PRE-GAME: Val-d'Or Foreurs vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Game Day
Val-d’Or Foreurs vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tonight, January 30, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
Harbour Station

Visiting Team: Val-d’Or Foreurs
Record: 18-27-4-1 (4th in Telus East Division)
Last Game: 6-3 loss at Saint John last night
Leading Scorer: Alexandre Quesnel: 48 GP-22-33 A-55 PTS
NHL Draft Picks: Marco Scandella (Minnesota), Samuel Morneau (Carolina), and Maxime Sauve (Boston)
Notes: Val-d’Or was quite active on the trade front this season. They sent Alex Noel, former Sea Dog Kevin Charland, former Sea Dog Benjamin Lecomte, and Dylan C. Capstick out of town in post Christmas deals. Coming to the Foreurs were Vincent Couture, Alexandre Touchette, Alexandre Quesnell, Nicolas Boyer, Mathieu Leduc, and Kabbaj Yousseff… coming off a 6-3 loss to Saint John last night. The Foreurs matched the Dogs goal for goal until they collapsed in the third period. Marco Scandella played well over half the game was named second star… Scandella helped team Canada win silver at the recent World Junior Hockey Championships in Saskatchewan. He scored a shorthanded goal in the semi-final against Switzerland that proved to be the game winner to send Canada to the final… Val-d’Or was without injured QMJHL standouts Jonathan Hazen, Alexandre Quesnel and Maxime Sauvé in last night’s loss in Saint John… 3-6-1-0 in their last 10 games and have lost two straight… have scored 10 shorthanded goals this season which puts them third overall in the league behind Drummondville and Moncton… have allowed the third most goal against in the league with 211… have allowed the most road goals against in the league with 127… 1-7-1-1 in their last 10 road games and have lost two straight games… this is the third game of a four game Atlantic road swing. They lost 4-1 in PEI Wednesday, 6-3 in Saint John last night, play the Dogs again tonight, and travel to Bathurst for a match tomorrow afternoon.

Home Team: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 41-8-1-0 (1st in Atlantic Division)
Last Game: 6-3 Win vs Val-d’Or last night
Leading Scorer: Michael Kirkpatrick: 49 GP-20 G-44 A-64 Pts
NHL Draft Picks: Yann Sauve (Vancouver), Marco Cousineau (Anaheim), Simon Despres (Pittsburgh), Steven Anthony (Vancouver), Mike Hoffman (Ottawa), and Nicholas Petersen (Pittsburgh).
Notes: Saint John was named the number one team in the country for the second straight week. They are first in the Atlantic division and first overall in the QMJHL… the Sea Dogs acquired defenseman Christian Morin from the Foreurs at the trade deadline for Benjamin Lecomte. Lecomte was later traded to Gatineau. In 25 games with Val-d’Or this season, Morin had five goals and four assists with 44 penalty minutes. Morin missed his third straight game last night with an upper body injury. Tim Roszell of News 88.9 said that he didn’t play because he is still resting… Steven Anthony missed the last half of the game last night. He left in the second period and did not return… 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games and have won two straight… have scored the most goals of any team in the league with 225… owners of the best home record in the QMJHL at 21-4-0-0. 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 home games and have won five straight at Harbour Station… Stanislav Galiev leads all rookies in scoring with 12 goals and 36 assists in 49 games played this season. He also leads rookies with a +35 rating… Mike Hoffman leads the league in goals with 32 goals in 39 games. Nicolas Deschamps is second with 31 but has played seven more games than the Sea Dogs sniper… since switching numbers from 31 to 79, Marco Cousineau has a record of 3-0 with a G.A.A of 2.27.

Saint John vs Val-d’Or:
This Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
1-1-0-0-0-2
Home: 1-1-0-0-0-2
Road: 0-0-0-0-0-0
Goals For: 6
Goals Against: 3

Last Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
2-2-0-0-0-4
Home: 1-1-0-0-0-2
Road: 1-1-0-0-0-2
Goals For: 10
Goals Against: 3

All-Time- Not Including This Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
8-4-3-0-1-9
Home: 4-2-1-0-1-5
Road: 4-2-2-0-0-4
Goals For: 27
Goals Against: 26

Station Nation Facts:

• The Sea Dogs will pay tribute to the Canadian Naval Centennial on Salute to the Navy Night. A special pre-game ceremony will honour the 100th anniversary of Canada’s Navy. Throughout the evening, fans will also be able to visit a display booth on the arena concourse which will highlight Canada rich naval history, to which Saint John has contributed greatly.
• With a win tonight, the Sea Dogs can set a franchise record for wins in a season with 42.
• Val-d’Or’s notables over the years include: Jean-Pierre Dumont, Steve Bégin, Gaston Therrien, Roberto Luongo, Simon Gamache and Kristopher Letang.
• After the buzzer, the Sea Dogs travel to Halifax on Friday and then to Moncton on Saturday.

Important Info:
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297

Saint John Media: Radio- News 88.9 FM (www.news889.com)
Live Video Streaming: www.qmjhl.mytelus.com
Post-Game Coverage: www.stationnation.blogspot.com
Post-Game Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/user/seadogstv

TWITTER
Station Nation will be tweeting during today’s game at Harbour Station. You can follow us or follow along at www.twitter.com/station_nation.