POSTSCRIPT: Eagles 2, Sea Dogs 4

A collection of recaps from last night’s 4-2 Saint John Sea Dogs win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles…

Our recap. It was an air vs sea assault as Saint John played host to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Wednesday night.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). They were listed as the fourth line entering the game.

The Cape Breton Post’s recap. They held a one-goal lead heading into the third period, but the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles couldn’t parlay that into a win on Wednesday.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Matthew Highmore scored twice and Connor Donaghey had a goal and two assists as the Saint John Sea Dogs defeated the visiting Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4-2 in Wednesday's Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs defeated the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4-2 in front of 4,114 fans at Harbour Station in Wednesday’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

CapeBretonEagles.com’s recap. Two third period goals in a span of 13 seconds was the difference as the Saint John Sea Dogs defeated the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4-2 in front of 4,114 fans on hand at Harbour Station on Wednesday.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Brett Malone (healthy), Justin Dickinson (left team – personal reasons), Steven Duda (healthy), and Jeremy Doucet (healthy) on Wednesday night.

RECAP: Happy Birthday. Dogs Win 4-2.

FINAL: Cape Breton 2, Saint John 4

By Tim Lumsden

SN Staff

SAINT JOHN - It was an air vs sea assault as Saint John played host to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Wednesday night.

Sebastien Auger took his regular spot in net for Saint John while Alex Bureau took guard for Cape Breton.

FIRST PERIOD

Clark Bishop started things off with a rocket past Auger at 4:22. In under five minutes it was already 1-0 for the Eagles.

That was soon answered by Matthew Highmore at 5:11. Donaghey and Cuomo grabbed assists to make it 1-1.

Stephen Woodworth and Jason Cameron got pushy at 5:56, resulting in matching roughing penalties.

Charles -Eric Legare sent the Dogs to the power play at 6:16 with his high sticking penalty.

17:21 was the time on the last penalty of the period when Gareth Nicholson was handed a delay of game penalty.

Shots were 16-5 in favour of the Sea Dogs in the first.

Sea Dogs Lineup vs Screaming Eagles

SAINT JOHN – Welcome to Harbour Station where the struggling Sea Dogs are taking on the struggling Screaming Eagles. Lots of struggles everywhere.

Here are tonight’s listed Sea Dogs lines and defense pairings:

Villemaire – Anderson – Zilbert

Tsogkas – Cameron – Brown

Cooper – Smallman – Izacky

Cuomo – Highmore – Donaghey

Saab – Weckworth

Repe – Durepos

LeBlanc – Abbott

Auger

Fournier

Saint John scratches are Brett Malone, Justin Dickinson, Steven Duda, and Jeremy Doucet.

As always, follow @station_nation on Twitter for in-game updates.

GAMEDAY 60 - vs Screaming Eagles

GAMEDAY

Cape Breton Screaming Eagles vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight at 7:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Harbour Station – Saint John, NB

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – Two teams on four-game losing streaks meet tonight at Harbour Station.

The Saint John Sea Dogs, coming off a tough 1-0 loss to the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Sunday, battle the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, coming off a large 12-2 loss in Moncton last night, this evening at 7pm. $8 upper bowl tickets are available.

Both teams have had a rough stretch recently as the regular season winds down. Along with being on four-game losing skids, both squads have just two victories in their past 10 games.

It has been a much worse season for Cape Breton than Saint John. The Screaming Eagles enter play today with a 12-40-3-5 record and sit dead last in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. With eight games left on their schedule, they are nine points behind the 16^th-place Sherbrooke Phoenix. It doesn’t look like the Eagles will be appearing in this year’s post-season.

William Carrier leads Cape Breton in scoring with 16 goals and 26 assists for 42 points in 34 games this season. Unfortunately for the Eagles he has not played since December 14 because of injury.

Saint John enters action this evening with a 21-37-1-0 record which is good for fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 15^th overall. They are trying to stay ahead of the Phoenix who are just two points back. Each team has nine games remaining.

Jakub Izacky leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points in 54 games.

This could be an entertaining game to watch or it could be just… blah. We’ll see. Hopefully the Sea Dogs can play the same way they did in the first two periods of Sunday’s game.

Ex-Dogs D-Man Gets Two Games

Former Sea Dogs defenseman Gabriel Bourret has been suspended two games by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for an incident with a fan this past Saturday in Rouyn-Noranda.

