A Few Things...

SAINT JOHN – There will be plenty of familiar faces in the Chicoutimi lineup tonight.

Former Sea Dogs Guillaume Cloutier, Gabriel Bourret, and Alexandre Beauregard all call Chicoutimi home now. Cloutier was traded at last year’s trade deadline, Bourret at this past year’s draft, and Beauregard earlier this season.

Bourret and Beauregard both helped Saint John win the Memorial Cup last year and there experience is no doubt helping the Sagueneens. Also helping the Sags are Mathieu Gagnon, Christian Ouellet, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau who played with Gatineau last year and lost to Saint John in six games in the President’s Cup final.

A few other things:

• “They are almost a larger-than-life powerhouse whose shadow looms large over the other teams trying to win it all,” writes the Chronicle Herald’s Willy Palov in his column today.
• Third round series predictions from Jasmin Leroux and Roby St-Gelais of UniversHockey.ca.
• Jean-Francois Plante of Le Droit shares his predictions.
• Buzzing The Net has the best series preview on the interweb. The odds favour the Sea Dogs.
• TVA Sports will be broadcasting Game 3 from Chicoutimi and VOX will carry Game 4. Both will en francais. Sportsnet will broadcast Game 5 of the Mooseheads/Oceanic series next Friday.
• My predictions: Saint John in five and Halifax in six.
• Simon Despres is expected to play for the Penguins again tonight.
• It's Stephen MacAulay's birthday today. He scored a huge OT goal in last year's opening semifinal game.

If you can’t make it to the game, we’ll be living blogging it. 

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation