Corbeil (31-9-0-0, 2.33 GAA, 0.913 SV%) for SaintJohn and Francois Brassard (15-6-3-0, 2.71 GAA, 0.909 SV%) for Quebec.

NOTES

The Sea Dogs are averaging 4,272 fans per game thisseason at Harbour Station.
Jason Cameron is suspended for tonight’s game. DevonOliver-Dares will not play because of a broken collarbone.
Zack Phillips is sixth in the league in points with 71.Frederick Roy is 10^th with 70.
Danick Gauthier is second in goals with 39.
Gauthier is third in game-winning goals with seven.
Phillips is a league best +41.
Mikhail Grigorenko leads all rookies in points with 69.
Ian Saab is second in penalty minutes with 150.
Corbeil leads all goalies in wins with 31.
Cobeil’s save percentage of 0.913 is the third best inthe league. Francois Brassard’s 0.909 save percentage is fourth best in the Q.

OTHER GAMES

Victoriaville at Halifax - 7:00 PM AST

Acadie-Bathurst at Moncton - 7:00 PM AST

Val-d'Or at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EST

Shawinigan at Baie-Comeau - 7:30 PM EST

Rouyn-Noranda at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:30 PM EST

Gatineau at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EST

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs host the Halifax Mooseheads this Tuesday at7pm at Harbour Station.

A Few Things

2012-02-16T22:57:00.003-04:00

We are less than 24 hours away from Friday’s big matchupbetween the Saint John Sea Dogs and the Quebec Remparts. Note that game time is8pm at Harbour Station.

Saint John, 40-14-0-2 and first overall, is the hottestteam in the league having won 10 straight while Quebec, 34-14-5-2 and fifth overall,has struggled of late, going just 5-4-1-0 in their last 10.

While there will be plenty of action on the ice, therewill be plenty of things going on off of it as well. Here are a few things tonote:

According to an email sent to season ticket holders thisevening, there are less than 400 tickets remaining for tomorrow’s game. It’slooking like it will be a sell-out.
If you’ve been living under a rock all week, tomorrow’sgame will be broadcast nationally on Sportsnet beginning at 8pm. RJ Broadheadand Sam Cosentino are expected to have the call. Broadhead tweeted tonight thathe had a great meal at the Saint John Ale House.
Friday is Country Music Night at Harbour Station,sponsored by CHSJ Country 94. Fans are encouraged to wear their cowboy bootsand hats, on-air personalities will be in attendance and country music will beplayed throughout the game.
The team is asking fans to bring donations of nutritiouscereal or breakfast bars to Friday’s game against the Quebec Remparts. Allcereal collected will go to the breakfast programs at seven Community/PALSSchools in the city of Saint John.

Should be a good time.

Sea Dogs Win Big At Saltys

2012-02-16T20:02:00.002-04:00

The Saint John Sea Dogs were big winners at tonight’sSalty awards held at the Saint John Ale House.

The Sea Dogs swept all three categories they werenominated for. Team captain Jonathan Huberdeau was named Twitter Person of theYear, SeaDogsTV picked up Hottest YouTube honours, and some websitecalled Station Nation was named Coolest Blog.

“I’d like to thank all the Sea Dogs fans and followers thatvoted and supported us this year,” said SN creator Jamie Tozer. “Obviously,this award would not have been possible without the help of Bert, Marc, Cameronand Andrew. Also, a big thanks to the Sea Dogs for their support.

“I’d also like to say thank you to the 2012 Memorial Cupselection committee, Martin Mondou and the Cataractes organization, and QMJHL commissionerGilles Courteau for giving us unlimited amounts of material to write about.”

Tozer was nominated for Twitter Person of the Year lastyear. This is SN’s first Salty award.

“Actually, does this blog post make this site uncool?What do you think? Maybe you shouldn’t include this quote in the post.”

There was some controversy on the interweb as nobody thatwrites for SN showed up at the awards. Rumors began to swirl that Tozer refusedto show because of human rights issues or some other political reason that TimThomas told him about. I figured he was spending the evening getting himself mentallyprepared for the Rob Faulds show tomorrow tonight. We may never know the realanswer.

According to documents obtained by SN, Tozer did not signhis nominee card before The Saltys began tonight. The Saltys Committee iscurrently investigating the matter and SN could be stripped of the award,giving the win to the runner-up. All individual statistics would remain intact,however.

“I feel comfortable with the situation,” said Tozer, speakingas if this was all made up. “So what if I didn’t sign a piece of paper. As if that would actually get a win removed from someone. Ha!”

More information on The Saltys can found on their website.

Sea Dogs Ranked Second Again

2012-02-16T16:03:00.001-04:00

The Saint John Sea Dogs are once again ranked second inthe nation. The latest edition of the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings were released – for some reason - this afternoon.The rankings are usually released on Wednesday.

The Sea Dogs had another strong week, beating the PEIRocket 5-0 on the road last Saturday and then returning home to defeat theAcadie-Bathurst Titan 7-2 the next afternoon. Last night, Saint John destroyedthe Rocket again, winning 10-1.

Saint John now has a record of 40-14-0-2 and sitone-point up on the Shawinigan Cataractes for first-place in the league.

Other Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams in thisweek’s rankings were the Cataractes at No. 5 and the Quebec Remparts at No. 10.The Victoriaville Tigres were an honourable mention.

The weekly rankings of the Canadian Hockey League’s Top10 teams are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.

Here are the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings for week21.

1. London Knights (41-11-0-1)
2. Saint John Sea Dogs (40-14-0-2)
3. Kamloops Blazers (41-12-1-3)
4. Tri-City Americans (38-15-1-2)
5. Shawinigan Cataractes (37-12-3-4)
6. Edmonton Oil Kings (38-13-3-4)
7. Plymouth Whalers (36-15-2-1)
8. Kitchener Rangers (36-15-1-1)
9. Portland Winterhawks (38-15-2-1)
10. Quebec Remparts (34-14-5-2)

Honourable Mention:
Niagara IceDogs (35-16-0-3)
Victoriaville Tigres (36-16-1-3)
Moose Jaw Warriors (36-15-5-1)

In Buzzing The Net’s Dynamic Dozen this week, the SeaDogs were ranked second behind the Cataractes.

This week, the Sea Dogs will play twice. They host theRemparts tomorrow night at 8pm and then take on Nathan MacKinnon and theHalifax Mooseheads on Tuesday. Both games will be played at Harbour Station.

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 10, Rocket 1

2012-02-16T15:03:00.000-04:00

A collection of recaps from last night’s 10-1 Saint John Sea Dogs win over the PEI Rocket…

Our recap. The win was Saint John’s 10th straight, making the Dogs the first Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team to crack the 40-win mark.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap. Paywalled.

The Guardian’s recap. “Not a good game. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know why we didn't show up,” said Alex Noël.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Q Spot’s recap. "It was really tough on all of us. Obviously you don't want to lose in front of your home crowd, especially 10-1.” – Josh Currie

The Canadian Press’ recap. At Charlottetown, Huberdeau opened the scoring just over four minutes into the first, and Saint John ended the period with a 4-0 lead.

SN Live Blog Replay. Another eventful day for Maxime Villemaire.

MISSING IN ACTION: Forwards Jason Cameron (serving the third game of a four-game suspension), Aidan Kelly (flu), and Devon Oliver-Dares (collarbone) were all out of the lineup for Saint John on Wednesday night. They were also without defenseman Ian Saab (serving an automatic one-game suspension).

WECOME BACK: Ryan Tesink was back in the Sea Dogs’ lineup on Wednesday after missing the past few games with a knee tweak. He had a solid return, recording two assists, three shots, and a +2 rating.

STREAK: Saint John has now won 10 straight games which is the longest streak in the league this season. They have not lost since January 12 when they fell 4-1 at home against Shawinigan.

FIRST PERIOD: The first period was a wild one. It saw four goals, three fights, and a goaltending change to go along with a plethora of penalties issued. PEI fired just three shots on net in the period while Saint John registered four goals.

MAGIC 10: Interesting note from News 88.9’s Sea Dogs blog.

A team has only scored 10+ goals three times this season in the QMJHL. Saint John has done it twice – both against the Rocket – while Quebec did it once.

It just wouldn’t be the second half of a season without some huge blowout win over PEI.

VS PEI: The Sea Dogs improved to 6-0-0-1 against the Rocket this year while PEI fell to 1-6-0-0 against Saint John. They meet for the last time this regular season on March 2 at Harbour Station.

HUBERDEAU: Jonathan Huberdeau is on a quite a roll right now. Huberdeau had two goals and two assists in last night’s win, giving him 19 goals and 30 assists in just 25 games this year. He’s been on a tear of late, recording seven goals and four assists in his past four contests.

COYLE: Charlie Coyle continued his domination of the Q on Wednesday, scoring once and adding two assists. He now has nine goals and eight assists in 11 games with Saint John. He has registered a point in each of his last six games, compiling four goals and seven assists over that span.

COOPER: Oliver Cooper scored for the first time since January 7 on Wednesday, recording his 10th marker of the season in the first period. He also added an assist in the game, giving him 10 goals and 13 assists in 50 games this season.

VILLEMAIRE: Maxime Villemaire had an eventful game on Wednesday. He fought Wes Herrett in the first period, scored two goals in the second period, and then dropped the gloves with Alex Gallant in the middle frame as well. It looked as though Villemaire had been thrown out of the game initially because he took part in his second fight of the game. But since Gallant received an instigator penalty, Villemaire was able to return. The Sea Dogs forward did however receive a double minor for head-butting.

Villemaire took to the ice in the third period, causing all sorts of confusion about why he was allowed to return. The Gatineau Olympiques were probably furious…

FIGHTS: Ah, yes, the fights. Along with Villemaire’s two scraps, Stephen MacAulay and Jimmy Oligny dropped the gloves in the first period just after Charlie Coyle had given Saint John a 3-0 lead. Then at 15:20 of the opening frame, the world stood still as Alex Gallant and Grant West squared off for round three. The two produced another terrific fight.

We’ll post the videos when they become available.

This was simply a nasty, nasty game. The teams combined for 37 penalties and 92 total penalty minutes.

HIGHLIGHTS: Courtesy of the Rocket’s YouTube page.

NOTES: Worst part of weekday games? Listening to the ‘this day in history’ segment on the Rick Howe Show before the pre-game show begins. Brutal… every Saint John player had a plus rating. Nathan Beaulieu and Charles Roussel were each a team high +4… Alex Noel managed to be a +1 for the Rocket… Jason Seed, Spencer MacDonald, and Stephen MacAulay were the only Saint John players without a point… Maxime Lagace allowed four goals on eight shots before getting pulled… the Rocket had just eight shots through 40 minutes. The Sea Dogs had seven goals over the span.

STANDINGS: Shawinigan fell 5-4 in overtime against Baie-Comeau last night, meaning the Sea Dogs are now one-point up on the Cataractes for first place. Both teams have 12 games remaining with every one of them being very important. Gotta love it.

The Cataractes play in Baie-Comeau on Friday and in Chicoutimi on Saturday.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs take on the Quebec Remparts Friday night at 8pm at Harbour Station in a game that can be seen live on Sportsnet.

RECAP: Blowout City. Dogs Win 10-1.

2012-02-15T23:11:00.002-04:00

FINAL: Saint John 10, PEI 1

CHARLOTTETOWN – What a night for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs led 4-0 after one and 7-0 after two in a 10-1blowout victory over the Prince Edward Island Rocket on Wednesday night at theCharlottetown Civic Centre. The win was Saint John’s 10^th straight,making the Dogs the first Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team to crack the40-win mark.

Jonathan Huberdeau, Tomas Jurco, and Maxime Villemaireall scored twice while Charlie Coyle, Stanislav Galiev, Danick Gauthier andOliver Cooper added solo markers. Coyle, Huberdeau, and Ryan Tesink each had a pairof assists as well.

Mathieu Corbeil stopped 21 of 22 shots he faced to pickup the win. He also earned an assist on Villemaire’s first goal.

This was a dominating performance by Saint John. PEI onlymanaged to record eight shots on goal through the first 40 minutes.

The biggest story in this game was the rough stuff. Therewere a combined four fights, 37 penalties, and 92 penalty minutes. Alex Gallantand Villemaire each had two fights. This was a nasty game that escalated as the contest went on. The teams meet again next month at Harbour Station forpossibly the final time this year.

Alex Noel had the lone Rocket goal, scoring early in the third period to make it a 7-1 game at the time. Maxime Lagace allowed fourgoals on eight shots before getting pulled. Atoine Bibeau allowed six goals on26 shots in relief.

The Sea Dogs will put their winning streak on the line asthe country watches on Friday night against Quebec. Game time at HarbourStation and broadcast time on Sportsnet is 8pm.

FIRST PERIOD

A wild first period kicked off at 1:31 as MaximeVillemaire and Wes Herrett dropped the gloves for a solid scrap.

The Sea Dogs made it 1-0 at 4:15. Nathan Beaulieu sprungJonathan Huberdeau on a breakaway, allowing the Sea Dogs’ captain to deke tothe backhand and give Saint John an early lead.

A few moments laters, a Kevin Gagne shot from inside theline was deflected on goal, forcing Rocket goaltender Maxime Lagace to make anice save.

Saint John doubled their lead at 9:58. The puck came infront and was put in by Oliver Cooper, giving the rookie 10 markers on theseason.

The Sea Dogs made it a 3-0 game at 11:14. Charlie Coyletried to centre the puck but it snuck in past Lagace instead to give Saint Johna commanding lead. The second fight of the period took place just after Coylescored as Stephen MacAulay and Jimmy Oligny squared off.

During some four-on-four play, Tomas Jurco fed Huberdeaudown low but was denied by Lagace. On that play, PEI took a penalty, sendingSaint John to the power play. On the man advantage, Jurco finished off a nicepassing play to give the Dogs a 4-0 lead at 14:15. That would chase Lagace fromthe net and was replaced by Antoine Bibeau.

Then at 15:20, Ales Gallant and Grant West squared offfor another epic tilt. It was the third time this year they dropped the glovesagainst each other.

Saint John headed back to the power play at 16:24. Duringthat span, Bibeau made a nice pad save on Ryan Tesink at the side of the goal.

At 18:53, Huberdeau belted Ben Duffy along the boards andwas given a roughing and boarding call. Danick Gauthier and Matej Beran squaredoff in a semi-fight after the hit. PEI got a power play out of all of it.

Shots in the first period were 11-3 in favour of SaintJohn.

SECOND PERIOD

55 seconds into the second period, Villemaire went inalone and snapped a wrist shot past Bibeau to give the Dogs a 5-0 lead.

PEI headed to the power play at 1:42 as Stanislav Galievheaded off. While shorthanded, Saint John somehow entered the Rocket zone on athree-on-one. Tesink fed Jurco who fired home his second of the game to extendSaint John’s lead to 6-0. The Rocket did have a decent chance on that powerplay, though, as Matthew Bursey hit the post.

At 6:33, Saint John made it 7-0. Villemaire was in frontand beat Bibeau with a low shot to give him two markers on the night.

Villemaire’s eventful period continued at 8:10 as heGallant dropped the gloves. It was a wild scrap as Villemaire was issued adouble minor for head-butting. At the end of the fight, the Sea Dogs forwardlost it a bit after Gallant got a late shot in and tried to escape the referee toget back at the Rocket winger.

The Rocket went to the power play at 14:17. Duffy had agood chance at the side of the goal but had his shot blocked.

Shots in the middle frame were 13-5 Sea Dogs.

THIRD PERIOD

The Rocket got on the board at 1:13 of the third period.Alex Noel beat Mathieu Corbeil between the legs, making it a 7-1 game.

Zack Phillips headed to the box for four-minutes at 1:33after high sticking a PEI player. Nathan Beaulieu then headed off at 4:52 togive PEI a two-man advantage. They had some decent pressure on the power playbut were unable to add another.

The Dogs went to the power play at 6:40. Gagne fired ashot from the point and was tipped in by Danick Gauthier at 8:04 to restoreSaint John’s seven-goal lead.

They made it a 9-1 game at 8:44 as Stanislav Galiev beatBibeau with a sharp angle shot. These were some bad times for the Rocket.

A little later on, Jurco had a good chance but tipped thepuck just wide. Huberdeau got the Dogs in double-digits at 12:40, netting hissecond of the game on a nice pass from Gauthier.

Jason Seed took a tripping penalty at 18:21. After thefinal buzzer, there was some rough stuff but it wouldn’t matter as the Dogswent on to win 10-1.

Shots were 14-10 PEI in the final frame.

The Sea Dogs went 2-for-4 on the power play while theRocket went 0-for-7.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Quebec Remparts onFriday night at 8pm at Harbour Station. The game can be seen live on Sportsnet.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

LIVE BLOG: Sea Dogs vs Rocket

2012-02-15T18:42:00.000-04:00

CHARLOTTETOWN – The Sea Dogs are back on Prince EdwardIsland tonight to take on the Rocket at 7pm. Follow along for updates.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;ahref="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=628c4913fa"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;SN Live Blog: Sea Dogs vs Rocket&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Maritime Rules

2012-02-15T15:23:00.003-04:00

By Andrew McGilligan

SN Staff

I’m not going to pretend I know why the QMJHL andcommissioner Gilles Courteau took two points away from the Sea Dogs in theMaxime Villemaire saga.

I don’t know exactly what happened, how it was reportedto the league or how Gatineau found out. What I do know is the league didn’thandle the situation well, unless you’re the Shawinigan Cataractes then itseems fair.

With this in mind, here are some other penalties whichcould be levied against teams in the QMJHL.

Let’s call this addition to the rule book the MaritimeChapter:

Halifax Mooseheads: This team should have to forfeit onepoint from every win when Nathan MacKinnon scores to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

Acadie-Bathurst Titan: Should be fined for ridiculouscomments. This can also be referred to as penalty for Leo-Guy Morissetteopening his mouth. When you’re running your own franchise into the ground andalienating an entire region of a province, you shouldn’t be lobbing insults atsuccessful teams. The penalty for this should be one season under a differentowner.

(In all seriousness, I was among the many people happy tohear the team would be staying in Bathurst for the foreseeable future.)

Moncton Wildcats: The Hub City squad will have to sit outone of its starting defenceman for every game Brandon Gormley misses or donateone-point from every win it amasses while Gormley is on the shelf to theShawinigan Cataractes. This can also be called the ‘Helping Shawinigan Rule.’

Well there you have it, a starting point for the league’snew rules. They’re not fair, but that’s not the intention.

GAMEDAY 56: at PEI

2012-02-15T12:34:00.001-04:00

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket

Tonight at 7pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog:SN

Charlottetown Civic Centre

PREVIEW

CHARLOTTETOWN – For the second time in five days, theSaint John Sea Dogs will travel to Charlottetown to take on the Prince EdwardIsland Rocket. Game time this evening at Civic Centre is 7pm.

The Sea Dogs and Rocket battled at the CCC this pastSaturday on Hockey Day in Canada. Jonathan Huberdeau had a hat trick in SaintJohn’s 5-0 win.

The Dogs enter play today with a record of 39-14-0-2 andsit in a tie with the Shawinigan Cataractes for first-place in the Quebec MajorJunior Hockey League. Saint John is the hottest team in the league having wonnine straight contests.

On the road this year, the Dogs are 17-9-0-1 and haveoutscored opponents 99-82.

The Rocket enter play today with a record of 17-33-2-2for 38 points. They are currently two points out of the final spot but haveplayed one less game than Rouyn-Noranda. They have lost back-to-back games andare 4-6-0-0 in their last 10.

PEI is 11-14-2-1 at the Civic Centre this season and havebeen outscored 109-95.

Unless they meet in the playoffs, which is possibility, this is the Sea Dogs’ final trip to the island this season.

THE NUMBERS

	Saint John	PEI
Record	39-14-0-2 (1st Maritimes)	17-33-2-2 (6th Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	11-14-2-1
Road Record	17-9-0-1	- - -
Streak	9-0-0-0	0-2-0-0
Last 10	9-1-0-0	4-6-0-0
Goals For	225	169
Goals Against	151	242
Overall PP	21.8% (9th)	20.6% (12th)
Home PP	- - -	25.2% (5th)
Road PP	20.7% (10th)	- - -
Overall PK	78.7% (6th)	72.8% (16th)
Home PK	- - -	75% (14th)
Road PK	73.7% (13th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	16 (7th)	17.5 (1st)

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-2 victory over theAcadie-Bathurst Titan on Sunday afternoon at Harbour Station. Stanislav Galievhad a pair of goals while singles came from Charlie Coyle, Zack Phillips,Spencer MacDonald, Jonathan Huberdeau and Maxime Villemaire. Sebastien Augermade 22 saves in goal for the win.

PEI’ s last game was that 5-0 loss to Saint John on Saturday.Maxime Lagace allowed five goals on 32 shots in the loss.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Saint John is 5-0-0-1 against PEI this season while theRocket are 1-5-0-0 against the Sea Dogs.

Their last meeting was on Saturday at the Civic Centrewhen Saint John won 5-0. Jonathan Huberdeau had a hat trick while Charlie Coyleand Danick Gauthier added the other goals. Tomas Jurco recorded four assists. MathieuCorbeil faced 22 shots for the shutout win while Maxime Lagace allowed fivegoals on 32 shots in the loss.

The Sea Dogs and Rocket will meet once more this seasonin a March contest at Harbour Station.

LEADING SCORERS

The Sea Dogs are led by Zack Phillips who has 70 points(27G, 43A) in 48 games this season. Danick Gauthier leads the club in goalswith 38 while Phillips has a team high 43 assists.

Ben Duffy leads the Rocket in scoring with 73 points(31G, 42A) in 54 games this year. Duffy’s 31 goals and his 42 assists are bothteam highs.

PROBABLE GOALTENDERS

Mathieu Corbeil (30-9-0-0, 2.36 GAA, 0.912 SV%) forSaint John and Maxime Lagace (11-28-2-1, 4.32 GAA, 0.876 SV%) for PEI.

ROUND 3?

After two epic fights already this season, could we see around three between Alex Gallant and Grant West? Here’s what happened on Saturday.

NOTES

The Rocket are averaging 1,600 fans per game at theCharlottetown Civic Centre this season. It is the second lowest average in theleague.
Ian Saab is suspended for today’s game after taking aninstigator penalty in the final five minutes of Sunday’s contest against Bathurst.
Danick Gauthier is second in the league in goals with 38.Ben Duffy is eighth with 31.
Zack Phillips is seventh in assists with 43. Duffy is 11^thwith 42.
Duffy is 10^th in power play goals with 11.
Josh Currie is second in shorthanded goals with four.
Guathier is third in game-winning goals with seven.
Tomas Jurco is fourth in insurance goals with four.
Saab is second in penalty minute with 150. Jimmy Olignyis fifth with 125.
Phillips is a league best +40.
Matej Beran is fourth in rookie scoring with 56 points in54 games.
Jonathan Huberdeau has a league high four shorthandedassists.

OTHER GAMES

Victoriaville at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM AST

Baie-Comeau at Shawinigan - 7:00 PM EST

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs return home to host the Quebec Remparts in anationally televised contest from Harbour Station on Friday at 8pm. There areroughly 1,000 tickets remaining for the game.

Scott McCain Is Not Happy

2012-02-14T18:30:00.002-04:00

Peter McGuire had a big time column in today’sTelegraph-Journal regarding the Maxime Villemaire player card situation. In it,Sea Dogs CEO and majority owner Scott McCain shared his thoughts on the wholething.

“I’m very upset at the ruling,” said Sea Dogs majorityowner Scott McCain. “I understand the ruling and I understand we have to haveour paperwork done on time but there were other ways it could have beenhandled.”

McCain also voiced his displeasure about the GatineauOlympiques, the team that filed the complaint and took the two points away fromSaint John.

“What really upsets me is the Gatineau organization,” hesaid. “I thought there was supposed to be some sort of honour among teams. Ifthey feel they have to stoop that low to pick up two points, then they can havethem. What’s it say about an organization that would take two points forsomething like that? If I see the Gatineau owner, I’ll tell him, ‘You got yourtwo points, I hope you’re happy.’”

Nothing like some love on Valentine’s Day.

In related news, Saint John and Drummondville have been fined $500 because “players remained on the ice at the end of the warm-up.” IanSaab has also been suspended for one-game because of his instigator penalty inthe final five minutes of Sunday’s game.

So, in the past week, Saint John has been fined, strippedof two points, and have had Saab and Jason Cameron both suspended. All of thisin the middle of a nine-game winning streak. What a bizarre week.

Huberdeau Named 2nd Star

2012-02-13T18:53:00.002-04:00

SAINT JOHN – Sea Dogs captain Jonathan Huberdeau had animpressive weekend, earning him Quebec Major Junior Hockey League second starhonours. The Telus three stars for the week were announced this afternoon.

Huberdeau netted a hat trick in Saint John’s 5-0 win overthe PEI Rocket in Charlottetown on Saturday afternoon. He also added an assist.On Sunday at Harbour Station, the Florida Panthers prospect scored again andadded another helper in the Sea Dogs’ 7-2 victory over the Acadie-BathurstTitan.

As the QMJHL’s website notes, nine of Huberdeau’s 10shots this weekend were considered legitimate scoring chances.

The Sea Dogs are 10-1 since Huberdeau’s return from theWorld Junior Hockey Championship. They are currently on a nine-game winningstreak heading into Wednesday’s game in PEI.

Halifax Mooseheads goaltender Zachary Fucale was namedthe first star while Cape Breton’s Jonathan Brunelle picked up third starhonours, respectively.

Although he didn’t win a star this week, the play ofTomas Jurco should be noted. He had four assists on Saturday and registered anotherhelper yesterday, completing a beautiful give-and-go with Stanislav Galiev.Since returning from the world juniors, Jurco has four goals and 10 assists in 10 games.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

On Friday, It's Citadelles vs Maple Leafs?

2012-02-13T14:49:00.001-04:00

Something we’ve learned over the years is that wheneverthe Sea Dogs are broadcast on national television, some bizarre things ~~may~~ will happen.

It’s Monday, and we already have one bizarre thing ahead of Friday's game. @MatthewABuckley tweeted us the above picture of the program description for Friday night’sgame. Hey, at least they got one city right.

We’ve checked with Rogers and they have the samedescription. (UPDATE: According to Josh from the Canadian Sports Media Blog, Shaw Direct's guide is correct)

Embarrassing. How does this even happen? Both these teams have been gone for like 10 years. Also, as much fun as it is to job Sportsnet, we're not really sure if they are to blame for these guide issues.

For those unaware, the Sea Dogs will host the QuebecRemparts at 8pm on Friday at Harbour Station in a game that will air nationallyon Sportsnet’s Friday Night Hockey. Tickets are still available.

POSTSCRIPT: Titan 2, Sea Dogs 7

2012-02-13T12:58:00.000-04:00

A collection of recaps from yesterday’s 7-2 Saint JohnSea Dogs win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan…

Our recap. Make it nine straight wins for the Saint JohnSea Dogs.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap. Paywalled.

The Canadian Press' recap. Etienne Salvail scored both goals for the Titan(27-24-5), who lost for the first time in three outings, while ChristopheLalancette assisted on each.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tom Roszell’s goal calls.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. Stanislav Galiev had twogoals, his first since Sept. 24, 2011, and Charlie Coyle notched a goal and twohelpers to lead the Sea Dogs.

SN Live Blog Replay. It was Francophone day at HarbourStation.

MISSING IN ACTION: Forwards Jason Cameron (serving thesecond game of a four-game suspension), Ryan Tesink (knee) and DevonOliver-Dares ( broken collarbone) were all scratched for Saint John on Sunday afternoon.

Bathurst was without its entire top line on Sunday.Zach O’Brien, Sebastien Trudeau, and Matthew Bissonnette have combined for 105of Bathurst’s 213 goals this season.

STREAK: Yesterday’s win gives the Sea Dogs nine straightvictories. Their nine-game mark ties them with the Quebec Remparts for thelongest streak in the league this season. The Dogs have also won five straightat home.

GALIEV: Stanislav Galiev’s second period goal was his firstsince September 24 – which was also a home game against Bathurst. Galiev scoredanother goal in the third period, finishing the contest with two markers, fourshots, and four hits.

Yesterday’s game was Galiev’s first at Harbour Stationsince September 24 against the Titan. He had two goals in that game as well.

MONTH’S BEST: Before the game, Tomas Jurco was named theSea Dogs player of the month for January. Jonathan Huberdeau was named thestudent of the month.

GREAT FIGHT: This weekend saw some solid tilts. OnSaturday, Grant West and Alex Gallant dropped the gloves for a terrific fight in Charlottetown. Then on Sunday, Spencer MacDonald and Brent Turnbull droppedthem for a solid scrap. MacDonald left with blood on his jersey.

MacDonald added a goal and an assist in the game to complete the Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

VS BATHURST: Saint John improved to 3-3-0-1 againstBathurst this season with the victory. The Titan fell to 4-3-0-0 against theSea Dogs. They meet one final time this season on March 3 at Harbour Station.That will be the Sea Dogs’ final home game of the season.

AUGER: Goaltender Sebastien Auger had another good game,stopping 22 shots to earn the win. Auger has now won his last four starts. His lastregulation loss was on December 11.

Overall, Auger improved to 10-2-0-2 to go with a 2.99goals against average and 0.887 save percentage.

PHILLIPS: Interesting note from the Canadian Press’ recap.

The 19-year-old centreman has four goals and 11 points insix games this season against the provincial rival and the two points fromtoday move him into a tie for sixth in league scoring with 27 goals and 70points in 48 games.

NOTES: A solid Sunday crowd of 5,427 watched the game ona cold day in Saint John… the annual Francophone and Valentine’s Day themeswere combined at this game. Some French bands played during intermissions… EtienneSalvail had two goals for Bathurst. He had a goal and an assist on Fridayagainst PEI as well… Jonathan Huberdeau had five shots… Maxime Villemaire andStanislav Galiev each had four hits… Alec Jon Banville had five shots for theTitan.

HIGHLIGHTS: Courtesy of the Salty nominated SeaDogsTV.

NEXT GAME: Saint John takes on the PEI Rocket Wednesdaynight in Charlottetown.

RECAP: Nine Is Fine. Dogs Win 7-2.

2012-02-12T21:51:00.000-04:00

FINAL: Bathurst 2, Saint John 7

SAINT JOHN –Make it nine straight wins for the Saint JohnSea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs scored three times in each of the final twoperiods to defeat the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 7-2 on Sunday afternoon at HarbourStation in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. The win gave Saint Johntheir ninth straight victory and 39^th of the season.

Stanislav Galiev, playing in his first home game since September,had two goals. Charlie Coyle, Jonathan Huberdeau, Zack Phillips, SpencerMacDonald, and Maxime Villemaire added singles. Coyle and Nathan Beaulieu eachchipped in with two assists. Overall, 11 different Sea Dog players had points onSunday.

Sebastien Auger had another strong performance in goal,making 22 saves for the win.

The Titan, who were missing their entire top line, hadboth of their goals come from Etienne Salvail. Christophe Lalancette assistedon both markers.

Jacob Brennan made a few big saves in net for Bathurstbut couldn’t handle Saint John’s firepower on this night, allowing seven goals on36 shots.

Despite leading just 1-0 after one, the Dogs had a strongopening frame and outshot the Titan 10-5. In the second, Bathurst would tie it at1-1 before Saint John scored three straight goals. The Dogs would add another threein the final stanza.

This win capped off a strong weekend for the Sea Dogs asthey also defeated the PEI Rocket 5-0 on Saturday. It seems like their offensehas finally found their groove.

The Dogs will travel to PEI to face the Rocket again onWednesday before hosting the Quebec Remparts on Friday in a nationallytelevised game.

FIRST PERIOD

Saint John headed to the power play at 2:30. At 2:57,Charlie Coyle made a cross ice pass to Zack Phillips who had an open net togive Saint John a 1-0 lead.

The Dogs headed back to the man advantage at 4:13. Theyhad some good power play pressure but were unable to convert.

Oliver Cooper headed to the box at 6:51. On the powerplay, Jordan Murray blasted a shot from the point that just sailed wide.

The Sea Dogs headed back to the power play at 8:59.Jonathan Huberdeau had a breakaway on the ensuing man advantage but missedwide. Then Zack Phillips was in front but couldn’t connect.

Back at even strength, Danick Gauthier made some icemoves before passing over to Tomas Jurco who just missed wide.

Bathurst had a decent chance late as ChristopheLalancette sent a shot on net. It was bobbled a bit by Sebastien Auger but hemanaged to glove it.

Shots were 10-5 Saint John in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD

The Titan tied it at 1-1 at 3:40. Etienne Salvail grabbeda loose puck in front of the net and spun it into the goal to tie things up.

The Sea Dogs retook the lead at 5:01. Phillips made someunreal moves after he crossed the line, firing a hard shot on Jacob Brennan.The puck was loose behind the Bathurst ‘tender and pushed in by Maxime Villemaireto give the Dogs a 2-1 lead.

Saint John made it 3-1 at 5:46. Jonathan Huberdeau camedown the wing and tried to centre it but the puck went in past Brennan toextend Saint John’s lead.

Just after the goal, Bathurst had a two-on-oneopportunity but fired it wide.

The Sea Dogs made it 4-1 at 12:36. Stanislav Galievpassed over to Tomas Jurco. The Slovakian then fired a pass through the top ofthe crease and back to Galiev. The Russian had an open net to score his firstgoal since September.

A great fight took place 13:06 as Spencer MacDonald andBreant Turnbull dropped the gloves. Both players were throwing some bombs.MacDonald left with a blood stained jersey.

A few minutes after the fight, Gauthier fired a low shotoff the post.

The Titan got back within two at 18:57. A pass from thecorner found Salvail in the high slot who fired a hard shot past Auger to makeit 4-2 after two.

Shots were 13-10 Sea Dogs in the middle frame.

THIRD PERIOD

Mirko Hoefflin had a chance early in the third but wasdenied by the pad of Auger.

The Sea Dogs extended their lead to 5-1 at 1:58 of thethird. Beaulieu fired a bomb from the point that was tipped by Coyle.

Saint John headed to the power play at 7:31. On the manadvantage, Huberdeau had a great chance at the side of the crease but Brennanmade a nice move to snag it with the glove.

The Sea Dogs headed to another power play at 10:11 but itwas short lived as Huberdeau headed off at 11:20. Nothing happened during thefour-on-four sequence.

Galiev scored his second of the game 13:34. The wrist islooking okay.

The Sea Dogs made it 7-2 at 18:31. A pass from Huberdeaufound Spencer MacDonald in the slot who ripped the puck past Brennan for his third of the year. That gave MacDonald the Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

Nick Egan and Ian Saab dropped the gloves in the finalminute for a spirited scrap.

Shots in the third were 13-9 Saint John.

The Sea Dogs went 1-for-5 on the power play while theTitan went 0-for-2.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Charlottetownon Wednesday to take on the PEI Rocket at 7pm.

LIVE BLOG: Titan vs Sea Dogs

2012-02-12T14:35:00.000-04:00

SAINT JOHN – The Sea Dogs look to continue their winningstreak this afternoon at Harbour Station when they host the Acdie-BathurstTitan at 3pm. Follow along for updates.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;ahref="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=398f6eaa8c"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;SN Live Blog: Titan vs Sea Dogs&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

VIDEO: West vs Gallant - Round 2

2012-02-12T14:34:00.003-04:00

SAINT JOHN – Grant West and Alex Gallant had quite ascrap yesterday at the Charlottetown Civic Centre. At 15:36 of the firstperiod, the two dropped the gloves in what was a 2-0 Saint John Sea Dogs leadat the time. The Sea Dogs went on to defeat the PEI Rocket 5-0.

Here’s the fight.

It’s the second time the two fought each other this season– and the first fight was just as good.

The Rocket and Sea Dogs meet again on Wednesday inCharlottetown. Will we see a round three?

GAMEDAY 55: vs Titan

2012-02-12T08:25:00.004-04:00

GAMEDAY

Acadie-Bathurst Titan vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Today at 3pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog:SN

Harbour Station

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs will look to wintheir ninth straight game this afternoon against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Gametime at Harbour Station is 3pm.

The Sea Dogs enter action today with a record of38-14-0-2 and sit first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Theyare currently in a tie with the Shawinigan Cataractes for first-place with 78points. They are on a serious hot streak having won eight straight and nine of theirlast 10.

Saint John is 21-5-0-1 at Harbour Station this year andhave outscored opponents 119-67.

The Titan enter play this afternoon with a record of27-23-2-3 and sit third in the Maritimes Division and ninth overall in theleague with 59 points.

Bathurst is 10-15-1-1 on the road this season and havebeen outscored 106-91.

PROMOTIONS

Today, the team will combine two popular annual themes,as the Journée des Francofans meets the Valentine's Day Spectacular at HarbourStation. The theme for the 3 p.m. game against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan is“From Saint John With Love.” Fans will be able to purchase bread, wine andcheese, there will be live music and mimes, and the first 400 female fans willreceive a carnation courtesy of the Sea Dogs. In addition, Ganong Bros. Limitedwill be providing free chocolates.

THE NUMBERS

	Bathurst	Saint John
Record	27-23-2-3 (3rd Maritimes)	38-14-0-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	21-5-0-1
Road Record	10-15-1-1	- - -
Streak	2-0-0-0	8-0-0-0
Last 10	5-4-0-1	9-1-0-0
Goals For	211	218
Goals Against	207	149
Overall PP	28.5% (1st)	21.8% (9th)
Home PP	- - -	23% (11th)
Road PP	22.5% (7th)	- - -
Overall PK	77.7% (9th)	78.5% (6th)
Home PK	- - -	84.2% (4th)
Road PK	76.7% (8th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	16.7 (5th)	16 (8th)

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-0 win over the PEI Rocketyesterday in Charlottetown. Jonathan Huberdeau had a hat trick and four pointswhile Charlie Coyle and Danick Gauthier added the other Saint John goals. TomasJurco had four assists while Nathan Beaulieu added two. Mathieu Corbeil made 22saves in net to earn his sixth shutout of the season.

The Titan are coming off a 4-2 win over the Rocket at theKC Irving Regional Centre on Friday. Christophe Lalancette had two goals whilesingles came from Etienne Salvail and Sebastien Trudeau. Robert Steeves made 21saves in net for the victory. Bathurst went 4-for-6 on the power play.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Sea Dogs are just 2-3-0-1 against the Titan thisseason while Bathurst is 4-2-0-0 against Saint John.

Their last meeting came on January 22 at the KC IrvingRegional Centre when the Sea Dogs defeated the Titan 5-2. Zack Phillips had twogoals for Saint John while singles came from Charlie Coyle, Danick Gauthierand Charles Roussel. Bathurst had goals from Mirko Hoefflin and Zach O’Brien.Sebastien Auger made 30 saves for the win. Robert Steeves allowed five goals on23 shots in the loss.

LEADING SCORERS

Saint John is led by Zack Phillips who has 68 points (26G,42A) in 47 games this season. Danick Gauthier leads the club in goals with 38while Phillips has a team high 42 assists.

Bathurst’s leading scorer is Zach O’Brien who has 88points (45G, 43A) in 51 games. O’Brien leads the team in goals with 45 whileSebastien Trudeau has a team high 62 assists.

PROBABLE GOALTENDERS

Mathieu Corbeil (29-10-0-0, 2.36 GAA, 0.912 SV%) orSebastien Auger (9-2-0-2, 3.07 GAA, 0.885 SV%) for Saint John and RobertSteeves (20-10-2-3, 3.16 GAA, 0.899 SV%) for Bathurst.

NOTES

Saint John is averaging 4,229 fans per game at Harbour Stationthis year, good for third in the league.
Zach O’Brien leads the league in goals with 45 thisseason. Danick Gauthier is second with 38 and Matthew Bissonnette is third with36.
O’Brien is seventh in assists with 43 while Zack Phillipsis eighth with 42.
O’Brien has scored a league high 18 power play goals.
Sebastien Trudeau is second in power play assists with 28.
Danick Gauthier is third in game-winning goals withseven.
O’Brien is second in first goals with eight.
Tomas Jurco is third in insurance goals with four.
Ian Saab is second in penalty minutes with 143.
Phillips is a league best +38.
Jonathan Huberdeau has a league high four shorthandedassists.

OTHER GAMES

Moncton at Gatineau - 4:00 PM EST

Cape Breton at Rouyn-Noranda - 4:00 PM EST

Chicoutimi at Shawinigan - 4:00 PM EST

Halifax at Victoriaville - 4:00 PM EST

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs travel to PEI to face the Rocket onWednesday at 7pm.

Gallant on HNIC's Hotstove

2012-02-11T23:49:00.001-04:00

Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant was a guest on HockeyNight in Canada’s second intermission Hotstove segment tonight, joining CBC’sRon MacLean and New York Rangers forward Brad Richards.

Twitter user “Taj” with the tweet of the year.

Gallant was featured and talked about throughout CBC’sHockey Day in Canada telecast today. He talked mostly about his NHL career andhis playing and coaching days on Prince Edward Island. CBC.ca had a great article on 'Turk' this morning.

Some highlights from today’s 5-0 Sea Dogs win inCharlottetown over the PEI Rocket were also shown.

Thanks to @jamalanda for the photo

RECAP: Shutout City. Dogs Win 5-0.

2012-02-11T21:37:00.001-04:00

FINAL: Saint John 5, PEI 0

CHARLOTTETOWN – Prince Edward Island was in thespotlight, but it was Saint John picking up the victory on Hockey Day inCanada.

The Sea Dogs won their eighth straight game on Saturdayafternoon in Charlottetown, defeating the PEI Rocket 5-0 in Quebec Major JuniorHockey League action.

Team captain Jonathan Huberdeau had a huge game, recordinga hat trick and adding an assist in his first star performance. Charlie Coyleand Danick Gauthier added the other Saint John goals.

