PRE-GAME: Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket

Game Day
Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket
Tonight, December 11, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Charlottetown Civic Centre

Visiting Team: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 28-4-1-0 (1st in Atlantic Division)
Last Game: 8-3 Win vs Lewiston on Sunday
Leading Scorer: Michael Kirkpatrick: 32-9-27-36
Notes: The Sea Dogs are currently on a 20 game winning streak and is good for third in QMJHL history. They are five wins away from the tying the record set 36 years ago. "I'd rather not talk about it,'' Kevin Gagne said of the streak to the Telegraph-Journal."I just want to keep it going, but not focus on it.''… Gagne is likely to play but will be a game time decision. He bruised his knee on Sunday against Lewiston… Olivier Ouellet will be scratched as he has left the team due to personal reasons… head coach Gerard Gallant and associate coach Mike Kelly are both PEI natives and will stand behind the bench in their home province for the third time this season… the first game of a three-in-three road trip through the Maritimes. They play Bathurst on Saturday and Moncton on Sunday… Marc-Antoine Gelinas is a former member of the Rocket hockey team… Mike Thomas has had his problems against PEI this season. In just four games he has 21 penalty minutes. He was kicked out in the first period on December 2 and also received a six game suspension at the first of the season after instigating a fight… Mike Hoffman has four goals versus the Rocket this season. He fought Joel Champagne in his first Sea Dog game… Kirkpatrick has a team high two goals and three assits against PEI this season… Saint John’s last loss came at the Civic Centre on October 13. It was an ugly 4-0 shutout… the Dogs have the best winning percentage in the CHL according to Station Nation… ranked second this week in the CHL Top 10.

Home Team: PEI Rocket
Record: 18-11-1-2 (3rd in Atlantic division)
Last Game: 3-0 loss vs Moncton on Tuesday
Leading Scorer: Joel Champagne: 30-16-19-35
Notes: PEI has five NHL drafted players: Marco Cousineau (Anaheim), Jordon Southorn (Buffalo), Chris Doyle (New York Rangers), Benjamin Casavant (Washington), and Joel Champagne (Toronto)… 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 games… have lost two straight games to Saint John after winning two straight to start the season… 9-6-1-0 at home this season… tied with Saint John with 44 goals against on home ice this season… currently have three PEI born players on their roster… Benjamin Casavant has a team high four goals and two assists against Saint John this season… Joel Champagne has a team high eight penalty minutes against the Sea Dogs… Marco Cousineau was acquired by the Rocket earlier this season from Drummondville. He is 9-11-0 with a 3.09 GAA… averaging 1,952 fans per game this season… Chris Doyle was charged with assault earlier this season… coming off a 3-0 loss against the Wildcats. Cats goaltender Shane Owen got his first QMJHL shutout in the win... "P.E.I. is a very good offensive team," said Moncton coach Danny Flynn. "They've been building their team for a couple of seasons and want to make some noise. They have a group of very dangerous forwards. We knew it would be a tough game, but from our goaltender out I thought we responded to the challenge.''

Saint John vs PEI:
This Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
4-2-2-0-0-4
Home: 2-1-1-0-0-2
Road: 1-1-1-0-0-2
Goals For: 10
Goals Against: 13

Last Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
8-6-2-0-0-12
Home: 4-4-0-0-0-8
Road: 4-2-2-0-0-4
Goals For: 31
Goals Against: 23

All-Time-Not including this season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
26-15-8-1-2-33
Home: 14-9-3-1-1-20
Road: 12-6-5-0-1-13
Goals For: 115
Goals Against: 110

Station Nation Facts:

• Past results this season have been 6-1 PEI in Saint John, 4-0 PEI in Charlottetown, 5-2 Saint John at Harbour Station, and 4-1 Sea Dogs on the Island.
• The team’s notables over the years include: Gaston Therrien, Pascal Leclaire, Alain Vigneault, Pierre-André Bureau and Maxim Lapierre.
• Officially opened in February 1990, the Charlottetown Civic Centre was built as two facilities for the 1991 Canada Winter Games. As a multi-purpose facility, our focus is to host premiere events for Charlottetown and Prince Edward Island; contributing to the city and province’s reputation as an event destination.
• Aside from being third in QMJHL history, Saint John's 20-game winning streak ranks fourth in the Canadian Hockey League record book. With 25 straight wins, the 1973-74 Sorel Eperviers (Black Hawks) own the QMJHL record and are tied for the CHL lead with the 1983-84 Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League. The 1995-96 Hull Olympiques' 24 consecutive victories ranks second in both Q history and the CHL, while the Estevan Bruins, formerly of the Western Hockey League, are third in CHL history with 22 straight triumphs in 1967-68.
• Tonight, the Rocket will be hosting the annual Children’s Wish Toonie Toss. All proceeds from the Toonie Toss will support the projects associated with the Children’s Wish Foundation.

Important Info:
Venue: Charlottetown Civic Centre
Capacity: 3,690
Arena Guide Info: http://www.qmjhlarenaguide.com/rocket.htm

Saint John Media: Radio- News 88.9 FM (www.news889.com)
Live Video Streaming: www.qmjhl.mytelus.com
Post-Game Coverage: Telegraph-Journal, The Guardian, www.stationnation.blogspot.com
Post-Game Highlights: www.peirocket.com

Live Chat:
Charles Reid of The Guardian newspaper will likely be having a live chat on the Guardian’s sports page. Check it out and turn your speakers down because he always inserts music clips for some reason. Station Nation will tweeting during the game @station_nation.