Our recap. Jonathan Huberdeau brought the President’s Cup
to centre ice and presented it to the crowd with a huge roar from the 4,193
attending fans and within moments all were staring at yet another championship
banner being raised to the rafters.
The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). The
opening-night crowd was down slightly from the 4,550 fans who watched last
year’s 3-1 loss to Moncton.
News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal call.
The Canadian Press’ recap. The Acadie-Bathurst Titan's
power-play unit made all the difference in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey
League's season opener.
SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. Stephen MacAulay scored the
lone marker for the Sea Dogs while Sebastien Auger made 26 saves on 29 shots.
Sea Dogs Live replay. Big thanks to Bryan for running
this thing last night.
MISSING IN ACTION
According to News 88.9’s Sea Dogs blog, “Sea Dog
scratches were defencemen Pierre Durepos (hip) and David Weckworth (knees), and
forwards Matthew Highmore (shoulder), Spencer Smallman (shoulder), Michael
Mastrangelo and Marcus Cuomo.”
PRE-GAME
Of course, the Sea Dogs celebrated their 2012
championship season before the game. Captain Jonathan Huberdeau brought the
President Cup to centre ice, lifting it in the air one final time in the
process. QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau and Scott McCain were at centre ice
for a short ceremony. The commissioner was booed because, y’know, he’s the
commissioner.
Former Sea Dog Grant West and injured defenseman Pierre
Durespos helped out with the banner raising. It was eventually skated over to
the Tim Hortons side of the building where it was lifted to the rafters,
joining Saint John's three division banners, three regular season banners, a
President Cup banner and a Memorial Cup banner.
The President Cup and Memorial Cup banners got a new look
over the summer, separating themselves from the division and regular season
ones.
Back to back @qmjhl champions! Your @seadogshockey #QMJHL #LHJMQ @station_nation twitter.com/bcameron1988/s…
— Blair Cameron ©(@bcameron1988) September 21, 2012
DEBUT
Several players made their Sea Dogs debut. A look at how
they did statistically:
Olivier Leblanc: two shots, one hit
Jakub Izacky: -1, one shot, 2/3 on faceoffs
Andreas Tsogkas: two shots
Noah Zilbert: 0/1 on faceoffs
Jurij Repe: -1, two shots, 0/1 on faceoffs, one hit
COOPER
Oliver Cooper took an awkward hit during the first
period. He went to the bench in pain, headed to the room, and never returned. It
appeared to be some kind of upper body issue.
Cooper had 10 goals and 14 assists in 60 games with the
Dogs last year. He’s expected to have a much larger role with the squad this
year.
OPENING NIGHT
The loss means that the Sea Dogs are now 4-4-0-0 all-time
in season opening games over their eight-year history.
2005: St. John’s 3, Saint John 2
2006: Rimouski 2, Saint John 3 (OT)
2007: Saint John 1, Lewiston 4
2008: Saint John 3, Bathurst 2 (OT)
2009: Saint John 4, Bathurst 3 (SO)
2010: PEI 4, Saint John 6
2011: Moncton 3, Saint John 1
2012: Bathurst 3, Saint John 1
Only once have the Sea Dogs season opener been decided by
more than two goals.
CROWD
The announced crowd was 4,193 although quite a few fans
told us they believed there were a lot fewer people actually there. The number
isn’t that bad considering there was just a few hundred more fans at last year’s much
hyped season opener.
“The crowd here in Saint John has always been great,’’ Scott
McCain told the Telegraph-Journal. “We always would like to have more, but
that’s junior hockey and these are still the early days (of the season) and
we’re very excited.”
Saint John averaged 4,561 fans per game at Harbour
Station last season, good for third in the league.
POWER PLAY
Bathurst’s power play was the difference in the game, scoring
twice on three opportunities.
Saint John had some troubles on the man advantage, scoring
just once on six chances.
THREE STARS
Not sure what went on with the three stars last night.
News 88.9 listed them as this: 1. Brennan (BAT) 2. Gagne
(SJ) 3. Girard (BAT)
QMJHL website as this: 1. SNB - 21 Kevin Gagné 2. SNB - 3
Olivier Leblanc 3. BAT - 91 Brandon Hynes
NOTES
Brandon Hynes had five shots for Bathurst… Raphael
Lafontaine and Sean Girard each had three hits… Kevin Gagne had four shots for
the Sea Dogs… Devon Oliver-Dares had four hits… Robert Davis scored the first goal
of the Canadian Hockey League season… Thursday games suck… Pita Pit board ad
for the win.
HIGHLIGHTS
Courtesy of SeaDogsTV.
OTHER GAMES
None
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs battle the Titan again tonight in Bathurst
at 7:30pm.
No comments:
Post a Comment