Tomas Jurco also had a big game, registering fourassists. Nathan Beaulieu had two helpers.

Mathieu Corbeil recorded his sixth shutout the season,stopping all 22 shots he faced. He wasn’t tested a whole lot but made a fewnice stops.

PEI netminder Maxime Lagace allowed five goals on 32shots.

Overall, it was a solid performance by the Sea Dogs. Theyoutshot the Rocket 32-22, scored a power play and goal and a shorthandedmarker.

The Sea Dogs and Rocket meet again this Wednesday at the CharlottetownCivic Centre. Before that though, Saint John will host the Acadie-BathurstTitan tomorrow afternoon at 3pm at Harbour Station.

FIRST PERIOD

Tomas Jurco and Jonathan Huberdeau entered the zone togetheron a two-on-one, creating the first legit scoring opportunity of the period.Jurco fed Huberdeau but he couldn’t get a shot off.

On the same shift at 4:12, Jurco’s shot was squeezed byMaxime Lagace in the Rocket crease but couldn’t quite squeeze enough of it.Huberdeau was at the side of the net and pushed it in to give Saint John a 1-0lead.

PEI headed to the power play at 4:25. Majej Beran was atthe side of the goal but sent it wide in what was a decent power play by theRocket.

Back at even strength, Stanislav Galiev, testing out thatsurgically repaired wrist for the first time in game action, blasted the puckjust wide. Soon after, Charlie Coyle went into power forward mode and made hisway down the wing. He threw the disc in front for Zack Phillips who couldn’thit the open cage.

The Rocket headed back to the man advantage at 12:39.While shorthanded at 14:32, Jurco fed Coyle with a great pass and had an opennet to give the Dogs a 2-0 advantage.

At 15:36, Alex Gallant and Grant West dropped the glovesfor a terrific fight. Both players were throwing bombs.

Shots in the opening 20 minutes were 16-5 in favour ofSaint John.

SECOND PERIOD

Early in the second period, the Rocket were buzzing abit. Ben Duffy was in front but Mathieu Corbeil made the save with his chest.Then Victor Provencher had a breakaway but was denied by Corbeil.

At 7:51, Jimmy Oligny and Ian Saab mixed it up but duringa line change. Both received delay of game penalties. During the four-on-four,Danick Gauthier had a step on the Rocket defense but couldn’t fire a backhandshot past Lagace. Then Nathan Beaulieu cut out in front but was stopped aswell.

Back at even strength, Maxime Villemaire let a solid shotgo that was gloved by the Rocket ‘tender.

At 11:23, Saint John headed to the power play and then at11:41 they went to a 5-on-3 man advantage. On the power play, Phillips fedHuberdeau who had a completely wide open net to five Saint John a 3-0 lead.

Some more rough stuff took place at 13:56 as Villemaireand Olivier Croteau dropped the gloves in the corner for a decent scrap. A fewminutes later, Jurco had another good chance but couldn’t connect.

PEI headed back to the power play at 15:52 as Galievheaded off but couldn’t get anything going. Saint John would end the period onthe man advantage but were unable to extend their lead.

Shots were 9-4 Saint John in the middle frame.

THIRD PERIOD

On the power play that carried over into the third, theSea Dogs couldn’t get anything going.

Saint John made it a 4-0 game at 1:42. Huberdeau cut infront and slid the puck past Lagace to complete his hat trick.

PEI had a couple of chances soon after the Huberdeaugoal. A Jessyko Bernard shot was barely stopped by Corbeil as he just managedto keep it from going over the line. The play was reviewed and the no-goalcall stood. Then, Olivier Jodoin came down the wing and forced the Sea Dogsgoaltender to make a big glove save.

A few moments later, Jurco fed Huberdeau on another2-on-1 but the play fell apart just after they crossed the line. The puck wasthen sent ahead to Alex Noel who was in alone only to have the play broken upnicely by Nathan Beaulieu.

Jurco then made another unreal move, spinning and passingto Charles Roussel who couldn’t connect.

The Sea Dogs made it 5-0 at 17:38 as Huberdeau made anice pass over to Gauthier who roofed it past Lagace.

The teams exchanged penalties late in the frame but itwouldn’t matter as the Dogs cruised to victory.

Shots were 13-7 for the home side in the third period.

Saint John went 1-for-3 on the power play while PEI went0-for-4.

MISSING IN ACTION: Forwards Jason Cameron (serving the firstgame of a four-game suspension), Devon Oliver-Dares (broken collarbone), andRyan Tesink (knee) were all out of the lineup on Saturday.

WELCOME BACK: Stanislav Galiev played in his first gamesince October 1 on Saturday because of a broken wrist that required surgery. Galievplayed mostly on the third line but looked pretty good and fired a few hardshots. He finished the game with two shots, two penalty minutes, and threehits.

RECORDS: Nathan Beaulieu’s first period assist gave him135 career points, allowing him to pass Simon Despres for the most pointsall-time by a Sea Dogs defenseman. He added another helper in the secondperiod.

Mathieu Corbeil also made history on Saturday. According to the Sea Dogs website, he “set a new team record with his 43rd career win,surpassing Robert Mayer. Corbeil also extended his shutout total to six,another franchise best."

HIGHLIGHTS: Here are the highlights, featuring a greatfight between Grant West and Alex Gallant.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titantomorrow at 3pm at Harbour Station.

LIVE BLOG: Sea Dogs vs Rocket

2012-02-11T10:18:00.003-04:00

CHARLOTTETOWN – It’s Hockey Day in Canada and the SeaDogs are in PEI to join the party. The Dogs and Rocket battle this afternoon at4pm. Follow along for updates.

&amp;amp;lt;ahref="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=023a82ad5d"&amp;amp;gt;SN Live Blog: Sea Dogs vs Rocket&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

GAMEDAY 54: at PEI

2012-02-11T10:08:00.002-04:00

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket

Today at 4pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog:SN

Charlottetown Civic Centre

PREVIEW

CHARLOTTETOWN – The entire country will have their eyes on Prince Edward Island today as the province plays host to CBC’s annual HockeyDay in Canada. The Saint John Sea Dogs just so happen to be in Charlottetownfor a contest against the PEI Rocket this afternoon, meaning parts of their game will be shownduring the Hockey Day telecast.

Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant will also be part ofthe broadcast later that evening in Summerside, according to yesterday’sTelegraph-Journal.

As for the game, the Sea Dogs enter play today with arecord of ~~38-13-0-2 for 78 points and sit first overall in the Quebec MajorJunior Hockey League~~ 37-14-0-2 for 76 points and sit in a tie with the ShawiniganCataractes for first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. SaintJohn has won seven straight and eight of their last 10.

The Sea Dogs are 16-9-0-1 on the road this year and haveoutscored their opponents 94-82.

The Rocket enter action today with a record of 17-32-2-2for 38 points. They are currently 16^th in the league – which is thefinal playoff spot – but are tied with the last-place Rouyn-Noranda Huskieswith 38 points. If the playoffs started today, PEI would be playing Saint John.

PEI has been playing some decent hockey of late, going5-5 in their last 10. At home this season, they are 11-13-2-1 and have beenoutscored 104-95.

THE NUMBERS

	Saint John	PEI
Record	37-14-0-2 (1st Maritimes)	17-32-2-2 (1st Maritimes
Home Record	- - -	11-13-2-1
Road Record	16-9-0-1	- - -
Streak	7-0-0-0	0-1-0-0
Last 10	8-2-0-0	5-5-0-0
Goals For	213	169
Goals Against	149	137
Overall PP	21.6% (9th)	21.0% (11th)
Home PP	- - -	26.1% (5th)
Road PP	20.3% (10th)	- - -
Overall PK	78.1% (6th)	72.9% (16th)
Home PK	- - -	75.2% (14th)
Road PK	72.8% (14th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	15.9 (9th)	17.5 (2nd)

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a thrilling 2-1 victory overthe Cataractes in Shawinigan last Saturday. Charles Roussel and JonathanHuberdeau scored for Saint John in the victory. Mathieu Corbeil was solid innet, making 37 saves for the win.

The Rocket are coming off a 4-2 loss to theAcadie-Bathurst Titan last night at the KC Irving Regional Centre. Victor Provencherand Alex Noel each scored for the Rocket in the loss. Antoine Bibeau allowedthree goals on 23 shots through 40 minutes while Maxime Lagace allowed one goalon 10 shots in relief.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Saint John is 4-0-0-1 against the Rocket this seasonwhile PEI is 1-4-0-0 against Saint John.

Their last meeting came on December 30 at Harbour Stationwhen the Rocket defeated the Sea Dogs 4-3 in a shootout. Stephen MacAulay,Charles Roussel and Aidan Kelly scored for Saint John while PEI goals came fromJessyko Bernard, Ben Duffy, and Josh Currie. Saint John native Matthew Burseyscored the shootout winner. Sebastien Auger made 33 saves in the loss while MaximeLagace made 20 for the win.

LEADING SCORERS

The Sea Dogs are led by Zack Phillips who has 67 points(26G, 41A) in 46 games played this season. Danick Gauthier leads the team ingoals with 37 while Phillips has a team high 41 assists.

Ben Duffy leads the Rocket in scoring with 73 points(31G, 42A) in 53 games this year. Duffy leads the squad in goals with 31 andassists with 42.

PROBABLE GOALTENDERS

Mathieu Corbeil (28-10-0-0, 2.42 GAA, 0.910 SV%) orSebastien Auger (9-2-0-2, 3.07 GAA, 0.885 SV%) for Saint John and Maxime Lagace(11-27-2-1, 4.30 GAA, 0.877 SV%) for PEI.

GALIEV

It certainly sounds like Stanislav Galiev could return toaction today. He tweeted this yesterday.

It's been tough 4 month for me, watching games fromstands! And now I'm back. First game tomorrow since 1st October. #Dogs#RoadToShawi

Galiev has not played since October because of a brokenwrist.

NOTES

The Rocket are averaging 1,583 fans per game at the CCCthis season, the second lowest average in the league.
Danick Gauthier is second in the league in goals with 37.Ben Duffy is seventh with 31.
Duffy is ninth in assists with 42. Phillips is 11^thwith 41.
Josh Currie leads the league in shorthanded goals with four.
Gauthier is third in game-winning goals with seven.
Tomas Jurco is third in insurance goals with four.
Ian Saab is second in penalty minutes with 141. JimmyOligny is fifth with 121.
Phillips is a league best +38.
Matej Beran is third in rookie scoring with 56 points.
Jonathan Huberdeau leads the league in shorthandedassists with four.
The Sea Dogs and Rocket meet again this Wednesday inCharlottetown.

OTHER GAMES

Blainville-Boisbriand at Rimouski - 4:00 PM EST

Halifax at Shawinigan - 4:00 PM EST

Gatineau at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EST

Cape Breton at Val-d'Or - 7:00 PM EST

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan tomorrowafternoon at 3pm at Harbour Station.

Fan Bus Trip To Moncton Cancelled

2012-02-11T09:06:00.001-04:00

SAINT JOHN - Due to low numbers, the Sea Dogs fan bustrip to Moncton on Saturday, February 25th, has been cancelled.

Sea The Dogs Bus Tours still has one more trip remainingthis year and that is a March visit to Cape Breton to see the Dogs take on theScreaming Eagles. Paul Leger will have a table setup on the Harbour Station concoursebeginning on February 21 for those interested in going.

More information on the trip can be found on their website.

Please note that SN is not affiliated with Sea TheDogs Bus Tours so send all questions their way.

On a completely unrelated note, the Shawinigan Cataractes bus was spotted in New York City yesterday.

The Villemaire Saga Comes To An End

2012-02-11T00:21:00.001-04:00

ST. STEPHEN – Where to begin.

First of all, I was literally stepping out the door andheading to King China over in Calais when the conclusion of the MaximeVillemaire saga hit the internet. I put a quick post up on the blog and headedfor the border. Waited in line for like 45 minutes for some reason, had anunreal buffet meal, then went to Dunkin’ Donuts to cap off a delicious evening.I love the Dunkin’.

What I don’t love is that the Saint John Sea Dogs werestripped of a victory today, losing two points and sliding into a tie withthe Shawinigan Cataractes for first overall in the Quebec Major Junior HockeyLeague. There’s still 15 games to play, but these two lost points couldcome back to haunt Saint John.

The league announced today – one week after the news wasinitially reported – that Sea Dogs forward Maxime Villemaire was indeedineligible to play in the January 4 game at Harbour Station between Saint Johnand the Gatineau Olympiques. The Dogs won 3-2 but that win and those two pointshave been awarded to the ‘Piques. All individual player statistics remainintact.

“Any member team of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leaguemust respect the rules, norms and procedures of the League,” commissioner GillesCourteau said in a release. “Their breach must be sanctioned even if it is anadministrative error committed in good faith.”

Personally, I have no problem with this decision becauserules are rules. The Sea Dogs broke a rule by not having Villemaire sign hisplayer card before playing. The issue was reported to the league. The league investigatedand found the Sea Dogs guilty. They were then punished.

It’s unfortunate though. It’s not like Villemaire is some25-year old guy from Switzerland trying to sneak into a game. This is just aguy that didn’t fill out some paperwork before playing. Villemaire reportedlysigned his player card on January 6, the same day he left the team for a monthdue to personal reasons.

Some random thoughts on the situation:

The big question surrounding this story is how theOlympiques found out about it and then filed the complaint. Was it Pierre Petroni that notified them? And what exactly isbehind the timing of all this? A month later?
Can't see Petroni sending a Christmas card to the Sea Dogs next year.
A lot of fans are wondering why Gatineau, who currentlysit 12^th in the league with 52 points, filed this complaint. Notsure what to think.
I’m curious to know if this kind of thing happens a lotacross the league but is just never reported.
It’s been a wild ride for Villemaire ever since he wastraded to Saint John. Hopefully we’ve seen the last of all this off-ice drama.
On a positive note, something like this will probably never happen again. Lessons learned.
It’s been a bizarre week. Let’s just be happy this isover.

Leave us your thoughts in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

Sea Dogs hockey returns tomorrow afternoon when they take on the PEI Rocket in Charlottetown.

BREAKING: Two Points Are Gone

2012-02-10T18:38:00.001-04:00

Well, the verdict is in – and it’s not good from a SaintJohn standpoint.

Here’s the release from the league.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League rendered itsdecision today on player eligibility for the January 4th game. The commissionerruled that in accordance with article 3.05 d), of the League’s administrativerules, the Sea Dogs’ win, as well as the two standing points that wereattached, are awarded to the Gatineau Olympiques and all individual playerstats remain.

“Any member team of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leaguemust respect the rules, norms and procedures of the League. Their breach mustbe sanctioned even if it is an administrative error committed in good faith”said the Commissioner.

Wow. We’ll have more later.

The Player That Didn't Want To Play There

2012-02-10T09:17:00.000-04:00

On a Wednesday night in February, we assume there isn’t awhole lot to do in Baie-Comeau. So really, why not put your baby costume on andtaunt Nathan MacKinnon?

Wow.

On Wednesday, MacKinnon, who the Drakkar drafted firstoverall last June but refused to report to Baie-Comeau, made his first appearancein the city since the draft drama. Just like Angelo Esposito when he played atHarbour Station, MacKinnon was booed throughout the game by the Drakkarfaithful who packed the Henry Leonard Centre.

The 16-year old Cole Harbour native had the Mooseheads’lone goal in their 2-1 shootout loss. MacKinnon didn't score in the shootout.

The Drakkar made a bold marketing move for this game, placingan ad in a local newspaper which, according to Metro Halifax, loosely translatedto "come cheer on the Drakkar, your team against the Mooseheads and aplayer who made the choice to not come to Baie-Comeau."

This kind of ad seems a little excessive. “Come see theplayer who wouldn’t play here” is just asking for trouble.

Mooseheads play-by-pay man John Moore has another videowrapping up the whole game.

That’s a whole lot of hate in B-C.

Speaking of John Moore, he interviewed Drakkar generalmanager Steve Ahern during the first intermission on News 95.7. Ahern droppedan f-bomb. What a night in Baie-Comeau.

Video from Chris of HockeyFights.com and John Moore of SportsandMoore.com. Picture from Richard L.

Day 6: The Villemaire Signing Saga

2012-02-09T20:22:00.001-04:00

By SN Staff

Is the Maxime Villemaire signing saga about to come to anend?

In today’s Telegraph-Journal (which is still behind thatridiculous paywall), Quebec Major Junior Hockey League commissioner GillesCourteau confirmed what we already know. The Gatineau Olympiques have indeedsent a complaint to the league, arguing that they should receive the two-pointsfrom their 3-2 January 4 loss in Saint John because Maxime Villemaire, allegedly,did not sign his player card before playing in the game.

Mike Kelly is quoted in the article, finally giving usall a bit of Saint John’s side of the story.

“Our interpretation of the complaint is that they have anissue of the alleged eligibility of a player,” Sea Dogs associate coach anddirector of hockey operations Mike Kelly said. “In talking to the league, I’vegiven them our perspective and we’re comfortable with our position.”

According to the T-J, “a final decision is expected by Friday.”

Two points are not going to help Gatineau all that muchin the standings. For Saint John, those two points could be the differencemaker in earning home ice advantage for the entire playoffs.

If you’re just joining this week long saga, here’s whatwe know so far.

Last Friday, RDS reported that the Olympiques had filed a complaint to the league about Villemaire’s eligibility for the January 4 game,a game in which he scored in. According to the QMJHL rule book, Saint Johncould be forced to forfeit the two points if the allegations are true.

On Tuesday, the Shawinigan newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported some more details on the story. College Francais deLongueuil head coach Pierre Petroni explained that just after Villemaire had left to return home for personal reasons, the Sea Dogs texted him to return in orderto sign his player card. By signing the player card, he could not simply just get up and beginn playing in the AAA ranks.

Petroni feels that the Sea Dogs tricked Villemaire intosigning the card and prevented him from deciding where he wanted to play. But,as Scott Briggs brings up in the T-J, it seems kind of strange that Villemaire,who has been in the league for a season-and-a-half, was not aware of theimplications of signing the card.

After roughly a month away from the team, Villemaire hassince returned to the Sea Dogs.

The details of this story could be all wrong – or theycould be all right. We’ll see what happens. Either way, Villemaire has had quite the adventure since being traded to Saint John.

The Titan Are Staying In Bathurst

2012-02-09T17:46:00.001-04:00

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan want you to know that the Titanare staying in Acadie-Bathurst.

Just like every spring, rumours have begun to circulateabout the team possibility relocating. Team owner Leo-Guy Morrissette deniedthose rumours in an article on the Titan website entitled “The Titan InBathurst To Stay.”

“There is absolutely no truth to that story,” Morrissettesaid of the rumours that team could be moving to Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec. “Iwould love to know the names of those businessmen I am apparently indiscussions with.

“The Titan will be in Bathurst next season and for manymore to come,” he added.

Bathurst is averaging 1,391 fans per game this season -the lowest average in the league. The QMJHL is averaging 3,371 fans per game as awhole this year.

Last year, the Titan averaged a league-low 1,611 fans percontest.

The franchise has been involved in several differentrelocation rumours over the last few years.

As much as we’d like the Titan to remain in Bathurst, youhave to wonder how much longer they can last. The franchise can only survivefor so long with such low attendance numbers. Hopefully they can somehow turnit around.

The Titan visit Saint John this Sunday afternoon at 3pm.

Sea Dogs Notebook

2012-02-09T14:49:00.000-04:00

THE MIXER

King Mazda was the place to be on Wednesday night as theSea Dogs held a team autograph session at the dealership. Photo courtesy of Kyle Ferguson.

SCHOLASTICS

St. Malachy’s High School student Jonathan Huberdeau hasbeen named the Sea Dogs’ scholastic player of the month for January. The SeaDogs captain tweeted this yesterday.

“Just finished my last exam of high school in NB !!#2highschooldiploma #toooldforthatbutstillproud thanks @stmguidance foreverything !!!!”

One player from each QMJHL team is selected each month. Theplayers are selected for their school results, their implication, theschool-hockey conciliation, their team spirit and their on-ice performances.

PROMOTIONS

The Sea Dogs announced today that a bunch of promotions will take place this month.

This Sunday,”the team will combine two popular annualthemes, as the Journée des Francofans meets the Valentine's Day Spectacular atHarbour Station. The theme for the 3 p.m. game against the Acadie-BathurstTitan is “From Saint John With Love.” Fans will be able to purchase bread, wineand cheese, there will be live music and mimes, and the first 400 female fanswill receive a carnation courtesy of the Sea Dogs. In addition, Ganong Bros.Limited will be providing free chocolates.”

The February 17 contest that will air nationally on Sportsnet is alsoCountry Music Night at Harbour Station. Fans are encouraged to wear cowboyboots and hats, on-air personalities will be in attendance and of course,country music will be played throughout the game. Country night plus national televisionwill make for an interesting combo. Here's hoping Rob Faulds wears a cowboy hat.