Here’s the release from the league:

The Director of Player Safety of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Raymond Bolduc, today suspended Gabriel Bourret of the Gatineau Olympiques for 2 games. The suspension was handed out following an unsportsmanlike conduct at the penalty box during the February 23 game. 

The Director of Player Safety took this decision after watching the video of the incident, considered the various reports, spoken to the organizations involved and consulted with his senior advisor, Sébastien Bordeleau. 

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will not be available for further comment.

Bourret, while in the penalty box, reportedly threw a water bottle into the stands and hit a fan with his stick. The fan involved also reportedly filed a complaint to police about the incident. The Ottawa Citizen has more on that.

The 20-year old d-man has five goals and 27 assists in 57 games with the Olympiques this year. He played 37 games with Saint John in 2009-10 and 63 in 2010-11, helping the Sea Dogs win the Memorial Cup.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Dickinson Departs

From News 88.9’s Tim Roszell:

Sea Dogs F Justin Dickinson (personal reasons) has left the team for the remainder of the season.
— Tim Roszell (@TimRoszell889) February 26, 2013

Dickinson, who joined the Sea Dogs in December after starting the year with the Maritime Junior Hockey League’s Miramichi Timberwolves, recorded an assist, -6 rating, and 46 penalty minutes in 19 games with Saint John. He was a 10^th-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2012 QMJHL Entry Draft.

Dickinson had six fights with the Dogs, second most on the team this season behind Oliver Cooper. One of his fights was this time big time tilt against Kyle Haas a couple weeks ago.

Saint John has nine games remaining on their regular season schedule, including a match tomorrow night against Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

Sea Dogs Notebook

IPHONE

Sea Dogs Styles now has cases for the iPhone 4/4S. There are two different designs to choose from as you can see above.

UP NEXT

The Sea Dogs are back in action tomorrow night at 7pm at Harbour Station against the last-place Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

Cape Breton has a 12-39-3-5 record and will likely miss the playoffs this year. The Eagles are 2-3-0-1 against the Sea Dogs this season.

Upper-bowl tickets for tomorrow’s game are just $8.00. In support of P.R.O. Kids, donations of Canadian Tire money will be collected at the front doors of Wednesday’s game as well.

MOOSE

Stephen MacAulay and the Halifax Mooseheads clinched first overall in the QMJHL over the weekend, giving them home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

For MacAulay, it’s his fourth straight regular season title. If that has been done before, there can’t be many players who have done it.

Since joining the Mooseheads, MacAulay has 11 goals and 11 assists in 20 games.

POSTSCRIPT: Voltigeurs 1, Sea Dogs 0

A collection of recaps from yesterday’s 1-0 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the Drummondville Voltigeurs…

Our recap. The Sea Dogs set their sights on the visiting Drummondville Voltigeurs on Sunday afternoon as the teams went head to head at Harbour Station.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). In fairness to the Drummondville Voltigeurs, they had been generating lots of pressure in the third period.

L’Express’ recap. Final game of a Maritime road trip for the Volts.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Jerome Verrier scored the winning goal at 16:34 of the third period while on the power play and Louis-Philip Guindon stopped 26 shots as Drummondville (32-23-4) handed the Sea Dogs (21-37-1) their fourth loss in a row.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. Sebastien Auger did as much as he could to keep the Saint John Sea Dogs in the game, but the Drummondville Volitgeurs took home a 1-0 decision over the Sea Dogs. The biggest crowd of the season of 5,861 took in Sunday afternoon’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at Harbour Station.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Jeremy Doucet (healthy), Justin Dickinson (healthy), Pierre Durepos (lower body), and Brett Malone (healthy) on Sunday afternoon.

Durepos missed his second straight game with a lower body injury.

Fan Files Complaint Against Bourret

Former Sea Dogs defenseman Gabriel Bourret is in some hot water.

According to reports, Bourret, who won the 2011 Memorial Cup with Saint John, was involved in an incident with a fan during the Gatineau Olympiques’ 8-2 loss in Rouyn-Noranda on Saturday night.

From TSN.ca:

According to La Frontiere newspaper in Rouyn-Noranda, a fan at the game has filed a complaint to the Surete du Quebec police alleging that Bourret hit him with his stick. 

