Tuesday, March 31, 2015

RECAP: Sea Dogs Lose 6-5

FINAL: Baie-Comeau 6, Saint John 5

Lorne Webster | SN Staff

SAINT JOHN - In essentially a must win game, the Saint John Sea Dogs came up short on a frantic comeback and fell 6-5 to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar Tuesday evening at Harbour Station.

With the victory, the Drakkar now own a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven first round series and can complete the sweep on Thursday night.

Nicolas Meloche, Vaclav Karabacek, Simon Desbiens, Maxime St-Cyr, Matthieu Desautels and Jeremy Gregoire scored for Baie-Comeau. Mark Tremaine, Adam Bateman, Sam Dove-McFalls, Spencer Smallman and Mathieu Joseph responded for Saint John.  

For the third consecutive game, the Sea Dogs and Drakkar ended the first period scoreless. The Drakkar thought they had opened the scoring at 9:03, off a goalmouth scramble, but the officials ruled that the puck did not cross the line. With roughly seven minutes left in the period, Dove-McFalls was robbed by a big glove save by Philippe Cadorette while on a partial breakaway. The Sea Dogs outshot Baie-Comeau 13-10 in the first. 

At 1:54 of an eventful second period - seconds after Nathan Noel had been hit from behind in the corner - Tremaine banged in the rebound of a Jakub Zboril point shot to open the scoring. On a power play at 8:10, Meloche's wrist shot from the point beat a screened Sebastien Auger high blocker side to even the score at 1-1. The Drakkar went up 2-1 at 13:35, when Karabacek came from behind the net and jammed the puck between Auger's skate and the post. The Sea Dogs found new life when a pinching Bateman snapped the puck, from the slot, just under the cross bar at 18:06 to tie the game at 2-2. Shots on goal favoured Saint John 18-12 in the second period.

The Drakkar came out strong to start a wild third period and took a 3-2 lead at 2:15 when Desbiens finished off a lovely give and go with Karabacek. It appeared that Chad Pietroniro had scored about 30 seconds later but the goal was called back due to an offside call – discovered after a video review. At 11:55, St-Cyr did extend the Drakkar lead to 4-2 when he tipped a slap pass from Meloche over Auger's shoulder. At 13:03, Desautels' rocket from the right faceoff dot found its way just under the crossbar to make the score 5-2. 

At 14:15, Dove-McFalls scooped up the puck outside his blue line and off a two-on-one rush wired a wrist shot from the right side that beat Cadorette on the stick side to bring the Sea Dogs to 5-3. However, less than a minute later, the Drakkar outworked the Sea Dogs and Gregoire snapped a rebound past Auger to re-establish a three goal lead. To their credit, the Sea Dogs made a final push. At 18:28, Smallman one-timed a pass from Tremaine past Cadorette to make it 6-4. With Auger on the bench for an extra attacker, Joseph's wrist shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle snuck past Cadorette with 12.7 seconds left. The Sea Dogs were not able to get the equalizer in the dying seconds, though. Baie-Comeau led 18-10 in shots on goal in the third but Saint John ended the game up 41-40 overall.

PLAYOFF GAME DAY 3: vs Drakkar

A preview of tonight’s game between the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Saint John Sea Dogs…

What: 2015 President Cup Playoffs, first round, game three. Baie-Comeau leads the best-of-seven series 2-0.

When and where: Tonight at 7 p.m., Harbour Station

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs finished the regular season third in the Maritimes Division and 10th overall in the QMJHL with a record of 32-26-4-6 for 74 points. The Drakkar finished fourth in the East Division and seventh overall with a 35-25-5-3 record for 78 points.

