Wednesday News & Notes

Saturday’s game between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Halifax Mooseheads caused quite a buzz.

Not only was it an impressive 7-0 Sea Dogs win, but it was also quite nasty with a handful of players getting injured.

On the Saint John side, Matthew Highmore and Jack vanBoekel were both hurt late in the game and did not play on Sunday. Highmore was hit from behind while vanBoekel hit his head on the ice following a fight.

On the Halifax side, Danny Moynihan was suspended one game by the league for his hit on Highmore. According to the Chronicle Herald, Samuel Leblanc and Vincent Watt were both hurt on Saturday and will miss some time. Leblanc was injured after getting tangled up with Olivier LeBlanc and Watt after taking a big open ice hit from vanBoekel.

The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads meet again on October 11 at Harbour Station.

Some other stuff…

• The Victoriaville Tigres officially announced yesterday that they have claimed Nikita Li off waivers from the Sea Dogs. To make room for the Russian, the Tigres traded Jan Mandat to Val-d’Or for a 2015 fourth-round draft pick. 
• SB Nation has a big time article on Jack Eichel. 
• SlovakProspects.com has an article on Juraj Siska. 
• EnBeauce.com has an article on Thomas Chabot. 
• The Sea Dogs host the Charlottetown Islanders tonight at 7 p.m. at Harbour Station. Saint John then travels to Cape Breton to battle the Screaming Eagles on Friday and Saturday night.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

On QMJHL Live and Rogers TV

Amidst numerous technical issues, QMJHL Live will remain free until the end of October.

The quality of video, when operating correctly, is undoubtedly a big improvement over Telus. But there have been plenty of glitches with the video, specifically last Saturday night when the stream from Harbour Station barely worked.

Also, there have been issues with audio, either in terms of sound level or it not being available at all.

There can’t be many who are surprised to see these problems popping up. But, they will eventually get it all right. The league, and the webcast providers, are certainly making the right move by extending the free preview.

Meanwhile, the QMJHL made its long awaited return to Rogers TV Channel 10 over the weekend as both Sea Dogs games were broadcast. Considering Rogers hasn’t broadcast New Brunswick based QMJHL games in several seasons, I’d have to say they did a pretty fantastic job. It’s also neat that the Sportsnet graphics and intro are used.

In terms of announcing, Rogers found some gems in getting Aaron Kennedy and Randy Corey to perform play-by-play and Andrew Cromwell to provide colour. That's a top notch crew.

Rogers also made the fantasies of all Sea Dogs fans come true this weekend – having a Heritage Minute commercial air during a Dogs broadcast. The Canadian anthem didn’t write itself, you know.

Thos weekend, Rogers will air Moncton Wildcats games on Friday and Saturday.

Report: Li Claimed By Tigres

Nikita Li has been claimed off waivers by the Victoriaville Tigres, reports TVA Sports’ Mikael Lalancette.

The Saint John Sea Dogs drafted the Russian forward with the 65^th overall pick in this year’s CHL Import Draft. He appeared in one regular season game, recording no points. Li was the odd man out in the Sea Dogs’ import situation and the team assigned him to the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers.

According to media reports that surfaced last week, the Dogs didn’t place Li on waivers before sending him to the USHL, which is why he is now apparently a member of the Tigres instead of the Buccaneers.

This is a weird situation. Sea Dogs general manager Darrell Young had said that the import they chose not to keep – either Li or Juraj Siska – had a spot waiting for them with a USHL team. So, you would think this had been okayed by the league… but I guess not? I don’t know. I’m not even going to try and understand all these import rules and loopholes and loop-don'ts.

Li is a bit a mystery, but he did look decent in his short time with the Sea Dogs. Victoriaville now has three imports on their roster: Li, Jan Mandat, and Fillip Pyrochta.

The Tigres and Sea Dogs meet on December 10 in Victoriaville and February 18 in Saint John.

Auger Named QMJHL's Second Star

Sea Dogs goaltender Sebastien Auger has been named the QMJHL’s second star of the week.

On Saturday, in a 7-0 Saint John victory over the Halifax Mooseheads, Auger made 30 saves to earn his first shutout of the season. Yesterday, the 20-year old netminder made 50 stops in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

Auger has played every second of the Sea Dogs’ season so far. He has posted a 3-3 record to go along with a 2.76 GAA and .909 SV% in six games.

Rimouski Oceanic forward Christopher Clapperton was named the first star of the week. The third star went to Chicoutimi forward Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau. The Sags star had three assists against Saint John yesterday.

Saint John’s next game is this Wednesday at Harbour Station when the Sea Dogs host the Charlottetown Islanders at 7 p.m.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

RECAP: Dogs Lose 5-4 (SO)

FINAL: Chicoutimi 5, Saint John 4 (SO)

SAINT JOHN – Alexandre Ranger’s game tying goal in the final second of regulation play propelled the Chicoutimi Sagueneens to a 5-4 shootout victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Sunday afternoon at Harbour Station.

The Sagueneens came back from a 4-2 second period deficit to take the extra point from the Sea Dogs. Nicolas Roy, Reid Halabi, Samuel Roussy, and Ranger scored for the visitors while Julio Billia made 33 saves in regulation time and three in the shootout.

Mark Tremaine, Samuel Dove-McFalls, Daniel Del Paggio, and Nathan Noel scored for the Dogs. Sebastien Auger made his first 50 save performance of the season but it was not enough on this day. The 20-year old made two of four saves in the shootout.

Roy opened the scoring on a power play just 2:42 into the game. Tremaine tied it up at 7:31 and Dove-McFalls put the Dogs in front at 15:10 with a power play marker.

In the second, Halabi tied the match at 2-2 at 1:39. But less than a minute later, Noel scored to give Saint John a 3-2 advantage. Del Paggio netted his first QMJHL goal at 9:15 thanks to a nice feed from Mathieu Joseph to make it a 4-2 game. Roussy scored late in the period to cut the Dogs’ lead to one.

Fast forward to the final second of regulation time, Ranger scored his fourth of the season to tie things in dramatic fashion.

The Sags then went on to score on two of their four shootout attempts. Juraj Siska had Saint John’s lone goal in the breakaway contest.

GAMEDAY 6: vs Sagueneens

A preview of today’s game between the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Saint John Sea Dogs…

When and where: Today at 3 p.m., Harbour Station

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

Records: The Sagueneens are last in the East Division and 16^th overall with a 2-4-0-0 record for four points. The Sea Dogs are third in the Maritimes Division and eighth overall with a 3-1-0-1 record for seven points.

Last games: The Sags are coming off a 3-1 victory in Moncton last night. Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau, Jeremy Bouchard, and Landon Schiller scored for Chicoutimi. Saint John defeated the Halifax Mooseheads 7-0 last night at Harbour Station. Justice Dundas and Thomas Chabot had two goals each while Sebastien Auger made 30 saves for the shutout.

2013-14 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 0-1-0-1 against the Sagueneens last season while Chicoutimi went 2-0-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: October 26, 2013 at Chicoutimi when the Sea Dogs fell 3-2 in a shootout to the Sagueneens. Olivier LeBlanc and Oliver Cooper had Saint John goals while Sebastien Sylvestre and Janne Puhakka had Chicoutimi markers. Sebastien Auger made 42 stops in the loss.

Random stat: Both teams had penalty shots against them last night and both attempts were stopped. There hasn’t been a penalty shot goal in five attempts this season in the QMJHL.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Sagueneens: None