Reports indicate Bourret threw a water bottle into the stands from the penalty box after being called for a cross-checking penalty. 

At that point, a fan approached the 20-year-old, who reportedly swung his stick at the patron between a gap in the protective glass in the penalty box. 

Bourret was not ejected from the game for either incident. The league will reportedly hold a hearing on Monday.

Yikes.

Buzzing The Net and Journal de Quebec have more.

Bourret was a sixth-round pick of the Sea Dogs in 2009. He helped the team win a national title in 2011, recording 33 points in 63 regular season games and another three in 19 playoff matches. Saint John traded him to Chicoutimi at the 2011 QMJHL Entry Draft.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

RECAP: Low Voltage. Dogs Lose 1-0.

FINAL: Drummondville 1, Saint John 0

By Tim Lumsden

SN Staff

SAINT JOHN - The Sea Dogs set their sights on the visiting Drummondville Voltigeurs on Sunday afternoon as the teams went head to head at Harbour Station.

Sebastien Auger returned to net for Saint John while Louis-Philip Guindon took the net for the Volts.

FIRST PERIOD

Cross checking was the penalty that sent Ian Saab to the box at 6:21.

Maxime Villemaire took the next Dogs penalty at 9:20 for roughing.

The Volts took their first penalty at 10:58 when Jordan Murray drew a checking from behind call.

Ian Saab returned to the penalty box at 12:27, this time, for roughing.

Charles Beaudoin was sent off for interference at 17:09.

That would end the scoreless period. Shots on goal for the period were 14-9 in favour of Drummondville.

SECOND PERIOD

Jordan Murray started the second with a penalty as he was sent off for tripping at 1:36.

Gabriel Vermette was next in the box at 7:06. He was joined by Maxime Villemaire as both were sent off for delay of game. Jakub Izacky took a roughing penalty during that play as well.

Nikolas Brouillard would serve the last penalty of the period at 11:19 for hooking.

Shots on goal for the second scoreless period in a row were 9-10 for Saint John.

Sea Dogs Lineup vs Volts

SAINT JOHN – Welcome to Harbour Station where the Sea Dogs are taking on the Drummondville Voltigeurs this afternoon.

Here are the listed line combinations and defense pairings:

Villemaire – Anderson – Zilbert

Tsogkas – Cameron – Brown

Cooper – Smallman – Izacky

Cuomo – Highmore – Donaghey

Saab – Weckworth

Repe – Abbott

LeBlanc – Duda

Auger

Fournier

Sea Dogs scratches are Jeremy Doucet, Justin Dickinson, Pierre Durepos, and Brett Malone. Durepos is missing is second straight game with a lower body injury.

As always, follow @station_nation on Twitter for in-game updates.

GAMEDAY 59 - vs Voltigeurs

GAMEDAY

Drummondville Voltigeurs vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Today at 3:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Harbour Station – Saint John, NB

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – For just the second time this season and the first time since November, the Saint John Sea Dogs take on the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Game time this afternoon is 3pm at Harbour Station.

The Sea Dogs are coming off a rough home-and-home series against the Halifax Mooseheads. Saint John lost both games and were outscored a combined 14-4. Hopefully things go better today.

The Dogs currently sit fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 15^th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with a 21-36-1-0 record. Saint John has lost three straight and are 2-7-1-0 in their last 10 games.

Saint John is in a battle with the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the bottom of the standings. A win by the Dogs today would put them four points up on the 16^th-place Phoenix with nine games remaining in the regular season.

Drummondville sits fourth in the Telus West Division and 10^th overall in the league with a 31-23-2-2 record. They’ve lost two straight and are 5-5 in their last 10.

The Volts are in a battle for playoff positioning in the middle of the standings. They are three points back of the Val-d’Or Foreurs who sit ninth and the PEI Rocket who sit eighth. The top eight teams will have home ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.

Drummondville is led by Jerome Verrier who has 29 goals and 36 points for 65 points in 58 games.

Sir Charles Scores First NHL Goal

Another former Sea Dog has scored his first NHL goal.

Charlie Coyle, called up again by the Minnesota Wild yesterday, scored his first National Hockey League goal on Saturday night against the Calgary Flames, tying the contest at 1-1 at 8:56 of the first.

