GAME DAY
2011 President’s Cup Final – Game Four
Saint John Sea Dogs vs Gatineau Olympiques
Tonight, May 11, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Robert Guertin Centre
SERIES STATUS
The Saint John Sea Dogs lead the Gatineau Olympiques 2-1 in their best-of-seven Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship series.
GATINEAU, Que. – A win tonight will give the Saint John Sea Dogs a stranglehold on the 2011 President’s Cup final. The Sea Dogs currently lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 after a dominating 5-0 win over the Gatineau Olympiques on Monday night.
Stephen MacAulay, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aidan Kelly, Danick Gauthier, and Mike Thomas all scored for Saint John in the victory. Goaltender Jacob DeSerres wasn’t tested too much, only needing to make 17 saves for his second shutout of the post-season.
It was by far the best Sea Dogs' performance of the final and definitely one of the best they’ve played in the playoffs. Saint John worked hard all night and always looked in control even when the score was close.
The Sea Dogs opened the scoring with less than a second remaining in the first period, a deflating goal that took the life out of the sold out crowd at Robert Guertin Centre. That will be key again tonight as the old barn will be jumping again.
Saint John is the better team on paper and Monday’s win added some reassurance. The first two games were a bit shaky and the Dogs had a hard time generating offense.
Gatineau just couldn’t put together the same game that allowed them to be successful in the first two games. They will look to return to that tonight.
A Saint John win will put them up 3-1 in the series and a chance to win the QMJHL title on home ice on Friday. A Gatineau victory and things get interesting, forcing a Game Six to be held back in the capital region on Sunday.
REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS
| Gatineau | Saint John | |
| Record | 43-17-3-5 (3rd West) | 58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes) |
| Home Record | - - - | 32-0-1-1 |
| Road Record | 20-8-2-4 | - - - |
| Streak | 9-0-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| Last 10 | 9-1-0-0 | 8-2-0-0 |
| Goals For | 243 | 324 |
| Goals Against | 193 | 165 |
| Goals/Game | 3.57 (9th) | 4.76 (1st) |
| Goals Against/Game | 2.84 (5th) | 2.43 (1st) |
| Shots/Game | 28.03 (13th) | 36.81 (1st) |
| Shots Against/Game | 24.78 (1st) | 26.96 (5th) |
| Overall PP | 22.3% (10th) | 25.1% (6th) |
| Home PP | - - - | 24.4% (8th) |
| Road PP | 23.3% (8th) | - - - |
| Overall PK | 79.2% (10th) | 83.7% (1st) |
| Home PK | - - - | 86.1% (1st) |
| Road PK | 79.8% (9th) | - - - |
| PIM/GAME | 12.5 (16th) | 13.1 (13th) |
SERIES SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Game 1 - Thu May 5 | 7:00 PM | Gatineau 1 @ Saint John 2
Game 2 - Sat May 7 | 7:00 PM | Gatineau 3 @ Saint John 2
Game 3 - Mon May 9 | 8:30 PM | Saint John 5 @ Gatineau 0
Game 4 - Wed May 11 | 8:30 PM | Saint John @ Gatineau
Game 5 - Fri May 13 | 7:30 PM | Gatineau @ Saint John
Game 6 - Sun May 15 | 8:00 PM | * Saint John @ Gatineau
Game 7 - Mon May 16 | 7:00 PM | * Gatineau @ Saint John
*If necessary
Maxime Clermont is expected to start in net for Gatineau this evening. The News Jersey Devils prospect has a playoff record of 10-8-0-0, a 2.24 goals against average, and a 0.924 save percentage. Clermont was named the CHL Goaltender of the Week for a second straight week yesterday.
Jacob DeSerres is expected to start in goal for Saint John. The 20-year old has a record of 10-2-0-0, a goals against average of 2.03, and a save percentage of 0.916. He leads the QMJHL in both save percentage and GAA.
KIRKPATRICK AND ANTHONY
No word on the status of Michael Kirkpatrick or Steven Anthony for tonight’s game. Kirkpatrick missed his third straight game on Monday with an “upper body injury” while Anthony missed his second straight with a “lower body injury.”
IT ENDS TONIGHT?
Interesting thought from Darren Desaulniers of the Ottawa Citizen. If the Sea Dogs win tonight - and even if they lose Game Five - the odds are in their favour.
Going back to Saint John up 3-1 will all but secure a berth in the Memorial Cup.THE BEST GAME
Only once this season did the Sea Dogs lose two games in a row. Never three.
"It was our best game of the playoffs by far. We stuck to our game plan the whole time," said Sea Dogs forward Ryan Tesink to the Ottawa Citizen. "It's going to be a tough act to follow and we know they are going to be coming because they don't want to go back to Saint John down 3-1. They'll bring their best game because they can't lose this one, especially at home. I don't think that crowd was too happy."
The Sea Dogs are now 2-0 in Gatineau this season and have outscored the ‘Piques 9-3.
DUREPOS
Solid article in today’s Telegraph-Journal on one of the most underrated defenseman in the league – Pierre Durepos.
"I really don't think about that too much," Durepos said about his consecutive games streak. "I just take it game by game. You never know what's going to happen.ROAD WARRIORS
"You just try to think about the next one and the next one. You don't try to get ahead of yourself."
The Sea Dogs have been excellent on the road this post-season. They are a perfect 8-0-0-0 away from Harbour Station and have outscored their opposition 39-17.
NO TV
Once again, this game is not on television anywhere in New Brunswick. For fans in Quebec, the game can be seen on VOXTV.
Your only option is to purchase the Telus Webcast which, surprisingly, is showing mid-game replays.
TAILGATE PARTY
If you are in Gatineau don’t forget about the Olympiques’ tailgate party. From the team’s website:
The Gatineau Olympiques will organise a tailgate party in the parking lot of the Robert-Guertin Center in front of the Carillon Street before the games of Monday, May 9th and Wednesday, May 11th against the Saint-John Sea Dogs.THE RINK
For the occasion, Capitale Rock will broadcast their show “le retour” live from the tailgate party of the Olympiques. A few members of the organisation will give some interviews under the tent of the radio station.
Budlight will also be present to distribute a few promotional articles. Wednesday, the Budlight hockey squad will animate the crowd with a few games.
Fans that will be present will have the opportunity to buy some hot dogs and beverages while they mingle with other fans and get ready for the games.
Venue: Robert Guertin Centre
Capacity: 4,000
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 2,591
Playoff Average Attendance: 3,324
QMJHL Arena Guide
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: VOXTV
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Le Droit, Ottawa Citizen
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) or follow the Live Blog on this site for live coverage of tonight’s game.
AFTER THE BUZZER
Game Five of the President’s Cup final is Friday at 7:30 pm at Harbour Station. The match is completely sold out.
Photo Credits: Olympiques Facebook, Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Cyberpresse
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