PRE-GAME: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

Game Day
Saint John Sea Dogs vs Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Centre 200

Visiting Team: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 52-11-1-1 (1st in Atlantic Division)
Last Game: 5-2 win Sunday vs Halifax
Leading Scorer: Mike Hoffman: 54 GP-45 G-39 A-84 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 is first in the Atlantic, first overall in the QMJHL, and are ranked second in country for the second straight week… with Sunday’s win, the Sea Dogs have clinched both the Atlantic division and first overall in the league. It was the third game that Saint John could have clinched… Saint John is coming off a 5-2 win over the last place Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday at Harbour Station. The Sea Dogs didn’t play their best but played well enough to beat Halifax. The game had a slow pace to it, something that will not happen tonight at Centre 200... Sea Dogs captain Mike Thomas is suspended for this game. In four games against the Eagles he has no points and 11 assists… Yann Sauve missed Sunday’s game due to a death in his family. No word on if he will play tonight… the Dogs have been playing some uninspired hockey over the last few weeks with the exception of a couple of games. They are 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 games and are coming off a win… Saint John became the first team to reach the 300 goal club this season after scoring five against the Mooseheads on Sunday… Saint John is tied with Drummondville for the second fewest goals allowed this season with 178 against. Moncton leads the league with a low of 157 goals against… have a league best road record of 26-4-1-0 and are 3-0-0-0 at Centre 200 this season. They are 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 road games and have won seven straight. That includes a three-game road sweep through Quebec… one more road win will give them eight straight, putting them in second place for consecutive road wins this season. They own the first place title with 10 straight during their epic 22-game run… during their seven game road winning streak, Saint John has outscored opponents 46-23… Kevin Gagne and Michael Kirkpatrick both have a team high seven points (one goal, six assists) in seven games against the Eagles this year… Tomas Jurco has a team high three goals against Cape Breton.

GETTING CLOSER TO HISTORY
SAINTJOHNSEADOGS.COM
On the team record watch front, veteran centre Michael Kirkpatrick currently has 52 assists on the year, four shy of Chris DiDomenico’s franchise-best mark of 56 (set in 2007-08). Freshman forward Tomas Jurco’s 23 goals are two fewer than the 25 DiDomenico scored as a rookie in 2006-07, still the most ever for a first-year Sea Dog.

THOMAS SUSPENDED
Saint John Sea Dogs forward Mike Thomas has been suspended for a total of six games (an automatic one-game suspension plus five additional games) for an illegal hit which occurred during last Friday’s game versus the Moncton Wildcats.

Home Team: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
Record: 38-22-2-3 (3rd in Atlantic Division)
Last Game: 8-3 win at Charlottetown on Saturday
Leading Scorer: Luke Adam: 53 GP-47 G-40 A-87 Pts
NHL Draft Picks: Olivier Roy (Edmonton), Mathieu Brodeur (Phoenix), Jacob Legace (Buffalo), Luke Adam (Buffalo), Maxime Legault (Buffalo), and Ashton Bernard (New Jersey).
Notes: The Screaming Eagles are third in the Atlantic division and seventh overall in the QMJHL. They are five points up on the Rocket for third in the division. The fourth place team will play Saint John in the first round of the playoffs… Cape Breton is big and physical on defense. They are fourth in the league in fewest goals allowed this year with 180 against… 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 games and are coming off a rather convincing 8-3 win in Charlottetown on Saturday. In that game Viktor Hertzberg, with four points, reached a new personal record for the most points in a game… 20-11-1-1 at Centre 200 this year and have yet to beat the Sea Dogs on home ice in three tries. 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 home games and are coming off a loss… Maxime Legault is on a three game point scoring streak. In that span, he has two goals and three assists… Luke Adam is third in league scoring with 87 points this year. He is tied with Gabriel Dumont for the league lead in goals with 47… Adam leads the Eagles in goals with 47 and in assists with 40 in 53 games played this year… Adam has a team eight points (three goals and five assists) against the Sea Dogs this season. The five assists are a team high… Mick MacNeil has scored a team high four goals against Saint John this year… Christopher Riguse is the only player with a plus rating against Saint John this year with a +1. Marc Bourgeois is team worst -8… Edmonton Oilers prospect Olivier Roy will likely get the start in goal for Cape Breton. He has a record of 30-21 this year with a goals against average of 2.63 and save percentage of 0.909. He has struggled with Saint John this season and has a record of 1-4 with a GAA of 3.56 and save percentage of 0.891… the Eagles are 1-5-1-0 against the Sea Dogs this season and have been outscored 26-16… they have been outscored 13-5 in Cape Breton.