Fans looking for the absolute best value of the seasoncan take advantage of a Toonie Night on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Youth upper-bowltickets to the 7 p.m. game against the Halifax Mooseheads are available forjust $2 (plus $1 service charge) with the purchase of an adult ticket. Thesavings continue on Sunday, Feb. 26, as fans can take advantage of specialFamily Day pricing to purchase four tickets for only $46.

Then on Tuesday, February 28, the exciting conclusion of theBrunswick News Rivalry Cup will take place.

VILLEMAIRE

The news site “Le Reflect” had an article on Maxime Villemaire yesterday – one that wasn’t related to his player card signingdrama.

Apparently Sean Couturier and Guillaume Latendresse (weassume Guillaume as the article never mentioned his first name) calledVillemaire to advise him to stay in the Q. He also talks about the opportunity toplay for a contender.

SUSPENDED

Here’ the reasoning for the Jason Cameron suspension, as per the QMJHL website:

- His opponent was in a vulnerable position

- The player at fault: came from the blind side andhit his opponent’s head with his shoulder; propelled himself upwards toget at his opponent’s head; did not have much speed; and was at his first offence.

- The player was injured

The reasoning for the Jonathan Racine suspension:

- His opponent was in a vulnerable position and no longerhad the puck

- The player at fault: traveled a good distance, gained speed and propelled himself towards the top; as he was about to miss histarget, he hit the player with his fist and edge of his stick; and was at his first offence

- There was no injury.

BEAULIEU

Nathan Beaulieu was named the All Habs’ Montreal Canadiens top prospect of the week.

“Beaulieu makes his return to the honour roll by helpingto guide the Saint John Sea Dogs to a perfect week while factoring in each goalthe team scored,” writes SeriousFan09. “Beaulieu would contribute two assistson Friday night in what became an eventual 3-2 shootout win overDrummondville. Beaulieu would match hiscontribution on Saturday night as he once again marked two assists to helpSaint John edge a 2-1 victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes. The week alsomarked the first time in two months that Beaulieu has scored points inconsecutive games, while raising him to 10th overall in QMJHL defensivescoring. Beaulieu was drafted in the 1st round, 17th overall by the MontrealCanadiens in the 2011 Entry Draft.”

Beaulieu now has eight goals and 26 assists in 39 gamesthis season. If you read Peter McGuire’s column in Tuesday’s Telegraph-Journal,you’ll know that Beaulieu is closing in on some team records.

COYLE

Sea Dogs forward Charlie Coyle was an honourable mention for Hockey Future’s January prospect of the month. Morgan Ellis of theShawinigan Cataractes was named the top prospect.

“Coyle has continued to shine with the defending MemorialCup champion Sea Dogs having scored five goals with three assists and a plusfive-rating in six games for the month of January,” writes David Thicke. “Thebig winger has found himself on the team's top line with fellow Minnesota Wildprospect, Zach Phillips and Jonathan Huberdeau (FLA) where they have foundpretty good chemistry. He has used his size and speed along with his abilitieson the boards to make time and space for his talented linemates. Coyle shouldcontinue to put up good numbers and help the Sea Dogs to defend their MemorialCup Title again this year.”

HUBERDEAU

The Florida Panthers blog “The Rat Trick” has an articleon Jonathan Huberdeau.

“I’m glad with the move that Dale Tallon made by keepingHuberdeau in juniors and developing into a bigger stronger player,” writesDavid Rodriguez. “It will be interesting too see what will happen to Huberdeaunext offseason and whether or not he’ll make this squad; but that’s a ways awayfrom now. All we can hope for is a healthy Huberdeau and a player who has aknack for piling up points, after all he did lead the Panthers with 4 points in5 games during the pre-season. Won’t be too long from now that we’ll be seeingHuberdeau jerseys all over the Bank Atlantic Center on a nightly basis.”

How ‘bout those Panthers this season?

JURCO FAN

London Knights forward Andreas Athanasiou got the TomasJurco treatment at this year’s CHL/NHL Top Prospects game. He was filmed byNHL.com while performing some unreal tricks with the puck.

"I watched a few videos of what Tomas Jurco (theSaint John Sea Dogs forward and Detroit Red Wings prospect from Slovakia) hasdone in the past," Athanasiou said to the London Free Press earlier this week, "and he's unbelievable."

NHL.com’s draft page has more videos.

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are the highlights from Friday’s Sea Dogs game inDrummondville, because you are probably dying to see them.

Sea Dogs Ranked 2nd In CHL

2012-02-08T18:16:00.001-04:00

SAINT JOHN – After a successful weekend, the Saint JohnSea Dogs have jumped to No. 2 in the Canadian Hockey League rankings. Thelatest edition of the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings were released this afternoon.

The Sea Dogs needed a shootout on Friday night to beat theDrummondville Voltigeurs 3-2 at the Marcel Dionne Centre. Then on Saturday,Saint John defeated the Shawinigan Cataractes 2-1 in dramatic fashion,extending their lead atop the overall standings to three points.

Saint John currently has a record of 38-13-0-2 for 78points on the season. They were ranked fourth nationally a week ago.

Other Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams in thisweek’s top 10 were the Cataractes at No. 5 and the Quebec Remparts at No. 9.The Victoriaville Tigres were an honourable mention.

The weekly rankings of the Canadian Hockey League’s Top10 teams are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.

Here are the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings for week20.

1. London Knights (38-11-0-1)
2. Saint John Sea Dogs (38-13-0-2)
3. Kamloops Blazers (37-12-1-3)
4. Tri-City Americans (37-12-1-1)
5. Shawinigan Cataractes (35-12-2-3)
6. Edmonton Oil Kings (35-12-2-4)
7. Plymouth Whalers (35-13-2-1)
8. Kitchener Rangers (34-15-1-0)
9. Quebec Remparts (33-13-5-2)
10. Ottawa 67's (32-13-4-1)

Honourable Mention:
Niagara IceDogs (32-15-0-3)
Portland Winterhawks (35-15-2-1)
Victoriaville Tigres (34-16-1-2)

In Buzzing The Net’s Dynamic Dozen this week, the SeaDogs were ranked first.

This week, the Sea Dogs play twice. They travel to PEI toface the Rocket on Saturday afternoon and then host the Acadie-Bathurst Titanon Sunday at 3pm at Harbour Station.

"I'm Ready To Go"

2012-02-08T17:36:00.000-04:00

According to CSN Washington, Stanislav Galiev has been medically cleared to be play.

“Galiev was in Washington to visit with the surgeon whorepaired his left wrist and said his Wednesday morning appointment was a goodone,” reports Chuck Gormley.

“He said it’s healed and I’m ready to go,” Galiev said.“I can’t wait.”

Gormley says that Galiev hopes to be in the lineup nextFriday night. It would be his first game action since October 1 because of abroken wrist.

“Great day in DC today,” Galiev tweeted this afternoon. “Heardgreat news from a doctor this morning. Now at the airport, coming back to SaintJohn.”

“I hope I don't forget how to shoot the puck@mathieutcorbeil.”

The third-year Sea Dogs forward was on a tear beforebeing shut down, scoring three goals and three assists in just five games. He’llhave a about a month to get his mojo back before the playoffs start.

This is obviously great news for Saint John. With theRussian sniper back, it solidifies one of the best top-six forward units in the entireCanadian Hockey League with Galiev, Jonathan Huberdeau, Zack Phillips, CharlieCoyle, Tomas Jurco, and Danick Gauthier. That's just scary.

Despite all the games missed by their forwards this season, the Sea Dogs have done well offensively. They have scored 216 times in 53 games, the third most goals scored in the league this season.

Thanks toEmily from Japers Rink for the link.

Huberdeau, SeaDogsTV, & SN Nominated For Salty Awards

2012-02-08T08:42:00.000-04:00

Jonathan Huberdeau, SeaDogsTV, and the website you arecurrently reading have all been nominated for Salty awards. The Saltys areSaint John’s annual social media awards.

Huberdeau has been nominated for “Twitter Person of the Year.”The Saint John Sea Dogs captain currently has 15,451 followers under the handle @JonnyHuby11.

SeaDogsTV has been nominated for “Hottest YouTube.” Wecan’t say enough about SeaDogsTV. If the rest of the CHL had pages like this,the world would be a better place.

Lastly, your favourite Sea Dogs blog has been nominatedfor “Coolest Blog.”

“When we started this blog three years ago, we hadno idea what we were doing,” said Station Nation creater Jamie Tozer in anemotional text message this morning. “Three years later we still have no cluewhat we are doing but it seems to be working.”

“Our most popular blog post was about a Kijiji ad. That’sprobably all you need to know about this site.”

Station Nation was nominated for a Twitter award lastyear. This is Huberdeau’s and SeaDogsTV’s first nominations.

You can vote for your favourite social media sites/personalitieson The Saltys website. Voting closes at noon on February 15. The winners willbe announced on February 17^th at the Saint John Ale House.

More On The Villemaire Signing Saga

2012-02-07T22:01:00.003-04:00

The Maxime Villemaire signing saga is gettingmore bizarre by the day.

On Friday, RDS reported that the GatineauOlympiques had filed a complaint to the league about their 3-2 loss in SaintJohn back on January 4, saying that Villemaire had not signed his player cardprior to the match and thus was ineligible to play. Villemaire, making his SeaDogs debut, scored and was named the game's third star.

According to the QMJHL rule book, the Sea Dogs could losethe two points from that win if this is all true.

Today, Steve Turcotte of the Shawinigan newspaper Le Nouvelliste expanded on the RDS story. We recommend just copy/pasting theentire article through a translator. Pierre Petroni, head coach of the CollegeFrancais de Longueuil AAA hockey program, isn’t happy about the situation.

It's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Cameron, Racine Both Suspended

2012-02-07T18:15:00.000-04:00

SAINT JOHN – Jason Cameron and Jonathan Racine have both been suspended by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for hits duringSaturday’s Sea Dogs/Cataractes game in Shawinigan.

Saint John forward Jason Cameron has been suspended fourgames for an illegal hit to the head on Shawinigan forward Kirill Kabanov. Notthat the injury suffered should play a huge role in determining the suspensionlength (an illegal hit is an illegal hit – injury or not), but Kabanov did reportedlysuffer a concussion on the play.

Here’s the hit, courtesy of HockeyFights.com.

The play came at 8:54 of the third period in what was a1-1 game at the time. Cameron received a five-minute major and game misconduct.

Cameron, who turns 19 next month, has four goals andseven assists in 53 games this season. He’ll be eligible to return on February21 when the Sea Dogs host the Halifax Mooseheads.

Shawinigan defenseman Jonathan Racine has been suspendedfive games (UPDATE: Four games plus an automatic one-game) for an illegal hit to the head on Sea Dogs forward JonathanHuberdeau. The Saint John captain was a bit dazed after the hit but stayed inthe game, ultimately scoring the game-winner.

Here’s the hit.

The play came at 16:33 of the third period. Racine wasgiven a five-minute major and match penalty.

We really don’t have a problem with either of thesesuspensions.

Facing The Champs

2012-02-07T16:52:00.002-04:00

By Andrew McGilligan
SN Staff

Do the Saint John Sea Dogs have what it takes to repeatas President’s Cup champions and represent the Quebec Major Junior HockeyLeague for a second-straight year at the MasterCard Memorial Cup?

The best comparison is with themselves, at the least2010-11 version of the Sea Dogs.

Here’s a list of the differences in the roster from thisyear and last.

Forwards

Then: Mike Thomas, Michael Kirkpatrick, Steven Anthony,Scott Oke, Alexandre Beauregard

Now: Charlie Coyle, Maxime Villemaire, Oliver Cooper,Grant West

Defence

Then: Simon Despres, Eric Gelinas, Gabriel Bourret

Now: Charles-Olivier Roussel, Spencer MacDonald, Ian Saab

Goaltenders

Then: Jacob DeSerres

Now: Sebastien Auger

Let’s start in goal. The biggest difference is overallexperience. DeSerres had Memorial Cup experience with the Brandon Wheat Kingsand was in his 20-year-old season while Corbeil was 19 and had played a coupleof season in the Q with Halifax.

Youth isn’t a knock on Auger, it’s just a fact. Duringlast season’s playoff run, Corbeil stepped in and played well in a couple ofgames for DeSerres. I’m not sure the Sea Dogs want to see Auger do the samethis season, but he may not have to as Corbeil has been one of the top goaliesin the league and setting all sorts of Sea Dogs records.

On defence, it’s next to impossible to replace Despres,actually, it is impossible. However, the Sea Dogs did add an impact bluelinerto the roster in Roussel who has been great for the club. Still, when it comesto defense, last season’s team was stronger, but not by much.

Forwards are an interesting comparison. While leadershipwas lost in the form of Thomas and Kirkpatrick, this year’s version boastsCharlie Coyle. An elite level talent with size, great hands and a nose for thenet, Coyle adds a dimension last season’s squad never had. Villemaire’sabilities are similar to those of Beauregard.

Danick Gauthier’s breakout offensive performance has beena tremendous surprise and Cooper has shown that he belongs at this level.

A tough call, but the addition of Coyle along withGauthier’s strong play and another year of experience for elite playersJonathan Huberdeau, Zack Phillips, Tomas Jurco and Stansilav Galiev (providedhe returns from injury), the edge has to go to this year’s team.

So let’s recap. The goaltending edge goes to the 2010-11squad by virtue of experience. The defence corps is close, but last season’sclub gets the nod for boasting Despres. This year’s forward group gets the edgebecause of Coyle, Gauthier’s emergence and another year of seasoning for thebig guns.

So on paper last season’s squad would get the edge in ahead-to-head matchup, but that’s pretty good news for this year’s version ofthe Sea Dogs given they would be playing the Memorial Cup champs.

Sea Dogs At King Mazda Tonight

2012-02-07T07:47:00.000-04:00

The Sea Dogs will be at King Mazda tonight from 6-8pm fora team autograph session. The car dealership is located at 440 Rothesay Ave.

Is Mazda still doing the “Zoom-Zoom” thing?

Hockey Day In Canada This Saturday

2012-02-06T19:01:00.001-04:00

CBC’s annual ‘Hockey Day in Canada’ is this Saturday in Prince Edward Island. The Saint John Sea Dogs just so happen to be playingthe PEI Rocket in Charlottetown on that day and will be part of thefestivities.

From the Rocket website:

Hockey Day in Canada is a day to celebrate Canada’sgreatest game and the PEI Rocket are planning special events in conjunctionwith their game that afternoon. TheRocket host the defending Memorial Cup Champion, Saint John Seadogs, at 4o’clock on February 11th at the Charlottetown Civic Centre, with activities forall ages beginning an hour prior to the drop of the puck. Gord Stellick will be the CBC host at thegame as the network sends live feeds of game action and interviews throughoutthe nation.

Trent Birt, PEI Rocket Vice-president of Operations,says, “Hockey Day in Canada is about much more than televising a hockeygame. It is a full celebration of ourhockey culture and although we are delighted to be a part of CBC’s nationaltelecast, we want to give more to the day, our fans and our game. We are adding a festival type environment andwe expect our building to be full of energy. This is the true nature of the Canadian hockey culture.”

Children will be accommodated on the Trade Centre side ofthe complex with face painting, an Andrew’s Hockey Growth Programs Hardest Shotcompetition from which shooters can win gift cards to Andrews Hockey School,and target shooting where Rocket players not playing will be signing autographsand participants will have the chance to win the Reebok stick they shoot withas well as a tour of the Rocket dressing room. Free popcorn will also be provided.

Adults will be entertained in the Rocket Lounge with atwo pieces of The Wannabees Band playing before and after the game as well asduring the intermissions. There willalso be free pre-game munchies. The mainconcourse will have live entertainment for fans of all ages as well.

This all sounds quite awesome. Please note that puck dropis at 4pm and not the usual 7pm.

More info on Hockey Day in Canada 2012 can be found here.

Sea Dogs Notebook

2012-02-06T08:54:00.000-04:00

PROMO

Sportsnet has already begun promoting the Remparts – SeaDogs game that will air nationally on February 17 live from Harbour Station.These ads have been popping up on CHL websites over the past week.

SALTYS

Today is the final day to nominate people for a 2012Saint John social media award. “Salty” nominations can be made until noon today.

If there is anything you do today, please help us get thebest YouTube page in junior hockey, SeaDogsTV, nominated for ‘Hottest YouTube”award.

GORMLEY

More details about Brandon Gormley’s injury at the end ofSaturday’s game have come out. According to The Guardian, “Gormley dove toknock the puck away from Sea Dogs' star Charlie Coyle.

“In the process, the heel of Coyle's skate came up andstruck him in the throat.

“The skate just missed Gormley's jugular, leaving atwo-and-a-half inch cut on the left side of his neck.”

Gormley was taken to a hospital and received two stiches.He apparently had to wait six hours in the hospital because of other emergencyincidents. He also suffered a bruised left foot in the game but hopes to playon Wednesday against Bathurst at the Bionest Centre.

Also according to The Gurdian, Kirill Kabanov, who gotsmoked by Jason Cameron in the third period, suffered a concussion.

JURCO

Because basically every Tomas Jurco goal is placed onYouTube now, here’s the shootout goal he scored on Friday in Drummondville.

UP NEXT

The Sea Dogs have another long layoff between games thisweek. After beating the Cataractes 2-1 in Shawinigan on Saturday, they do notplay again until this Saturday in PEI against the Rocket.

The Rocket are playing some good hockey right now as theytry and grab that final playoff spot. They have won three straight and arecurrently holding onto the final playoff spot with 38 points, one-point aheadof the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

The Sea Dogs return to Harbour Station this Sunday whenthey host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 3pm.

COYLE

Scott Briggs had an article about Charlie Coyle last week on the QMJHL website. Coyle talks about a number of things, including his hotstart to his Q career.

“I like the style of play here,’’ Coyle said. “It’spretty different from college. I’m not taking away from (the) college game oranything. Up here, there are younger players compared to college, but they’reall skilled and the speed of the game is pretty good, too… I’m going to belearning a lot in the next few weeks and I’m looking forward to that.’’

Coyle has six goals and four assists in his first eightgames with Saint John.

Of note, Boston University is 6-2-1 since the calendar switchedto 2012. They are 16-8-1 overall this season and 13-6-1 in conference play.

BEAUREGARD

Former Sea Dog Alexandre Beauregard spoke to the media onSaturday in Chicoutimi for the first time since being diagnosed with thyroidcancer.

“On my way to the Hospital .. It time to kill that shitinside me #surgeryday,” Beauregard tweeted on January 29.

On Saturday, the Sea Dogs’ playoff hero said he is takingseveral medications since his surgery. He still hopes to be back for the Sagueneens’playoff run.

"I'm fine. I take medication for four days and mygoal is always to return to play for the playoffs. I count on the support of myfamily and my team. The hardest part was when I heard the news of cancer. I waswith my mother and her reaction, like that of my family, has not been easy. Ihave asked many questions about my future hockey, " he said, as translated by Google.

HOT

The Sea Dogs have been named the QMJHL’s “hot team” bySportsnet again this week.

“The defending MasterCard Memorial Cup champs are peakingand asserting their dominance at the right time,” writes Patrick King. “SaintJohn holds down the top spot in league standings after a 2-1 win oversecond-place Shawinigan on Saturday for its seventh victory in a row. The SeaDogs haven't lost since a 4-1 defeat to the Cataractes at home on Jan. 12 andnow lead the Cataractes by three points.”

DESPRES

Lastly, here’s friend-of-the-blog CJ talking about formerSea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres.

VIDEO: Saturday's Controversial Hits

2012-02-06T00:20:00.001-04:00

Video of the two controversial hits from Saturday’s 2-1Saint John Sea Dogs road win over the Shawinigan Cataractes has surfaced.

Here’s Jason Cameron’s hit on Kirill Kabanov, a play thathappened at 8:54 of the third period. Video courtesy of HockeyFights.com.

Cameron was given a five-minute major for checking to thehead and a game misconduct. Kabanov reportedly suffered a concussion.

Cameron obviously wasn’t too happy about the events,yelling in Kabanov’s direction as he was escorted off the ice.

The second controversial hit came at 16:33 of the thirdwhen Jonathan Racine nailed Jonathan Huberdeau.

Like Cameron, Racine was given a five-minute major and match penalty for checking to the head. Huberdeau would be okay, scoring thegame-winner on the power play with 30 seconds remaining in the contest.

It should be noted that Racine fought Huberdeau last year at Harbour Station.

It’s safe to assume both of these hits will be reviewedby the league. We don’t even know what qualifies as a suspendable hit in theQMJHL or hockey in general anymore, so we’ll see what happens.

The Sea Dogs and Cataractes meet again on March 11 inShawinigan for what should be another wild game.

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 2, Cataractes 1

2012-02-05T14:08:00.001-04:00

A collection of recaps from last night’s 2-1 Saint JohnSea Dogs win over the Shawinigan Cataractes…

Our recap. There were fights, there were scrums afteralmost every whistle, there were two controversial hits, there were greatsaves, and there was a dramatic late game goal that proved to be the winner.This was as intense as it gets for a regular season game in February.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

Le Nouvelliste’s recap. The Sea Dogs picked up a crucialtwo points on Saturday and didn’t allow the Cataractes to get any.

