SEA DOGS POST-GAME NOTEBOOK

SEA DOGS – OLYMPIQUES GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score: Gatineau 2, Sea Dogs 4
Saint John Goals: Tomas Jurco (5), Yann Sauve (1), Jonathan Huberdeau (9), and Michael Kirkpatrick (6)
Gatineau Goals: Philippe Halley (1) and Tye McGinn (2)
Winning Goaltender: SNB – Marco Cousineau (8-1-0)
Losing Goaltender: GAT – Maxime Clermont (4-6-0)
News 88.9 Top Dog: Jonathan Huberdeau

THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Olympiques: 1/5, Sea Dogs: 0/5
Shots on Goal: Olympiques: 6+15+14=35, Sea Dogs: 15+4+3=22
Attendance: 1,996

SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Steven Anthony did not dress after he injured his groin again on Tuesday. Will Johnston took his place in the Sea Dogs lineup but had limited ice time.

Kevin Gagne was out with a knee injury, Tyron Sock did not travel with the team, Aiden Kelly did not travel with the team, and Chuckie Schembri was a healthy scratch.

THE FAT LADY HAS SUNG
It’s all over for the Gatineau Olympiques.

Following a 4-2 loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs last night, the Olympiques were swept out of the second round of the 2010 post-season.

Gatineau put in their best effort of the series in the losing cause. The ‘Piques were leading 2-0 halfway through the game but Saint John stormed back to take control.

“We can’t play like that if we’re going to be successful in the next round,’’ Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant said to the Telegraph-Journal.

Saint John was outshot 15-6 in the first, thanks mostly to a five Sea Dogs penalties. But they managed to outshoot Gatineau 29-7 the rest of the way.

“We had a bad game and we didn’t come ready to play,” said the QMJHL coach of the year. “It was pretty disappointing for a period and a half. After that, we took over the game, but we gave that team a chance and it shouldn’t happen.”

"It's always tough to finish the season but I think the boys showed a lot of heart out there,” said Olympique Alex Noel to the Ottawa Citizen.”Even though we lost four straight, our last game was probably our best game. It just didn't go our way."

SEASON OF DOMINANCE
Regular season and post-season combined, Saint John finishes with a record of 7-0 against Gatineau this year. That includes a 4-0 record at the Robert Guertin Centre.

Saint John scored seven or more goals four times and shutout the ‘Piques three times.

Overall, Saint John outscored their Quebec opponent 41-13.

COUSY, COUSY, COUSY
Marco Cousineau was exceptional in the Saint John goal all night long, making some big saves at key times. He was peppered with 15 shots in the first period with the only goal coming on a Philippe Halley penalty shot.

The 20-year old finishes the series with a record of 4-0, a goals against average of 2.00, and save percentage of 0.912.

Cousineau also had to deal with what looked to be a fan with a bed sheet over his head all game behind the net. We looked him up on the interweb and found that he his called the "Ghost of Guertin."

At the other end of the ice, Maxime Clermont finishes the series with an 0-4 record, a GAA of 5.90, and save percentage of 0.844.

HOFFMAN WAS GOOD TO GO
Mike Hoffman was not suspended by the league following his charging major on Tuesday night. Hoffman was thrown out and given a five-minute major on the play.

Hoffman had one assist last night and was reunited with his regular line mates (Nicholas Petersen and Stanislav Galiev) for parts of the third period.

Rookie import Adam Janosik – the victim of the massive Hoffman hit – missed the game with headaches according to Le Droit.

The Sea Dogs’ overager and Ottawa Senators draft pick was booed throughout the game from the Olympiques faithful.

LAPORTE GOES OUT WITH A BANG
The lovable Hugo Laporte, who was the most entertaining Gatineau player to watch in the series, was in the middle of the action again. Laporte finished the game with a -1 rating.

In the first, Petersen took out Laporte with a big push in the corner. The trainer came out but he stayed in the game. Then later on, Jonathan Huberdeau shoved him to the ice forcing him to leave the game. Laporte returned late in the second period.

Fittingly, Laporte face washed Mike Thomas when the buzzer went to signal the end of the game.

Le Droit reports today that Laporte had dislocated his thumb in the tilt.

THE LEGEND GROWS
Jonathan Huberdeau came one step closer to having a statue built of him in Saint John. The 16-year freshman had the game and series winning goal on a slap shot from inside the blue line. It was his ninth marker of the playoffs and is now averaging a goal-per-game in the second season.

“Huberdeau is sick, tied for the league lead in playoff goals,” said a b, c in the comment section of today’s Telegraph-Journal.

“It’s unbelievable,’’ said Huberdeau. “I scored the winning goal and I think I played another good game, and it’s good for my confidence going into the next series.’’

Mad props to J4M13M on Twitter for pointing this out:

Huberdeau with 2 series-winning goals...so far.

HIGH FIVE TIME
Following the traditional handshakes after the game, the Olympiques stayed on the ice to salute their fans. But with short glass at the arena, the fans stood on the lip of the boards and received hand slaps from the parading Olympiques team.

The bag over this fans head above was a nice touch.

INTENSE PHOTO’S
The Ottawa Citizen has an epic photo gallery up from last night’s game.

OUT OF TOWN
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Drummondville took a 3-1 lead in that series with a 7-2 win over the Oceanic. The Victoriaville Tigres also completed a sweep Wednesday, knocking out the Quebec Remparts with a 4-2 win.

QUICK HITS
Saint John is now 8-1 in the post-season and are 4-0 on the road… this is the second playoff sweep in Sea Dogs history and the first in round two… all-time, Saint John is 8-2 in round two games. They are 0-4 in round three games… the Telus webcast had typical problems. At one moment, Tim Roszell turned into a much louder French man… Gatineau had their first lead of the series in the first period… Josh Domingues, Gatineau’s only overager, played in his last QMJHL game… there were lots of Sea Dogs fans at the game again... only 10 penalties were called. This a day after 22 were called.

NEXT GAME
The semi-finals open up next Friday (April 16) at 7:30 pm at Harbour Station. Pending a miracle by Rimouski, the Sea Dogs will be playing Victoriaville.