GAME DAY
2011 President’s Cup Final – Game Six
Saint John Sea Dogs vs Gatineau Olympiques
Tonight, May 15, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Robert Guertin Centre
SERIES STATUS
The Saint John Sea Dogs lead the Gatineau Olympiques 3-2 in their best-of-seven Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship series.
GATINEAU, Que. – Tonight could be the night for the Saint John Sea Dogs.
After failing to clinch the President’s Cup in their first attempt on Friday in Saint John, the Sea Dogs have another opportunity this evening in Gatineau. Now leading the series 3-2, a Sea Dogs win will end the Gatineau Olympiques’ season and push Saint John into the Memorial Cup. A Sea Dogs loss and we’re heading to Game Seven tomorrow night at Harbour Station.
Game Five didn’t feature a great outing from the regular season champion Sea Dogs. They struggled all night long to generate any kind of scoring pressure or momentum. Now it is the Olympiques that carry the momentum going into tonight’s tilt.
Gatineau was opportunistic with their chances and had a solid defensive effort from their squad. Maxime Clermont was again a beast in goal, making several crucial stops.
The Olympiques have played three great games in this series at Harbour Station, winning two of them. But they have had a harder time at the Robert Guertin Centre, dropping both games to Saint John by a combined score of 9-3.
The last time these two teams met at ‘The Bob’, Ryan Tesink gave the Sea Dogs a 3-1 series advantage in Game Four on Wednesday with a goal in the final minute of double overtime. Fans were upset about Tesink’s goal as the Gatineau faithful felt there should have been a penalty. They then threw garbage on the ice.
Tesink had quite a celebration after the goal, and that celebration could be even larger tonight with a Sea Dogs victory.
It was in Game Six last year that the Sea Dogs watched the Moncton Wildcats lift the President’s Cup. Now, in Game Six, they can erase those memories.
REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS
| Gatineau | Saint John | |
| Record | 43-17-3-5 (3rd West) | 58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes) |
| Home Record | - - - | 32-0-1-1 |
| Road Record | 20-8-2-4 | - - - |
| Streak | 9-0-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| Last 10 | 9-1-0-0 | 8-2-0-0 |
| Goals For | 243 | 324 |
| Goals Against | 193 | 165 |
| Goals/Game | 3.57 (9th) | 4.76 (1st) |
| Goals Against/Game | 2.84 (5th) | 2.43 (1st) |
| Shots/Game | 28.03 (13th) | 36.81 (1st) |
| Shots Against/Game | 24.78 (1st) | 26.96 (5th) |
| Overall PP | 22.3% (10th) | 25.1% (6th) |
| Home PP | - - - | 24.4% (8th) |
| Road PP | 23.3% (8th) | - - - |
| Overall PK | 79.2% (10th) | 83.7% (1st) |
| Home PK | - - - | 86.1% (1st) |
| Road PK | 79.8% (9th) | - - - |
| PIM/GAME | 12.5 (16th) | 13.1 (13th) |
SERIES SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Game 1 - Thu May 5 | 7:00 PM | Gatineau 1 @ Saint John 2
Game 2 - Sat May 7 | 7:00 PM | Gatineau 3 @ Saint John 2
Game 3 - Mon May 9 | 8:30 PM | Saint John 5 @ Gatineau 0
Game 4 - Wed May 11 | 8:30 PM | Saint John 4 @ Gatineau 3 (2OT)
Game 5 - Fri May 13 | 7:30 PM | Gatineau 3 @ Saint John 2
Game 6 - Sun May 15 | 8:00 PM | Saint John @ Gatineau
Game 7 - Mon May 16 | 7:00 PM | * Gatineau @ Saint John
*If necessary
Maxime Clermont is expected to start in net for Gatineau this evening. The News Jersey Devils prospect has a playoff record of 11-8-1-0, a 2.25 goals against average, and a 0.925 save percentage.
Jacob DeSerres is expected to start in goal for Saint John. The 20-year old has a record of 11-3-0-0, a goals against average 2.07, and a save percentage of 0.914. He leads the QMJHL in both save percentage and GAA.
INJURIES
Forwards Jason Cameron, Zack Phillips, and Steven Anthony all missed Game Five on Friday. From the Telegraph-Journal:
Dogs forward Zack Phillips missed Friday's game with an injury and his status is day-to-day. Saint John forwards Steven Anthony and Jason Cameron also missed the contest, both with lower-body injuries.Phillips and Cameron both suffered injuries on Wednesday. Anthony has missed four straight games.
Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports takes a look at if the Sea Dogs can overcome injuries to some key players to finally clinch the QMJHL title.
ROLLING ON THE ROAD
A positive heading into tonight’s game – the Sea Dogs have yet to lose on the road this post-season. They are a perfect 9-0-0-0 away from Harbour Station and have outscored their opponents 43-20.
Also, Saint John is 3-0 at the Robert Guertin Centre this season.
Another positive – the Sea Dogs have clinched every series on the road so far in the playoffs.
OUELLET QUESTIONABLE
The Ottawa Citizen is reporting Christian Ouellet may be a no-go for the Olympiques tonight.
Olympiques winger Christian Ouellet was injured in Friday's game and may not be able to play tonight.Ouellet took an awkward hit in Friday’s game and could hardly stand up while skating back to the bench, appearing to be favouring his knee/leg. He would return later in the game, though.
It would be a big loss for Gatineau if he couldn’t go in the biggest game of the season. He is fourth on the Olympiques in playoff scoring with 11 goals and 7 assists.
TWO-IN-A-ROW DOESN’T HAPPEN
The Sea Dogs have lost two consecutive games just once all season and that came way back in September when they fell 4-1 in Montreal and then had the epic collapse in Drummondville that ended in a shootout loss.
NO TV
Once again, this game is not on television anywhere in New Brunswick. For fans in Quebec, the game can be seen on VOXTV.
Your only option is to purchase the Telus Webcast which, surprisingly, is showing mid-game replays.
NO CHANGES
The Olympiques don't won't to change anything from Friday’s game.
"We don't want to change anything," Gatineau bench boss Benoit Groulx said to the Ottawa Citizen. "Are we going to be able to duplicate it, I don't know, but that's our goal.
"I had received 37 messages when I turned on my cell after the game. People are excited to be around the team. They refused to quit, and that shows the character in this dressing room. Everyone has to take their hats off to our guys. They're amazing."
THE RINK
Venue: Robert Guertin Arena
Capacity: 4,000
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 2,591
Playoff Average Attendance: 3,378
QMJHL Arena Guide
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: VOXTV
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Le Droit, Ottawa Citizen
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) or follow the Live Blog on this site for live coverage of tonight’s game.
AFTER THE BUZZER
If the Sea Dogs lose tonight, Game Seven will be tomorrow night at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station. If the Sea Dogs win, their next game will be Friday in Mississauga against the Majors.
Photo Credits: Olympiques Facebook, Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Google
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