GAME DAY
WHO: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Lewiston MAINEiacs
WHEN: Tonight, 8:00 pm
WHERE: Androscoggin Bank Colisee
VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 26-3-0-2 (1st in Maritimes Division)
Last Game: 4-1 win vs PEI Wednesday
Leading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (31GP-21G-26A-47Pts)
Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs enter action today with a 26-3-0-2 record which is good for first in the Maritimes Division, putting them 12 points up on second place Bathurst and Moncton. The Sea Dogs currently sit two points up on the Montreal Juniors for first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and have a game-in-hand… Saint John was ranked as the top team in the country in this week’s edition of the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings… the Sea Dogs are coming off an okay effort in a 4-1 victory over the Prince Edward Island Rocket Wednesday at Harbour Station. Steven Anthony had a pair of goals while singles came courtesy of Stanislav Galiev and Mike Thomas. Jacob DeSerres picked up the win in net, stopping 21 pucks. Saint John didn’t play all that well in their doubleheader against the Rocket this week and they will surely look to correct those things this evening… all three of Saint John’s regulation loses have been on the road this season. The Dogs are 10-3-0-1 away from Harbour Station and have outscored their opposition 64-44 along the way. Their last road game was Tuesday in Charlottetown… Saint John’s power play enters tonight’s game with a rating of 0.229, good for seventh overall in the QMJHL. On the road, their man advantage efficiency slips to 0.220… the Sea Dogs’ penalty kill is ranked sixth in the league with a rating of 0.815. On the road though, their penalty kill slips all the way down to 0.755… Saint John continues to lead the league in goals scored with 153 in 31 games played. They are averaging 4.9 goals per game… not only do the Dogs lead offense, but they are also tops in defensive ability. Saint John has allowed a league low 79 goals over their 31 contests… in 14 road games, the Sea Dogs have served 170 minutes in the box. That total places them second to last in the penalty minutes on the road department… Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Dogs in scoring with 47 points in 31 games. He is averaging 1.52 points per game… Zach Phillips leads the team in goals with 22 in 31 matches. Huberdeau is a close second with 21… Michael Kirkpatrick and Huberdeau share the team lead in assists with 26… Simon Despres is third in QMJHL defenseman scoring with 25 points in 21 games… Nathan Beaulieu sits third overall among shots on goal leaders who are defenseman. He has fired the puck on net 88 times… Saint John is 19-1-0-1 when scoring first… Phillips enters tonight’s game on a nine game scoring streak. He has nine goals and 12 assists over that span. He has also scored in three straight road games… the Sea Dogs are red hot coming into this game. They have won 10 straight games have won 16 of their last 17 games – picking up at least a point in all of them. A win tonight will give Saint John the longest winning streak in the QMJHL so far this season… Saint John has won eight straight road games – the longest streak in the QMJHL so far this season… Frederic Piche will likely get the start between the pipes tonight. He has a record of 12-1-0-2, a goals against average of 2.32, and a save percentage of 0.919.
