Sea Dogs Notebook

SATURDAY

Up next for the Sea Dogs - the Halifax Mooseheads. The Dogs travel to Moose Country on Saturday for a 7pm date with the Herd.

According to Mooseheads play-by-play man John Moore, “Charlie Coyle will NOT make his Sea Dogs debut Saturday at Metro Centre. Huberdeau & Beaulieu will be back from WJC and in lineup.”

With a record of 30-12-0-2, the Sea Dogs sit first overall in the league with 62 points. The Quebec Remparts, who have played four games than the Sea Dogs, are just one-point back.

In the division race, the Sea Dogs are 10 points up on the second-place Mooseheads. Halifax has, however, played five fewer games than the Dogs. So, Saturday’s head-to-head meeting does have quite a bit of significance.

Halifax hosts the PEI Rocket this evening.

DEADLINE EVE

It’s Friday. Tomorrow afternoon at 1pm AST is the QMJHL’s trade deadline. A lot of questions will be answered over the next 24 hours.

Willy Palov has a column in today’s Chronicle Herald discussing the two big defensemen left on the market – Rimouski’s Jerome Gauthier-Leduc and Moncton’s Brandon Gormley.

“However, it’s been suggested to me that Gormley doesn’t want to lift his no-trade clause to go (to Shawinigan) because he feels the Sea Dogs have a better chance to win it all and it’s closer to home,” writes Palov.

“The only glitch in that scenario is it’s hard to picture the New Brunswick rivals trading with each other, especially given that they are owned by the province’s two major business families — the Irvings and McCains.”

It would be bizarre.

WORLD U-17

Oliver Cooper and Team Atlantic finished seventh at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Windsor, Ont. They defeated the Czech Republic 4-2 on Tuesday to claim seventh place.

Cooper finished the tournament two goals and four penalty minutes in five games. One of his goals was a game-winner while the other was an empty netter.

Russia defeated the US 7-4 in the tournament final.

ALL-STAR

Former Sea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres is heading to the American Hockey League’s All-Star game. He was named to the Eastern Conference Team for the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic earlier this week. The event takes place from Jan. 29-30 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

“He showed when he came up that he can defend well,” Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma told the Pens website. “He has a great stick. He was put in different situations against some skilled players. He was given more minutes. In a lot of those games he showed he can defend, be physical and his execution with the puck was good. I think Simon is going to be a really good defenseman for a long time in this league.”

Despres had a goal and three assists in 13 games at the National Hockey League level this season. In 23 games with the AHLs’ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins he has three goals and four assists.

BEAULIEU SPEAKS

On Wednesday, Sea Dogs defenseman Nathan Beaulieu talked about the play in Team Canada’s semi-final game that saw him stop skating.

“I’m glad you asked that so I can clear that up,” said the mature 19-year-old from Strathroy, Ont. “I tripped the guy and it was a penalty. 

“I thought the ref blew it down right away, the crowd was loud ... if you ever watch me play, if I join the rush, I usually try to be one of the first guys back. So, I didn’t give up. Once I saw the play going back, I hustled as hard as I could.”

This video backs it up.

Russia scored what would be the game-winning goal on the play, which was unfortunate. But, you can’t at all blame this loss solely on Beaulieu.

WJC NUMBERS

Jonathan Huberdeau finished ninth in World Junior Hockey Championship scoring with nine points in eight games. He finished third on Team Canada in scoring behind linemates Mark Stone and Ryan Strome.

Huberdeau’s eight assists were good for third in the tournament. Tomas Jurco finished fourth in assists with seven.

Charlie Coyle’s four goals were good for eighth.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation