GATINEAU, Que. – The Saint John Sea Dogs are President’s Cup Champions.
The Sea Dogs clinched their first ever Quebec Major Hockey League title with a 3-2 double-overtime victory on Sunday night over the Gatineau Olympiques, winning the series in six games.
Alexandre Beauregard netted the game winner at 15:45 of the second overtime to clinch the title for Saint John. He was quickly mobbed by his teammates while Gatineau players stood around their goaltender, Maxime Clermont, as he sat on his knees in disbelief.
It was the second double-overtime game of the series – and what a series it was. Five of the six games were one goal affairs and the road team won all but one game.
Now the Sea Dogs are off the Memorial Cup in Mississauga where they will try and capture their first national championship.
On Sunday, Stanislav Galiev opened the scoring at 4:12 of the first period. Then at 11:12, Philip-Michael Devos tied it up at 1-1 with a goal and that’s the way it would stand after 20 minutes.
After a scoreless second period, the Olympiques went up 2-1 at 14:38 of the third frame. Just when it looked like a Game Seven would be required, Jonathan Huberdeau scored the game tying goal with 23 seconds left to send the match to extra time.
That would set the scene for Beauregard’s heroics in the second overtime to clinch the cup for Saint John.
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Steven Anthony missed the match with a lower body injury, Zack Phillips was out with an upper body injury, and Jason Cameron didn’t play with a lower body injury. Anthony missed his fifth straight game, Phillips his second, and Cameron his second.
Defensemen Jason Seed and Spencer MacDonald along with goaltender Jacob Edwards were all healthy scratches. Seed was in the lineup for Game Five on Friday but was replaced by Devon Oliver-Dares last night.
THOMAS LIFTS IT UP
Sea Dogs captain Mike Thomas accepted the President’s Cup from QMJHL Gilles Courteau at centre ice.
HUBERDEAU NAMED MVP
Jonathan Huberdeau was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2011 post-season, winning the Gut Lafleur Trophy. From the QMJHL website:
Jonathan Huberdeau was named most valuable player of the playoffs, having scored 16 goals and 14 assists in 19 games. Huberdeau received the Guy-Lafleur trophy from the QMJHL’s director of Hockey Operations, Pierre Leduc.The full list of winners from the past can be found HERE.
It’s been an incredible run for Huberdeau. He scored a number of big goals in the Sea Dogs’ playoff run, but none were bigger than his goal with 23 seconds remaining in last night’s contest. If he doesn’t score that goal, a Game Seven at Harbour Station could be taking place at the Station right now.
THE GOAL
Alexandre Beauregard will forever be known in the Saint John Sea Dogs history books as the player who scored the President’s Cup winning goal.
At 15:45 in the second overtime, Beauregard picked up the loose puck in the Olympiques zone after a turnover, firing an innocent looking shot that beat Maxime Clermont to clinch the series for Saint John.
"It happened so quick that all I wanted to do was get a shot on goal," said Beauregard to the Canadian Press. "When I saw it go in it was an incredible feeling. This is amazing."
“I just shot the puck at the net,” he added to the Ottawa Citizen. “The ice wasn’t very good, it was the second overtime and I was tired,” Beauregard said. “It’s an incredible feeling.”
It was the only goal of the playoffs for Beauregard in 19 games. He also had two assists.
PERFECT ON THE ROAD
The Sea Dogs completed the playoffs with a perfect 10-0 record on the road. After going the entire regular season without losing a game in regulation on home ice, all three of their playoff losses came at Harbour Station.
On the road, the Sea Dogs outscored their opponents 46-22.
The Sea Dogs won just one game at home during the finals with three of their four victories coming at the Robert Guertin Centre. According to Le Droit, it is just the second time in the storied history of the Olympiques that they have lost all three home games of a playoff series.
Also of note, the Dogs recorded all four series wins on the road.
OUELLET OUT
As expected, there was a hole in the Gatineau lineup as Christian Ouellet sat out injured with a knee injury that he suffered in Game Five in Saint John.
Olympiques beat reporter Jean-Francois Plante had a rundown of all of the injuries that Gatineau players played through on his blog today. Some of their best players like Hubert Labrie, Philip-Michael Devos, and Tye McGinn all played while hurting.
Former Olympiques star Claude Giroux took a break from golfing last night to perform the ceremonial faceoff at ‘The Bob.’
In three seasons with Gatineau, Giroux scored over 100 points in each. He had 321 points in 187 career games.
D.O.D. INSERTED
In a bit of a surprising move, rookie Devon Oliver-Dares was inserted into the Sea Dogs lineup while Jason Seed was scratched.
Before last night’s game, Oliver-Dares had played in just four games with Saint John this season. On Sunday, he played on the fourth line and got a decent a decent amount of ice time. He dropped the gloves with Mathieu Talbot at 3:20 of the second period in a short bout.
ANOTHER OT
It was the second time in this series that a game went into double-overtime. According to a report from RDS, it was the first time in President’s Cup finals history that two games went to a second overtime stanza.
Saint John finished the post-season with a 4-0 record in overtime.
CLERMONT THE GREAT
Evan Mosher and David Honzik both put on goaltending clinics against the Sea Dogs this season. But no goaltender put on a show like Maxime Clermont did in the clutch.
The New Jersey Devils prospect was magnificent again on Sunday night, making 52 stops through almost 100 minutes of action. He finishes the playoffs with a 2.22 goals against average and a 0.927 save percentage. He’d probably like to have another chance at stopping Beauregard’s shot.
"That's usually how playoff games are won," said Clermont to the CP. "It's usually some sort of strange bounce and then it's in the back of the net. I can't believe it's over."
Maxime Clermont stole the show, but Jacob DeSerres played one of his best games as a Sea Dog on Sunday night. He made a few terrific stops throughout the game and gave the Dogs a chance to comeback when they were down.
The 20-year old made 34 saves in the win and finished the playoffs with a GAA of 2.00 and a 0.916 save percentage. Two of his highlights featured him coming out to the blue line to stop a breakaway attempt and stopping Jean-Gabriel Pageau on a breakaway.
From Buzzing The Net:
"This is obviously the greatest feeling that I've ever had," said DeSerres, who had 34 saves on Sunday to earn a rare second stab at the MasterCard Memorial Cup after playing for host and runner-up Brandon in 2010.QUICK HITS
"I feel so fortunate, I knew it right from the start that we had what it takes to do it. I'm so proud of everyone on this team. It feels amazing just to earn our way there."
Tomas Jurco had a Sea Dogs high eight shots… Philippe Halley led the Olympiques with five shots… Tommy Tremblay had four hits for Gatineau… Alexandre Beauregard had five hits for Saint John… star defenseman Nicolas Deslauriers was a minus-two for the ‘Piques… Saint John went 12-0 in the playoffs when scoring first… last year’s final ended in six games as well… a sell-out crowd of 4,000 watched the game… to relive the match, check out the SN Live Blog Replay.
HIGHLIGHTS
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs face the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors on Friday at 8:00 pm at the Hershey Centre. Watch it on Rogers Sportsnet.
Photo Credits: QMJHL, QMJHL, VOXTV, Marc Henwood/Station Nation
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