GAME CHANGER?
The Screaming Eagles will wear Irish jerseys tonight in memory of past president Greg Lynch. Raffle tickets will be sold at the game with all proceeds going to the Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation. During the game, fans can purchase tickets for a chance to win one of the jerseys. The tickets are $5 each and will be available only at Centre 200. The winning tickets will be drawn during the third period and the winners will join the Eagles on the ice. Each winner will receive a photo of them getting their jersey.

Saint John vs Cape Breton:
This Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
7-6-1-0-0-12
Home: 4-3-1-0-0-6
Road: 3-3-0-0-0-6
Goals For: 26
Goals Against: 16

Last Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
8-2-4-1-1-6
Home: 4-1-2-1-0-3
Road: 4-1-2-0-2-4
Goals For: 20
Goals Against: 34

All-Time-Not including this season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
26-8-13-1-5-22
Home: 13-3-6-1-3-10
Road: 13-5-7-0-2-12
Goals For: 65
Goals Against: 93

PAST RESULTS THIS SEASON
Sep 13, 2009: Saint John Sea Dogs 4 @ Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 3
Sep 19, 2009: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 5 (OT)
Oct 10, 2009: Saint John Sea Dogs 5 @ Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 2
Oct 11, 2009: Saint John Sea Dogs 4 @ Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 0
Jan 08, 2010: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 1 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 3
Feb 12, 2010: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 2 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 3
Feb 14, 2010: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 2

TALE OF THE TAPE
HOCKEYGIGHTS.COM
Jan 08, 2010: Will Johnston vs Kalin Paul
Jan 08, 2010: Mike Thomas vs Ashton Bernard

STATION NATION FACTS:

• Kenny McNeil hosts a decent 30 minute pre-game show on 103.5 FM The Eagle out of Sydney.
• This is Saint John’s first game in Cape Breton since October 11, 2009. They met two previous times at Centre 200 in the 2009 portion of the regular season and once in the preseason.
• This is the final meeting between the two teams this season.
• Saint John has won 29 of their 37 intradivisional contests this year, outscoring opponents 156-98 in the process.
• After the buzzer, the Sea Dogs head to PEI to face the Rocket on Friday at 7:00 pm.

AROUND THE TOWN
WIKIPEDIA
Sydney (2001 population: 24,115) is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

Sydney was incorporated in 1904 and dissolved on August 1, 1995 when it was merged into the regional municipality. Sydney is the largest urban centre on Cape Breton Island. Together with Sydney Mines, North Sydney, New Waterford and Glace Bay it forms the Industrial Cape Breton region.

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL play their home games at Centre 200. The franchise, which came into the league in 1969 as the Sorel Éperviers, moved to Sydney from Granby, Quebec in 1997, just one year after winning the Memorial Cup. From 1988 to 1996, Sydney was home to the Cape Breton Oilers of the AHL, the primary farm team of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers. They won that league's championship, the Calder Cup, in 1993. The franchise moved to Hamilton, Ontario after the 1995-96 season, becoming the Hamilton Bulldogs. In 1993 and 1994, the Cape Breton Breakers of the NBL also played at Centre 200.

THE RINK
Venue: Centre 200
Capacity: 4,670
Average Attendance: 3,305
Arena Guide Info: http://www.qmjhlarenaguide.com/eagles.htm
Notes: Centre 200 will undergo a $2.5 million dollar renovation shortly. Improvements include increasing the seating capacity to at least 5,000 through the addition of 13 new skyboxes.

MEDIA
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/, Cape Breton Post, Telegraph-Journal Post-Game Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/capebretoneagles

TWITTER
Follow Station Nation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/station_nation for in game updates from tonight’s game.