Ross Yates On Access "Q" Atlantic

Sea Dogs Head Coach and Co-General Manager Ross Yates was a guest on the latest episode of Access “Q” Atlantic.

In an interview with John Moore, Yates discusses Mike Kelly’s dismissal, some of the changes he has made, and the play of Sebastien Auger. Also of note, Yates says that he doesn’t believe the team will be very active during the upcoming holiday trade period.

To view the video, go to the Bell Aliant Community One website, click on the sports tab, then click on Access “Q” Atlantic and select episode seven. The interview begins near the 17:20 mark.

Sea Dogs Notebook

UP NEXT

Up next for the Sea Dogs is a Friday night contest in Charlottetown against the Islanders. Game time is 7pm at Eastlink Centre.

Two of Saint John’s seven wins this season have come against the Islanders. Meanwhile, Charlottetown has lost eight straight games heading into their game on Wednesday night against the Moncton Wildcats.

The Sea Dogs are also in action on Sunday afternoon in Moncton. The Port City squad wraps up their first half schedule with games in Sydney on December 20^th and 21^st.

DESERRES

Former Sea Dogs goaltender Jacob DeSerres (pictured) has been named the WHL men's hockey Graduate of the Month for November.

DeSerres has helped the University of Calgary Dinos enter the Christmas break as the top team in the CIS Men’s Hockey Top 10 Rankings. They sit first overall in the Canada West standings with a 15-0-1 record and have allowed just 25 goals in 16 games.

DeSerres, who helped Saint John win the Memorial Cup in 2011, has the league’s best goals against average (1.50), best save percentage (0.941), and most wins (9). He is also tied for the league lead in shutouts with three.

"Jacob had an exceptional month of November and was instrumental in the Dinos having a 7-0-1 record," said Dinos head coach Mark Howell in a release. "He stepped up when Lazaruk got hurt and carried the load in some big games and shone on every occasion. His game was in control throughout each game and created confidence for his team."

CRAIG’S LIST

Sea Dogs defenseman Olivier LeBlanc was ranked 68^th in Craig Button’s latest rankings for the 2014 NHL Draft. Button has plenty of other QMJHL players ranked around there but LeBlanc was the only Sea Dog to make the list.

LeBlanc sits fourth in Saint John scoring with five goals and 17 assists for 22 points in 32 games. All five of his goals have been scored on the power play.

Canadian Tire Has A Giant Goalie Mask

SAINT JOHN – For all I know this thing has been hanging from the ceiling of the East Side Canadian Tire for years. I just noticed it this weekend. So I took a photo of it. I then posted that photo here. That is what I did.

News & Notes From Saturday's Game

Some stuff from last night’s game…

• Definitely nice to see Saint John’s offense come alive last night and score six goals following a awful display on Friday. Unfortunately, the Sea Dogs were pretty bad defensively and that cost them big time.
• Also nice to see the Sea Dogs not just mail it in after getting down 6-1 in the second period. Oliver Cooper got Saint John within one in the third period but that would be as close as they would get.
• Cape Breton’s assistant coach mentioned on the Eagles post-game show that the game seemed to shift following Loic Leduc’s instigating infraction against Alexnader McQuaid midway through the second. The Sea Dogs scored four straight goals after that.
• How often do you see 15 goals scored in a hockey game? Halifax and Rouyn-Noranda combined for 20 goals on November 1^st and Rouyn-Noranda and Shawinigan combined for 19 on September 27^th.
• Don’t know about you, but I would much rather watch a game like this than a 2-1 game where there are a combined 30 shots.
• Cape Breton is on a roll right now. They have won four straight and are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
• The Screaming Eagles’ power play was rolling. They scored on each of their first three opportunities before cooling down in the third period. They finished the game 3-for-6.
• Cameron Darcy had a hat trick for the Screaming Eagles and Raphael Corriveau scored twice.
• Rarely do you see all four goaltenders get playing time in a game but that happened last night. Sebastien Auger, although he couldn’t have done much to stop the Eagles goals, allowed six goals on 27 shots and was replaced by Antoine Landry in the second. Chase Marchand was pulled after allowing Saint John’s fifth goal in the third and was replaced by Alex Bureau.
• The Sea Dogs only had four shots on goal in both the first and third periods. Bureau only made two stops in the third. 
• Spencer Smallman’s second period goal was his first since November 14^th.
• Matthew Highmore had three assists, moving him into third on the team in points with 22.
• Nathan Noel and Smallman each had a goal and two assists. Oliver Cooper had a goal and an assist.
• Marcus Cuomo had a good game, setting up two goals thanks to some hard work in the crease area. He was named third star.
• Alexander McQuaid’s assist on Jason Cameron’s third period goal was the first point of his QMJHL career.
• This was Saint John’s final home of the first half and last until December 28^th. They finished the first half with a 5-10-0-2 record at home.
• The Sea Dogs wore their black third jerseys for the second time this season.
• It was Christmas themed night at Harbour Station. The team had a Christmas themed intro video which featured the Nathan Noel/Nicolas Roy fight. Santa Clause was in the house.
• Before the game, Oliver Cooper was named the Irving Oil Player of the Month for November while the Canadian Tire Student of the Month was Samuel Dove-McFalls. Michael Abbott was also honoured for being the top fundraiser in the CHL’s MOvember challenge.
• The Sea Dogs were without forwards Lukas Walter (healthy) and Connor Donaghey (healthy) along with defensemen Will Thompson (healthy) and Michael Abbott (hand).

Eric Gelinas Has Made It Big

When NHL.com starts making headline puns about you, you have officially made it. 

Eric Gelinas scored the overtime winner in the New Jersey Devils' 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday night. Gelinas was also named first star, had four shots, and two hits in 23:22 of ice time - the second most of any Devils player.

RECAP: Goals For Everyone. Dogs Lose 9-6.

FINAL: Cape Breton 9, Saint John 6

SAINT JOHN – It was bizarre night at Harbour Station.

A total of 15 goals were scored – including eight in the second period – in the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles’ 9-6 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday evening at Harbour Station.

After a fairly mild first period where Cape Breton scored twice to lead 2-0, things exploded in the second period. The Eagles were up 6-1 at one point in the second but the Sea Dogs didn’t pack it in. They chipped away at Cape Breton’s lead and came within one early in the third. But that would be as close as the Dogs would get.

It was a rough night for Saint John’s defense. They didn’t provide much help to Sebastien Auger who was pulled after allowing six goals on 27 shots. The Dogs also had a very tough time containing Cape Breton’s power play which scored on its first three opportunities.

One of the bright spots was that Saint John’s offense showed some life after a miserable performance on Friday night. They didn’t get a ton of shots on net but at least they were generating some scoring opportunities.

Sea Dogs goals came from Spencer Smallman, Jurij Repe, Stephen Anderson, Nathan Noel, Oliver Cooper, and Jason Cameron. Antoine Landry made 17 saves in relief.

Cameron Darcy had a hat trick for Cape Breton, Raphael Corriveau had two goals, and singles came from Kyle Farrell, Bradley Lalonde, Justin Hache, and Michael Lyle. Chase Marchand allowed five goals on 19 shots before getting the hook. Alex Bureau only made two stops in relief.