SEA DOGS POST-GAME NOTEBOOK

SEA DOGS – WILDCATS GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score/Shootout: Saint John 5, Moncton 4
Saint John Goals: Mike Hoffman (34), Michael Kirkpatrick (23), Nicholas Petersen (33), and Yann Sauve (7)
Moncton Goals: Brandon Gormley (8), Mark Barberio (12), Daniel Pettersson (16), and Randy Cameron (16)
Winning Goaltender: SNB – Cousineau, Marco (18-15-0)
Losing Goaltender: MON – Riopel, Nicola (12-3-0)
News 88.9 Top Dog: Not available

THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Wildcats 2/8, Sea Dogs 1/4
Shots on Goal: Wildcats: 7+14+13+1=35, Sea Dogs: 9+10+9+1=29
Attendance: 6,803

SCRATCHES
For Saint John, Stephen MacAulay and Gabriel Bourret were scratched. MacAulay played on Friday in Halifax while Bourret missed his second straight because of the return of Christian Morin.

Moncton was missing six regular players in Kirill Kabanov, Andrew Roski, Marek Hrivik, Alex Saulnier, Simon Jodoin, and Kelsey Tessier.

A SOLID EFFORT
For the most part, Saint John played a solid road game. They didn’t do anything to fancy and limited their risk taking that has cost them in the past two weeks.

In the first period, play was very even. But in the early part of the second period, Saint John took over the game until Brandon Gormley scored a rare five-on-three shorthanded goal after a turnover at the blue line. The Sea Dogs got the goal right back but would not dominate the same way for the rest of the game.

COUSINEAU IN CONTROL
Marco Cousineau was right, he can perform well with new equipment right out of the box.

Sporting his new blue and white pads, glove, and blocker, the 20-year old was cool as a cucumber in goal and hardly let out any rebounds. Cousineau looked very comfortable, challenging shooters by coming out to the top of his crease and making several huge saves with the pads in close.

More importantly, Cousineau improves to 5-0 while wearing number 79.

MASCOT MAN
Saint John captain Mike Thomas continues to attract mascots while taking part in the ceremonial faceoff. This time Wild Willie and Tony The Tiger took part in the festivities. Monopoly Man was also at the game.

GETTING HOT IN HERE
It was a hot one at the Coliseum. Fans could easily have worn t-shirts inside the building. The puck was bouncing a lot throughout the game with lots of passes hitting bumps on the ice.

It got so hot that a young fan got a nosebleed from the intense action.

SUBWAY SCREW UP
A Moncton Subway location jumped the gun last night.

The store gives out free cookies to customers who have a game ticket after a Wildcats victory. They put a large amount of cookies into the oven after they thought the ‘Cats had won and were telling people the home side was victorious.

You can never have enough cookies however.

‘CATS TAKE DEMANDING LEAD
The Moncton Wildcats now have a demanding lead of 14.5-10.5 lead in the 2009-10 Brunswick News Rivalry Cup.

Moncton got three points for their sell-out crowd of 6,803. The sell-out was the Wildcats’ second straight against Saint John. The Sea Dogs got two points for the win while Moncton picked up one point for the shootout loss.

The next game between the team’s goes on March 5th at Harbour Station which should be Saint John’s half of the food drive that was postponed in December. The weekend after that, Moncton hosts the Dogs at the Coliseum in a game that will be broadcasted nationally on Rogers Sportsnet.

Also yet to happen this season is the Road Trip Challenge. Two points are awarded for the team that has the most fans show up at the opposition's arena wearing Wildcats or Sea Dogs apparel. These fans will parade onto the ice to be counted. It's for one designated game in each city with the dates to be announced.

OUT OF TOWN
Elsewhere in the QMJHL it was: Chicoutimi 4 Acadie-Bathurst 3 (SO); Halifax 3 Cape Breton 2; Quebec 9 Gatineau 5; Drummondville 4 Montreal 1; Shawinigan 5 Lewiston 3; and Rimouski 4 Rouyn-Noranda 1.

QUICK HITS
There was a pre-game ceremony featuring Wildcat billet families… Simon Despres had a bad game and took three penalties… Mike Thomas and Tyler Howe had some words in the first period but no punches were thrown… first year Saint John general manager Bob “Tipper” Leblanc was in the house on Saturday night. He now works for the Mooseheads… Saint John tied a franchise record last night by picking up two points to get a total of 89 on the year… while the Zamboni was cleaning the ice prior to the shootout, both teams stood back and watched a blooper video on the Coliseum clock.

MONDAY MORNING
Yours truly will be a quest on CBC Radio One’s (91.3 FM) “Information Morning” at around 8:20 am. I’ll be talking about the Moncton/Saint John rivalry this season.

MONDAY NIGHT
The Saint John Sea Dogs have announced the teams and events which will comprise the 2010 Irving Oil Skills Competition, set to be staged on Monday, February 8 beginning at 6:30pm at Harbour Station. This event is open to the public, with News 88.9 FM radio personality Tim Roszell and Woodstock Bugle Observer columnist Dave Deline set to serve as co-hosts for the evening. A total of five team events will take place at this year’s competition: Fastest Skater (2 pts.), Accuracy Shooting (1pt.), Agility Skating (1 pt.), Hardest Shot (1 pt.), and a Shootout (2pts). The winning team will be determined by whichever side earns four or more of the seven available points.

NEXT GAME
Saint John takes on their provincial rivals from Bathurst on Wednesday at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station. It’s Homemade Noisemaker Night with fans invited to bring their most creative sound-emitting devices to this makeup game that was originally scheduled for January 3.