SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

WILLIAMS ADDED TO PROTECTED ROSTER
It’s not every day a player from the Northwest Territories signs a deal with a junior hockey team.

"I'm really proud of myself and it's a great feeling," said Jason Williams after finding out he had been added to the Saint John Sea Dogs’ 50-man protected list.

Williams plays in a city much closer to Saint John however. He currently plays defense for the Miramichi Timberwolves of the Maritime Junior “A” Hockey League.

"It's proof that hard work and practice pays off," said Williams. "My coach tells me I'm a hard worker and I'll keep working hard."

Pending injuries, Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said he won’t see any game action this season.

"Right now, we have a roster of 22 players with seven defensemen," Gallant said. "I'm hoping to not have any injuries and have a good long run in the playoffs, but I definitely think he has a good chance of making this team at some point, not this year, but maybe next year."

To view the full article click HERE.

COUSINEAU GETS A NEW MASK
Goaltender Marco Cousineau received his new mask on Thursday at Harbour Station.

The net minder had been wearing a white mask since joining the team on December 30 after a trade from the PEI Rocket. He is still wearing red pads, blocker and glove.

A picture of the mask can be seen above. (Photo credit: TwitPic)

PETERSEN STIL NUMBER ONE
Nicholas Petersen has turned out to be the most consistent player in the Quebec major Junior Hockey League this season – at least according to TSN.

Petersen ranks number one again this week in TSN’s QMJHL Player Power Rankings. He got a score of 93.5 to put him in first again.

His team mate Michael Kirkpatrick climbed all the way up to number 12 from number 15 this week with a score of 81.28.

To view the full rankings click HERE.

KELLY STILL SAYS HE MADE THE RIGHT MOVE
Director of Hockey Operation Mike Kelly is still going on record saying that he and the Sea Dogs made the right move at the trade deadline.

"A lot of teams made a lot of trades and paid a big price," said Kelly to Here Magazine. "We really liked our team and in particular we really like the young players who have contributed so much so far this season. We feel the young guys will keep developing and become better in the second half.

"We just felt that our skill level is pretty good throughout our four lines of forwards. It would've had to be a pretty attractive deal to take one of those kids out of our lineup."

The article also said that Kelly believes there are six contenders in the QMJHL – Saint John, Moncton, Drummondville, Rouyn-Noranda, Victoriaville and Val d'Or.

To view the entire article click HERE.

THIS WEEKEND AT THE STATION
Two games take place this weekend at Harbour Station.

On Saturday night at 7:00 pm the Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The game has been designated a Sea Dogs Night Out, with the Wave 97.3 FM Extreme Team set to energize the Harbour Station faithful as Saint John looks to move one step closer to a season-series-sweep of Acadie-Bathurst.

The next day, the Chicoutimi Sagueneens come to the Station at 4:00 pm. Sunday’s contest has been designated a Family Fun Day. Special 4-for-40 ticket packages will be available for purchase, with a post-game autograph session to be held on the arena concourse and a Kids’ Fun Zone to be set up next to Sea Dogs Central (Section S). The Home Depot will be also be distributing rally towels to fans on Sunday.

THE REAL GELINAS
It has come to our attention that our article about Mac-Antoine Gelinas and his thoughts on being traded may have been mistranslated – despite being translated several times through different websites.

Out of respect for Marc-Antoine Gelinas, we have decided to post to the two original French article links where we got our information.

http://www.sportsjuniors.com/2010/01/%c2%ab-cest-frustrant-mais-je-men-attendais-%c2%bb-marc-antoine-gelinas/

http://www2.canoe.com/sports/nouvelles/hockey/lhjmq/archives/2010/01/20100111-100900.html

We apologize if the article came across as unfair towards Gelinas. Please understand that that was the absolute last way we wanted it to come across as. We have learnt a great deal from the incident and it will NEVER happen again as our mission is deliver Sea Dogs news that is fair and correct.

Thank you, and we hope you all continue to read Station Nation daily for the latest Sea Dogs news.