The Saint John Sea Dogs will get things started at the Slush Puppie Centre in Gatineau at 8 p.m. Atlantic. The Sea Dogs are massive underdogs against the Olympiques with 55 points separating the two.
Saint John will need a lot of things to go right for them to have a shot in this series. If anything, this playoff round will be about gaining experience for a young Sea Dogs team and seeing just what level they need to reach to be a Gilles Courteau Trophy contending team.
The Olympiques, who were ranked No. 1 in the final CHL Top 10, earned points in each of their final 24 games in the regular season, going 23-0-1-0.
Game 1 of the best-of-seven series takes place tonight and Game 2 will be tomorrow at 5 p.m.
TV/Radio/Stream: None/93 CFBC/CHL TV
2022-23 regular season records: The Sea Dogs finished with a 24-38-5-1 record for 54 points (fifth Maritimes/ninth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Olympiques were 49-12-5-2 for 105 points (first West/second Western/fourth QMJHL).
Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-4 loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday at TD Station. Alex Drover, Peter Reynolds, Vince Elie and Alexis Cournoyer scored for Saint John. Ventsislav Shingarov made 25 stops in the loss. The Olympiques are coming off a 6-5 shootout win in Blainville-Boisbriand on Saturday. Zach Dean and Antonin Verreault each scored twice for Gatineau while Cristiano Spadafora added a single. Kaiden Kirkwood allowed four goals on 35 shots in just over 51 minutes of action while Francesco Lapenna allowed one goal on nine shots.
2022-23 regular season records: The Sea Dogs finished with a 24-38-5-1 record for 54 points (fifth Maritimes/ninth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Olympiques were 49-12-5-2 for 105 points (first West/second Western/fourth QMJHL).
Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-4 loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday at TD Station. Alex Drover, Peter Reynolds, Vince Elie and Alexis Cournoyer scored for Saint John. Ventsislav Shingarov made 25 stops in the loss. The Olympiques are coming off a 6-5 shootout win in Blainville-Boisbriand on Saturday. Zach Dean and Antonin Verreault each scored twice for Gatineau while Cristiano Spadafora added a single. Kaiden Kirkwood allowed four goals on 35 shots in just over 51 minutes of action while Francesco Lapenna allowed one goal on nine shots.
2022-23 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 1-1-0-0 against the Olympiques this season while Gatineau went 1-1-0-0 against Saint John.
Last meeting: Feb. 4 in Gatineau where the Olympiques hammered the Sea Dogs 11-3. Olivier Boutin, Zach Dean and Samuel Savoie each scored a pair of goals for Gatineau while singles came from Antoine Michaud, Marcel Marcel, Colin Ratt, Alexis Gendron and Cole Cormier. Alex Drover scored twice for Saint John while Vince Elie added a solo marker. Emerik Despatie made 21 stops in the win. Ventsislav Shingarov (five goals on 18 shots) and Olivier Brideau (six goals on 33 shots) took the loss in net.
Ex-Sea Dogs on the Olympiques: Forward Cam MacDonald.
Olympiques to watch: Former Acadie-Bathurst Titan forward Riley Kidney enters tonight's game having recorded a point in 28 straight games to end the regular season. The Montreal Canadiens prospect recorded 65 points in 29 second half games with the Olympiques.
Random stat: Peter Reynolds finished the regular season with points in 10 straight games and goals in five straight road games.
Notes: Brady Burns led Saint John in points (71), goals (33) and assists (38)... Riley Kidney led the Titan in points with 110 and assists with 82... Alexis Gendron had a team high 55 goals... the Olympiques were 28-3-3-0 at home... the Sea Dogs were 11-17-5-1 on the road... Francesco Lapenna finished third in wins with 32 while playing the fifth most minutes... Tristan Luneau led all defensemen in scoring with 83 points in 65 games. He also led all d-men in assists with 63... Gatineau averaged the third most penalty minutes per game (11.35) while Saint John had the fourth fewest (9.50)... Saint John went 4-4-0-0 against West Division teams... Gatineau was 9-2-0-1 against Maritimes Division teams... Gatineau has won 17 straight home games.
Out of town:
Cape Breton at Halifax - 7:00 PM ADT Baie-Comeau at Moncton - 7:00 PM ADT
Charlottetown at Québec - 7:00 PM EDT
Shawinigan at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:00 PM EDT
Blainville-Boisbriand at Sherbrooke - 7:00 PM EDT
Drummondville at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EDT
Rimouski at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EDT
Next games: Following these two games in Gatineau, the Sea Dogs and Olympiques travel to Saint John for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday night, respectively, at TD Station.
let's go!
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