PRE-GAME: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Moncton Wildcats

Game Day
Brunswick News Rivalry Cup: Game Six
Saint John Sea Dogs vs Moncton Wildcats
Tonight, February 6, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
Moncton Coliseum

Visiting Team: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 43-8-1-0 (1st in Atlantic Division)
Last Game: 5-4 shootout win at Halifax yesterday
Leading Scorer: Michael Kirkpatrick: 51 GP-22 G-44 A-66 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 third straight week on Wednesday. They are first in the Atlantic division and first overall in the QMJHL… Saint John played an awful game last night in Halifax, barely defeating the last place Mooseheads in a shootout. However, in the last two weeks the Sea Dogs have been great at coming back from tough games. They are outscoring teams 19-0 in those two games... "It was a loose, loose effort again,'' Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant said about last night’s game in the Telegraph-Journal…. Steven Anthony and Christian Morin both returned from concussions last night. Morin had missed four games while Anthony only missed one game… 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 games and have won four straight. In those four games, the Sea Dogs have outscored opponents 30-7 and have two shutouts… Saint John has scored the most goals of any team in the league with 244 goals for. They sit second in fewest goals against with 138… the Dogs have moved up to fifth in power play percentage with a rating of 24%. They went 2/4 (50%) last night against the Herd… have the best road record in the league at 21-4-1-0. They are 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games and have won two straight on the road – an 8-0 win in Gatineau and a 5-4 win last night. Saint John is 1-1-0-0 in Moncton this season… Saint John has scored the most road goals of any team in the league with 117 goals for… Mike Hoffman has an 11 game point streak going into tonight’s game. In that span, the overager has seven goals and 13 assists. Stanislav Galiev carries an eight game point streak into tonight while Tomas Jurco has a seven game streak… Nicholas Petersen leads the league with a +46 rating. Seven of the top 10 players in +/- play for Saint John. That includes two rookies in Galiev and Pierre Durepos… Marco Cousineau is expected to get the start in goal tonight. He is 1-1 against Moncton with the Sea Dogs this season and is 4-0 with his new number – 79… Petersen leads the Sea Dogs in points against Moncton with five… Galiev, Jurco, and Nathan Beaulieu all have a team high +4 against the Cats. Surprisingly, Simon Despres is a team worst -3.

Home Team: Moncton Wildcats
Record: 36-12-1-3 (2nd in Atlantic Division)
Last Game: 6-1 Win at PEI on Wednesday
Leading Scorer: Nicolas Deschamps: 48 GP-31 G-43 A-74 Pts
NHL Draft Picks: Randy Cameron (Detroit), Mark Barberio (Tampa Bay), David Savard (Columbus), Gabriel Bourque (Nashville), Nicola Riopel (Philadelphia) and Nicolas Deschamps (Anaheim), and Kelsey Tessier (Colorado)
Notes: Moncton has been hit hard with injuries of late. Kirill Kabanov is out until mid-February with a wrist injury. Andrew Roski and Simon Jodoin will also be missing tonight’s game. Kelsey Tessier is questionable for tonight’s game while import rookie Marek Hrivik is also questionable tonight after suffering an injury in the Cats last game in Charlottetown… Moncton is second in the Atlantic division, second overall in the league, and are ranked sixth in the county this week… 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 games and are coming off a win Wednesday in PEI… Moncton has allowed the fewest amount of goals in the league this season with only 129 against. Three teams have allowed over 100 more goals than the Wildcats… The Cats have the best power play in the league with a rating of 26.7%... Moncton has the third best home record with a record of 20-5-0-1 at the Coliseum this season. They are 8-1-0-1 and are coming off a 7-3 loss to Rouyn-Noranda… David Savard carries a 13 game point streak into tonight’s game. In that span he has five goals and 17 assists… the Wildcats gad a 12 game winning streak going into their loss against Rouyn-Noranda earlier this week. The streak is the second longest this season behind Saint John’s 22-game streak… Nicolas Deschamps leads the league in points with 74 in 48 games…. Hrivik has been a Sea Dog killer this season, recording four goals and three assists in five games… Daniel Pettersson leads the Cats with a +5 against the Dogs this season... Moncton has yet to lose to Saint John in regulation time this year. They have lost one game in overtime and two in a shootout. Both of their wins have come in regulation time… Brandon Gormley is expected to return from injury tonight. He is a projected top 10 draft pick in the upcoming NHL draft… averaging 4,441 fans per game this season.

Saint John vs Moncton:
This Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
5-3-2-0-0-6
Home: 3-2-1-0-0-4
Road: 2-1-1-0-0-2
Goals For: 17
Goals Against: 20

Last Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
8-2-6-0-0-4
Home: 4-1-3-0-0-2
Road: 4-1-3-0-0-2
Goals For: 19
Goals Against: 31

All-Time- Not Including This Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
32-11-19-2-0-24
Home: 16-7-8-1-0-15
Road: 16-4-11-1-0-9
Goals For: 96
Goals Against: 139

Station Nation Facts:

• Saint John has an 11 point lead over Moncton for first place in the QMJHL. Both teams have 18 games remaining.
• Listeners on News 88.9 will have the Moncton News 91.9 feed.
• Today’s game is game six of the 2009-2010 Brunswick News Rivalry Cup Challenge. Moncton currently leads the challenge 10.5-8.5. For more information, see the side bar on this website.
• There's a chance that over $150,000 in prizes could be awarded at tonight's contest. Fans must purchase a 50-50 ticket to be eligible. Fans will have an opportunity to win $100,000 in products from Toys For Big Boys, including ATVs, Honda and Harley Davidson. There's also going to be a one shot chance to win $50,000. The first 2,000 fans who enter the building tonight will receive an official 2009-10 Wildcats team calendar.
• Times & Transcript: As of late yesterday afternoon, 5,029 tickets were sold for tonight's game.
  Past results this season have been 4-3 Saint John in a shootout and 3-2 Sea Dogs in overtime. Both games were at Harbour Station. Moncton ended Saint John’s 22-game winning streak on December 13 with a 7-3 win but lost 4-3 in shootout on New Year’s Eve. The last game between the two saw Saint John lose 5-3 at Harbour Station on January 6.
• Ted Stephens was recently named the Yukon territories 2009 athlete of the year.

Video Promo


Important Info:
Venue: Moncton Coliseum
Capacity: 6,803
Arena Guide: http://www.qmjhlarenaguide.com/wildcats.htm

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