GAMEDAY 12 - at Olympiques

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Gatineau Olympiques

Tonight, October 12, 2011 at 8:30pm

Robert Guertin Centre

PREVIEW

GATINEAU, Que. – The Saint John Sea Dogs return to the site of their President’s Cup win this evening as they begin a three-game road trip through Quebec. They faceoff against the Gatineau Olympiques tonight at 8:30pm.

Tonight's game will mark the first time the two teams have met since the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Championship Final that saw Saint John win their first President’s Cup in club history.

"Last year was a battle here,'' Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant in today’s Telegraph-Journal. "When you have success and win a championship (in a certain building), it's special.''

The Sea Dogs captured the President’s Cup on May 15 thanks to a double-overtime goal by Alexandre Beauregard that gave them a 3-2 win and a six-game series victory. Saint John then went on to win the Memorial Cup two weeks later.

Game Six wasn’t the only epic game played at ‘The Bob’ during that series. Saint John won all three road games which also included a solid 5-0 victory and a 4-3 double-overtime win in Game Four on a goal from Ryan Tesink.

The Olympiques gave the Sea Dogs a good run, resulting in all but one-game being decided by a single goal.

Gatineau lost quite a few of their key players over the off-season. The likes of Maxime Clermont, Philip-Michael Devos, Nicolas Deslauriers, Hubert Labrie, Tye McGinn and Tommy Tremblay are no longer with the club. The ‘Piques are off to a 6-5-0-0 start and sit second in the Telus West Division and are just two points back of the division leading Val-d’Or Foreurs.

The Sea Dogs enter action with a 7-4-0-0 record and sit in top spot in the Maritimes Division. Winners of two straight, this is the first match of a three-game trip that will see Saint John play in Gatineau, Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d’Or.

NOTES: Danick Gauthier continues to lead Saint John in scoring with seven goals and three assists for 10 points. Zack Phillips now shares the team point lead with him with four goals and six helpers… Gauthier leads the Sea Dogs in goals scored with seven while Phillips’ four place him second. Five players – Ryan Tesink, Scott Oke, Stanislav Galiev, Tomas Jurco and Oliver Cooper – all have three goals each… Phillips’ six assists are a team high. A number of players have four helpers… Gauthier and Oke are both a team best +8… Jason Seed is a team worst -6… it has only taken four games for Ian Saab to take over the team lead in penalty minutes. He currently has 29… Phillips is second in the league in game winning goals with two… Gauthier is tied for the league lead in insurance goals with two… the Sea Dogs have outscored their opposition 44-42 in 11 games… 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 matches… 2-3-0-0 on the road and have been outscored 26-13… Saint John’s power play is second worst in the league with a rating of 16.9%... their penalty kill is operating at 72.9% which is good for 13^th in the league.

IN NET: Mathieu Corbeil is off to a great start this season. The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect has a record of 6-1-0-0 to go along with a 2.48 goals against average and a 0.912 save percentage. He has started the last seven games for Saint John, getting pulled only once.

ROAD TRIP: This is the first game of a three-game road trip for Saint John – and it is a long one. The Sea Dogs kick things off in Gatineau tonight before travelling up to Rouyn-Noranda for a Friday contest and Val-d’Or on Saturday.

OUT OF ACTION: Forward Stanislav Galiev will miss his third straight game with a broken wrist. He is out indefinitely.

The Telegraph-Journal reports that forward Devon-Oliver Dares is day-to-day with a sore back.

LAST GAME: Saint John  is coming off a well played 6-2 win over the Victoriaville Tigres on Saturday at Harbour Station. Ryan Tesink scored twice while Zack Phillips, Jonathan Huberdeau, Nathan Beaulieu and Charles-Olivier Roussel added singles. Mathieu Corbeil made 25 stops in net for the win.

NOTES: Christian Ouellet leads the Olympiques on scoring with seven goals and five assists for seven points. Alexandros Soumakis and Mathieu Gagnon each have 11 points… Ouellet’s seven goals are a team high. Jean-Gabriel Pageau has five while Soumakis and Tomas Hyka each have four… Gagnon has a team leading nine assists. Soumakis is second with seven… Gagnon is a team leading +10. Other than Soumakis’ +8 rating, most players are hovering around the zero mark… Wes Herret has a Gatineau high 24 penalty minutes… Gagnon has taken a team high 36 shots… Pageau is tied for the league lead in insurance goals with two… Soumakis’ 11 points place him sixth in rookie scoring… the Olympiques have been outscored 43-37 in 11 games this year… 5-5-0-0 in their last 10 games and have won three straight… 5-2-0-0 at home and have outscored their opposition 29-19… owners of the 15^th best power play with a rating of 18.2%... Gatineau has the second worst penalty kill in the league. It is running at 69.4%.

IN NET: Francois Lacerte is 5-5-0-0 to start the year with a 3.49 goals against average and a 0.886 save percentage.

NEW LOOK: The Gatineau Olympiques dumped the orange and purple over the off-season, choosing to join the Armada in the black and white logo/jersey scheme. Gatineau’s logo was simply recoloured.

Their old pumpkin orange jerseys were just terrible.

LAST GAME: The Olympiques are coming off a 5-2 over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Sunday. Alexandros Soumakis and Christian Ouellet each scored twice while Jacob Conrad added a solo marker. Francois Lacerte made only 16 saves to earn the victory.

Best Olympiques Video We Could Find On YouTube: The Bob can get kinda loud come playoff time.

OUT OF TOWN

Blainville-Boisbriand at Moncton - 7:00 PM ADT
Baie-Comeau at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EDT

THE RINK

Venue: Robert Guertin Arena

Capacity: 4,000

Average Attendance: 2,245

QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE

Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM

Live Web Feed: Telus

Television: None

Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, 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

The Sea Dogs travel to Rouyn-Noranda to face the Huskies on Friday at 8:30pm at some arena. 


Photo Credits: Facebook, Google