As it turned out, this would be Minnesota's only goal of the game in a 3-1 loss. Coyle finished with two penalty minutes, one shot, and one hit in 14:23 of ice time. He was named the game's third star.

Here's Coyle post-game:

Coyle was playing in his sixth NHL game on Saturday. He had been held pointless in the previous games he has played in in his first season of pro hockey. He has not looked out of place with the Wild.

Sir Charles is having a good rookie year with the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros, recording 14 goals and 11 assists in 47 games.

Coyle joins Simon Despres and Jonathan Huberdeau has former Sea Dogs to score at the NHL level.

Video via HockeyVideoHD

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 1, Mooseheads 6

A collection of recaps from last night’s 6-1 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the Halifax Mooseheads…

Our recap. The Dogs headed to Herd country as the prepared to face off against the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday evening at the Halifax Metro Centre.

The Chronicle Herald’s recap. Not much changed since the last time the Halifax Mooseheads played the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Metro Halifax’s recap. The Halifax Mooseheads showed just how much separates them from the Saint John Sea Dogs on Friday night.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs were nearly shutout by the Halifax Mooseheads in the seventh meeting between the clubs in 2012-13. The Moose took a 6-1 decision in Friday’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

SCRATCHES: The biggest piece of pre-game news last night was that Sea Dogs captain Pierre Durepos was not in the lineup. According to News 88.9, he is suffering from fairly minor lower body injury.

Other Saint John scratches were Connor Donaghey, Brett Malone, and Michael Abbott.

DROUIN: With three assists on Friday, Jonathan Drouin extended his league best point streak to 22 games. He has registered 20 goals and 29 assists over the impressive streak.

The talented second-year forward now sits third in league scoring with 35 goals and 54 assists for 89 points in 41 games. He is just one-point back of league point leader Peter Trainor.

MACAULAY: Former Sea Dog Stephen MacAulay had an assist last night against his old team. He also had one hit, went 10/16 in the faceoff circle, and took an interference penalty in the first period.

RECAP: What You Gonna Do. Dogs Lose 6-1.

FINAL: Saint John 1, Halifax 6

By Tim Lumsden

SN Staff

The Dogs headed to Herd country as the prepared to face off against the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday evening at the Halifax Metro Centre.

Alex Fournier started in net for Saint John while Zach Fucale stood in net for Halifax.

FIRST PERIOD

Former Sea Dog turned Moosehead, Stephen MacAulay kicked off the penalties at 3:25 with an interference penalty.

Steven Duda spent some time in the box at 5:52 after being sent off for hooking.

Olivier LeBlanc took an unfortunate delay of game penalty at 11:32.

Stefan Fournier put the first Halifax point up on the board at 13:31. This was soon followed by Andrew Ryan just seconds later at 13:43 as he scored the second goal of the night. Within seconds it was 2-0 for Halifax.

Max Lindsay was handed an unsportsmanlike conduct for spraying Fournier with snow at 14:27.

Jurij Repe sent the Sea Dogs back to the penalty kill at 17:49 for hooking, followed by Matthew Highmore just seconds after the penalty ended at 19:59 for high sticking. This would result in Saint John starting the second period shorthanded.

Shots in the first were 16-4 Halifax.

SECOND PERIOD

As if Saint John hadn’t spent enough time in the box, Justin Dickinson headed off for slashing at 3:32.

Andrew Ryan scored his unassisted goal, the 4th of the night for Halifax. It was 4-0 at 7:29.

Matt Murphy took a high sticking call, sending Saint John to the power play at 8:15.

It became 5-0 when Brent Andrews scored at 13:34.

Noah Zilbert got a little steamed at 14:03 and he was sent off, sending the Moose to the power play which resulted in Darcy Ashley scoring 13 seconds into their man advantage at 14:16.

Austin Hardie took a slashing call at 15:54 and then battled it out with Oliver Cooper. Both players would take matching fighting penalties.

Brendan Duke took the last penalty of the second period at 17:42 for interference.

The period would end with a score of 6-0 for Halifax. The Herd also continued to lead in the shots on goal category with 26-10.