L’Hebdo du St. Maurice’s recap. After getting belted byJonathan Racine, it was fitting that Jonathan Huberdeau scored the game winner.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. Mathieu Corbeil made 37saves in an outstanding performance for the win.

SN Live Blog replay. It was a war out there.

MISSING IN ACTION: According to News 88.9, forward DevonOliver-Dares is out indefinitely with a broken collarbone. It’s a bad break forOliver-Dares who just returned from a head injury.

Forward Ryan Tesink also missed the game with what theteam is calling a “maintenance day.” It looked as though he may have banged uphis surgically repaired knee on Friday night in Drummondville.

Stanislav Galiev was also out with a broken wrist.

STREAK: The win extends Saint John’s winning streak toseven games. They have also won four straight on the road.

Their seven-game streak is currently the longest in theQMJHL. The longest streak this season belongs to the Quebec Remparts who wonnine consecutive contests in November.

STANDINGS: Jonathan Huberdeau’s late-game goal was bigfor two reasons. For one, it gave Saint John two points. For two, it didn’tallow the game to go to overtime, which would have given the losing team a point.

Saint John now has a record of 38-13-0-2 for 78 points in53 games. The Cataractes have 75 points in 52 games. These two points could behuge come mid-March.

DEFENSEMEN DOWN: In the second period, Charles Rousselheaded to the dressing room with what appeared to be a shoulder/arm injury. Hewould return later in the period and eventually score the game-tying goal.

Not long after Roussel headed off, Brandon Gormley wentoff for Shawinigan. He appeared to hurt his left leg in front of his own goaland could hardly stand up. He was helped off the ice but would return late inthe period. Then late in the contest, Gormley took a skate in the neck area. Hewas taken to hospital after the game but the cut is not believed to be tooserious.

BIG HITS: The QMJHL disciplinary prefect will likely lookat a couple of hits from this game. At 8:54 of the third, Jason Cameron nailedKirill Kabanov and was given a five-minute major and game misconduct. Kabanov leftthe game and never returned and could have a concussion. The Cataractes failedto convert on the long power play.

Then at 16:33 of the final frame, Jonathan Racine smokedJonathan Huberdeau at the blue line and was assessed the same penalties that Cameron got.Huberdeau sat on the ice for a few moments but would be okay. It was a goodthing he stayed in as he would score the game-winner on that power play with 30seconds left.

ROUGH STUFF: This was a nasty game with scrums afteralmost every whistle. There were quite a few hits with the two teams combiningfor 28. If these two meet in the playoffs, it’s going to be quite a battle.

CORBEIL: This was easily one of, if the best performanceMathieu Corbeil has had since joining the Sea Dogs. He allowed just one goal on38 shots and made some big time saves at key moments to give Saint John achance.

These are the games – these one-goal, playoff likecontests - that Corbeil has to step up in. He delivered on Saturday.

VS SHAWINIGAN: The Sea Dogs improved to 2-1-0-0 againstShawinigan this season with the victory while the Cataractes fell to 1-1-1-0against Saint John.

The two meet for a fourth time on Sunday, March 11 at theBionest Centre.

NOTES: Nathan Beaulieu had two assists… Tomas Jurco had aSea Dogs high seven shots… Maxime Villemaire had four hits… Maximilien Le Sieurhad a strong game, recording a goal, a +1 rating and a team high five shots…Jonathan Racine had three hits… a sellout crowd of 4,167 watched the game…Saint John’s special teams were rolling on Saturday. They went 2-for-5 on thepower play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.

RANT: The camera work on the Telus webcast was a completejoke yesterday. We were close to motion sickness by the end of it. Yikes.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs head to Charlottetown to face thePEI Rocket on Saturday at 4pm.

Playing And Losing At The Name Game

2012-02-05T09:06:00.000-04:00

By Andrew McGilligan

SN Staff

In the countless articles I’ve read regarding the SuperBowl, not much has stuck with me.

However, there was one nugget of information I was gladto glean. The nickname of Patriots running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis is ‘TheLaw Firm.’

Here’s how New York Times reporter Ben Shpigel describedthe moniker:

“Since signing with New England in 2008 as an undraftedfree agent, Green-Ellis, 26, has become a favorite among Patriots fans, whoappreciate his persistence and steadiness as much as they adore hisdelightfully rhythmic name. Say it out loud: BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Themellifluous sequence of syllables could be mistaken for a blue-blooded law firm— hence the moniker — with a tradition of Patriot partners, like Ty Law andLawyer Milloy.”

Green-Ellis has embraced the name as well, going so faras to use it in his Twitter handle – @TheLawFirmBJGE.

The reason I bring this up is modern day sports is lazywhen it comes to nicknames. That’s why ‘The Law Firm’ is so refreshing. Mosttimes what passes for a nickname is a players last name with a ‘y’ or an ‘er’slapped on the end.

Sadly, the Saint John Sea Dogs – at least to my knowledge– are not bucking this trend. The team has featured the likes of Michael‘Kirky’ Kirkpatrick, Mike ‘Thomer’ Thomas, and Brett ‘Gally’ Gallant. The SeaDogs Francophone announcer tried to give Thomas and Gallant ‘The Hammer’ and‘Hitman’, respectively, but the QMJHL stepped in and made sure no fun was goingto be had with player names.

(Side note: I’m not quite sure why the QMJHL did this. Ithink an official press release mentioned something about the league’santi-discrimination policy. I chalk it up to Gilles Courteau only taking astand in matters that have no actual relevance while ignoring real problemsfacing the league, but that’s a discussion for another column.)

I don’t blame any specific group or the nicknameepidemic. I blame all of us. Players, fans and journalists alike, we all haveto shoulder some of the responsibility. In the past, great nicknames came from a collaborative effort on behalfof all these factions.

This seems to be dead period in terms of creativenicknames in the sports world. I will give credit to the trio of former SeaDogs Alexandre Leduc, Keven Charland and Francois Gauthier who at least tried.They asked me to call them ‘The Baby Blue Line’ in an article I was writing atthe time for the Telegraph-Journal. The reason for the name was the colour oftheir practice jerseys. I decided the name sucked and didn’t include it in thestory, plus you can’t be the originator of your own nickname – it’s a rule, Idon’t know where it came from, but we have to follow it. (NOTE: I think P.K.Subban tried to get teammates at a recent World Junior tournament to call himthe Subbanator and he was promptly shut down. The name was decent, but the rulewas properly enforced, no exceptions.)

While I gave Gauthier, Leduc and Charland credit fortrying to come up with their own nickname – even though it breaks a rule – Idid say it sucked (Baby Blue strikes fear in the heart of no one), but I shouldmention I’m not very good at creating handles either. During my stint as asports reporter I tried to come up with monikers for players, but they alwaysseemed lacking. Here’s an example: The LSD line. It was the first letter of thelast names of Sea Dogs forwards Peyton Liske, Ryan Sparking and Chris DiDomenico. My thought was their quick puck movement and skills made the defencethink they were hallucinating. It was bad then and it’s worse now. Making adrug reference to three teenagers doesn’t seem right.

News 88.9 play-by-play man Tim Roszell came up with anickname for the trio of Huberdeau-Phillips-Jurco last season. He called themthe ‘Bachelor Line’ because all three were eligible for the NHL draft and allthe scouts were checking them out. Not too bad, but it didn’t extend past lastseason.

So here’s the challenge, come up with some good nicknamesfor the Sea Dogs that are more than just variations on their last names. Let meknow what you come up with by sending me your suggestions to @AMcGilligan on Twitter.

As a final note, the only nickname I really liked for aSea Dog player was ‘The Big Horse’ for Simon Despres. It just fit. However, Ican’t take credit for it, the name came from either former bench boss JacquesBeaulieu or assistant coach Jim Midgley.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Oliver-Dares Out Indefinitely

2012-02-05T01:03:00.002-04:00

It’s been a rough season for Devon Oliver-Dares.

He started the year with the Sea Dogs but then left the team for personal reasons in mid-October. He returned to Saint John in early December, playing in his first game since October 15 on December 3 against Shawinigan at Harbour Station. But then on December 11 in Halifax, the forward hit his head on the ice following a fight, causing him to miss over a month of action.

Oliver-Dares returned to the Sea Dogs lineup on January 29. But on Friday in Drummondville, his season took another turn as he broke collarbone in Saint John’s 3-2 shootout win. According to News 88.9's Tim Roszell, he is out indefinitely.

The Cole Harbour native has played in just 18 games this season, recording a goal and two assists.

Also out of the Saint John lineup on Saturday in Shawinigan was forward Ryan Tesink. According to News 88.9, Tesink was out with what the team is calling a “maintenance day” for his surgically repaired knee. The St. Louis Blues prospect appeared to bang it up a bit in Friday’s game.

Tesink has nine goal and 18 assists in 23 games this year. He missed two months of action because of knee surgery.

The Sea Dogs are hoping their other injured forward, Stanislav Galiev, is cleared to play shortly. Galiev has not played since October 1 because of a broken wrist.

In Saturday’s physical affair against the Cataractes, Charles Roussel left the game in the second period with what appeared to be a shoulder/arm related injury. He returned later though, scoring the game-tying goal.

Saturday’s game was a rough one for Shawinigan. The infamous Kirill Kabanov was leveled by Jason Cameron in the third period, a play that saw Cameron receive a five-minute major and game misconduct. The Russian left the game and did not return.

In the second period, not long after Roussel’s injury, Brandon Gormley left the game with a leg injury but would return later in the frame. According to multiple reports, Gormley was taken to a hospital in an ambulance after getting cut in throat by a skate late in the third. The cut is not believed to be too serious.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

RECAP: What A Game. Dogs Win 2-1.

2012-02-04T22:11:00.001-04:00

FINAL: Saint John 2, Shawinigan 1

SHAWINIGAN, Que. – What a game in Shawinigan on Saturdaynight.

In a playoff like game, the Saint John Sea Dogs scoredwith 30 seconds remaining in the third period to defeat the ShawiniganCataractes 2-1 at a sold out Bionest Centre. With the win, Saint John is nowthree points ahead of Shawinigan in the race for first place in the QuebecMajor Junior Hockey League.

This game was incredible. There were fights, there werescrums after almost every whistle, there were two controversial hits, therewere great saves, and there was a dramatic late game goal that proved to be thewinner. This was as intense as it gets for a regular season game in February.

The Cataractes opened the scoring and led 1-0 after one.The Dogs battled through the second and tied it at 1-1 late. In the third period,with Jonathan Racine serving a five-minute major for a high hit on JonathanHuberdeau, it was the Sea Dogs captain who scored in the final minute to giveSaint John the win.

This was a terrific road game by the Dogs. Theycapitalized two of their five power play opportunities. They were able to killall five Shawinigan power plays – including a five-minute major to JasonCameron. Mathieu Corbeil had one of his best performances of his season ingoal. And when they needed the big play late, their best player stepped up anddelivered.

Along with Huberdeau’s goal, Charles Roussel also scored.Nathan Beaulieu added two assists. Corbeil made 37 saves and was named firststar for his efforts.

The Cataractes’ lone goal came from Maximilien Le Sieur.Gabriel Girard allowed two goals on 25 shots.

This was the third meeting of the season between thesetwo. Saint John has won two of them. They meet once more in March in a gamethat will also be played at the Bionest Centre. All three games – especially thefirst and third – have been quite a battle. A playoff series between these twowould be unreal.

Along with extending their lead in the standings, SaintJohn also extended their winning streak to seven games. The Dogs are now38-13-02 on the year which is good for 78 points.

FIRST PERIOD

At 2:30 of the first period, Grant West and DillonDonnelly dropped the gloves in front of the Shawinigan goal for a short fight.The tilt would setup a rather feisty opening frame with pushing and shovingafter almost every stoppage in play.

The first half of the period had a great pace but verylittle scoring chances. Just past the halfway mark, Anton Zlobin had a goodchance in the slot but Mathieu Corbeil deflected it with his glove. A fewmoments later, Corbeil made another save with the glove, this time robbingBrandon Gormely in close.

After the Gormley save at 11:47, Charles Roussel headedoff for holding along with Maxime Villemaire and Peter Sakaris for roughing.The Cataractes couldn’t get much going on the power play though.

Shawinigan made it 1-0 at 14:17. A long pass ahead found MaximilienLe Sieur who who went in alone. He slid the puck under Corbeil to give the home teamthe one-goal advantage.

Some more rough stuff at 14:45 resulted in penalties.Soon after, Stephen MacAulay let a shot go from the dot that was padded away byGabriel Girard. Then at the other end, Corbeil stopped Loik Poudrier on atwo-on-one and made another solid pad save off Taylor Carnevale.

Shots in the opening period were 14-11 in favour ofShawinigan.

SECOND PERIOD

Early on, a rebound hit something and trickled towardsthe goal and just went wide of the net in a bizarre moment.

Shawinigan went back to the power play at 4:01 as Rousselheaded off. Just a few moments into the penalty kill, Roussel left the box withwhat appeared to be a shoulder injury and was replaced by Grant West. Rousselreturned later in the period.

On the power play, another defenseman left the game butthis time it was a Cataracte who would be hurt. Brandon Gormley went down infront of his own net and left the contest favouring his left leg. He returned latein the period.

Back at even strength, Jurco went in on a partial breakbut was stopped by the blocker of Girard. Then Danick Gauthier let a one-timeshot go from just inside the line but was robbed as well.

The Sea Dogs headed to the man advantage at 11:25 butcouldn’t get a whole lot going. While shorthanded, Poudrier had a decent chance,tipping the puck just wide.

Shawinigan went back to the power play at 15:50 but itwouldn’t last long as Morgan Ellis headed off at 16:58. On the ensuing powerplay, Roussel blasted the puck past Girard to tie the game up at 1-1.

In the dying seconds of the period, Jurco had an open neton a wraparound but couldn’t sweep it towards the net enough, allowing Girardto dive and make the save.

Shots in the second stanza were 12-7 Shawinigan.

THIRD PERIOD

Early in the third, Saint John had a three-on-two butJurco sent the shot high off Girard. Then Shawinigan had a chance as MichaelBournival cut across the top the crease but sent the puck into the pads ofCorbeil.

At 2:51, Vincent Arseneau and Ian Saab dropped the glovesfor a fight that didn't feature many punches land.

Gauthier headed off at 4:23, giving Shawinigan a powerplay. Jurco fed Zack Phillips on a shorthanded two-on-one but sailed the shothigh. The Cats couldn’t get anything going on the man advantage.

Saint John had a power play at 5:52 but did nothing.

Then at 8:54, the chaos began. Jason Cameron smokedKirill Kabanov and was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for hishit. Kabanov left the game. On the long power play, Yannick Veilleux came outfrom behind the net but had his shot stopped by Corbeil. Late in the manadvantage, Bournival fired a shot off the crossbar. Saint John had an excellentpenalty kill.

The Sea Dogs called a timeout shortly after their penaltykill expired to organize some stuff.

At 16:33, Jonathan Racine put a huge hit on JonathanHuberdeau at the blue line. Huberdeau sat on the ice for a few minutes butstayed in the game. Racine was given a game misconduct and five-minute major,giving the Dogs a huge opportunity.

With 30 seconds remaining in the game, Huberdeau was atthe side of net and banked the puck of Girard and in to give the Dogs a 2-1 lead. The goal would be reviewed but the call would stand, give Saint John the victory.

Shots in the third period were 12-7 Shawinigan.

Saint John went 2-for-5 on the power play whileShawinigan went 0-for-5.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs take on the PEI Rocketnext Saturday in Charlottetown.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

LIVE BLOG: Sea Dogs vs Cataractes

2012-02-04T12:31:00.003-04:00

SHAWINIGAN - The Sea Dogs are in Shawinigan today to battle the Cataractes at 5pm. It's a huge game. Follow along for updates.

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=715202bd08" &amp;amp;gt;SN Live Blog: Sea Dogs vs Cataractes&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

GAMEDAY 53: at Shawinigan

2012-02-04T11:46:00.002-04:00

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Shawinigan Cataractes

Today at 5pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog:SN

Bionest Centre

PREVIEW

SHAWINIGAN – Over the past two years, the Saint John SeaDogs have iced excellent teams. In 2009-10 and 2010-11, the Sea Dogs won theregular season title fairly easily, holding a lead for most of the season. Butthis year is a different story. The Sea Dogs have an excellent team again, but they currently find themselves justone-point ahead of the Shawinigan Cataractes for first place in the league andhave played one extra game.

The race for first place makes today’s game a big one.Add in all of the Memorial Cup drama and the previous games played betweenthese two this year and this is a huge, huge game. The Dogs and Cats meet today at 5pm at the Bionest Centre.

Saint John enters today’s game with a record of 37-13-0-2for 76 points. They are currently the hottest team in the league having won sixstraight and nine of their last 10.

The Dogs are 15-9-0-1 on the road this year and haveoutscored opponents 92-81.

Shawinigan enters action today with a record of 35-11-3-2for 75 points. They have also been playing some good hockey of late, winningeight of their last 10 and picking up points in each of their past threecontests.

The Cataractes are 18-6-0-2 at home this year and haveoutscored the opposition 66-38.

This is the third of four meetings this season betweenthese two. Shawinigan basically dominated the last one, winning 4-1 at HarbourStation. Today, it’s time for some revenge.

THE NUMBERS

	Saint John	Shawinigan
Record	37-13-0-2 (1st Maritimes)	35-11-2-3 (1st East)
Home Record	- - -	18-6-0-2
Road Record	15-9-0-1	- - -
Streak	6-0-0-0	2-0-0-1
Last 10	9-1-0-0	8-1-0-1
Goals For	214	205
Goals Against	148	130
Overall PP	21.2% (10th)	21.1% (11th)
Home PP	- - -	23.3% (10th)
Road PP	19.5% (10th)	- - -
Overall PK	77.6% (9th)	83.9% (2nd)
Home PK	- - -	81.7% (5th)
Road PK	71.6% (15th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	15.6 (9th)	16.4 (4th)

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-2 shootout win last nightin Drummondville. The Dogs led 2-1 late in the game but the Voltigeurs tied itin the final minute, sending it to extra time. Charlie Coyle and Ryan Tesinkscored for Saint John in regulation time while Jonathan Huberdeau and TomasJurco netted shootout markers. Nathan Beaulieu added two assists. SebastienAuger made 29 saves for the win.

Shawinigan is coming off an 8-1 win over the Val-d’OrForeurs last night at the Bionest Centre. Michael Chaput and Loik Poudrierscored twice while singles came from Mitchell Maynard, Pierre-Olivier Morin,Michael Bournival, and Peter Sakaris. Jonathan Narbonne had three assists. AlexDubeau allowed a goal on 19 shots.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Sea Dogs are 1-1-0-0 against the Cataractes this yearwhile Shawinigan is 1-0-1-0 against Saint John.

Their last meeting came on January 12 at Harbour Stationwhen the Cataractes beat the Sea Dogs easily by score of 4-1. Charlie Coyle hadthe lone Saint John goal while Peter Sakaris had two for Shawinigan and singlescame from Michael Chaput and Michael Bournival. Mathieu Corbeil allowed fourgoals on 26 shots while Gabriel Girard allowed one on 30 shots.

LEADING SCORERS

Zack Phillips still leads Saint John in scoring with 66points (26G, 40A) in 45 games this year. Danick Gauthier leads the club ingoals with 37 while Phillips has a team high 40 assists.

Anton Zlobin leads the Cataractes in scoring with 57points (31G, 26A) in 49 games this season. Zlobin leads the team in goals with31 while Michael Chaput has a team high 32 assists.

PROBABLE GOALTENDERS

Mathieu Corbeil (28-9-0-0, 2.46 GAA, 0.907 SV%) for SaintJohn and Gabriel Girard (16-3-1-1, 2.25 GAA, 0.921 SV%) for Shawinigan.

Girard and Corbeil are currently one and two for the bestgoal against average in the league, respectively.

NOTES

Shawinigan is averaging 3,446 fans per game this seasonat the Bionest Centre.
Danick Gauthier is second in the league in goals with 37.Anton Zlobin is sixth with 31.
Zack Phillips is 10^th in assists with 40.
Michael Bournival, Maxime Le Sieur, and Liok Poudrier areall three, four and five in shorthanded goals with three, respectively. RyanTesink is eighth with two.
Gauthier is second in game-winning goals with seven. LeSieur and Yannick Veilleux both have five.
Veilleux is third in first goals with six.
Tomas Jurco is third in insurance goals with four.
Ian Saab is second in penalty minutes with 136.
Phillips is a league best +38.
Jonathan Huberdeau leads the league in shorthandedassists with four.
Saint John is 26-1-0-0 when scoring first this season.Shawinigan is 25-1-2-1.
The Cataractes are 7-1-1-0 against Maritime Divisionteams this year.

OTHER GAMES

Rouyn-Noranda at Chicoutimi - 4:00 PM EST

Rimouski at Drummondville - 4:00 PM EST

Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax - 7:00 PM AST

Quebec at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:00 PM EST

Val-d'Or at Gatineau - 7:00 PM EST

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs are in PEI next Saturday for Hockey Day inCanada. Game time is 4pm at the CCC.

