GAME DAY
Shawinigan Cataractes vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tonight, February 19, 2011, 7:00 pm
Harbour Station
SAINT JOHN – After playing below average opponents for a few games now, tonight’s tilt at Harbour Station should offer the Saint John Sea Dogs a stiffer test.
The Shawinigan Cataractes make their only regular season appearance in Saint John this evening at 7:00 pm. The Cataractes enter play tonight with a record of 37-16-2-1 which is good for third in the tough Telus West Division and sit fifth overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. If Shawinigan played in any other division, they would be in the No. 2 slot.
Since Christmas, Shawinigan has been on a tear. They are 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games and have won four consecutive contests. They are 20-5-0-0 since early December.
But tonight the Cats will face a team that has been much hotter since Christmas. The Sea Dogs are currently on a 12-game winning streak and have picked up at least a point in their last 19 contests. They are 18-0-1-0 over that span.
Saint John has yet to lose in regulation in 2011 and still have not lost a single regulation match at Harbour Station this season, an incredible feat with six-home games remaining.
We should be in for some good hockey tonight.
| Shawinigan | Saint John | |
| Record | 37-16-2-1(3rd Telus West) | 47-5-1-2 (1st Maritimes) |
| Home Record | - - - | 26-0-1-1 |
| Road Record | 19-7-1-0 | - - - |
| Streak | 4-0-0-0 | 18-0-1-0 |
| Last 10 | 8-2-0-0 | 10-0-0-0 |
| Goals For | 212 | 262 |
| Goals Against | 154 | 136 |
| Overall PP | 26.9% (2nd) | 23.8% (8th) |
| Home PP | - - - | 20.4% (10th) |
| Road PP | 26.4% (3rd) | - - - |
| Overall PK | 79.2% (9th) | 82.0% (4th) |
| Home PK | - - - | 85.4% (3rd) |
| Road PK | 78.5% (9th) | - - - |
| PIM/GAME | 12.5 (16th) | 13.2 (13th) |
NOTES: 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 home games… on the road, they have outscored their opponents 107-84… the Cataractes are led offensively by Dave Labrecque who has 65 points in 48 games this season. Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael Bournival is second in team scoring with 63 points… defenseman Ryan Kavanagh leads the club in assists with 46… former PEI Rocket Benjamin Cassavant leads the Cataractes in goals with 28… Labrecque is a team best +21… Kavanagh leads the league in power play assists with 31 in 58 games… rookie Anton Zlobin is tenth in game winning goals with five… Bournival is ninth in first goals with six… Cassavant leads the league in insurance goals with seven on the year… former Moncton Wildcat Dillon Donnelly has served the seventh most penalty minutes this season with 118… Zlobin is eighth in rookie scoring with 33 points… 21-3-0-0 when scoring first… averaging 3.79 goals per game… allowing 2.75 goals against per game… averaging 30.84 shots per game… allowing an average of 30.59 shots against per game… Zlobin is on a three game goal scoring streak… Labrecque is on a four-game assist scoring streak… somehow this has been kept kind of quiet, but Labrecque is currently on a 20-game point scoring streak. He has gotten a point in 12 straight road games.
EXPECTED STARTER: Gabriel Girard will likely start in goal tonight for the Cats. The netminder has a record of 26-12-2-1, a goals against average of 2.62, and a save percentage of 0.916.
LAST GAME: This is the third game of a four-game Maritime road trip for the Cataractes. They are coming off a 5-3 win in Moncton last night over the Wildcats. Michael Bournival had a hat trick while Anton Zlobin had two goals. Alex Dubeau made 21 saves in net.
Best Cataractes related video we could find on YouTube: Patrick Roy makes a little girl from Shawinigan cry during the 2009 playoffs. The Centre Bionest has an unlimited amount of security people apparently.
NOTES: 9-0-1-0 in their last 10 home games… have outscored their opposition 138-59 at Harbour Station this season. That is an impressive margin… with 138 goals scored at home, they lead the league in that department… Jonathan Huberdeau leads the team in points with 82 on the year… Huberdeau leads the team in goals with 35… Zack Phillips has a team leading 48 assists. Huberdeau is a close second with 47… Phillips is fourth in power play goals with 13… Mike Thomas is sixth in shorthanded goals with three… Phillips is fourth in game winning goals with seven… Phillips is fifth in first goals with seven… Tomas Jurco is second in insurance goals with six… Huberdeau is a league best +49… 33-2-0-1 when scoring first… averaging a league high 4.76 goals per game… averaging a league low 2.47 goals against per game… averaging a league high 36.80 shots per game… averaging 27.31 shots against per game, good for fifth lowest in the QMJHL… Phillips has gotten an assist in six straight games.
EXPECTED STARTER: 20-year old Jacob DeSerres will likely get the start in goal this afternoon. DeSerres has a record of 22-2-0-0, a goals against average of 2.19, and a save percentage of 0.918.
LAST GAME: The Sea Dogs defeated the Val-d’Or Foreurs last night at Harbour Station by score of 3-2. The Sea Dogs had goals from Gabriel Bourret, Stanislav Galiev, and Pierre Durepos while Mathieu Corbeil got the win in net. Despite the close score, Saint John controlled the majority of the game.
NEW LOOK
The Saint John Sea Dogs will honour the Saint John Flames’ 2001 Calder Cup run tonight by wearing Flames throwback jerseys. Special guests along with the championship trophy will be in the house. The jerseys will be auctioned off during the game and handed out afterwards.
This is the second time in franchise history that the Sea Dogs will wear non-Sea Dogs jerseys. During the 2008-09 season, the Dogs wore Saint John Mooseheads sweaters.
GETTING IT DOWN
The Cataractes beat the Sea Dogs twice last season including one-game at Harbour Station. That will game will be remembered for the great goaltending performance of Marc-Antoine Gelinas, who was traded to Shawinigan during the holiday trading period to make room for Marco Cousineau.
The home loss will also be remembered for something else. After the game, the Sea Dogs were put back on the ice for an old fashioned bag skate. From the SN post-game:
The Sea Dogs just did not look like they wanted this game - even with the playoffs creeping around the corner. Head coach Gerard Gallant was so upset with his team’s effort, that the number one team in Canada was forced to take part in a long bag skate when most fans had left the building.THE FIRST OF TWO
This is the first of two meetings between these two clubs. The Sea Dogs are in Shawinigan next Sunday.
Of course, Saint John and Shawinigan are viewed as the favourites to host the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup. Both teams placed a bid and both sites were toured.
This game won’t have much effect on the decision but it will be interesting to see how some of the core players on each team stack up against each other.
OTHER GAMES TODAY
Val-d'Or at Halifax - 4:00 PM AST
Rouyn-Noranda at Montréal - 3:05 PM EST
PEI at Baie-Comeau - 4:00 PM EST
Gatineau at Chicoutimi - 4:00 PM EST
Victoriaville at Rimouski - 4:00 PM EST
The Sea Dogs game is the only evening tilt tonight.
THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Average Attendance: 4,199
QMJHL Arena Guide
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) for live in game coverage. All tweets will also appear in the SN Live Blog that is posted on this site.
AFTER THE BUZZER
The Sea Dogs host the Halifax Mooseheads on Tuesday at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.
No comments:
Post a Comment