SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

DOGS WILL BE 'COMPENSATED'
In an article toady about the funky schedule for the league final, the Telegraph-Journal reports that the Sea Dogs franchise will be compensated for what should have been a Saturday night game at Harbour Station.

Still, Long admits having at least one Saturday night game guaranteed would have been his first choice, adding the league will "compensate'' the club for having to settle for the missed revenue opportunity.

Sea Dogs president Wayne Long, who rarely says anything negative about league matters, didn’t seem to upset.

"We're not angry or bitter,'' Long said. "To be fair to Moncton, they're not doing this intentionally to thwart us or screw things up.

It only took 11 hours to create the schedule.

One sponser does seem upset though, as Roger Haineault of Help 4 Taxes went on a mild rant on The Afternoon News With Tom Young. Haineault said that Long should not have been as tame when creating a compromise with the Wildcats.

NB FINAL ON ROGERS?
Speculation continues to mount over whether or not the Presidents Cup Final will be broadcast throughout New Brunswick on Rogers Cable.

Scott Jackson, regional station manager for Rogers TV, confirmed Thursday to the Telegraph-Journal that he is in discussions about the possibility of broadcasting the series across the province.

With both games one and three sold-out and the others on their way, fans will now need a place to watch the games away from the rink.

Rogers will likely need to put up a pretty penny to host the games, with Telus forcing fans to pay an exuberant amount of dough to watch them online.

CHARLAND COMMITS TO MONCTON
Former Sea Dog forward Kevin Charland (pictured) has signed with the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus for the upcoming season.

Guérette-Charland, a 6-foot, 190-pound left winger from Victoriaville, Que., played four and a half seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Victoriaville Tigres, Saint John Sea Dogs, Val-d'Or Foreurs and Gatineau Olympiques. Guérette-Charland, a first-round pick in the 2005 QMJHL draft, recorded 167 points in 302 regular-season games. He was traded from Val-d'Or to Gatineau last December and played in three games for the Olympiques before leaving to join the Princeville Titan of the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League for the rest of the season. He posted 30 points in 17 games for Princeville.

"He's a good sniper and can put points on the board,” said Moncton head coach Serge Bourgeois to the Times & Transcript. “He's one of those players that you might not see all game, but he'll end up with a couple goals and a couple points.”

GAUTHIER’S DAD
As it turns out, Dancik Gauthier’s father played for the Victoriaville Tigres back in the day. To read a French article on the Gauthier family, click HERE.

MORE NB FINAL STUFF
Last Friday, Willy Palov of the Chronicle Herald had an article on what was the-yet-to-be-determined Battle of New Brunswick. He had some solid lines like:

I would love for the owners to have some fun with it and make a good-humoured wager on the series. Maybe the Irvings could offer a free tank of gas if the Sea Dogs win and the McCains could send a case of frozen french fries to Moncton if the Wildcats win.

JURCO VIDEO
Click HERE

GAUTHIER VIDEO
Click HERE

PARD ARTICLE
The now injured Nicholas Pard was put in the spotlight last week in the Junior Report.

Click HERE to read more.

DIDO IS DONE
Chris DiDomenico has completed his junior career with 75 post-season points in only 43 games. He is ranked 28th, tied with Frédéric Bouchard, in the history of the QMJHL. He played in his last game in the QMJHL last Friday, in a 4-2 loss against Moncton in the semi-final series.

THE GLASS GOES BOOM
In an interview with Tim Roszell on Saturday in Victoriaville, Mike Hoffman spoke about his glass shattering performance the day before at Colisee Desjardins.

Hoffman, who has one of the best shots in the country, said that he did not expect the glass to break nor was it his hardest shot. Surprisingly, the 20-year old stated that this was the first time he had the broken a sheet in his career.

JACQUES MOVING ON?
London Knights Head Coach Dale Hunter may or may not be headed for the NHL this season. But according to London Free Press columnist Morris Dalla Costa, his assistant and former Sea Dogs head coach Jacques Beaulieu may be on the move.

For instance, Knights assistant coach Jacques Beaulieu is good enough to be a head coach somewhere else. His work two years ago in Saint John with the Sea Dogs is now paying dividends for the QMJHL team. They advanced to the league final on Monday.

Beaulieu will get calls from other teams.

BLOG FROM THE BOOTH
Les Stoodley, who does play-by-play for the Moncton Wildcats, had a post on his blog this week about the upcoming final.

Look for a six of seven game series. Look for great goaltending with Riopel and Cousineau giving us thrills by the dozen, look for edge of your seat, nail biting, heart stop action from both New Brunswick teams. I can’t wait to call a second Wildcats Preisents Cup win.

Solid post, even if he does call Gerard Gallant, “Gerald.”

HYNES SPEAKS ON THE SERIES
Victoriaville Tigres forward Brandon Hynes spoke about his playoff series against the Saint John Sea Dogs today in the Western Star.

“They were first place and scored the most goals in the league and they showed exactly why,” said Hynes. “We needed to have better starts and we knew that. You could watch a tape from every game of the series and whichever team had the best start won the game.

“When they hopped out to a 3-0 lead in Game 6 it just plays on your mind ... you’re far away from home, their fans are all there ... it was too big of a mountain to climb,” he added. “We probably should’ve thought it was possible, but I think we just wanted to play for the team then.”