2014-15 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 1-3-0-0 against the Drakkar this year while Baie-Comeau went 3-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Previous meetings:
Game 2: Saint John 1 @ Baie-Comeau 4 (March 28 2015) Final
Game 1: Saint John 1 @ Baie-Comeau 3 (March 27 2015) Final
Reg. Season: Saint John 1 @ Baie-Comeau 3 (Nov 15 2014) Final
Reg. Season: Baie-Comeau 2 @ Saint John 6 (Oct 25 2014) Final

Last meeting: On Saturday in Baie-Comeau, the Drakkar defeated the Sea Dogs 4-1 in game two of the series. Nicolas Meloche, Simon Desbiens, Maxime St-Cyr and Anthony Beauchamp scored for the home side while Nathan Noel scored Saint John’s only goal. Philippe Cadorette made 24 saves in the win. Sebastien Auger made 33 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Drakkar: None

Random stat: This will be the first playoff game held at Harbour Station since March 26, 2013. The Sea Dogs lost that game 6-1 to the Halifax Mooseheads.

Monday, March 30, 2015

Mike Hoffman Still Scoring Goals



This isn’t exactly breaking news, but it’s worth sharing anyways: Mike Hoffman is continuing to have a pretty decent season with the Ottawa Senators.
Hoffman has 26 goals and 20 assists in 69 games this year, the most of any former Sea Dog in the NHL. He sits fourth overall in NHL rookie scoring.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Huberdeau has been on quite a run with the Florida Panthers this month. Since March 1, Huberdeau has four goals and 12 assists in 14 games. He also has two goals and four assists in his past two.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Positive Thinking

The Sea Dogs have returned to Saint John down 2-0 in their best-of-seven series against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

Things may look bleak, but here are a few tidbits to remember heading into game three on Tuesday…

  • Both games were close. This isn’t like the Halifax/Saint John series from 2013. It’s certainly possible that the Sea Dogs could come back and even or take the lead in this series. Especially since…
  • The Drakkar were terrible on the road this season. They had just nine road wins all year, tying them for the second fewest in the league.
  • The Sea Dogs won the only meeting at Harbour Station between the two this season.
  • Saint John has scored just two goals this series but have had good puck possession time in the offensive zone. They have got to find a way to get more shots through the Drakkar defense.
  • After a rough end to the regular season, Sebastien Auger looked like his usual self in games one and two.

Following Tuesday’s game three, game four will be held on Thursday. If a game five is needed it will be played on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Harbour Station.

Photo: Baie-Comeau Drakkar

Saturday, March 28, 2015

RECAP: Sea Dogs Lose 4-1

FINAL: Saint John 1, Baie-Comeau 4

BAIE-COMEAU – The Baie-Comeau Drakkar are heading to Saint John with a 2-0 series lead.

The Drakkar took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven first round playoff series with a 4-1 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday at the Henry Leonard Centre. Baie-Comeau won game one 3-1 on Friday night.

Nicolas Meloche, Simon Desbiens, Maxime St-Cyr and Anthony Beauchamp scored for the Drakkar while Philippe Cadorette made 24 saves in the win.

Once again, Saint John’s inability to score on the power play proved costly. The Drakkar did an excellent job at blocking shots by getting bodies in passing and shooting lanes to make the Sea Dogs 1/9 on the man advantage. Baie-Comeau, meanwhile, went 1/6 on the power play.

Nathan Noel had Saint John’s only goal while Sebastien Auger made 33 stops in the loss.

To the surprise of nobody, there were plenty of penalties called in the first period. After being unsuccessful on their first two chances, Saint John went to the man advantage again at 12:00. Luke Green had a terrific chance, getting the puck past Cadorette but it somehow stayed out. At 13:07, Cadorette intentionally knocked the net off and was called for delay of game. On the penalty kill, the Drakkar did a great job at blocking shots and kept Saint John scoring chances to a minimum.

The Sea Dogs’ power play was cut short at 14:40 when Mathieu Joseph was called for charging. Baie-Comeau had some good pressure applied but couldn’t connect. Late in the period and back at even strength, Jasmin Boutet had a chance in front but was denied by Auger’s pad. Shots were 12-6 in favour of the Drakkar in the first.

Baie-Comeau headed to the power play at 7:16. On the man advantage, a point shot from Meloche changed direction and went over Auger to give Baie-Comeau a 1-0 advantage.

Saint John went to the power play at 9:28 and again at 12:02 but could not convert on either. The Sea Dogs were 0/7 on the power play through two periods.

At 15:02, Desbiens was left alone in the slot and fired a wrist shot high glove side on Auger to give the Drakkar a 2-0 advantage. Soon after, Frederic Gamelin had a break but was stopped by the Sea Dogs goaltender.

The Drakkar went to the power play at 3:51 of the third. Spencer Smallman had a great shorthanded chance but was denied by the pad of Cadorette. Just after the power play expired, St-Cyr put the Drakkar up 3-0 with a shot that beat Auger five-hole.

Saint John went to yet another power play at 6:12 and where finally able to convert at 7:33 when Noel slapped the puck past Cadorette. That made it a 3-1 game.

The Sea Dogs were awarded one last power play at 16:29. The Dogs even pulled Auger late in the man advantage to create a six-on-four but could not connect. 

The Drakkar made it a 4-1 game with three seconds left thanks to an empty net goal from Beauchamp.

Team History Is Against Sea Dogs

If the Saint John Sea Dogs want to move on to the next round of the 2015 President Cup Playoffs, they’ll have to make some team history.

The Sea Dogs have never won a playoff series when they’ve lost the opening game. In fact, they’ve been swept three of the four times it's happened.

Here’s a rundown of how the Sea Dogs have performed in every game one they've ever played and the series result.

2008 First Round: Defeated PEI 10-4; won series 4-0
2008 Second Round: Defeated Bathurst 4-3; won series 4-2
2008 Third Round: Lost to Rouyn-Noranda 5-3; lost series 4-0

2009 First Round: Lost to Cape Breton 5-4 (OT); lost series 4-0

2010 First Round: Defeated PEI 8-3; won series 4-1
2010 Second Round: Defeated Gatineau 7-4; won series 4-0
2010 Third Round: Defeated Victoriaville 4-2; won series 4-2
2010 Fourth Round: Lost to Moncton 5-1; lost series 4-2

2011 First Round: Defeated Cape Breton 10-0; won series 4-0
2011 Second Round: Defeated Victoriaville 4-1; won series 4-1
2011 Third Round: Defeated Lewiston 5-4 (OT); won series 4-0
2011 Fourth Round: Defeated Gatineau 2-1; won series 4-2

2012 First Round: Defeated Cape Breton 13-4; won series 4-0
2012 Second Round: Defeated Baie-Comeau 9-3; won series 4-0
2012 Third Round: Defeated Chicoutimi 4-1; won series 4-1
2012 Fourth Round: Defeated Rimouski 3-2 (OT); won series 4-0

2013 First Round: Lost to Halifax 11-1; lost series 4-0

2015 First Round: Lost to Baie-Comeau 3-1; down 1-0

The Sea Dogs look to even their series against Baie-Comeau today at 5 p.m.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

PLAYOFF GAME DAY 2: at Baie-Comeau

A preview of today’s game between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Baie-Comeau Drakkar…

What: 2015 President Cup playoffs, first round, game two. Baie-Comeau leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.

When and where: Today at 5 p.m., Henry Leonard Centre

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs finished the regular season third in the Maritimes Division and 10th overall in the QMJHL with a record of 32-26-4-6 for 74 points. The Drakkar finished fourth in the East Division and seventh overall with a 35-25-5-3 record for 78 points.

2014-15 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 1-2-0-0 against the Drakkar this year while Baie-Comeau went 2-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Previous meetings:
Game 1: Saint John 1 @ Baie-Comeau 3 (March 27 2015) Final
Reg. Season: Saint John 1 @ Baie-Comeau 3 (Nov 15 2014) Final
Reg. Season: Baie-Comeau 2 @ Saint John 6 (Oct 25 2014) Final

Last meeting: In game one last night, the Drakkar defeated the Sea Dogs 3-1. Jasmin Boutet had two goals for Baie-Comeau while Nicolas Meloche added a single. Luke Green had Saint John’s only goal. Philippe Cadorette made 26 saves in the win while Sebastien Auger made 24 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Drakkar: None

Random stat: With last night’s loss, Sebastien Auger is now 0-5 in playoff games with a GAA of 5.35 and SV% of .883. His only other playoff action came in the first round of the 2013 playoffs against Halifax.

