RECAP: Sportsnet's Friday Night Hockey

By SN Staff

Sportsnet’s broadcast of Friday's Remparts/Sea Dogs game was solid.

After last year’s Memorial Cup broadcasts, our expectations were quite low. But Sportsnet has improved their junior hockey telecasts a lot over the past year. Jeff Marek and Brad May were a good combo in the studio. RJ Broadhaed and Sam Cosentino called an entertaining game from the press box. Rob Faulds had some good interviews. This broadcast gave us hope for this year’s Memorial Cup.

Last year in Mississauga, it seemed like everything was rushed and just thrown together. We all remember what happened with the HockeyCentral panel. Sportsnet seems to have put a lot more effort into their CHL broadcasts this year, which is awesome. Now if they could only air more QMJHL games.

Sportsnet gave some high praise to the Sea Dogs throughout the night. Broadhead tweeted this after the game.

“After 11 cons wins, 3 scoring lines, solid goalie and a vet D, Saint John is the favorite to win the MC Memorial Cup again”

That's some high praise. Hopefully this wasn't the final time Broadhead calls a Sea Dogs game this year.

Harbour Station came off looking good. The lighting was great and the crowd was loud. Good stuff. 

Anyway, here is our recap of Friday’s broadcast of Saint John’s 4-1 victory over the Quebec Remparts.

PRE-GAME

• Jeff Marek kicks things off with some shots of the dressing rooms. Marek is joined by Brad May in studio.
• Wednesday’s fight fest in PEI is brought up. Grant West, Ian Saab, and Maxime Villemaire get shout outs from May.
• The show shifts to Saint John with RJ Broadhead and Sam Cosentino setting the game up from the press box. Did Cosentino style Broadhead’s hair?
• Back in the studio, Marek and May discuss Mikhail Grigorenko.
• Some random QMJHL news is shown after a commercial break. Zach O’Brien’s zero penalty minutes are brought up.
• Sportsnet shows a picture of Jonathan Huberdeau and his Salty award. For some reason, the Coolest Blog award winner was not brought up.
• We head to commercial. Remparts vs Sea Dogs in next.

FIRST PERIOD

• Rob Faulds makes his first appearance, interviewing Jonathan Huberdeau. What a human being Rob Faulds is.
• We have puck drop.
• Cosentino says a key to the game is Saint John’s power play. The Dogs would go 0/2 on the night. Oh well.
• Sportsnet says that the future of the Minnesota Wild may be on display tonight.
• How neon is that GoDaddy.com board ad?
• Patrick Roy is shown for the first time. Shockingly, he looked upset about something.
• Faulds is literally on the bench interviewing Gerard Gallant. A country song is played in the background.
• Jurco gives Saint John a 1-0 lead. The camera on the concourse attempts to show the bench high-fives but is blocked by fans standing up. Rough luck.
• Sportsnet shows a graphic entitled “The ‘Bo Derek’”
• Axel Rioux is from France.
• We head to commercial. Broadhead describes Jurco’s goal as “the ol’ bank shot!” We approve.
• Faulds interviews, in our opinion,  the best goaltender in Sea Dogs history and current UNB netminder, Travis Fullerton, after the break. Sportsnet gives a plug for their CIS Nationals broadcast next month in Fredericton. Get your tickets.
• Villemaire makes it 2-0 Saint John. Pretty much every camera angle in the building is used on the replay.
• The Villemaire saga is explained by Cosentino, which is rudely interrupted by Danick Gauthier’s goal. 3-0 Sea Dogs. Louis Domingue is taking over in the Quebec goal.
• Quebec goes to the power play. Tonight’s power plays are brought to you by Rogers. Corbeil makes a big save. Jurco deked himself out. Remparts do nothing on the man advantage.
• After a commercial break, a shot of Corbeil is shown. Faulds and Fleaburn are shown in the background standing in the tunnel. Bizarre combo.
• Sportsnet plugs their NHL trade deadline show. You know, the show you watch when TSN takes a commercial break.
• Faulds jokes that he, Broadhead, and Cosentino will be applying for the Quebec City Red Bull Crashed Ice event. Classic Faulds.
• The period ends. 3-0 Saint John. Cosentino says Patrick Roy will give his team a “stern talking to” during the intermission. Oh boy.

