Armada Eliminate Oceanic In Craziest Game Ever

The President Cup semi-finals are finally set.

In one of the craziest playoff games in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada defeated the Rimouski Oceanic 8-7 in overtime of Game 7 to win the quarter-final series.

The Oceanic led 4-0 after one but the Armada eventually climbed all the way back and had a 6-5 lead midway through the third. Rimouski then scored twice to lead 7-6 late in the frame. But Nikita Jevpalovs tied the game with just three minutes to play to send the match into overtime.

At 12:59 of OT, Jevpalovs scored again to send the Armada into the semis and eliminate the Oceanic.

Former Sea Dogs forward Ryan Tesink scored twice in this game. He now has six goals and three assists in eight post-season games this year.

Blainville-Boisbriand will now face the regular season champion Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the semis. That series will presumably start on Friday in Baie-Comeau. It has the potential to be decent.

In the other series, the Halifax Mooseheads will take on the Val-d’Or Foreurs. That series begins on Friday at the Metro Centre.

Wishing DK All The Best

When 140 characters arent enough.... #ThankYouForYourPrayersAndSupport #CantStopWontStop #SurgeryTime #FCancer pic.twitter.com/gWGH7dI4HZ
— DK (@SeaDogsDK) April 14, 2014

Best of luck to Sea Dogs equipment manager David Kelly with his surgery and recovery.

Friday News & Notes

Via HockeyFights.com, Brett Gallant dropped the gloves and faced Montreal’s George Parros last night at the Bell Centre.

Some other news and notes…

• In pleasantly surprising news, Bathurst was named one of the host cities for the 2014 Subway Super Series. The CHL announced yesterday that the KC Irving Regional Centre will host Game 5 of the series on November 18 while Rimouski will host Game 6 on November 20. The series has been flipped this year (finally!) and will start in the WHL.
• Former Sea Dog Mike Hoffman was named to the AHL’s first All-Star team yesterday. Despite being with the Ottawa Senators for the past few weeks, Hoffman still sits seventh in AHL scoring with 30 goals and 67 points in 51 games with the Binghamton Senators.
• St. Stephen’s new MHL team will be called the “Aces.” You can follow them on Twitter @AcesJrHockey.
• The rosters for the 2014 Gatorade Excellence Challenge, which showcases the top QMJHL draft prospects from the Atlantic Provinces and Quebec, have been announced. This year’s event takes place May 1 to 4 in Boisbriand.
• Willy Palov of the Chronicle Herald has a good take on the Sea Dogs picking first overall in this year's draft.
• USA Today article on Jack Eichel and his desire to go first overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.
• Game 5 of the Halifax-Gatineau playoff series is on Sportsnet tonight at 8pm. The Mooseheads lead the series 3-1. Elsewhere, Baie-Comeau has advanced thanks to a sweep of Rouyn-Noranda, Drummondville and Val-d’Or are tied 2-2, and Rimouski and Blainville-Boisbriand are also tied 2-2.
• If you somehow have not seen this pre-game light show at last weekend’s Mooseheads games at the Metro Centre, check it out here.

The Top Prospects

By Kevin Chambers

SN Staff

While much of the QMJHL continues their chase for the President Cup and a trip to the MasterCard Memorial Cup, the Saint John Sea Dogs have switched their focus to the 2014 Entry Draft which takes place on May 31 in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

After winning the draft lottery last week the Sea Dogs now own the first overall selection in the draft, making them a perfect 4-0 in the lottery selection process. There is plenty of talent in this draft class but, with no clear cut top prospect, we reached out to our friends at HockeyProspect.com to provide us a little insight into what we might expect from a few of these players that seem likely choices for the Sea Dogs. We won’t be listing all the details for all the top prospects, but these are the ones we feel have the best chance to be drafted by the Sea Dogs with the top pick on draft day.

The top ranked player by HockeyProspect.com is Chad Krys - an American defenseman. He has committed to the US Under-18 NTDP which means he’s very unlikely to report to any QMJHL team for at least two years if at all. The No. 2 ranked player is a defenseman out of Quebec, Samuel Girard, who played for the Elites de Jonquiere in QMAAA this past season. The No. 3 ranked player is the top ranked forward in the draft, Pascal Laberge, who also played in the Quebec AAA ranks and is currently playing in the QMAAA final for the Châteauguay Grenadiers. For these two young prospects we reached out to Jean-Francois Dore (@jeffdore), a scout based out of Quebec that has seen plenty of these two kids.

Gallant Fights In NHL Debut

Brett Gallant picked up his first NHL fighting major less than 10 minutes into his NHL debut on Tuesday night.

Gallant dropped the gloves with Matt Kassian at 9:59 of the first period. This came just after the two served two minutes each for unsportsmanlike conduct. Here’s the fight via HockeyFights.com:

Here’s Gallant speaking to MSG at intermission:

Gallant also recorded one shot and three hits in 6:02 of ice time in the New York Islanders’ 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Mike Hoffman was a scratch for the Sens.

In other NHL news…

• How about Charlie Coyle? The Minnesota Wild forward has five goals and five assists in his last nine games. He had the only goal in the Wild’s 1-0 win in Winnipeg on Monday.
• Jonathan Huberdeau made his return to the Florida Panthers lineup on this night. It was his first game since March 16 due to a concussion. Huberdeau had a goal in the game - his first since January 20.

Gallant Expected To Make NHL Debut Tonight

Capuano: Nilsson in goal. Brett Gallant to make his @NHL debut tonight. #Isles
— NYIslanders (@NYIslanders) April 8, 2014

Brett Gallant will wear No. 59 tonight. #Isles
— NYIslanders (@NYIslanders) April 8, 2014

According to the Twitter machine, former Sea Dogs forward/fighter/fan favourite Brett Gallant is expected to make his NHL debut tonight with the New York Islanders.

Gallant was called up the Isles yesterday. New York hosts Mike Hoffman and the Ottawa Senators tonight at 8pm in a game you can watch on Sportsnet East.

Gallant has been with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the past four seasons. According to the Isles website, “Gallant, 25, leads the Sound Tigers with 245 penalty minutes, the fourth highest total in the AHL. The Summerside, PEI, native also has two points (one goal, one assist) in 56 games this season.”

According to the Connecticut Post, “he set a Bridgeport team record Sunday with his 66th career fighting major; he had 26 last year.”

Gallant spent parts of three seasons with the Sea Dogs from the 2005-06 campaign to 2007-08.