GAMEDAY 58 - at Halifax

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Halifax Mooseheads

Tonight at 7:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @SeaDogsLive

Halifax Metro Centre – Halifax, NS

PREVIEW

HALIFAX, NS – With 11 games left, the Sherbrooke Phoenix are gaining ground on the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs currently sit 15^th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 43 points. Meanwhile, the 16^th-placed Pheonix, who have two straight and are 4-6 in their last 10 games, are only three points back. Shawinigan is 17^th with 35 points and Cape Breton is in last with 32.

The Sea Dogs will very likely make the playoffs and, no matter where they finish, will have a massive challenge in the first-round. But where they finish could have a big impact on the team’s future. If they end up in 15^th they will select fourth overall in this year’s draft while finishing in 16^th would mean picking third.

As the season winds down, this battle between the Phoenix and Sea Dogs for positioning will at least give us all something to follow and keep an eye. They’ll both be in tough tonight as Saint John takes on the Halifax Mooseheads and Sherbrooke faces the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads just met this past Wednesday at Harbour Station where Halifax won 8-3. The Moose led 4-0 after one and 8-1 after two. A win will be hard to come by for the Dogs tonight, but hopefully they improve from Wednesday’s performance.

Saint John enters play this evening with a 21-35-1-0 record which is good for fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division. They are 2-7-1-0 in their last 10 and have lost back-to-back matches.

Jakub Izacky is Saint John’s leading scorer with 30 points in 52 games this year.

Halifax enters action tonight with a 47-6-2-1 record. They sit first overall in the league, have already clinched the Maritimes Division title, and are ranked second in the Canadian Hockey League again this week.

The Moose are led by Jonathan Drouin who has 86 points in 40 games. The 2013 NHL Draft eligible forward had four points Wednesday in Saint John.

Huberdeau Shines Again In Panthers Win

Jonathan Huberdeau had yet another unreal night as the Florida Panthers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 Thursday in Pennsylvania.

Huberdeau was named first star (we think - there are conflicting reports) as he scored two goals and added two assists in the win. He also recorded three shots and a +3 rating in 17:34 of ice time. It was quite a night for the former Saint John Sea Dogs captain.

After helping setup Florida’s opening goal at 8:15, the Panthers rookie scored his first goal at 10:15 of the opening frame on a penalty shot to give the visitors a 3-0 lead. Here’s video with both the Fox Sports Florida and CSN Philadelphia feeds.

Beauty. Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, notably afraid of bears, really doesn’t seem to enjoy playing Huberdeau.

Huberdeau’s second goal came at 11:46 of the second on the power play.

Dogs Announce Awards Banquet Details

The Sea Dogs have announced details on their annual awards banquet which will be held on Tuesday, March 19 at the Delta Brunswick. This info from the team:

The Saint John Sea Dogs will once again celebrate their annual awards with a banquet. Handed out since the 2005-2006 season, the awards celebrate the many aspects of the team, from on-ice performance to community involvement and more. 

The 2012-2013 banquet is set for March 19 at the Delta Brunswick Ballroom. Ticket prices are $70 for a single ticket and $500 for a table of eight. For season-ticket holders prices are $55 for a single ticket and $400 for a table of eight. The formal night will include cocktails at 5:30 p.m., with the dinner and awards beginning at 6:30. 

The awards given out in March are the Bell Aliant Most Valuable Player, Grant Thornton Rookie of the Year, Sun Life Global Investments Top Defenseman, Saint John Airport Academic Player of the Year, Tim Hortons Most Improved Player, Irving Oil Team Player, ScotiaBank Community Service, Alpine Three Stars, Children’s Wish Foundation Fan Choice, and the Pepsi Top Scorer. 

Last year’s winners include Grant West with the ScotiaBank Community Service Award while Danick Gauthier took home the Tim Hortons Most Improved Player Award. Stephen MacAulay won the Irving Oil Team Player Award for the second year in a row with Kevin Gagne nabbing the Saint John Airport Academic Player of the Year and the Sun Life Global Investments Top Defenseman awards. 

Two rookies played so well last year that the Grant Thornton Rookie of the Year Award was given to both of them. Oliver Cooper and Sebastien Auger split the prize as top rookies. Jonathan Huberdeau took the Children’s Wish Fan Choice award and Zack Phillips grabbed the Bell Aliant Most Valuable Player hardware. 

Gauthier was a three time winner at last year’s banquet, taking home the most hardware. Along with the Most Improved Player award, he took home the Pepsi Top Scorer and Apine 3-Star Awards as well. 