FIRST INTERMISSION

• Marek reports that the Remparts will not allow Sportsnet into their dressing room. They’re probably breaking toilets.
• A Grigorenko feature is shown during the intermission.
• Marek makes a Forrest Gump reference. Take a couple drinks for that one.
• A highlight package from the first period is shown. Fleaburn representing.
• QMJHL and OHL scores are shown. Some OHL highlights are also shown, wow!
• The OK Tire play of the period was Villemaire’s goal.

SECOND PERIOD

• Before puck drop, Faulds interviews Anthony Duclair. Cosentino says Duclair will be a “superstar in this league.” Mark his words!
• Tesink and Shaw drop the gloves. Comparisons between Tesink and Stephen MacAulay are made.
• Kootenay vs Saskatoon next Friday on Sportsnet for what Faulds calls “the RJ Broadhead love-in.” More classic Faulds.
• A Dixie Chicks song is played at the Station. Ugh.
• Faulds is on the Remparts bench interviewing Patrick Roy. The Chicken Dance is being played in the building, causing some wild hand movement by some fans behind the bench.
• Galiev scores. 4-0 Saint John. Broadhead says Galiev is coming off a serious thumb injury. Broadhead must have Nathan MacKinnon on the mind.
• Cosentino says, to him, Huberdeau is the best player in the CHL.
• Cosentino says that Harbour Station and beautiful and that the city has welcomed the Sportsnet crew with welcome arms. Cool.
• Kevin Gagne and Pierre Durepos get a shout-out which is always awesome to hear.
• Martin Lefebvre is called “dependable” in a graphic. Ironically, he finished a -4 in this game.
• Some Sarnia/Guelph highlights are shown after a commercial break. Random.
• Nathan Beaulieu’s Memorial Cup ring and world junior bronze medal are shown. The guys in the booth make some pawn shop joke about Faulds.
• Duclair gets the Remparts on the board. 4-1. Quite a goal by Duclair.
• A promo for the show “Alcatraz” is shown. Faulds does some big time voice-over. More classic Faulds.
• The period ends. Sea Dogs lead 4-1.

SECOND INTERMISSION

• Marek and May discuss Tomas Jurco and his skills. “Tomas Jurco will be a pro,” says May.
• The 2012 Memorial Cup in Shawinigan is plugged. Yeah…
• Jurco is shown in the Sea Dogs dressing room.
• “Goals. Hits. Fights. Fun.” – Marek
• More QMJHL scores and OHL highlights are shown. OHL fans – what is it like to have so many games on TV?
• The Kodiak Boots Play of the Period was Duclair’s goal.

THIRD PERIOD

• Faulds interviews Galiev prior to puck drop. We then have puck drop.
• The CHL board ad in the corner has taken a real beating.
• The Aarons Save of the Game is Corbeil’s big stop on Adam Erne in the first period.
• Cotton Eyed Joe is played.
• The Insurance Goal of the Game (yeah, that's a real thing) is Gauthier’s first period marker.
• The Sea Dogs’ Memorial Cup celebration is shown as well as the championship parade.
• More OHL highlights are shown after a commercial break.
• Faulds mentions that it is Country Night at Harbour Station. Broadhead says it’s been a hootenanny. Great word choice by Broadhead.
• Tam is hit in the ankle by a shot and is in all kinds of pain.
• “Hubbie-Dubbie-Do” – Cosentino on Huberdeau.
• Saint John’s Memorial Cup banner is shown for the second time.
• It’s the final minute and much of the building is empty. This is because nothing ever, ever happens in the final minute of a 4-1 game.
• The game ends. Saint John wins 4-1.

POST-GAME

• The Play of the Game was Villemaire’s goal.
• The scene shifts back to the studio where Marek and May wonder if Saint John is the best team in the CHL.
• May says he was impressed with Saint John’s chemistry.
• A graphic about the Sea Dogs’ 11-game winning streak is shown.
• Marek and May discuss Gerard Gallant’s status and if he is heading to the NHL soon.
• They send it back to Faulds who is interviewing Corbeil at ice level. The blimp flies in the background. They then send it back to the studio where May swears on live television. Good times.
• They then send it upstairs to Broadhead and Cosentino.
• A graphic displaying the top goal scorers in Sea Dogs is history is shown.
• More QMJHL scores and OHL highlights are shown. We continue to dream about more QMJHL games being on local TV.
• The broadcast ends and Connected comes on. We immediately flip to TSN.