REPORT: Olympiques File Complaint

2012-02-04T01:00:00.001-04:00

RDS reported a bizarre story on Friday afternoon.

According to RDS' Stephane Leroux, the Gatineau Olympiqueshave filed a complaint to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League against theSaint John Sea Dogs. The Olympiques believe that Sea Dogs forward MaximeVillemaire, who played in the January 4 Gatineau/Saint John game at HarbourStation, didn’t sign his contract before playing in the contest. The reportindicates that Villemaire did not sign with the team until January 6. He thenleft the team for personal reasons.

Villemaire was a key contributor in Saint John’s 3-2 winover the ‘Piques on January 4. The 19-year old had a goal and was named thegame’s third star.

Leroux brings up a part of section 3.05 of the QMJHL rulebook, which states:

If a team plays with a non-qualified player, whether because of his age or because his name is not on the eligibility list of the club, the win or tied game as well as the corresponding points in the standings shall be deducted and given to the opponent (maximum of two points).

For some teams, the loss of two points wouldn’t be a hugedeal. But with Saint John currently just one-point up on the ShawiniganCataractes for first-place in the league, these pair of points could be thedifference between first and second overall.

Hopefully some more details about this storycome out shortly. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Meanwhile, Villemaire returned to the Sea Dogs’ lineup onFriday in Drummondville. He was a -1, had two penalty minutes, and three hitsin Saint John’s 3-2 shootout victory.

RECAP: Fun In The Drumm. Dogs Win 3-2.

2012-02-04T00:15:00.003-04:00

By SN Staff

FINAL: Saint John 3, Drummondville 2 (SO)

DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. – Marc-Olivier Brouillard’s late gameheroics weren’t enough as his Drummondville Voltigeurs fell 3-2 in a shootoutto the Saint John Sea Dogs on Friday night in Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leagueaction at the Marcel Dionne Centre.

Brouillard tied the game with 28 seconds remaining inthird period, ultimately sending it to a shootout. Jonathan Huberdeau and TomasJurco both scored for Saint John in the breakaway contest while Sebastien Augerstopped both shots he faced.

Guillaume Gauthier had the other Drummondville regulationtime goal. Charlie Coyle and Ryan Tesink scored for Saint John. Auger made 29saves in net for the win while Domenic Graham made 43 stops in the loss.

The Volts scored first as Gauthier netted his seventhmarker of the season at 7:58 of the second period. Coyle tied it on the powerplay at 13:03. Tesink put the Dogs ahead 2-1 at 1:36 of third period but theDogs couldn’t hold onto the lead as the Volts tied it in the final minute.Saint John then scored on both of their shootout attempts while Drummondvillewent scoreless.

It was quite a feisty game as the teams combined for 48penalty minutes. There was plenty of roughing calls and rough stuff afterwhistles. Saint John went 1-for-7 on the power play while Drummondville went0-for-4.

The win gives the Sea Dogs their sixth straight win and arecord of 37-13-0-2 for 75 points. They still sit one-point up on theShawinigan Cataractes for first-place in the league.

Some other stuff on the game:

The Sea Dogs are on a big time run right now. They’ve wonsix straight and are 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 games.
Maxime Villemaire returned to the Saint John lineup. Hewas a -1, had two penalty minutes and three hits against his former team.
Two assists for Nathan Beaulieu.
It’s been a while since we wrote “Huberdeau and Jurcoscored in the shootout to give Saint John the win.” Feels good.
Solid commentary by Grant West on News 88.9 tonight.
Saint John improved to 3-0 against Drummondville thisseason.
Unbelievable performance by Jerry Seinfeld at the Stationtonight.

The live blog returns tomorrow when the Sea Dogs take onthe Cataractes at 5pm. Buckle up.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

No Live Blog Tonight

2012-02-03T13:17:00.002-04:00

There will be SN Live Blog or Twitter updates for tonight’sSea Dogs/Voltigeurs game due to the Seinfeld show. We’ll be back tomorrow whenthe Dogs take on the Cataractes because, you know, gotta support the team.

You can tune into the game on News 88.9. The Sea Dogs website and Roszell’s blog should have recaps up soon after the game. We’ll have some kind of recapup late tonight/early tomorrow.

Giddy up!

GAMEDAY 52: at Drummondville

2012-02-03T12:54:00.000-04:00

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Drummondville Voltigeurs

Tonight at 8pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog:None

Marcel Dionne Centre

PREVIEW

DRUMMONDVILLE – The Saint John Sea Dogs kick off a minitwo-game road trip this evening in Drummondville. The Voltigeurs host the Dogstonight at 8pm at the Marcel Dionne Centre.

Saint John enters this evening’s tilt on a five-gamewinning streak and have won eight of their last 10 contests. Overall, the SeaDogs have a record of 36-13-0-2 for 74 points. They sit first overall in theQuebec Major Junior Hockey League standings, one-point up on the ShawiniganCataractes for top spot.

The Sea Dogs are 14-9-0-1 on the road this year and haveoutscored opponents 89-79.

The Voltigeurs enter tonight’s game with a record of 12^thoverall in the league and second in the terrible Telus West Division with arecord of 21-25-2-4 for 46 points. They are 4-0-0-1 in their last five gamesand 5-4-0-1 in their last 10.

The Volts are 12-9-1-2 at home this year and outscoredopponents 89-84.

After tonight’s game, the Sea Dogs wrap up their Quebecroad swing tomorrow when they take on the Cataractes at 5pm.

THE NUMBERS

	Saint John	Drummondville
Record	36-13-0-2 (1st Maritimes)	21-25-2-4 (2nd West)
Home Record	- - -	12-9-1-2
Road Record	14-9-0-1	- - -
Streak	5-0-0-0	4-0-0-1
Last 10	8-2-0-0	5-4-0-1
Goals For	211	172
Goals Against	146	188
Overall PP	21.5% (9th)	14% (17th)
Home PP	- - -	16.1% (17th)
Road PP	19.8% (10th)	- - -
Overall PK	77.2% (9th)	82.5% (4th)
Home PK	- - -	77.8% (10th)
Road PK	70.5% (16th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	15.5 (10th)	16.8 (3rd)

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-3 win over theBlainville-Boisbriand Armada on Sunday afternoon at Harbour Station. DanickGauthier had two goals while Ian Saab, Zack Phillips, Jonathan Huberdeau, andTomas Jurco added singles. Mathieu Corbeil made 33 saves in net to earn thevictory.

The Voltigeurs are coming off a 6-1 win over the GatineauOlympiques last Sunday at the Marcel Dionne Centre. Alex Emond scored twice forDrummondville while Guillaume Gauthier, Andre Bouvet-Morrissette, JeromeVerrier, and Olivier Caouette added solo markers. Domenic Graham made 18 savesfor the win.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Sea Dogs and Voltigeurs have met twice previouslythis season. Saint John won both contests and outscored Drummondville by acombined score of 7-2.

On September 30 in Drummondville, Zack Phillips, DevonOliver-Dares, Tomas Jurco and Scott Oke scored for Saint John in the 4-2 win.Matthew Andreaccchi and Olivier Archambault scored for the Volts. MathieuCorbeil made 22 saves in net for the Dogs while Domenic Graham allowed fourgoals on 12 shots before being replaced.

On January 14 at Harbour Station, Sebastien Auger stoppedall 28 shots he faced in a 3-0 win. Charlie Coyle, Zack Phillips, and PierreDurepos scored for Saint John. Domenic Graham allowed three goals on 22 shotsin the loss.

LEADING SCORERS

Zack Phillips still leads Saint John in scoring with 65points (26G, 39A) in 44 games this season. Danick Gauthier leads the Dogs inscoring with 37 goals while Phillips has a team high 39 assists.

Marc-Olivier Brouillard leads the Voltigeurs in scoringwith 52 points (23G, 29A) in 49 games this year. Andre Bouvet-Morrissette has ateam high 25 goals while Brouillad leads the way in assists with 29.

PROBABLE GOALTENDERS

Mathieu Corbeil (28-9-0-0, 2.46 GAA, 0.907 SV%) for SaintJohn and Domenic Graham (20-17-1-1, 3.12 GAA, 0.886 SV%) for Drummondville.

NOTES

The Volts are averaging 2,384 fans per game at the MarcelDionne Centre this season.
Danick Gauthier sits second in the league in goals with37.
Zack Phillips is 10^th in assists with 39.
Ryan Tesink is eighth in shorthanded goals with two.
Gauthier is second in game-winning goals with seven.
Tomas Jurco is third in insurance goals with four.
Jonathan Oligny leads the league in penalty minutes with151. Ian Saab is second with 136.
Phillips is a league high +38.
Jonathan Huberdeau leads the league in shorthandedassists with four.
In today’s Telegraph-Journal, Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant wasunsure if Maxime Villemaire would play tonight. Villemaire left the team lastmonth and has not played a game since January 4.

OTHER GAMES

Moncton at Halifax - 7:00 PM AST

Cape Breton at P.E.I. - 7:00 PM AST

Rimouski at Quebec - 7:00 PM EST

Victoriaville at Baie-Comeau - 7:30 PM EST

Gatineau at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:30 PM EST

Rouyn-Noranda at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EST

Val-d'Or at Shawinigan - 7:30 PM EST

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs travel to Shawinigan and take on theCataractes tomorrow at 5pm.

Sea Dogs Weekend Preview

2012-02-02T21:39:00.001-04:00

By SN Staff
SAINT JOHN – There is a big game before the biggame this weekend.

The two top teams in the Quebec Major Junior HockeyLeague meet on Saturday as the Shawinigan Cataractes host the Saint John SeaDogs at 5pm at the Bionest Centre. Then that Super Bowl thing is on Sunday.

Saint John and Shawinigan have met twice this seasonalready with both games being played at Harbour Station. The Sea Dogs neededovertime to win the first one and then fell 4-1 to the Cataractes a few weeksago in what wasn’t Saint John’s greatest performance of the year.

We’re designating Saturday’s contest as the first “realmeeting” of the season. The first head-to-head matchup was before the tradedeadline and the second was immediately after the deadline. Now, Saint John’slineup is almost at full strength and the Cataractes’s acquisitions have hadtime to adjust to their new team.

Saturday’s game has been named the QMJHL game of the week by Patrick King of Sportsnet.

The Sea Dogs will make their first trip to Shawiniganthis season after playing the first two games of the season series at home.Saint John won the first the game in overtime, then lost 4-1 on Jan. 12 whichwas the first time the two teams met after the trade deadline. Shawiniganlooked like the better team the last time they played. This game could be ofgreat significance to the playoff picture, as the Sea Dogs currently have apoint lead on the Cats for top spot in league standings.

The Sea Dogs are also in action tomorrow night inDrummondville. The Dogs take on the Volts at 8pm.

Here are five things to watch for/follow heading intothis weekend’s games.

1. VILLEMAIRE RETURNS: Forward Maxime Villemaire isexpected to make his Sea Dogs return this weekend. The 19-year old scored inhis Saint John debut January 4 but left the team soon after because of personalreasons. Almost a month later, he is expected to be back in Sea Dogs blue.

"He has told Mike Kelly (Director of HockeyOperations) that he’d meet up with us in Drummondville tomorrow. We will knowfor sure when we get there", said Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant to HockeyScene.com on Wednesday night. "We are looking forward to it. Wetotally expect him to play. We were pleased with his one game. He was the starof the game."

"I'm exciting to play with sea-dogs st-john and i'mready to play a big half season!!", Villemaire tweeted yesterday.

The former Voltigeur has nine goals and nine assists in34 QMJHL games played this season.

2. BIG GUNS: Will Saint John’s top line continue theirhot play this weekend? Here’s the point totals for Jonathan Huberdeau, ZackPhillips, and Charlie Coyle since the team’s last loss on January 12.

Huberdeau: 5GP-1G-6A-7Pts

Phillips: 5GP-4G-1A-5Pts

Coyle: 5GP-4G-3A-7Pts

Those are some solid numbers.

3. FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME: Saturday will be the SeaDogs’ first appearance in Shawinigan this season and first since February 27 oflast year. The response Saint John gets will be interesting. We all know thatmost Sea Dogs fans aren’t too fond of the Cataractes, so what do Cats fansthink of the Dogs? Do they feel the same way as some of the Shawinigan media?We’ll find out this weekend.

4. STANDINGS WATCH: Entering this weekend, the Sea Dogssit one-point up on the Cataractes for first-place in the league. Shawiniganhas played one fewer game.

Both teams have been on a roll of late. The Dogs have wonfive straight and eight of their last 10 while the Cataractes are 8-1-0-1 intheir last 10.

5. SEINFELD FACTOR: Jerry Seinfeld is in town tomorrow night. If hereferences the Sea Dogs at all, we’ll probably pass out.

We liked this ad until Leno showed up. #TeamCoco

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Dogs Ranked 4th In CHL Top 10

2012-02-02T08:51:00.002-04:00

The Saint John Sea Dogs moved up a spot in the BMO CHLMasterCard Top 10 Rankings this week. The latest edition of the rankings were released yesterday afternoon.

Winners of five straight and eight of their last 10, theSea Dogs are ranked fourth in the Canadian Hockey League. Saint John played twogames this past week, beating the Moncton Wildcats 1-0 and theBlainville-Boisbriand Armada 6-3 at Harbour Station.

Saint John currently sits first overall in the QuebecMajor Junior Hockey League with a record of 36-13-0-2.

Other QMJHL teams in this week’s top 10 were theShawinigan Cataractes at No. 3 and the Quebec Remparts at No. 9. TheVictoriaville Tigres were an honourable mention.

The weekly rankings of the CHL’s Top10 teams are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.

Here are the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings for week19.

1. London Knights (37-10-0-1)
2. Kamloops Blazers (35-11-1-3)
3. Shawinigan Cataractes (34-11-2-3)
4. Saint John Sea Dogs (36-13-0-2)
5. Tri-City Americans (35-12-1-1)
6. Plymouth Whalers (34-12-2-1)
7. Edmonton Oil Kings (33-12-2-4)
8. Kitchener Rangers (33-13-1-0)
9. Quebec Remparts (32-12-4-2)
10. Ottawa 67's (31-12-4-1)

Honourable Mention:
Portland Winterhawks (33-14-2-1)
Victoriaville Tigres (33-16-0-2)
Niagara IceDogs (30-15-0-3)

In Buzzing The Net’s Dynamic Dozen this week, the SeaDogs were ranked first.

Saint John plays two games this week – both on the road.The Dogs are in Drummondville on Friday night and then travel to Shawinigan toplay the Cataractes at 5pm on Saturday.

Gallant: Villemaire Is Returning

2012-02-01T20:13:00.002-04:00

The wait is over.

In an interview with The Pipeline Show last night, SaintJohn Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant confirmed that forward MaximeVillemaire is returning to the club.

“You can announce that tonight - he’s going to be joiningus tomorrow,” Gallant said, when talking about the club’s additions over thepast month. “So that’s going to be a big boost to our club also.”

The Sea Dogs acquired Villemaire, 19, from theDrummondville Voltigeurs during the holiday trading period in exchange for asecond- and sixth-round pick. He made his Saint John debut on January 4, scoringon his first shift and was named the game’s third star.

A couple days later, reports began to come out thatVillemaire had returned home, possibly to play in the Quebec ‘AAA’ ranks. Now,almost a month later, he is returning to Saint John. As fate would have it, theDogs play Friday in Drummondville.

“No, it wasn’t really a schooling issue,” said Turk whenasked if it was a schooling issue that caused his departure. “It was a kid thatplayed in Quebec his whole career and he was in Drummondville. He came down andhe played one game for us and he felt really home sick and he wanted to go backhome and he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. We’ve talked to him over the pastthree weeks and we’ve let him go home and talk with his parents.

“We said, ‘listen, Max, you’re a 19-year old kid and wethink you’re making a big mistake. But we want to make sure if you’re going tocome back here that you’re full in with your team.’”

“So he took some time and we talked to him tonight andtonight he decided ‘you know what, I’m ready to come back and I’m ready to befull in with my team.’ So he feels a lot more comfortable that he did threeweeks ago.”

Villemaire should be a nice addition to Saint John’salready solid third and fourth lines.

“He’s a big, strong guy. He’s not a big offensive numbersguy but he’s a physical player that really bangs the body well and he’s a greatskater and he goes to the net hard. He’s just a big body gut that’s going toadd to a very good hockey team.

“I’ve seen him play for a year-and-a-half and he’sexactly what our team needs.”

February Fever

2012-02-01T13:30:00.000-04:00

The Saint John Sea Dogs are entering February on a high note.The team has won five straight games and are 8-2-0-0 in their last 10,placing them first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League standingswith a 36-13-0-2 record.

Overall, January was a good month for the Sea Dogs. Innine games, they had a record of 8-1-0-0 and outscored opponents 34-18. Their lone loss was a 4-1 defeat against the Shawinigan Cataractes, the team that sitsjust one-point back with a game in-hand on the Saint John in the standings.

Now, it’s time to take a look at February. Here is theSea Dogs’ schedule with the winning percentage of each opponent on the farright.

Date	Opponent	Time	Win Pct
Fri Feb 3	at Drummondville	08:00 AST	0.462
Sat Feb 4	at Shawinigan	05:00 AST	0.730
Sat Feb 11	at PEI	04:00 AST	0.340
Sun Feb 12	vs Bathurst	03:00 AST	0.520
Wed Feb 15	at PEI	07:00 AST	0.340
Fri Feb 17	vs Quebec	08:00 AST	0.700
Tue Feb 21	vs Halifax	07:00 AST	0.615
Sat Feb 25	at Moncton	07:00 AST	0.500
Sun Feb 26	vs Cape Breton	03:00 AST	0.429
Tue Feb 28	vs Moncton	07:00 AST	0.500

Saint John will play six of their 10 games this monthagainst opponents who currently have winning percentages at or above .500. Only three– Shawinigan, Quebec, and Halifax – sit above .600. Unless something bizarrehappens, there is really no reason why the Sea Dogs shouldn’t get 16-20 points thismonth.

The Dogs will play five road games in February with threeof them being in played within the division. They kick off the month withback-to-back contests in Quebec.

As for the standings go, it’s basically coming down to SaintJohn, Shawinigan, Quebec, and Victoriaville to battle it out for top spot inthe league. Working in the Sea Dogs’ favour is that the Cataractes, Remparts, and Tigresall play within the ridiculously tough Telus East Division, meaning their schedulesdown the stretch will be a lot tougher.

Here’s a look at the standings.

With the division winners being placed first throughthird, it will take quite a collapse for Saint John not to finish first orsecond overall.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

The Dull Days Of Winter

2012-01-31T08:51:00.000-04:00

By Andrew McGilligan

SN Staff

Do you know what the end of January/early Februaryreminds me of hockey wise?

Absolutely nothing.

It’s a veritable wasteland for Canada’s favourite game.

At least the NHL has the All-Star game this time of year,for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League fan there’s not much to get excitedabout.

The World Junior tournament is long gone, the tradedeadline is through and the playoffs are almost two months away.

So what can be done to get the competitive juices flowingduring the grey days of winter? Here area few suggestions the league could adopt.

All-Star festivities. There’s a reason the NHL holds itsannual tribute to fans this time of year. It breaks up the season and givesfans something they don’t normally see (i.e. Skills competitions, rivalsteaming up, etc.).

The OHL cancelled its All-Star festivities in 2010 citingplayer’s commitment to many other events such as World Juniors, Top Prospects,and the Canada-Russia Super Series. I say there’s a way to change things up andget a national TV audience.

How about a skills competition pitting the three leaguesof the CHL against one another. There’s no way Sportsnet isn’t going tobroadcast that nationally, you may not even need a game.

If a national competition is too much, then the Q couldhave its own All-Star weekend pitting Quebec-based team against their Maritimefoes.

We all know this is how the league views the teamsanyway, so why not make it official. You could have an entire weekend similarto the NHL with a skills competition followed by a game.

To make it even better steal an idea from the TopProspects Game and bring in celebrity coaches. The QMJHL has produced manygreat players and I’m sure the league could convince some to comeback and coachthe all-star squads.

Imagine a Team Lemieux vs. Team Lafleur.

The league should still consider an outdoor game. Otherleagues have pulled it off, so there’s no reason the QMJHL can’t.

Another idea is Rivalry Week. Here’s the premise,schedule two or three game in one week at this time of year between bitterrivals. I know not every team has one, but most do. What Sea Dogs fan wouldn’tbe excited to watch the Dogs and Cats scrap it out for three straight games. Ifyou play three games perhaps one could even be held at a neutral site such asFredericton or a smaller NB community.

Got other ideas, let me know on Twitter @AMcGilligan.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Two Fan Bus Trips Coming Up

2012-01-30T22:40:00.000-04:00

Sea The Dogs Bus Tours has a couple of trips coming up.On February 25 they will travel to Moncton and on March 17 they will head toCape Breton. Click the picture above for further information.

