Tuesday, January 10, 2012

A Run At History


By Andrew McGilligan
SN Staff

The ultimate goal of every team is to win a championship. There’s no doubting that, but if you can make a little history while you’re at it, then all the better.

With a strong second half, the Saint John Sea Dogs are poised to do something no team in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has done – win three straight regular season titles.

Saint John has a great chance of etching its name into the record books as it has been at or near the top of the standings all season – despite injuries to several key players – after winning back-to-back regular season titles the past two seasons.

Most teams can have two good season in a typical junior hockey player development cycle, but three is no easy feat

Consider this, how many teams in the QMJHL could you take three of its NHL drafted players out of the lineup for an extended period of time and still win on a consistent basis.

The answer is zero to none.

The fact that Saint John has been in the upper echelon of the standings is a testament to the players they’ve developed and the coaching being done by bench boss Gerard Gallant and associate coach Mike Kelly.

The men from the bright red mud have kept the Port City squad firing on all cylinders and players are responding with career years.

Danick Gauthier’s goal–scoring prowess has been phenomenal and Zack Phillips is showing that he’s an elite player in Canadian Hockey League no matter who he lines up with or against.

As for the playoffs, a third-straight berth in the President’s Cup final is what the team is aiming for and if they can win it all again, the Sea Dogs would be the seventh team in QMJHL history to win back-to-back President’s Cup championships, but the first from Atlantic Canada.

With the likes of Huberdeau, Galiev, Coyle and Tesink coming back to the lineup its not hard to imagine some more hardware coming this team’s way.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

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