SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

ST. LAURENT OFF TO SOLID START
Former Sea Dogs netminder Karel St. Laurent is off to a solid start with the British Columbia Junior ‘A’ Hockey League’s Surrey Eagles.

St. Laurent made his debut on November 4th in Langley, an 8-4 Eagles win. Saint John’s backup goaltender in 2008-09 and 2009-10 made 37 saves in the victory. He then backstopped Surrey to a 5-4 overtime win over Langley the next night.

"He hadn't played for two or three weeks and he admits in the first game there were one or two goals he would like back," Eagles head coach Matt Erhart told Surrey Now last Tuesday. "He was better the next two nights; he made some big saves for us, especially in the third period and overtime Friday. He's been really solid for us."

"He played major junior hockey for the past three years," the coach said. "He's been on a really good team for the past two years as one of the two goalies playing for them. When he became available we thought he would be a good addition to the team."

THE POUTINE
SN reader Paul Leger has been telling us about his dream of having poutine sold at Harbour Station for quite awhile.

So, Paul has created a online petition to help support the movement. Apparently, Harbour Station doesn’t currently have the proper equipment to make the cheese and gravy goodness. We encourage everyone to sign, mainly because Harbour Station menu options are few and far between.

We still don’t know how you can have a QUEBEC Major Junior Hockey League team and not sell poutine.

7 DOGS MAKE CENTRAL SCOUTING LIST

After much anticipation from fans, scouts, and wannabe scouts, National Hockey League Central Scouting released their preliminary rankings for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft this morning.

Not surprisingly, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League portion of the rankings was dominated by Saint John Sea Dogs players. A total of seven players appeared on the list of the league’s top 25 skaters entering draft eligibility with five of them being placed in the top 10.

"It's going to be a better year than the past couple, but I've seen some of the kids in Ontario and they're looking pretty good, too," Central Scouting's Chris Bordeleau, who scouts the QMJHL, told NHL.com. "We can't get too overly excited. I'm kind of prudent, because it's happened before. I don't want to get too excited too early, but the top 15 players out of the 'Q' are looking all decent."

Drummondville Voltigeurs forward Sean Couturier, who many have pegged as the first overall pick in this June’s draft in Minnesota, was the top ranked QMJHL skater.

POSTSCRIPT: Remparts 0, Sea Dogs 6

By Station Nation Staff

SEA DOGS – REMPARTS GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score: Quebec 0, Saint John 6
Saint John Goals: Tomas Jurco (12), Stanislav Galiev (10), Pierre Durepos (1), Jonathan Huberdeau (15), Mike Thomas (4), and Stephen MacAulay (6)
Quebec Goals: None
Winning Goaltender: Jacob DeSerres
Losing Goaltenders: Louis Domingue and Jimmy Appleby
News 88.9 Top Dog: Danick Gauthier

THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Remparts: 0/5, Sea Dogs 1/6
Shots on Goal: Remparts: 6+9+7=22, Sea Dogs: 15+12+8=35
Length: 2:12
Attendance: 4,315

SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Kevin Gagne missed his second straight game with what News 88.9 reported as an “upper body injury.” Today’s Telegraph-Journal had more:

Sea Dogs defenceman Kevin Gagne missed both weekend games with a concussion. The 18-year-old Edmundston native hopes to return to the lineup for Saturday's road game against Acadie-Bathurst.

Aidan Kelly sat out as the extra forward.

DOMINATION. SEA DOGS WIN 6-0.
A surprisingly dominate performance by the Saint John Sea Dogs sent a message to the Quebec Remparts. Going into yesterday’s match, the two teams were tied for the highest winning percentage in the league.

Saint John scored four goals in the first period and added two more in the second to cruise by Quebec 6-0 yesterday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play at Harbour Station.

"We competed and everything went well for us early,” said Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant to the Telegraph-Journal. “We knew it was going to be a challenge, but we did everything we wanted to do.''

Tomas Jurco made it 1-0 Saint John 10:36 on the power play when he fired a low shot through traffic that found the back-of-the-net. The Sea Dogs doubled their lead at 13:07. Steven Anthony fed Stanislav Galiev with a nice pass, allowing the Russian to record his 10th of the season.

Saint John made it 3-0 at 15:02 when Pierre Durepos let a shot go from just above the hash marks and beat Remparts goaltender Louis Domingue high glove side. The Sea Dogs wouldn’t stop there as they scored their fourth goal at 16:05. The Remparts defense looked a but confused on the play, allowing Jurco and Jonathan Huberdeau to have a long two-on-none opportunity. Huberdeau embarrassed Domingue with an unreal deke to make it 4-0 after one.

Captain Mike Thomas got in on the action at 6:35 of the second period when he beat Jimmy Appleby – who replaced Domingue in the Remparts goal after the fourth marker – in close to give Saint John a 5-0 lead and officially make it blowout city.

The third line kept rolling when Stephen MacAulay scored at 15:31, a goal that would end up being the final marker of the hockey game.

In the third, neither team looked to ambitious about scoring goals. The game would end with the Sea Dogs being victorious by score of 6-0.

BOURRET NAMED QMJHL'S FIRST STAR

Gabriel Bourret isn’t exactly known for his offensive output.

In 37 games as a rookie with the Saint John Sea Dogs last year, the defenseman registered three goals and seven assists under limited playing time.

But this season, Bourret has seen an increase in ice time and point production. In 21 games with the league leading Sea Dogs, he has four goals and 12 assists – including six helpers in his last two games.

His hot streak has earned him first star honours in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Telus Three Stars of the Week.

“The young blue-liner led the Sea Dogs with six points - all assists - and also posted an excellent +5 rating in victories over two of the best teams in the QMJHL: The Acadie-Bathurst Titan and the Quebec Remparts,” noted the QMJHL website. “Furthermore, he was named the first star in both contests.”

Bourret was solid in both Saint John’s 5-3 win over Bathurst Saturday and on Sunday when the Sea Dogs blew out the Quebec Remparts 6-0. The 18-year old recorded four assists in yesterday’s match along with a +3 rating while only recording one shot on goal.

The native of Laprairie, Quebec was also named Buzzing The Net’s first star yesterday out of the entire Canadian Hockey League for his beast-like efforts.

Montreal Juniors goaltender Jean-Francois Berube, who played in Monday’s Subway Super Series game at Harbour Station, was named the second star of the week. Benjamin Casavant of the Shawinigan Cataractes was named the third star.

BLOWOUT AT THE STATION

SN RECAP
FINAL: Remparts 0, Sea Dogs 6

SAINT JOHN – The most anticipated match of the young season ended in an unexpected way.

Four first period goals propelled the Saint John Sea Dogs to a rather easy 6-0 victory over the Quebec Remparts on Sunday afternoon afternoon at Harbour Station in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

The Sea Dogs jumped out to an early lead and never looked book, dominating the Remparts who were the #3 team in the country in this week’s BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings.

Tomas Jurco, Stanislav Galiev, Pierre Durepos, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mike Thomas, and Stephen MacAulay all scored for the winners. Defenseman Gabriel Bourret picked up his second straight first star honor with four assists.

Goaltender Jacob DeSerres, returning from a groin injury, was not tested too much. He made 22 saves to earn his second Sea Dogs shutout.

The Remparts looked a bit gassed as the game grew older. The team was playing their third game in three days. Louis Domingue was pulled after allowing six goals on 13 shots. Jimmy Appleby made 20 saves in relief.

LIVE BLOG: Remparts vs Sea Dogs