For more details on the trips, check out their website and fan their Facebook page.

Note: SN is not affiliated with Sea The Dogs Bus Tours soplease direct all questions their way.

POSTSCRIPT: Armada 3, Sea Dogs 6

2012-01-30T07:06:00.000-04:00

A collection of recaps from yesterday’s 6-3 Saint JohnSea Dogs win over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada…

Our recap. The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada hung aroundbut weren’t able to contain the Saint John Sea Dogs on Sunday afternoon inQuebec Major Junior Hockey League at Harbour Station.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap. Paywalled.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. Mathieu Corbeil made 33saves for the win as the Sea Dogs improved to 36-13-0-2 and moved back intofirst place overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

SN Live Blog Replay. Christopher Clapperton was missed onSunday.

MISSING IN ACTION: The Sea Dogs were without forwardsStanislav Galiev and Maxime Villemaire along with defenseman Spencer MacDonaldon Sunday afternoon.

WELCOME BACK: The Sea Dogs welcomed back forward DevonOliver-Dares yesterday. Oliver-Dares was playing in his first game sincesuffering a head injury in Halifax on December 11. He started the game on thethird line with Aidan Kelly and Ryan Tesink. Oliver-Dares had two hits in hisreturn.

STREAK: The Sea Dogs extended their winning streak tofive games with the victory. They are now 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games.

CORBEIL: Mathieu Corbeil picked up his 28^thwin of the season on Sunday afternoon which sets a new Sea Dogs franchiserecord for wins a season. Jacob DeSerres had 27 victories last season.

Corbeil is now 28-9-0-0 with a 2.46 goals againstaverage, 0.907 save percentage and has recorded five shutouts.

HUBERDEAU: Jonathan Huberdeau’s second period goal washis first since January 7 and just his second of the month. The captain now has12 goals and 26 assists in 20 games this season.

POWER PLAY: Saint John’s power play was clicking onSunday, going 3-for-3. The Sea Dogs’ power play is now operating at 21.5%.

The Armada’s power play didn’t have a bad day either,going 2-for-4.

SOLID EFFORT: The Armada were playing their third game inthree nights and fourth in five on Sunday afternoon but showed little signs of fatigue.They outshot Saint John in both the first and second period and had two leadsin the game. They finished their four game trip through the Maritimes with arecord of 2-2-0-0.

PAQUETTE: Cedric Paquette is having a solid season forthe Armada. With his two goals on Sunday, Paquette has 23 goals and 11 assistsin 46 games,

GREAT NAMES: It was unfortunate to see ChristopherClapperton not in the Boisbriand lineup yesterday, but with Storm Phaneufstarting in goal, Sea Dogs fans got their fill of great names.

VS ARMADA: The Sea Dogs improved to 2-0-0-0 against theArmada this year with the win. They outscored them 9-4 in the two games. Sunday’scontest was their final meeting of the season.

NOTES: Tomas Jurco, Charlie Coyle, and Charles Rousselall had two assists for Saint John… Zack Phillips had a Sea Dogs high sevenshots on goal. Charlie Coyle and Danick Gauthier both had six shots… StephenMacAulay and Gauthier had three hits… Coyle went 1/10 on faceoffs… Jess Tanguyhad two assists for the Armada… Cedric Paquette had a team high six shots forBoisbriand… Vincent Richer had four hits… solid Sunday of crowd of 4,608 was onhand at Harbour Station.

HIGHLIGHTS: Courtesy of SeaDogsTV.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs hit the road this week and takeon the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Friday at 8pm at the Marcel Dionne Centre.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

RECAP: Five Alive. Dogs Win 6-3.

2012-01-29T20:58:00.000-04:00

FINAL: Blainville-Boisbriand 3, Saint John 6

SAINT JOHN – The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada hung aroundbut weren’t able to contain the Saint John Sea Dogs on Sunday afternoon inQuebec Major Junior Hockey League at Harbour Station.

The Armada stayed within one of the Sea Dogs until DanickGauthier scored twice late in third period to give Saint John a 6-3 victory. Itwas the Sea Dogs’ fifth straight win and pushed them back into first-place inthe QMJHL standings.

Along with Gauthier’s two goals, Ian Saab, Zack Phillips,Tomas Jurco and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for the winners. Jurco, CharlieCoyle and Charles Roussel each added two assists. Mathieu Corbeil made 33 savesto pick up his 28^th win of the season, a new team record.

The Sea Dogs’ power play was clicking on Sundayafternoon, scoring on all three of their attempts.

Cedric Paquette scored twice for the Armada whileJean-Christophe Laflamme added a solo marker. Storm Phaneuf and his awesomename allowed five goals on 38 shots. Saint John’s sixth goal was an emptynetter.

The Armada led twice in this game and were within oneentering the third period but were not able to make a comeback.

FIRST PERIOD

Nothing happened in the first half of the first period.

Things started to heat up around the 11:30 mark as a dumpin hit the glass behind Mathieu Corbeil and landed in the crease area. Corbeilmade some quick work and got it away from danger.

Ian Saab headed to the box at the 13-minute mark. On thepower play, the Armada took the lead. Cedric Paquette was able to jam the puck past the pad of Corbeil to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

The game started to open a bit after the goal. AfterCorbeil denied the Armada on a two-on-one scoring opportunity, Tomas Jurco cutthrough the crease at the other end but couldn’t get a great shot off.

Saint John tied things up at 17:22. Charlie Coyle skatedbehind the Armada goal and then sent a perfect pass to Ian Saab who wascreeping in from the line. Saab fired a low shot past Blainville-Boisbriandgoaltender Storm Phaneuf to make it a 1-1 game.

The Dogs headed to the man advantage at 19:02 after DanickGauthier was tripped up. On the ensuing power play, Jonathan Huberdeau fed ZackPhillips with a great pass at 19:36. Phillips had an open net to give Saint John a2-1 lead.

Shots after one period were 13-12 in favour of theArmada.

SECOND PERIOD

Early in the first, Stephen MacAulay was in front of thegoal but couldn’t get a shot off.

The Armada went to the power play at 2:32 as Saabheaded off again. A pass from the point found Paquette at the side of the goalat 3:15. He fired a shot off the glove of Corbeil and in to tie it at 2-2.

Saint John had quite a few chances following the tyinggoal but couldn’t beat Phaneuf. Phillips was in the slot with an open cage butcouldn’t score. Then, Coyle was robbed at the side of the net. A few momentslater, Ryan Tesink nailed the post which was followed by Phaneuf making a hugeglove save on Beaulieu.

The Armada pulled ahead 3-2 at 14:18. Jean-Christophe Laflamme went in on a breakaway and slipped the puck five-hole on Corbeil.

Saint John went to the power play again at 14:59. On theman advantage, a cross crease pass found Tomas Jurco at the other side of thenet. He slipped it in at 16:52 to tie it at 3-3.

The Sea Dogs regained the lead at 18:47. Roussel fedHuberdeau at the side of the cage who put the puck through the legs of Phaneufto make it 4-3 Saint John.

Ryan Tesink picked up a slashing penalty at the end ofthe period. Shots were 14-12 Armada in the middle frame.

THIRD PERIOD

The Sea Dogs were able to kill off the Tesink penalty tostart the third period. Back at even strength, Coyle had a great chance infront but was stopped. Then at the other end, Olivier Hinse had a breakaway butwas denied by Corbeil.

The Armada had another power play at 9:06 as OliverCooper headed off. They had some good pressure on but could not score.

A little later on, Jurco blasted the puck off thecrossbar. It looked like it may have snuck in under the bar but was reviewed lateron and it remained a no goal. Jurco’s shot came during a long stretch without awhistle.

The Dogs headed back to the power play at 16:38. Duringthat time span, Phillips had a great chance as he walked in front but was stopped.Then at 17:48, Jurco was behind the goal line and sent it in front to Gauthier.He fired five-hole to give the Dogs a 5-3 lead.

Gauthier iced the game at 18:09 as he scored into theempty Armada goal to make it a 6-3 final.

Shots in the third period were 15-9 in favour of SaintJohn.

The Sea Dogs went a perfect 3-for-3 on the power playwhile the Armada went 2-for-4.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Drummondvilleto face the Voltigeurs on Friday at 8pm.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

LIVE BLOG: Armada vs Sea Dogs

2012-01-29T09:41:00.003-04:00

SAINT JOHN – The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada make theirfirst trip to Harbour Station this season as they take on Sea Dogsat 3pm. Follow along for updates.

&amp;amp;lt;ahref="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=6bad7e028a"&amp;amp;gt;SN Live Blog: Armada vs Sea Dogs&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

Sunday Links

2012-01-29T09:40:00.000-04:00

Here are a few links for you to enjoy on the final Sundayof January.

The first comes from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review which hasa brief article on former Saint John Sea Dogs captain Alex Grant who has beenon fire in the American Hockey League of late. The defenseman has three goalsand 19 assists in 31 games with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins this year.

The second comes from the Wheeling newspaper “The Intelligencer”which has a column on former Sea Dogs forward Nick Petersen and his hopes ofgetting noticed by the Pittsburgh Penguins while playing in the East CoastHockey League. Petersen is making the most of his demotion to the ECHL.

''I've been injured a lot this year and I definitely wantto come down here and get my game back,'' Petersen told the newspaper. ''I wantto have fun playing hockey.”

Lastly, according to the Sea Dogs website, Sea Dogsplayers will be at the new BMO branch at 45 Hubert Street Monday from 5 to 7p.m. As part of the bank’s grand opening, and to showcase its new sponsorshipof the Canadian Hockey League, the branch is hosting an “Ultimate Fan”competition.

The first 100 people to register on site will be enteredin a trivia contest to prove who knows their favourite junior hockey team thebest. The winner will be entered into a draw, along with winners from 40 othercommunities, to win a grand prize of a trip for two to the 2012 MasterCardMemorial Cup in Shawinigan, Que.

Saint John hosts the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada today at 3pm at Harbour Station. If you can't make, you can follow our live blog.

GAMEDAY 51: vs Armada

2012-01-29T09:31:00.001-04:00

GAMEDAY

Blainville-Boisbriand Armada vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Today at 3pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog:SN

Harbour Station – Saint John, NB

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs host their expansioncousins this afternoon at Harbour Station as the ~~St. John's Fog Devils~~ ~~Montreal Junior~~ Blainville-Boisbriand Armadamake their only trip to southwestern New Brunswick this season.

The Sea Dogs enter action today with a record of35-13-0-2 for 72 points. They sit one-point back of the Shawinigan Cataractesfor first-place in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Dogs are 7-2-0-1 intheir last 10 games and have won four straight contests.

Saint John is 21-4-0-1 at home this year and have outscoredopponents 116-64.

The Armada enter today’s contest with a record of27-19-2-1 for 57 points. They sit on top of the Telus West standings and arethird overall in the league because ofthat. Boisbriand is 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 and have won two straight.

Boisbriand is 14-9-0-1 on the road this season and haveoutscored opponents 87-81. Today’s game will be the Armada’s third in threedays and fourth in five days.

THE NUMBERS

	Blainville-Boisbriand	Saint John
Record	27-19-2-1 (1st West)	35-13-0-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	21-4-0-1
Road Record	14-9-1-0	- - -
Streak	2-0-0-0	4-0-0-0
Last 10	6-3-0-1	7-2-0-1
Goals For	176	205
Goals Against	163	143
Overall PP	19.1% (13th)	20.4% (10th)
Home PP	- - -	20.9% (12th)
Road PP	21.8% (9th)	- - -
Overall PK	76.1% (12th)	77.7% (8th)
Home PK	- - -	85.6% (3rd)
Road PK	75% (11th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	13.8 (16th)	15.6 (10th)

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a thrilling 1-0 win over theMoncton Wildcats on Thursday night at Harbour Station. The game remained tieduntil there was 8.5 seconds left in the third period when Tomas Jurco deflecteda Nathan Beaulieu shot past Roman Will. Mathieu Corbeil was sharp in net,making 20 saves for the shutout.

The Armada were in Charlottetown last night, beating thePEI Rocket 4-2. Olivier Picard, Alex Macallef, Cedric Paquette, and SamuelHodhod all scored for the winners. Storm Phaneuf made 31 saves for the win.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Sea Dogs and Armada have met just once so far thisseason and that came back on September 28 when Saint John pulled off a 3-1victory. Tomas Jurco, Ryan Tesink, and Nathan Beaulieu all scored for the Dogsin the win. Mathieu Corbeil made 30 saves in net. Raphael Pouliot scored forBoisbriand while William Racicot allowed three goals on 22 shots.

LEADING SCORERS

Saint John is led by Zack Phillips who has 64 points(25G, 39A) in 43 games played in this season. Danick Gauthier leads the squad ingoals with 35 while Phillips has a team high 39 assists.

The Armada are led by Jess Tanguy who has 51 points (15G,36A) in 47 games played this season. Cederic Paquette has a team high 21 goalswhile Tanguy leads the way in assists with 36.

PROBABLE GOALTENDERS

Mathieu Corbeil (27-9-0-0, 2.45 GAA, 0.907 SV%) orSebastien Auger (8-2-0-2, 3.17 GAA, 0.881 SV%) for Saint John and Etienne Marcoux(18-7-1-1, 2.91 GAA, 0.903 SV%) for Boisbriand.

NOTES

The Sea Dogs are averaging 4,214 fans per game thisseason at Harbour Station, good for third in the league.
Danick Gauthier is second in the league in goals with 35.
Zack Phillips is ninth in assists with 39. Jess Tanguy is15^th with 36.
Tanguy is 12^th in power play assists with 17.
Ryan Tesink is eighth in shorthanded goals with two.
Danick Gauthier is second in game-winning goals withseven.
Tomas Jurco is third in insurance goals with four.
Ian Saab is second in penalty minutes with 132.
Phillips is a league best +37.
Jonathan Huberdeau leads the league in shorthandedassists with four.

OTHER GAMES

Blainville-Boisbriand at Saint John - 3:00 PM AST

Gatineau at Drummondville - 4:00 PM EST

Halifax at Rimouski - 4:00 PM EST

Chicoutimi at Val-d'Or - 4:00 PM EST

Quebec at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EST

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs hit the road and take on the Voltigeurs inDrummondville next Friday at 8pm.

Memorial Cup Blowout Sale Today

2012-01-28T09:41:00.000-04:00

Sea Dogs Styles is having some big time sale today and isgiving fans a chance to get some autographs. From the Sea Dogs website.

Players will be on hand to sign books and othermemorabilia at the Sea Dog Styles store in Harbour Station Saturday from 12:30to 1:30 p.m. as the store hosts a one-day Memorial Cup Merchandise Blowout.From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, the store will be offering two special dealson Memorial Cup souvenirs.

Fans purchasing a copy of the book Hockey Heaven: A LookInside the Saint John Sea Dogs, 2011 Memorial Cup champions, will receive afree upper-bowl ticket to Sunday’s game against the Blainville-BoisbriandArmada. Fans can also receive a free ticket by purchasing the book as part of apackage, along with a Memorial Cup Champions T-shirt and puck. A $100 value,this package will be available Saturday for just $77.11 (plus tax) inrecognition of the team’s 77-11 overall record last season. The book alone retailsfor $58 in recognition of the team tying the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leaguerecord with 58 wins.

A variety of players from the defending Memorial Cupchampions will be available to sign items purchased Saturday, and fans arewelcome to bring other previously purchased merchandise as well.

Saint John hosts the Armada tomorrow afternoon at HarbourStation in their only game of the weekend. The Dogs will be looking to win a fifth straight contest.

Some CIS Notes

2012-01-27T16:36:00.001-04:00

FREDERICTON – Greetings from a cold and snowy FreddyBeach, where tonight the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds host theAcadia Axemen at 7pm.

The V-Reds have been hit hard with injuries of late andhave lost four of their last five games. They have fallen to second in theAtlantic University standings and third in the national rankings. The Axemencurrently sit first overall in the AUS and fifth nationally.

One of the players UNB has been missing is former SaintJohn Sea Dogs goaltender Travis Fullerton who, according to the Daily Gleaner, “hasbeen fitted with a knee brace and started skating and taking some shots inpractice last week.” The Reds have allowed a combined 13 goals in their pasttwo games.

Acadia has just one former Sea Dog on their roster.Jonathan Laberge sits fourth in Axemen scoring with seven goals and 11 assistsin 22 games this year.

Here are some other AUS notes:

Michael Kirkpatrick is having a solid rookie season withthe St. Francis Xavier X-Men. He has 19 points in 21 games and sits fourth on the team in points. He is tied for the team lead in goals with 12.
Jordan Knox, who played two games with the Sea Dogs atthe beginning of the 2007-08 season, is second in UPEI Panthers scoring andtied for fifth in AUS scoring. He has 10 goals and 16 assists in 21 games.
The STU Tommies are having another rough season and sitlast in the AUS standings with a record of 3-15-3. Two Ex-Sea Dogs – Alex Labonteand Christian Morin – are playing with the Tommies this season. Labonte hasthree goals and five assists in 16 games while Morin has three helpers in 20contests.
Out west, Jacob DeSerres is 0-3 with a 3.97 goals against average and 0.875 save percentage. The Dinos, who made nationals last season, are 10-11-1 and sit fifth in the Canada West standings.
The AUS playoffs start in just a few weeks. Thefirst-round begins on February 15.

UNB is hosting the national championships again thisyear. The official game times for the tournament were released today. We recommendattending if you like hockey.

POSTSCRIPT: Wildcats 0, Sea Dogs 1

2012-01-27T12:15:00.000-04:00

A collection of recaps from last night’s 1-0 Saint JohnSea Dogs win over the Moncton Wildcats…

Our recap. Roman Will was the story of this one. TheWildcats ‘tender made several terrific stops throughout the game to give histeam a chance. The late-game goal had to be heartbreaking.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap. Paywalled.

The Times & Transcript’s recap. Paywalled.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal call.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogswaited until the eleventh hour but finally came away with a 1-0 win over theMoncton Wildcats Thursday.

SN Live Blog Replay. The guy running the ice cream standhad a Jonathan Huberdeau Team Canada jersey on. Unreal.

MISSING IN ACTION: The Sea Dogs were without forwardsStanislav Galiev (wrist), Devon Oliver-Dares (head), and Maxime Villemaire(gone home).

WELCOME BACK: Forward Ryan Tesink returned to the SeaDogs lineup on Thursday night. It was his first game action since November 26due to a knee injury. His return was short lived as he was given a gamemisconduct for “abuse of officials” at 18:06 of the first period. He also picked up roughing andunsportsmanlike penalties on the same play that took place during a scrum in thecorner. Some strange stuff.

WILL: What can you say about Roman Will? The guy wassimply Evan Mosher-like, making 45 saves in the loss. It was an unfortunatefinish for him as his team couldn’t even earn a point out of the game.

JURCO: Big time goal from Tomas Jurco with 8.5 secondsleft in the game. It was his 24^th of the season and fourthgame-winner.

STREAK: The win extended Saint John’s winning streak tofour games. The Dogs have outscored opponents 16-5 over that span. They are now7-2-0-1 in their last 10 games.

COYLE: For the first time in his QMJHL career, CharlieCoyle did not score a goal in a game. The Sea Dogs forward saw his four-game goal scoringstreak come to an end on Thursday night. He is still averaging a goal per gamethough with five in five matches. Coyle finished last night’s contest with threeshots and two hits.

STRANGE PENALTIES: There were a lot of strange penalties lastnight. Along with Tesink's “abuse of officials” game misconduct, there were twodelay of game calls, two unsportsmanlike penalties, and a diving infraction.

SHOTS: Saint John held a large shots-on-goal edgethroughout the game. They finished the contest with a 46-20 advantage. Aftertwo periods, the Sea Dogs led 34-9.

VS MONCTON: The Sea Dogs improved to 4-2-0-0 against theWildcats this season while Moncton fell to 2-2-1-1 against Saint John. The Dogshave won the last two head-to-head meetings.

LOW SCORING: Are these low scoring games become the normwhen Saint John and Moncton meet? Their last meeting was also a close one asthe Dogs beat the ‘Cats 2-1 in a shootout. Both regulation time goals in thatmatch came in the third period.

CORBEIL: Mathieu Corbeil deserves some credit for thiswin. He had to be sharp, facing just nine shots through two periods. Thegoaltender made a few great stops – including a big one in the third period –to get the shutout win.

It was Corbeil’s fifth shutout of the season which is ateam record. He also picked up his 27^th win of the campaign which tiesJacob DeSerres’ team record.

NOTES: THE Todd Veinotte from “The Todd Veinotte Show”did colour commentary with Tim Roszell on News 88.9 last night. He was quite criticalat times, but it was refreshing to listen to… Danick Gauthier had a Saint Johnhigh eight shots on goal. Tomas Jurco had seven and Nathan Beaulieu six…Charles Roussel had five hits… Marek Hrivik and Devon MacAusland had four shotsfor the Wildcats… neither team could connect on the power play. Saint John went0/5 and Moncton 0/6… the Sea Dogs play Moncton two more times this season.Their next meeting is on Saturday, February 25 in Moncton.