Record: 21-12-0-2 (2nd in Telus East Division)
Last Game: 5-4 loss vs Baie-Comeau Tuesday
Leading Scorer: Etienne Brodeur (35GP-26G-17A-43Pts)
Notes: The Lewiston MAINEiacs come into tonight’s match with a record of 21-12-0-2 which is good for second place in Telus East Division. The Maineiacs truly are sandwiched in the division as they sit eight points back of the division leading Quebec Remparts and 10 points up on the third place Victoriaville Tigres. The Maineiacs sit fourth overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League… Lewiston is coming off a 5-4 home loss to one of the worst teams in the Canadian Hockey League. Stefan Fournier, Jess Tanguy, Pierre-Olivier Morin, and Matthew Bissonnette all scored for Lewiston in their loss to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar Tuesday. Backup goaltender Andrey Makarov made 16 saves in the loss. The Maineiacs will no doubt be a bit angry over the loss in tonight’s game… after a hot start to the season, the Maineiacs are free falling a bit. They have lost four straight games – including last Friday’s 6-2 loss in Saint John – and have not won a game in the month of December. They are 5-5-0-0 in their last 10 games… 11-6-0-0 at home this season and have outscored their opposition 64-48… it’s December 10, but the Maineiacs have already played over half of their season. The team has played a league high 35 games this season… Lewiston has struggled on the man advantage this season. Their power play is ranked 13th on the league and is running at 0.179… Lewiston’s penalty kill has been aother story, however. The Maineiacs currently have the third best penalty kill unit in the league with a rating of 0.831. At home, they are running at 0.841… as seen in last Friday’s game in Saint John, Lewiston can become get undisciplined at times. The Maineiacs are averaging 18.2 penalty minutes per game which is second only to the woeful Halifax Mooseheads… Etienne Brodeur is having a solid season. He currently leads the Maineiacs in scoring with 43 points on the season. He also leads the club in both goals with 26 and assists with 17… Zachary-Evans Renaud leads Lewiston in the plus/minus department with a +14 rating… Nicholas Champion will likely get the start in goal tonight. The former Bathurst netminder has a record of 18-5-0-1, a goals against average of 2.60, and a save percentage of 0.901… according to the Maine Hockey Journal, “Jess Tanguy went home to get his wisdom teeth removed.”
KABANOV STUFF
The traditional “will Kirill Kabanov play tonight” section of the pre-game. From the Maine Hockey Journal yesterday:
Kirill Kabanov is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury, but could be a game time decision tomorrow.In 12 games this season between Lewiston and Moncton, Kabanov has three goals and four assists.
TOUGH STUFF
Maineiacs head coach JF Houle knows what it takes to beat/contend with Saint John. He's bang on.
"We have to play with grit, with passion," Houle said to the Lewiston Sun Journal today. "Saint John is a team, you have to hit, you have to finish your hits, you have to show them who's boss. You have to limit your turnovers. A team like that, you turn the puck over because of a mental mistake, it ends up in the net. It's as simple as that. You have to play smart hockey."
HISTORY LESSON
The Maineiacs Game Day Primer in their newsletter provides us with a historical background about the Saint John – Lewiston rivalry.
Tonight marks the 30th all-time meeting between the MAINEiacs and Sea Dogs. Thanks to a pair of dominant years early, Lewiston currently holds a 16-13 advantage in the previous 29 games between the two clubs. Since the teams were separated into different divisions, Saint John has had a decided advantage, coming out on top in each of the last five tilts. The Sea Dogs have won the last three games in Lewiston , but the MAINEiacs have a 10-4 lead in games played at the Andrsocoggin Bank Colisee.MILL RATS GAME DAY
The Saint John Mill Rats play again tonight at Harbour Station. We found this video on YouTube titled “Millrats Dance Audition.” Go Rats.
ARENA INFO
Venue: Androscoggin Bank Colisee
Seating Capacity: 3,675
Average Attendance: 1,911
Year Built: 1958
QMJHL Arena Guide
This arena has had some fairly large events over the few past 50 years. From Wikipedia:
On May 25, 1965, world heavyweight boxing champ Muhammed Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) fought his rematch against Sonny Liston. The fight remains to this day one of the most controversial in boxing history as Ali knocked Liston out with what is always referred to as "the phantom punch". The fight produced arguably the most famous photograph in fight history with the snapshot image of a brash Ali taunting his rival Liston to get off the mat. Many in the sparse crowd had not even settled into their seats when the fight was stopped.MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Live Blog: Station Nation
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Sun Journal, Maine Hockey Journal, Pine Tree Pucks
Follow Station Nation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/station_nation for in-game updates, scores, stats, and live coverage during tonight’s game.
AFTER THE BUZZER
The Sea Dogs head back to Saint John and host the Halifax Mooseheads Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm at Harbour Station.
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