SEA DOGS POST-GAME NOTEBOOK

OLYMPIQUES-SEA DOGS GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score: Gatineau 0, Saint John 2
Saint John Goals: Nicholas Pard (6, 7)
Gatineau Goals: None
Winning Goaltender: SNB – St. Laurent, Karel (9-2-0)
Losing Goaltender: GAT – Clermont, Maxime (12-14-0)
News 88.9 Top Dog: Karel St. Laurent

THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Saint John 2/5, Gatineau 0/5
Shots on Goal: Saint John – 10+7+18=35, Gatineau – 10-8-6=24
Attendance: 4,732
50/50 Winning Draw: $4,818

SCRATCHES
For Saint John: Olivier Ouellet and Benjamin Lecomte.

For Gatineau: Matthew Fortune, Kent, McPherson, Yoan Pinette, Benjamin Laliberte, and Olivier Croteau.

CONFIDENCE EARNED
Not only did Karel St. Laurent gain confidence that he does have the ability to shouout his opponents, but the Sea Dogs coaching staff know that they have a solid backup for Marc-Antoine Gelinas.

St. Laurent struggled in his last outing in Lewiston, allowing four goals on 20 shots against an offensively challenged Maineiacs squad.

The shutout is the second of St. Laurent’s career. He stopped all 26 shots fired at him on September 20 in the Sea Dogs home opener against Val-d’Or.

PARD IS A STAR
In a season filled with ups and downs, Nicholas Pard showed why the Sea Dogs should keep him around come the trade deadline. Pard scored both goals and had a few good chances for the hat trick later on in the game. It was the first time Pard had scored more than two goals in a game since he netted a hat trick on February 22 against Cape Breton.

The 19-year-old was suspended by the team earlier this season after getting in a drunken fight during the Sean Kingston concert at Harbour Station.

SO MUCH FOR HOLIDAY SPIRIT
The Sea Dogs decorating committee needs to Google "Christmas decorations" to get some ideas. Holiday Fun Night was represented by a United Way Christmas tree and a string of lights in the west end. No holiday music played with the exception of intermissions when a children’s choir sung carols.

The decorations were nothing compared to 2007 when the building was almost glowing in décor. Even the luxury boxes had lights streaming along their façade.

WHAT A WARM-UP
If you missed Saturday’s warm-up you missed quite a spectacle. The horn blew as it always does with the Sea Dogs skating onto the ice. But the Gatineau Olympiques were represented by Hugo Laporte standing in the tunnel for the first two minutes before the team came onto the ice.

The actual Olympiques warm-up was very unconventional with some weird drills taking place. Before leaving, three minutes early I might add, the team gathered in the crease in a football like huddle.

PUNKS
Three pranksters thought it would be funny to throw garbage at the blimp during the second intermission from the upper bowl. They missed and the plastic floated onto somebody’s head in the lower bowl. Ironically, Andrew Cromwell came over the P.A. to make an announcement about Harbour Station’s new recycling program shortly after.

CROMWELL RETURNS
That’s right, Andrew Cromwell returned behind the microphone at Harbour Station on Saturday. Cromwell was the announcer from 2005-06 to 2007-08. He does the morning news on News 88.9 FM.

CANADIAN PRESS RECAP
Karel St-Laurent and Nicholas Pard inched the Saint John Sea Dogs closer to history.

St-Laurent made 24 saves and Nicholas Pard scored twice as the Sea Dogs blanked the Gatineau Olympiques 2-0 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Saturday night.

The game was Saint John's 19th consecutive victory, moving them up to third in the QMJHL records books for longest win-streak.

The 2004-05 Rimouski Oceanic also won 19 in a row, while the Hull Olympiques are second with a 24-game streak from the 1995-96 season.

The now-defunct Sorel Eperviers hold the all-time record with 25 consecutive victories during the 1973-74 season.

At Saint John, N.B., Michael Kirkpatrick, Jonathan Huberdeau, Yann Sauve and Stanislav Galiev all had assists for the Sea Dogs (27-4-1).

Maxime Clermont stopped 33 shots for Gatineau (15-13-3).

SEADOGSTV HIGHLIGHTS


OUT OF TOWN
Elsewhere in the QMJHL it was: Drummondville 6 Rimouski 1; P.E.I. 5 Acadie-Bathurst 3; Halifax 7 Lewiston 3; and Val-d'Or 5 Quebec 2.

QUICK HITS
A children’s choir sang the national anthem from Sea Dogs Central… Nathan Beaulieu turned 17-years-old on Saturday… Santa Clause chose the winning chuck-a-puck… Former Sea Dog Alexandre Leduc had words with Mike Thomas during the pre-game warm-up… Leduc took six minutes of penalties including a dangerous hit on Mike Hoffman just seconds into the first period… three Sea Dog players had four shots on goal… the shutout is the Sea Dogs’ third this season. Gelinas has the two others.

NEXT GAME
Lewiston MAINEiacs vs Saint John Sea Dogs. Sunday, December 06, 2009 at 4:00 pm at Harbour Station. The seventh Family Fun Day of the season will be staged during the contest against Lewiston, with special 4-for-40 ticket packages available for purchase. Fans are also invited to stick around after the action to meet some of their favourite players at a post-game autograph session near the main entrance/exit. A Kids’ Fun Zone will also be set up on the main concourse during the game for young fans to enjoy.