Friday, March 27, 2015

RECAP: Sea Dogs Lose 3-1

FINAL: Saint John 1, Baie-Comeau 3

BAIE-COMEAU – An ineffective power play proved costly for the Saint John Sea Dogs on Friday night, losing game one of their first round series against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar by score of 3-1 at the Henry Leonard Centre.

Saint John scored just one goal on eight man advantage opportunities in the game. They had plenty of offensive zone time but struggled to create many quality scoring chances. Their one goal, which came from Luke Green, came from a ways out and with some traffic in front.

This is expected to be a penalty filled series and game one lived up to the hype. The Sea Dogs and Drakkar each had eight power plays and while Baie-Comeau failed to score on any of their man advantage chances, they were opportunistic at even strength.

Jasmin Boutet had two goals for Baie-Comeau while Nicolas Meloche added a single. Philippe Cadorette made 26 saves in the win.

Sebastien Auger made 24 stops in the loss.

After a scoreless opening period, Green opened the scoring at 2:49 of the second while the Sea Dogs were enjoying a power play. Green accepted a pass and fired a low shot from inside the line and past Cadorette to make it 1-0 Saint John.

Mitchell Dempsey was called for charging at 3:03, giving Baie-Comeau a chance to quickly tie things. Luca Ciampini walked in all alone and tried to go five-hole on Auger but was stopped. Then, while on a penalty kill, Jeremy Gregoire fired a shot off the post.

Baie-Comeau tied things up at 1-1 at 12:20 just after a power play expired. A pass through the top of the crease found Boutet and he slid the puck under a sprawled out Auger.

With 2:06 to play in the second period and after a scramble above the crease, Meloche found the puck and put it in to give Baie-Comeau a 2-1 lead after two.

In the third, Saint John had three power plays but failed to convert on any of them. Their best chance came late in the frame when Jakub Zboril fired a long shot off the post.

At 19:05, a point shot bounced off the back boards and Boutet was in perfect position to put the puck past Auger and make it a 3-1 final.

PLAYOFF GAME DAY 1: at Baie-Comeau

A preview of tonight’s game between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Baie-Comeau Drakkar…

What: 2015 President Cup Playoffs, first round, game one

When and where: Tonight at 8:30 p.m., Henry Leonard Centre

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs finished the regular season third in the Maritimes Division and 10th overall in the QMJHL with a record of 32-26-4-6 for 74 points. The Drakkar finished fourth in the East Division and seventh overall with a 35-25-5-3 record for 78 points.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-1 win in Halifax last Saturday. Mark Tremaine had two goals while singles came from Samuel Dove-McFalls and Braydon Blight. Alex Bishop made 27 saves in the win. The Drakkar are coming off a 3-2 win over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on home ice on Saturday. Vaclav Karabacek, Maxime St-Cyr and Jeremy Gregoire scored for the Drakkar while Philippe Cadorette made 21 saves in the win.

2014-15 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 1-1-0-0 against the Drakkar in the regular season while Baie-Comeau went 1-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Previous meetings:
Saint John 1 @ Baie-Comeau 3 (Nov 15 2014) Final
Baie-Comeau 2 @ Saint John 6 (Oct 25 2014) Final

Last meeting: Nov. 15 in Baie-Comeau where the Drakkar defeated the Sea Dogs 3-1. Alexis Vanier, Nicolas Meloche and Luca Ciampini scored for the Drakkar while Samuel Dove-McFalls had Saint John’s goal. Philippe Cadorette made 26 saves in the win while Bobby Dugan made 20 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Drakkar: None

Random stat: Mitchell Dempsey has a goal and two assists in two games against the Drakkar this year.

Notebook: The Predictions Are In

Long story short: most QMJHL followers are predicting the Sea Dogs-Drakkar series to go six games but not many are picking Saint John to win.

Here are some first round predictions from around the interweb.
Game one of the Sea Dogs-Drakkar series is tonight at 8:30 p.m. AST.

PLAYOFF NUMBERS
Here’s a nice chart of the first round matchups.
AMONG THE TOP 10
Sea Dogs defenseman Thomas Chabot made Buzzing the Net’s list of top 10 NHL Draft prospects to watch in the CHL playoffs this year.

