PRESIDENT'S CUP PRE-GAME: Game Four vs Moncton Wildcats

GAME DAY
2010 President's Cup Final
Game Four: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Moncton Wildcats
Friday, May 7, 2010 at 7:35
Moncton Coliseum

SERIES STATUS
Moncton leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

PRE-GAME PREVIEW
It’s doesn’t matter which side you look at as both realize how important tonight’s game is.

For the Moncton Wildcats, a win puts the Saint John Sea Dogs on the ropes in the President’s Cup Final. For Saint John, a win makes this series become a best-of-three affair with game five on Saturday at Harbour Station.

The Sea Dogs are coming off an impressive 6-4 win on Tuesday night on home ice. The win gave the squad a much needed confidence boost after two straight lackluster loses.

"It gives them something to think about,'' said Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant to the Times & Transcript about the Wildcats. "They know we're a better team than we showed in the first two games. I think they seen our real team in Game 3. It should be a great game in Moncton on Friday night.

"We started to compete at Moncton's level for the first time (in Game 3). I expected us to respond after two bad games and we did. We're too good a team not to respond.''

The Wildcats will hope some of their momentum from Tuesday’s third period carries over to tonight. Trailing 5-1 entering the frame, the ‘Cats showed some true character by coming back to make it 5-4. Mike Hoffman’s empty net marker iced the game for the Dogs.

"We had something to prove after two bad losses,'' said Michael Kirkpatrick, who leads the league in playoff scoring. "I think we made a statement in the first two periods, but we got away from our game plan in the third period.”

Saint John has struggled at the Coliseum this season, including an embarrassing 9-3 loss in game two on Sunday afternoon.

GET TO KNOW THE SEA DOGS
Visiting Team: Saint John Sea Dogs

Playoff Record: 13-5
Record at Home: 8-2
Record on Road: 5-3
Power Play: 29.7%
Penalty Kill: 81.2%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Michael Kirkpatrick (18GP-12G-15A-27Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 21-15

Reg. Season Record: 53-12-1-2 (1st Atlantic, 1st QMJHL)
Record vs Moncton: 4-3-0-1
Record at Home: 26-7-0-1 (3rd)
Record on Road: 27-5-1-1 (1st)
Power Play: 24.3%
Penalty Kill: 78.8%

Reg. Season Leading Scorer: Mike Hoffman (56GP-46G-39A-85P)

NHL Draft Picks: Yann Sauve (Vancouver), Marco Cousineau (Anaheim), Simon Despres (Pittsburgh), Steven Anthony (Vancouver), Mike Hoffman (Ottawa), and Nicholas Petersen (Pittsburgh).

GET TO KNOW THE WILDCATS
Home Team: Moncton Wildcats

Playoff Record: 14-4
Record at Home: 7-2
Record on Road: 7-2
Power Play: 27.0%
Penalty Kill: 80.6%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Kelsey Tessier (18GP-11G-15A-26Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 73-51

Reg. Season Record: 48-14-2-4 (2nd Atlantic, 3rd QMJHL)
Record vs Saint John: 4-0-1-3
Record at Home: 26-6-0-2 (2nd)
Record on the Road: 22-8-2-2(2nd)
Power Play: 27.0%
Penalty Kill: 83.0%

Reg. Season Leading Scorer: Nicolas Deschamps (64GP-39G-57A-96Pts)

NHL Draft Picks: Nicola Riopel (Philadelphia), Randy Cameron (Detroit), Mark Barberio (Tampa Bay), Nicolas Deschamps (Anaheim), David Savard (Columbus), Gabriel Bourque (Nashville), and Kelsey Tessier (Colorado).

HEAD-TO-HEAD THIS SEASON
Season series tied 4-4

2009/09/27: Moncton Wildcats 3 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 4 SO
2009/10/17: Moncton Wildcats 2 @ Saint John 3 OT
2009/12/13: Saint John Sea Dogs 3 @ Moncton Wildcats 7
2009/12/31: Saint John Sea Dogs 4 @ Moncton Wildcats 3 SO
2010/01/06: Moncton Wildcats 5 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 3
2010/02/06: Saint John Sea Dogs 5 @ Moncton Wildcats 4 SO
2010/03/05: Moncton Wildcats 4 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 3 SO
2010/03/14: Saint John Sea Dogs 2 @ Moncton Wildcats 5

Saint John leading scorer vs Moncton: Tomas Jurco (8GP-5G-4A-9Pts)
Moncton leading scorer vs Saint John: David Savard (7GP-0G-10A-10Pts)

SERIES RESULTS/SCHEDULE
Moncton leads the series 2-1.

