PRE-GAME: Acadie-Bathurst Titan vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Game Day
Acadie-Bathurst Titan vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Today, January 3, 2010 @ 4:00 pm
Harbour Station

Visiting Team: Acadie-Bathurst Titan
Record: 15-20-3-2 (5th in Atlantic Division)
Last Game: 5-2 Win at PEI on Wednesday
Leading Scorer: Eric Faille: 40-19-29-48
NHL Draft Picks: The Titan have only one NHL draft pick - David Gilbert (Chicago)
Notes: 2-6-1-1 in their last 10 games and are coming off a win… have the 15th best power play in the league with a rating of 19.4%... have the 11th best penalty kill at 76.8% and have scored five shorthanded goals… sit 14th overall in the QMJHL standings with 35 points and are six points ahead of Lewiston who hold the final playoff spot… have the 11th best road record at 8-10-2-0 and are 0-2-0-0 in Saint John this season… 4-4-1-1 in their last 10 road games and won their last game… have allowed the fifth most goals on the road in the league with 83… The Titan traded Maxime Renaud to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar for Christopher Giroux. Giroux was then sent to the Quebec Remparts for Chicago Blackhawks prospect David Gilbert… Gilbert is the only NHL drafted Titan player. He was drafted by the Blackhawks in the seventh round in the 2008 NHL entry draft… with Nicholas Champion being traded to Rouyn-Noranda, Guillaume Nadeau is now the number one starter and is expected to be backed up by Robert Steeves… the Titan’s last three games have been played in front of less than 2,000 fans… the latest Titan trade took place on New Year’s Eve. They sent Cameron Critchlow and Jess Tanguy to Lewiston for Sebastien Trudeau and Luke Dillman… Bathurst acquired Andrew Wigginton from Halifax for a draft pick... confirmed yesterday was a trade that saw Remi Blanchard traded to Drummondville for a third round pick and a player to be named later.

Home Team: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 34-6-1-0 (1st in Atlantic Division)
Last Game: 4-3 Shootout win at Moncton on Thursday
Leading Scorer: Nicholas Petersen: 33-25-25-50
NHL Draft Picks: The Sea Dogs have six NHL drafted players on their roster - Yann Sauve (Vancouver), Marco Cousineau (Anaheim), Simon Despres (Pittsburgh), Steven Anthony (Vancouver), Mike Hoffman (Ottawa), and Nicholas Petersen (Pittsburgh).
Notes: The Sea Dogs will be missing Jonathan Huberdeau from their lineup today because he is playing for Team Quebec at the World Under-17’s in Timmons, Ont. He has two goals, three assists, and scored a shootout winner against Bathurst this season… captain Mike Thomas returns to the lineup today after missing three games because of a suspension he got on December 18 in Halifax… Nicholas Petersen leads the league with an impressive +40 rating… Michael Kirkpatrick leads the Sea Dogs in assists with 34… Marco Cousineau will make his Harbour Station debut tonight for the Dogs… sit first overall in the Atlantic division, the QMJHL, and second in the BMO CHL Top 10 Rankings… have the second best home record in the league at 16-3-0-0… they are 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 home games and won their last game at Harbour Station 5-2 over the Rocket… are 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games and have won four straight games… Mike Hoffman has killed the Titan this season on the scoreboard. His 10 points, seven goals and three assists, leads the Sea Dogs against Bathurst… Stanislav Galiev, Yann Sauve, and Kevin Gagne all have a team high six assists against the Titan this season… Nathan Beaulieu is a team high +10 against Bathurst this year… only one player on the Sea Dogs’ active roster, Danick Gauthier, has a minus rating against Bathurst… Galiev leads all QMJHL rookies in points with 40, assists with 30, and plus/minus at +33… Nicholas Petersen has a nine game point streak going... the last time the Titan visited the Port City, rookie winger Zack Phillips recorded the first hat trick of his career as the Sea Dogs rolled to an 8-2 victory.

Saint John vs Acadie-Bathurst:
This Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
6-6-0-0-0-12
Home: 2-2-0-0-0-4
Road: 4-4-0-0-0-8
Goals For: 34
Goals Against: 16

Last Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
8-7-0-0-1-15
Home: 4-4-0-0-0-8
Road: 4-3-0-0-3-7
Goals For: 27
Goals Against: 19

All-Time- Not Including This Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):
36-14-19-1-2-31
Home: 18-8-13-0-1-17
Road: 18-6-6-1-1-14
Goals For: 112
Goals Against: 141

Station Nation Facts:

• Sunday’s match has been designated a Family Fun Day. Special 4-for-40 ticket packages are available for this game, with a post-game autograph session to be held on the arena concourse. A Kids’ Fun Zone will also be set up throughout the game on the west side of the rink.
• Both teams had games postponed yesterday. The game scheduled for Saturday afternoon between the Moncton Wildcats and the Saint John Sea Dogs has been cancelled due to bad weather conditions. The game scheduled for Saturday afternoon between the Halifax Mooseheads and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan has been cancelled also due to bad weather conditions. Information on a rescheduled date will be released as soon as details become available.
• This is the Sea Dogs’ first home game of the New Year. The team will wear their dark jerseys from now until playoff time for all games at Harbour Station.
• Andrew Langan was sent to Woodstock (MJAHL) on Friday.
• On Thursday in Moncton, Tomas Jurco and Mike Hoffman scored in the shootout as the league-leading Saint John edged the Wildcats 4-3. Nicholas Petersen, Danick Gauthier and Yann Sauve scored for the Sea Dogs (34-6-1). Nicolas Deschamps, Daniel Pettersson and Marek Hrivik had goals for Moncton (23-11-3).
• Past results this season have been: 4-3 Saint John in a shootout in Bathurst, 5-2 Saint John is Bathurst, 6-1 Saint John in Saint John, 8-2 Saint John in Saint John, 6-4 Saint John in Bathurst, and 5-4 Saint John in Bathurst.
• Reportedly, defenseman Ryan McKiernan is on the verge of being traded to Acadie-Bathurst for a third round pick.

Important Info:
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297

Saint John Media: Radio- News 88.9 FM (http://www.news889.com/)
Live Video Streaming: http://www.qmjhl.mytelus.com/
Post-Game Coverage: http://www.stationnation.blogspot.com/, Telegraph-Journal
Post-Game Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/user/seadogstv

TWITTER
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