For additional information on purchasing tickets, please call the Sea Dogs office (506) 632-9260, or email tonyapittman@saintjohnseadogs.com.

Bold prediction: Sebastien Auger is going to win some stuff.

O'Brien's Impressive Streak

By Andrew McGilligan

SN Staff

Tim Hamel and Jonathan Langille are now the answers to a trivia question.

If someone asks who were the referees in the game that ended Acadie-Bathurst Titan forward Zach O’Brien’s streak of 181 games without a penalty, the answer is Hamel and Langille.

The unbelievable mark has come to an end in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with O’Brien’s first major junior foray into the sin bin. He was whistled for interference of a player or goaltender at 1:52 of the second period in a 5-1 loss to the Moncton Wildcats on Tuesday.

As if being a young man playing the volatile sport of hockey and not taking so much as a hooking call in 181 games (191 if you count the playoffs) isn’t impressive enough, a quick look at some other numbers really puts the accomplishment into perspective.

82

Not only did O’Brien set a new record, he shattered the previous mark by 82. The longest streak without a penalty before the Newfoundland-born O’Brien etched his name into the record book was 99. The player who compiled the second-longest streak in Q history was Jean-Luc Phaneuf who played three seasons in the league with Montreal. Phaneuf’s streak stretched from Nov. 5, 1973 to Feb. 4, 1975. O’Brien’s streak began Sept. 11, 2009 and ended with his last penalty-free game on Feb. 17, 2013.

POSTSCRIPT: Mooseheads 8, Sea Dogs 3

Sea Dogs have special presentation in tonight's game game. @smacaulay9 twitter.com/rinkrant/statu…
— John Moore (@rinkrant) February 21, 2013

A collection of recaps from last night’s 8-3 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the Halifax Mooseheads…

Our recap. Stephen MacAulay made his return to Harbour Station on Wednesday and burned his former team.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). Just before the national anthem ended, Stephen MacAulay grimaced as if transforming from his sentimental side to his serious side.

The Chronicle Herald’s recap. Maybe the Halifax Mooseheads wanted to repay the Saint John Sea Dogs for all the times they routed them the past few years.

Metro Halifax’s recap. As impressive as the Halifax Mooseheads have been this season, it should be no surprise they set a franchise record for wins in dominating fashion.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Martin Frk scored three times as part of a four-point night and Jonathan Drouin chipped in with a goal and three assists Wednesday as the Halifax Mooseheads demolished the Saint John Sea Dogs 8-3 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs fell 8-3 at the hands of the Halifax Mooseheads in Wednesday’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. The 3,681 fans at Harbour Station gave returning Sea Dog Stephen MacAulay a standing ovation during a pre-game ceremony honouring the 20-year old.

HalifaxMooseheads.ca’s recap. The Moose continue to rewrite the record books.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Steven Duda, Jeremy Doucet, Justin Dickinson, and Connor Donaghey on Wednesday night. All four scratches were healthy.

RECAP: Ugh. Dogs Lose 8-3.

FINAL: Halifax 8, Saint John 3

SAINT JOHN – Stephen MacAulay made his return to Harbour Station on Wednesday and burned his former team.

The 20-year old forward had a goal, an assist, and a +4 rating as he helped the Halifax Mooseheads defeat the Saint John Sea Dogs 8-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

It was a fairly dominating performance by the Mooseheads who led 4-0 after one and 8-1 after two. Halifax came flying out of the gate, scoring two even strength goals, a power play goal, and a shorthanded goal in the first period alone. Oh, and they outshot Saint John 12-4.

Martin Frk recorded a hat trick while other singles came courtesy of Andrew Ryan, Jonathan Drouin, Luca Ciampini, and MacKenzie Weegar. Drouin, the highly touted forward for the 2013 NHL Draft, also registered three assists.

Mooseheads backup goaltender Chris Clarke made 24 saves in the win.

Saint John had goals from Jurij Repe, Maxime Villemaire, and Matthew Highmore.

Goaltender Sebastien Auger was pulled in the second period after allowing six goals on 21 shots. Alex Fournier took over in relief and allowed two goals on 19 shots the rest of the way.

