WHO: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Val-d’Or Foreurs
WHEN: Tonight, 8:30 pm
WHERE: Air Creebec Centre
VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 11-3-0-1 (3rd in Maritimes Division)
Last Game: 5-3 win at Halifax Saturday
Leading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (15GP-10G-8A-18Pts) and Michael Kirkpatrick (15GP-4G-14A-18Pts)
Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs enter play this evening with a record of 11-3-0-1, good for third place in the Maritimes Division and fifth overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They were ranked 10th in last week’s edition of the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings… Saint John is coming off a 5-3 victory at the Halifax Metro Centre versus the Mooseheads on Saturday. Tomas Jurco, Stanislav Galiev, Jonathan Huberdeau, Danick Gauthier, and Zach Phillips all scored for the winners. Frederic Piche made 29 stops in net. It was a fairly well played game by the Dogs but head coach Gerard Gallant was still not impressed by it, calling out his team in the newspaper on Monday… the Sea Dogs have had their struggles on the road this season. While being without a loss at home this year, Saint John has played average hockey at best on the road and have a record of 3-3-0-1. They have been outscored 29-28 along the way… Saint John has the fourth best road penalty killing unit in the league with a rating of 0.840%. Overall, the Sea Dogs’ penalty kill sits third overall in the league at 0.846%... Jonathan Huberdeau and Michael Kirkpatrick lead the team in points with 18, averaging just over a point-per-game… Huberdeau and Tomas Jurco lead Saint John in goals this year with 10 each. Zach Phillips is a close second with eight markers… Kirkpatrick leads the team in assists with 14. Defenseman Pierre Durepos is second with nine helpers in 15 games… Huberdeau has a team best +17 rating but also leads the club in penalty minutes with 23… Tomas Jurco still has not served a penalty minute this season despite playing in all 15 matches… Jacob DeSerres will likely get the call in net this evening. He has a 1-1-0-0 record to go along with a 2.50 goals against average and a 0.889 save percentage. He last played Friday night in a 5-1 loss in Bathurst… Ryan Tesink has fallen to ninth in rookie scoring with three goals and seven assists for 10 points.
LAST SEASON
From the Sea Dogs website:
The Sea Dogs dominated their season series with the Foreurs last year, winning all three of the head-to-head matchups between the two teams by a combined score of 26-6. Saint John converted on 40.0% (6-for-15) of their power play opportunities against Val-d’Or last season while going 13-for-14 (92.9%) on the penalty kill. Then-rookie Jonathan Huberdeau registered an amazing 5G-4A-9P in his three games played against the Foreurs in 2009-10.KIRKY READY TO MAKE HISTORY
Another interesting tidbit from the Sea Dogs website to watch for this week:
Veteran centre Michael Kirkpatrick has also accumulated 18 points this season on four goals and fourteen assists. Kirkpatrick enters this week’s action needing two goals to tie fellow Cape Bretoner Ryan Sparling for the all-time Sea Dogs record with 83 career markers.HOME TEAM: Val-d’Or Foreurs
Record: 10-5-2-0 (Third in Telus West Division)
Last Game: 9-4 win at Rouyn-Noranda Saturday
Leading Scorer: Jonathan Hazen (13GP-7G-10A-17Pts)
Notes: The Val-d’Or Foreurs enter this evenings contest with a record of 10-5-2-0 which puts them third in the Telus West Division behind the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Montreal Juniors. Their record puts them seventh overall in the 18-team QMJHL… the Foreurs are coming off a rough 9-4 win in Rouyn-Noranda against the rival Huskies on Saturday, a match that saw the two teams combine for 78 penalty minutes. Jonathan Hazen scored a hat trick for the winners while Olivier Archambault and Jen-Francois Leblanc added a pair with singles coming from Alexandre Carrier and Mathieu Theriault. Francois Tremblay made 36 saves in net for the victory… 6-2-2-0 in their last 10 games… Val-d’Or is 5-2-1-0 at the Air Creebec Centre this season and have outscored their opponents 27-23 along the way… the Foreurs are fourth overall in the league in penalty minutes with 314 in 17 games. They are currently averaging 18.5 penalty minutes per game… Val-d’Or is second in the league with 23 fights. Adam Jones leads the way with six rounds of fisticuffs this year… Jonathan Hazen leads the team in points with 17 in just 13 games… Olivier Archambault, the first overall pick in the 2009 QMJHL Entry Draft, leads the Foreurs in goals this season with eight. Hazen and Alexandre Touchette are a close second with seven markers each… Marc-Alain Begin leads the club in helpers with 11.
HURTIN’
According to the Val-d'Or newspaper L’Echo Abitibien, Cedrick Henley is not expected to play tonight because of an injured wrist. The winger has four goals and five assists in 12 games. Mathieu Theriault also has a wrist injury while Anthony Taylor hurt his foot blocking a shot on Saturday versus Rouyn-Noranda.
ARENA INFO
Venue: Air Creebec Centre
Seating Capacity: 3,504 (2,140 seated)
Year Built: 1949
QMJHL Arena Guide
GOAL HORN
According to this video, this is the Foreurs’ goal horn:
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Live Blog: Station Nation
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, L’Echo Abitibien
Follow Station Nation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/station_nation or in-game updates, scores, stats, and live coverage during tonight’s game.
AFTER THE BUZZER
The Sea Dogs finish off a doubleheader in Val-d’Or Friday night at 8:30 pm.
Photo Credit: That odd photo at the top comes straight from the Foreurs website, Kevin Jordan/QMJHLarenaguide.com
No comments:
Post a Comment