HIGHLIGHTS: Courtesy of SeaDogsTV.

NEXT GAME: Saint John battles their expansion cousins –the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada - on Sunday afternoon at 3pm at the Station.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

RECAP: The Great Will Of Moncton. Dogs Win 1-0.

2012-01-26T22:55:00.002-04:00

FINAL: Moncton 0, Saint John 1

SAINT JOHN – Tomas Jurco saved his best for last onThursday night at Harbour Station.

The Detroit Red Wings prospect tipped a Nathan Beaulieushot past Moncton Wildcats goaltender Roman Will with 8.5 seconds remaining inregulation time, giving the Saint John Sea Dogs a thrilling 1-0 victory overtheir provincial rivals.

Jurco had several scoring chances throughout the contest,firing seven shots on goal. Danick Guathier led the Dogs with eight shots.Saint John outshot Moncton 46-20 on Thursday night, including a 34-9 advantagethrough 40 minutes.

Roman Will was the story of this one. The Wildcats ‘tendermade several terrific stops throughout the game to give his team a chance. Thelate-game goal had to be heartbreaking.

Will didn’t get a whole lot of support from histeammates. The Wildcats fired just 20 shots on goal with 11 of those coming inthe third period. Moncton also went 0-for-6 on the power play.

Sea Dogs goaltender Mathieu Corbeil had to be sharp to pickup the win. Although he wasn’t tested a lot, he did make several quality saves,including a big one in the third period. The netminder deserves some credit as these are challenging games to play in.

This was the second straight low scoring Moncton/SaintJohn. On January 2 at the Station, the Dogs needed a shootout to beat the ‘Cats2-1. Both regulation time goals came in the third period.

Saint John has now won four straight games heading intoSunday’s contest against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. They improved theirrecord to 35-13-0-2, putting them in a tie once again with the ShawiniganCataractes for first-place in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

FIRST PERIOD

Moncton went to the power play at 4:13. Whileshorthanded, Tomas Jurco was robbed by Roman Will in the slot. The ‘Cats didn’tget much going on the power play.

Ryan Penny let a shot go from the dot while off balance afew moments later but was stopped by Roman Will. Saint John went to the manadvantage at 11:12. Pierre Durepos hit the post and the Dogs had some okaypressure on but could not connect.

A little later on, Jurco made some big time spin move toget around a Moncton defenseman. He got a shot off but Will made the save.

At 16:20, Ian Saab and Patrick Delisle-Houde both headedoff. During the four-on-four play, Jurco had another good chance, blasting thepuck on goal from the high slot but couldn’t beat Will once again.

Then at 18:06, there was some controversy. After a scrumin the corner, Ryan Tesink was given a game misconduct for abuse of officialsand given two penalties – one for roughing and another for unsportsmanlikeconduct. That would put Moncton to the man advantage for four minutes.

Shots in the opening frame were 18-6 in favour of SaintJohn.

SECOND PERIOD

On the power play that carried over into the secondperiod, Allain Saulnier was robbed by Mathieu Corbeil down low. That would bethe best chance Moncton would have on the man advantage.

Saint John headed to a five-on-three man advantage at4:08 with Devon MacAusland and Patrick Downe both in the sin bin. On the powerplay, the Dogs got lots of shots on goal but just couldn’t beat Will who wasputting on a clinic in the ‘Cats crease.

A little later on back at even strength, the Sea Dogsentered the zone on a three-on-two with Stephen MacAulay firing a shot offWill’s blocker. Then a few minutes later at the other end, Moncton had a bit ofpressure on but couldn’t beat Corbeil.

Moncton headed to the power play at 14:09. Whileshorthanded, Danick Gauthier had a break and made a move to his forehand butWill robbed him of a goal.

Saint John had one final man advantage in the frame as Penny headed off at 17:35 for high sticking. Charles Roussel had a prettygood chance but Will made the glove stop. The Dogs once again had some goodpressure on but could not find the back of the cage.

Shots were 16-3 in favour of the Dogs in the secondstanza.

THIRD PERIOD

Some four-on-four action took place at 4:06. During thatspan, Corbeil made a few good saves to keep it scoreless.

Saint John then took back-to-back penalties as Saabheaded off at 6:14 and Beaulieu at 8:12. With Beaulieu in the box, Will made anice save on Gauthier who had yet another shorthanded chance.

Later on, Corbeil made his best save of the night as he stretched out to rob Christophe Lalonde in front of the net.

Saint John was awarded a power play at 17:34, giving theSea Dogs a huge opportunity to try and get a late goal. But they couldn’t getmuch going and the game remained scoreless.

Finally, with 8.5 seconds left on the clock, Beaulieufired a shot from the point that was tipped in beautifully by Jurco to giveSaint John a 1-0 lead and victory.

Shots in the final frame were 12-11 Saint John.

Moncton went 0-for-6 on the power play while Saint Johnwent 0-for-5.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host theBlainville-Boisbriand Armada on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

LIVE BLOG: Wildcats vs Sea Dogs

2012-01-26T14:54:00.003-04:00

SAINT JOHN - The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats tonight at 7pm. Follow along for updates.

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=e4c6a0a61c" &amp;amp;gt;SN Live Blog: Wildcats vs Sea Dogs&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

GAMEDAY 50: vs Wildcats

2012-01-26T14:44:00.000-04:00

GAMEDAY

Moncton Wildcats vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight at 7pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog:SN

Harbour Station – Saint John, NB

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – The Moncton Wildcats are in town thisevening to take on the Saint John Sea Dogs in another instalment of theBrunswick News Rivalry Cup. Game time this evening is 7pm at Harbour Station.Upper bowl tickets can be purchased for just $10.

The Sea Dogs enter tonight’s game on a three-game winningstreak and a 6-3-0-1 record in their last 10 games. Overall, Saint John has arecord of 34-13-0-2 for 70 points and sit two points back of the ShawiniganCataractes for first-place in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. TheCataractes, who beat the red hot Victoriaville Tigres 6-0 last night, don’tplay until tomorrow.

At home this season, the Sea Dogs are 20-4-0-1 and haveoutscored opponents 115-64. They have the most home wins of any team in theleague.

The Wildcats enter this evening’s game with a record of22-20-3-2 for 49 points. They are fourth in the Maritimes Division and 11^thoverall in the league standings. The ‘Cats are 5-2-1-2 in their last 10 and arecoming off a win.

Moncton is 8-14-0-2 on the road and have been outscored94-61.

JEANS

From the Sea Dogs website:

In addition, the Sea Dogs are accepting donations inpartnership with Aeropostale for the fifth annual Teens For Jeans campaign.Fans can donate any brand or size of gently worn jeans, which will be given tolocal charities that serve homeless teens. Fans making a donation will receivea coupon for 25 per cent off a pair of new Aero jeans at Aeropostale, and achance to win a pair of Aero jeans signed by the Sea Dogs.

THE NUMBERS

	Moncton	SaintJohn
Record	22-20-3-2 (4th Maritimes)	34-13-0-2 (1stMaritimes)
Home Record	- --	20-4-0-1
RoadRecord	8-14-0-2	- --
Streak	1-0-0-0	3-0-0-0
Last10	5-2-1-2	6-3-0-1
GoalsFor	138	204
GoalsAgainst	154	143
Shots/Game	29 (13th)	31.39 (4th)
SA/Game	30.2 (11th)	26.78 (2nd)
Overall PP	27.8%(3rd)	20.9% (9th)
Home PP	- --	21.9% (11th)
Road PP	27.2%(2nd)	- - -
Overall PK	84.7%(1st)	77% (10th)
Home PK	- --	84.6% (3rd)
Road PK	81.4%(4th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	14.3 (14th)	15.6 (8th)

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-2 win over the Titan inBathurst on Sunday afternoon. Zack Phillips had two goals while Charlie Coyle,Danick Gauthier, and Charles Roussel added singles. Sebastien Auger was solidin net, making 30 saves for the win.

Moncton’s last game was on Sunday in Cape Breton wherethey defeated the Screaming Eagles by score of 4-1. Allain and Alex Saulnierboth scored twice. Marek Hrivik had three assists. Roman Will made 29 saves innet to earn the victory.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Saint John is 3-2-0-0 against the Wildcats this yearwhile Moncton is 2-1-1-1 against the Sea Dogs. No matter how much better oneteam seems to be, these two always have an entertaining season series.

Their last meeting came on January 2 at Harbour Stationwhen the Sea Dogs needed a shootout to beat the Wildcats. Danny Chiasson scoredthe only goal for the Sea Dogs in regulation time while Pierre Durepos nettedthe shootout winner. Despite the low score, it was an entertaining contest.

LEADING SCORERS

Saint John continues to be led by Zack Phillips who has64 points (25G, 39A) in 42 games this year. Danick Gauthier leads the Dogs ingoal scoring with 35 while Phillips leads the way in assists with 39.

Moncton is led by Alex Saulnier who has 64 points (26G,38A) in 41 games played. Alex leads the Wildcats in goals with 26 while he andhis brother Allain are both tied for the team lead in assists with 38.

PROBABLE GOALTENDERS

Mathieu Corbeil (26-9-0-0, 2.52 GAA, 0.905 SV%) for SaintJohn and Roman Will (21-15-3-2, 2.76 GAA, 0.907 SV%) for Moncton.

NOTES

The Sea Dogs are averaging 4,212 fans per game thisseason at Harbour Station, good for third in the league.
Charlie Coyle has scored in every QMJHL game he has everplayed in at this point. He has a four-game goal getting streak enteringtonight’s game. He has five markers over that span.
Alex Saulnier is on an eight-game assist streak and an 11-game point streak.
Danick Gauthier is second in the league in goals with 35.
Zack Phillips sits sixth overall in assists with 39. Alexand Allain Saulnier are both just below him with 38.
Alex Saulnier is third in power play assists with 25.
Danick Gauthier leads the league in game-winning goalswith seven.
Tomas Jurco is third in insurance goals with four.
Ian Saab is second in penalty minutes with 128.
Phillips is a league best +37.
Jonathan Huberdeau has a league high four shorthandedassists.

NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs host the Blainvile-BoisbriandArmada on Sunday afternoon at 3pm at Harbour Station.

Sea Dogs Returning To Sportsnet

2012-01-25T19:59:00.000-04:00

SAINT JOHN – Jonathan Hoobadoo, Nathan Bowl-yeah, TomasJerko and Gerald Gallant are returning to Sportsnet next month.

For the first time since the Memorial Cup final, the SaintJohn Sea Dogs will be broadcast live coast-to-coast on national television. TheSea Dogs made the announcement earlier today in an email sent out to seasonticket holders.

The game on Friday, February 17th vs Quebec Remparts willnow be an 8pm start time, doors open at 7pm, as this game will be televisedlive on Rogers Sportsnet.

Sportsnet started “Friday Night Hockey” this season,which sees a Canadian Hockey League game get national coverage each Friday. Asusual, there have been hardly any games featuring Quebec Major Junior HockeyLeague teams.

They made the right call on selecting this game to air.The Remparts and Sea Dogs have been top teams in the league and entire CHL thisseason and both squads have plenty of highly touted NHL prospects.

RJ Broadhead, Sam Cosentino and good old Rob Faulds willlikely be in Saint John for the broadcast. Jeff Marek and Damien Cox have beenrunning the intermission segments this year.

Of all the memorable moments about last year’s MemorialCup, to Sea Dogs fans, Sportsnet’s broadcasts were right up there. Theyconstantly pointed out that they were a young team, they mispronounced justabout every player’s name (something team resident Wayne Long even brought upwhile speaking on the boardwalk on parade day), and Nick Kypreos was therebeing Nick Kypreos. Ugh.

But hey, let’s end this post on a positive note. It’snational TV. On a Friday night. At Harbour Station. Against Patrick Roy and theRemparts. Should be fun.

Sea Dogs Ranked 5th In Top 10

2012-01-25T18:49:00.002-04:00

SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs moved up to fifth inthe BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings this week. The latest edition of therankings were released this afternoon.

The Sea Dogs played two games this past week, winning both andoutscoring their opponents 12-5. Saint John beat the Halifax Mooseheads 7-3 onSaturday night at Harbour Station and then travelled to Bathurst to beat the Titan 5-2 on Sunday afternoon.

Saint John now has a record of 34-13-0-2 for 70 points.They are tied with the Shawinigan Cataractes for first-place in the QuebecMajor Junior Hockey League. The Cats have played one fewer game.

Two other QMJHL teams made this week’s rankings. TheCataractes came in at No. 4 while the Quebec Remparts were placed ninth. TheVictoriaville Tigres, who have won six straight, were an honourable mention.

The weekly rankings of the Canadian Hockey League’s Top10 teams are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.

Here are the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings for week18.

1. London Knights (35-9-0-1)
2. Kamloops Blazers (34-10-1-2)
3. Tri-City Americans (34-11-0-1)
4. Shawinigan Cataractes (33-11-2-2)
5. Saint John Sea Dogs (34-13-0-2)
6. Edmonton Oil Kings (32-11-1-4)
7. Plymouth Whalers (31-12-2-1)
8. Ottawa 67's (29-11-4-1)
9. Quebec Remparts (30-11-4-2)
10. Kitchener Rangers (30-13-1-0)

Honourable Mention:
Portland Winterhawks (31-14-2-1)
Victoriaville Tigres (32-15-0-2)
Niagara IceDogs (28-14-0-3)

In Buzzing The Net’s Dynamic Dozen this week, the SeaDogs were ranked third.

Saint John plays two games this week, hosting the MonctonWildcats on Thursday and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada on Sunday.

Sea Dogs Notebook

2012-01-24T22:10:00.002-04:00

MAGAZINE

As tweeted by RDS’ Stephane Leroux, Jonathan Huberdeau isthe cover boy for a new addition of LHJMQ MAG.

THURSDAY’S GAME

Next up for the Sea Dogs is a Thursday night matchup withthe Moncton Wildcats. Game time is 7pm at Harbour Station. Upper bowl ticketscan be purchased for just $10.

The Sea Dogs will be accepting donations in partnershipwith Aeropostale for the fifth annual Teens For Jeans campaign on Thursdaynight. Fans can donate any brand or size of gently worn jeans, which will begiven to local charities that serve homeless teens. Fans making a donation willreceive a coupon for 25 per cent off a pair of new Aero jeans at Aeropostale,and a chance to win a pair of Aero jeans signed by the Sea Dogs.

“Two years ago we partnered with the Sea Dogs and had ourmost successful year to date, bringing in 1,588 pairs. Our goal this year is tocollect 2,500 pairs and we are so excited to again have the Sea Dogs on board,”said Julie Allen, manager of Aeropostale Saint John, in a team release. “Ourgoal is quite high this year but I know that together with the Sea Dogs fansand our community support we can make this our biggest year yet.”

SAUVE

The Sea Dogs website had an article on former ex-Dog YannSauve last week. In it, the defenseman talks about his NHL debut, his season sofar, and has some comments from his old billet family.

“How much could he eat? Holy Dear God, the kid would getup, have at least two bowls of cereal, four things of yogurt, and toast. Thenhe would take probably three sandwiches for lunch with him and then whateverelse he ate out there I don’t know,” Karen Losier, his billet mother, said.“He’d have at least two plates of supper, then four more yogurt, a coupleapples and oranges, then dessert and then he’d come back up and eat before he’dgo to bed.”

FIGHT

Here’s Ian Saab’s fight with Robert Davis from Sunday’sgame in Bathurst.

BIG TRIP

The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada make their first appearanceof the season at Harbour Station on Sunday afternoon. The Dogs host theirexpansion cousins at 3pm.

The game will close out a big time road trip for the Armada.They are in Bathurst Wednesday night, in Moncton on Friday, in Charlottetown onSaturday and wrap it up on Sunday in Saint John.

The Armada have a decent record of 25-18-2-1 and sitthird overall in the league thanks to playing in the terrible Telus WestDivision.

SDTV

Here’s a SeaDogTV video about the team's visit to AfterburnPerformance.

Big Weekend For Alex Grant

2012-01-23T22:20:00.000-04:00

It was an eventful week for former Saint John Sea Dogscaptains.

On Thursday, the American Hockey League’s SpringfieldFalcons traded Mike Thomas to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Then over the weekend,Alex Grant ripped up the AHL by recording two goals six assists over threegames.

Grant, who captained the Sea Dogs through the 2007-08season and part of the 2008-09 campaign, registered an assist on Friday in theWilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ 4-1 win over the Manchester Monarchs. Then onSaturday, the defenseman went into beast mode, scoring twice and adding threeassists in the Baby Pens’ 6-2 victory over the Syracuse Crunch.

"It's awesome," said Grant of his performance to the Citizen’s Voice. "Sold-out barn and being able to play that well athome, back-to-back wins, is pretty special. That's what we've been trying to dofor a while now. We haven't been the best at home. We've been hearing it. It'sgood to give a sold-out crowd a night like that."

Grant’s five points all came on the power play. Accordingthe Citizen’s Voice, it was only the seventh time in WB/S history that a playerrecorded five points in a game.

Then on Sunday, the Antigonish native added two morepower play helpers in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 4-3 win in Syracuse.

Grant now has three goals and 18 assists in 23 games thisseason in his third year of professional hockey.

In 222 games in three-and-a-half seasons with Saint John,the first overall pick in the 2005 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League EntryDraft recorded 40 goals and 84 assists.

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 5, Titan 2

2012-01-23T12:22:00.000-04:00

Billy Cundiff… yikes, man.

A collection of recaps from yesterday’s 5-2 Saint JohnSea Dogs win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan…

Our recap. The Sea Dogs got off to a rough start as theTitan scored two power play goals in the opening 4:37 of the game.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap. Paywalled.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. Zach O’Brien and MirkoHoefflin scored for the Titan, and Robert Steeves made 18 saves in the loss asBathurst fell to 23-20-2-3.

SN Live Blog Replay. Shout out to the folks who made thetrek to Bathurst on the fan bus.

MISSING IN ACTION: Forwards Stanislav Galiev (wrist),Ryan Tesink (knee), Devon Oliver-Dares (head), and Maxime Villemaire (gonehome) were all scratches for Saint John yesterday afternoon.

RECALLED: Affiliate Forward Mackenzie Brown played his secondstraight game with the Sea Dogs on Sunday. He finished the contest with nopoints and two shots.

ROUGH START: Saint John got off to a terrible start asNathan Beaulieu went off to serve a four-minute penalty just 2:56 into thegame. Beaulieu was called for boarding and unsportsmanlike actions. On thepower play, the Titan would score twice to get an early 2-0 advantage. But Saint John showed some character, quickly tying it up and then taking a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.

COYLE: Charlie Coyle continues his unreal start in theQMJHL. He recorded a goal, an assist, four shots, one hit and was a +3. Hishelper was his first Q-league assist.

Coyle now has an impressive five goals in his first fourjunior games.

TOP LINE: Coyle wasn’t the only member of Saint John’stop line who had a good night on Sunday. Zack Phillips was named first starwith a two goal, one assist performance while Jonathan Huberdeau was namedsecond star with three assists. Saint John’s top line ofHuberdeau-Phillips-Coyle combined for three goals and five assists.

TIC-TAC-TOE: On the other side, Saint John shutdown Bathurst's top line of Zach O’Brien, Sebastien Trudeau and Matthew Bissonnette. The triocombined for a goal, two assists, and were all a -4. They couldn’t much ofanything going when facing the Sea Dogs’ line of Huberdeau-Phillips-Coyle.

VS BATHURST: This was just the Sea Dogs’ second winagainst Bathurst this season in six tries. They are now 2-3-0-1 against theTitan this year while Bathurst is 4-2-0-0 against the Dogs.

This was also Saint John’s first win at the KC Irving RegionalCentre this year. It was their final visit to Bathurst for 2011-12.

STREAK: The Sea Dogs are on a bit of a roll now havingwon three straight games. They are 6-3-0-1 in their last 10. During theirthree-game winning streak, Saint John has outscored opponents 15-5.

AUGER: It was another solid game for Sebastien Auger inthe Sea Dogs’ crease. The netminder allowed two early goals but recoverednicely, making 30 saves in the win. 14 of those saves came in the third period.

The rookie goaltender has won both of his past two games,allowing just two goals on 60 total shots. He is now 8-2-0-2 with a 0.881 savepercentage and a goals against average of 3.17.

NOTES: This was the Sea Dogs’ final game in Bathurst thisregular season. The two play each other two more times but both of those gameswill be held at Harbour Station… rally towels were given out at the KC IrvingRegional Centre… a Sea Dogs fan bus made the trip to Bathurst for this one… JonathanHuberdeau and Zack Phillips were both a Saint John best +4… Phillips had fiveshots… Jason Seed and Jason Cameron both had three hits… Sean Girard had fourhits for Bathurst… decent crowd of 1,988 fans on hand… Ian Saabserved his first penalty since January 7. He fought Robert Davis in the secondperiod.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: There are none because this is theyear 1997.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs return to action on Thursday whenthey host the Moncton Wildcats at 7pm at Harbour Station.