GAME 1: Friday, April 30 – Moncton Wildcats 5 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 1
GAME 2: Sunday, May 2 – Saint John Sea Dogs 3 @ Moncton Wildcats 9
GAME 3: Tuesday, May 4 – Moncton Wildcats 4 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 6

GAME 4: Friday, May 7 - 7:30pm @ Moncton Coliseum
GAME 5: Saturday, May 8 - 7pm @ Harbour Station
*GAME 6: Monday, May 10 - 7pm @ Moncton Coliseum
*GAME 7: Tuesday, May 11 - 7pm @ Harbour Station
*if necessary

CRAZY FACT
Saint John’s last regulation win in Moncton come on February 3, 2008. The Sea Dogs defeated the Wildcats 6-5 thanks to an Alexandre Picard-Hooper hat trick.

SAINT JOHN LINEUP NOTES
Nicholas Pard has missed the last two games with a fractured foot. Kevin Gagne has not played since game five of the opening round because of a knee injury.

COMING OFF A BIG WIN
The Sea Dogs are coming off a huge 6-4 win on Tuesday night after dropping the first two games. Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant felt that his team’s intensity level was not high enough entering the series.

"Moncton had a much higher compete level than us in the first two games,” said Gallant. “I think we learned a lesson from that and we were a different team in Game 3. We didn't catch up to their battle level until Game 3.''

The Sea Dogs’ big guns finally awoke in game three.

“Our veterans stepped up in a big way in Game Three and that was the difference,” Head Coach Gerard Gallant said on Wednesday to saintjohnseadogs.com. “When our older players compete hard like that we’ve got a great chance to win no matter who we’re up against.”

DESCHAMPS STILL OUT
The Wildcats will still be without the services of their regular season leading scorer – Nicolas Deschamps.

"He was re-evaluated this week,” said Moncton head coach Danny Flynn to the T & T. “He badly wants to return, but he hasn't been cleared to play yet. He's going to see another doctor and two priests this week. He's showing steady improvement. His return is based on how his body responds and heals. Everyone heals at a different rate.''

CHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
PRESS RELEASE
Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League today announced that Gabriel Bourque of the Moncton Wildcats is the CHL Player of the Week following two games of the QMJHL Final. Bourque scored five goals to lead the Wildcats to a 2-0 series lead over the Saint John Sea Dogs for the President Cup.

Bourque led the way with a hat-trick including the game-winner Friday night on the road in a 5-1 win in Game 1 to open the series as first star of the game. The Wildcats offense continued at home in Game 2 on Sunday emerging with a 9-3 victory with Bourque contributing two goals as second star of the game. By scoring his 16th goal of the playoffs, Bourque established a new Wildcats record for goals scored in one playoff year. Game 3 of the series is set for Tuesday night in Saint John.

Bourque, a 19-year-old from Rimouski, QC, is playing in his third QMJHL season. A fifth round draft choice of the Nashville Predators in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and member of Canada’s National Junior Team, Bourque has 21 points in 17 playoff games.

GETTING’ HOT IN HERE
From CBC Fredericton:

The general manager of the Moncton Wildcats is hoping for cool weather when the team is back on home ice this Friday. In Sunday's game against the Saint John Sea Dogs, the temperature in parts of the packed Coliseum soared to 30 C.

"There's no question that the heat and humidity is definitely a factor not only from the fans perspective of being uncomfortable," he said. "I mean shorts and tanktops were the order of the day in the building,"

City officials say they're doing everything they can to keep the coliseum cool.

WHO TO WATCH
Moncton – Nicola Riopel
The Moncton goaltender is looking to bounce back after being pulled in the second period of Tuesday’s game in Saint John. The star net minder was stellar in the series until then.

Saint John – Simon Despres
The Big Horse has been a beast in this series. Despres has two assists in the three games and has been very good at working the puck around at the point.

NOTES

• Saint John has been outscored 16-10 in the three games.
• Gabriel Bourque has seven goals in the series. He scored three in game one, and two in both games two and three.
• The Wildcats have outshot the Sea Dogs in each game.
• The team that has scored first has won every game in the series.
• Danick Gauthier has opened the scoring for Saint John in each game.
• A Sea Dogs fan bus is making the trip.
• New Wildcat flags are available at the Roar Store.
• The game can be viewed across New Brunswick on Rogers TV.

THE RINK
Venue: Moncton Coliseum
Capacity: 6,803
Playoff Average Attendance: 5,170
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 4,606

MEDIA RELATIONS
Newspapers: Telegraph-Journal, Times & Transcript, Le Journal de Quebec, and L’Acadie Nouvelle
Television: Rogers TV
Radio: Saint John- News 88.9; Moncton- News 91.9
Video: Telus Webcast
Post-Game Highlights: WildcatsTelevision

TWITTER
Follow Station Nation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/station_nation for in game updates from tonight’s game.

AFTER THE BUZZER
Game five is tomorrow night at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station. If you are looking for tickets to the sold-out game, someone on Kijiji is offering 10 tickets for the low price of $700!