Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Remembering "The Bob"

The longest game in Saint John Sea Dogs history took place 10 years ago tonight.

Ryan Tesink scored with 44 seconds remaining in the second overtime period to give the Sea Dogs a 4-3 victory over the Gatineau Olympiques and a 3-1 series lead in the 2011 President Cup final. Saint John went on to win their first QMJHL league championship in six games.

That game was one of three played at the historic Robert Guertin Centre in this series. Game six ended up being the second-longest game in Sea Dogs history with Alexandre Beauregard scoring the President Cup-winning goal at 15:45 of the second overtime frame.

"The Bob" has a long history of being a challenging and intimidating building to play in come playoff time - but you wouldn't know that by looking at Saint John's franchise history.

The Sea Dogs went 3-0 at "The Bob" during that classic 2011 series. The year before, in the second-round of the playoffs, Saint John went 2-0 to complete a sweep, giving the team a 5-0 playoff record all-time in the building.

Saint John won't have the chance to try and earn another playoff win in the building. The Robert Guertin Centre's 48-year run has officially come to an end, the Olympiques announced last week.
The Olympiques will move into the new (and incredibly named) Slush Puppie Centre for the 2021-22 season.

The new rink will certainly be an upgrade over the aging Bob, but it's sad to see a building filled with so much history and memories not get a proper send off.

The Sea Dogs' final game in the building was on Dec. 4, 2019, an 8-4 win.

All-time, Saint John went 8-8 in the building during the regular season. Thanks to the five playoff victories, the Sea Dogs have an overall record of 13-8.

Here's a look back at all of Saint John's results at "The Bob."

2005-06: Saint John 4 @ Gatineau 3 (Jan 25 2006)
2006-07: Saint John 3 @ Gatineau 6 (Feb 23 2007)
2007-08: Saint John 1 @ Gatineau 5 (Feb 28 2008)
2008-09: Saint John 3 @ Gatineau 2 (Nov 12 2008)
2009-10: Saint John 8 @ Gatineau 0 (Jan 24 2010)
2009-10: Saint John 7 @ Gatineau 5 (Feb 24 2010)
2010 Playoffs: Saint John 6 @ Gatineau 0 (Apr 6 2010)
2010 Playoffs: Saint John 4 @ Gatineau 2 (Apr 7 2010)
2010-11: Saint John 4 @ Gatineau 3 (Feb 25 2011)
2011 Playoffs: Saint John 5 @ Gatineau 0 (May 9 2011)
2011 Playoffs: Saint John 4 @ Gatineau 3 (May 11 2011) OT2
2011 Playoffs: Saint John 3 @ Gatineau 2 (May 15 2011) OT2
2011-12: Saint John 1 @ Gatineau 5 (Oct 12 2011)
2012-13: Saint John 3 @ Gatineau 6 (Feb 1 2013)
2013-14: Saint John 4 @ Gatineau 8 (Nov 16 2013)
2014-15: Saint John 2 @ Gatineau 4 (Jan 17 2015)
2015-16: Saint John 3 @ Gatineau 2 (Oct 18 2015)
2016-17: Saint John 6 @ Gatineau 3 (Dec 4 2016)
2017-18: Saint John 1 @ Gatineau 2 (Dec 1 2017)
2018-19: Saint John 4 @ Gatineau 6 (Nov 7 2018)
2019-20: Saint John 8 @ Gatineau 4 (Dec 4 2019)
2020-21: No visit

Some random/thoughts memories of "The Bob:"
  • The first Saint John goal scored in the building was by Felix Schutz. That 4-3 win on Jan. 25, 2006 was one of just 15 Sea Dogs victories in their expansion season. The Sea Dogs were outshot 46-15 and the Olympiques went 1/14 (lol) on the power play. Some guys named Claude Giroux and David Krejci were named the first and third stars, respectively.
  • The final Sea Dogs goal scored at "The Bob" was by Maxim Cajkovic on Dec. 4, 2019.
  • How good was that 2011 President Cup final? Some phenomenal games.
  • Game 4 of that 2011 series was the longest in President Cup final history. From the Sea Dogs website that night: "The previous longest finals game went 28:31 into overtime, when Pat LaFontaine gave Verdun a 5-4 win over Longueuil on April 22, 1983. The lone assist on the goal came from current Sea Dogs Head Coach Gerard Gallant."
  • Long live the Ghost of the Guertin (pictured above).
  • The last time I visited "The Bob" was in 2017. The power went out mid-game. RIP to a legend.
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