“While racking up 12 goals and 41 points in 66 games, he developed quality offensive abilities, especially a good first pass, and the know-how to read plays well in all three zones,” writes Kelly Friesen.

Chabot ended the regular season with two goals and four assists in his past five games.

ON THE HOT LIST
Jake Massie, a Sea Dogs prospect who committed to UMass Amherst this week, has cracked The Hockey News’ Hot List.

“An intriguing prospect due to the fact he was playing Quebec high school hockey last year, Massie is a lanky blueliner with smarts who can really skate. He’ll return to the Wildcats next season in preparation for college; he just committed to UMass recently,” writes Ryan Kennedy of THN.

Massie, a 1997-born d-man selected by Saint John in the fifth round of the 2014 QMJHL Entry Draft, had five goals and 15 assists in 34 games with Kimball Union Academy this past season. He is ranked 81st by Central Scouting amongst North American skaters for the upcoming NHL Draft.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

SN's First Round Playoff Predictions

Lorne Webster | SN Staff Writer

Welcome to the QMJHL's "March Madness." Much like the NCAA basketball brackets - where a monkey spinning a wheel has arguably an equal chance as many so-called experts at predicting all of the first round winners - projecting the results of this year's QMJHL playoffs is nearly impossible. So here are the thoughts of the Station Nation staff.

Rimouski (1) vs. Victoriaville (16)
Lorne Webster – SN Staff Writer – Rimouski in 4
Rimouski was strong - not dominant - down the stretch, while Victoriaville pretty much stumbled into the playoffs. Led by a league high 13 19-year-old players, Morin, Gauthier et al will be simply too strong for the Tigres.

Kevin Chambers – SN Draft/Prospect Writer – Rimouski in 4
The Oceanic are my pick to win it all and they will get little resistance from a rebuilding Tigres team. There is just too much offensive firepower from the Oceanic. This one will end quickly.

Jamie Tozer – SN Editor – Rimouski in 4
The Oceanic are a tank this season and I’m picking them to be playing in late May. The Tigres… they are not a tank.

Moncton (2) vs. Chicoutimi (15)
Lorne – Moncton in 6
After the Christmas break, the Wildcats jumped onto the backs of Conor Garland and Ivan Barbashev and tore their way through the Maritimes Division. IF - and this is a huge if - the veteran squad from Chicoutimi (with 11 19-year-old players) can ever find a way to contain Moncton's dynamic duo, the Sagueneens could pull off an upset. But doing that for over 30 minutes per game for an entire series will likely prove to be too much. 

Kevin – Moncton in 5
The Wildcats were close to winning the regular season crown, coming right down to the final weekend. Their reward is a dangerous 15th seeded Sags squad. In the end the Wildcats will be too much for the Sags led by leading scorer Conor Garland.

Jamie – Moncton in 5
Chicoutimi has a respectable roster and finished just a few games below .500. They could be dangerous, but not too dangerous for the Wildcats to handle. I think the funky schedule this series is forced to play under will help the Sags out a bit and they’ll win a game somewhere. Moncton is too strong, though.

March Rankings For Q Draft Released

HockeyProspect.com has released their March rankings for the 2015 QMJHL Entry Draft.

Ranked first is forward Joseph Veleno, an underage player seeking exceptional status. If he is declared eligible for this year’s draft, he is viewed by most as the best player available. He was also born in the year 2000, so let that sink in.

Ranked second is Halifax Macs forward Shane Bowers. HockeyProspect.com said he showed “elite offensive skills” and a strong work ethic with Team Nova Scotia at the Canada Games. He had 52 points in 34 games with the Macs during the regular season.

Bowers was the only Atlantic Canadian ranked in the website’s top 10. Rounding out the top five was forward Maxime Comtois, forward Antoine Morand and goaltender Dereck Baribeau.

HockeyProspect.com’s top 10 rankings can be seen for free here.

The Saint John Sea Dogs or Acadie-Bathurst Titan will select first overall at this year's draft. Saint John is also scheduled to pick 9th and 10th.