Overall, Halifax out shot Saint John 40-27. The Moose went 2-for-5 on the power play while the Dogs went 1-for-5.

Not a whole lot of positives to take from this game; the Mooseheads are a real good team. At least Highmore, returning from a lower body injury, looked good. Hopefully things go better when the two teams meet for a rematch on Friday.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Dogs travel to Moose Country to face the Herd on Friday night at 7pm.

GAMEDAY 57 - vs Mooseheads

GAMEDAY

Halifax Mooseheads vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight at 7:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Harbour Station – Saint John, NB

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – Stephen MacAulay returns to Harbour Station tonight to face his old team.

MacAulay, traded to the Halifax Mooseheads during the holiday trading period, has 10 goals and eight assists in 17 games with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s top team. He’ll be honoured tonight when his new team faces off against his old team at 7pm.

The 20-year old defensive forward helped Saint John have plenty of success over the years and now he is doing the same in Halifax. The Mooseheads sit atop the QMJHL standings with a 46-6-2-1 record for 95 points. They are 13 points ahead of the second-place Rimouski Oceanic with two games in hand.

The Moose have won four straight and are 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games. They are also 21-4-1-1 on the road this year.

Halifax is led by their young guns in Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon. Drouin leads the squad in scoring with 82 points in 39 games while MacKinnon is second with 69 in 41. MacKinnon will not play tonight due to a knee injury.

Like Saint John the past few years, the Mooseheads are loaded with stars. Along with MacKinnon and Drouin, their roster also includes the likes of Martin Frk, Konrad Abeltshauser, Matt Murphy, and Zach Fucale.

Saint John enters play tonight with a 21-34-1-0 record which is good for fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 15^th overall. They are 2-7-1-0 in their last 10 games.

Jakub Izacky leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with 29 points in 51 games.

This is the first game of a home-and-home series between the Dogs and Moose. They meet again on Friday in Halifax.

O'Brien Took A Penalty Tonight

The impossible happened tonight in Moncton.

At 1:25 of the second period, Zach O’Brien took the first penalty of his 182-game regular season Quebec Major Junior Hockey League career. It was an interference penalty. As far as we know, the game was not stopped to honour the historic moment.

It’s incredible that it took this long. O’Brien plays big minutes and has recorded 248 points in his QMJHL career. It’s amazing that he wasn’t even accidently taken off following a scrum or something like that. Gotta respect the guy.

The Titan lost the game, 5-1.

With O’Brien taking a penalty, we’ve entered the Bizarro World. No idea what’s going to happen next.

MacAulay Returns Tomorrow

Stephen MacAulay returns to Harbour Station on Wednesday night.

The 20-year old forward played four-and-a-half seasons with the Saint John Sea Dogs prior to being traded to the Halifax Mooseheads during this year’s holiday trading period. The Sea Dogs received a 2013 fourth-round pick and a 2014 second-round pick in return.

A third-round pick of the Sea Dogs in 2008, MacAulay registered 58 goals and 71 assists for 129 points in 255 games.

MacAulay has a great chance to play in his fourth straight President’s Cup final and third consecutive Memorial Cup tournament with the Mooseheads. Halifax is running away with first-place in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with a 46-6-2-1 record for 95 points. The Rimouski Oceanic are the closest team behind them with 82 points.

After a long stretch in the top spot, the Mooseheads have been ranked second for a few weeks in the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings.

A win over the Sea Dogs Wednesday night would give the Moose 47 wins on the season which would be a franchise record. But all the talk in Moose Country right now is this about this Ross Johnston/Brian Lovell thing. It even made Deadspin.

So the Moose will be without Lovell tomorrow. The Chronicle Herald also reports Trey Lewis is experiencing concussion like symptoms. Star forward Nathan MacKinnon hasn’t played since February 8 due to a knee injury.

No MacKinnon, Falkenham, Lewis or Lovell tomorrow in Saint John.
— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) February 20, 2013

This game will be the first of a home-and-home between the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads. They also meet Friday night in Halifax. The Moose are 4-0-1-0 against the Dogs with three games remaining in the season series.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Decision Coming Soon

Following today’s Ryan Tesink trade hearing involving the Saint John Sea Dogs and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League issued an update stating there is nothing to update at this point.

Here’s the league’s massive 40-word release:

Following a meeting today concerning the case of the Ryan Tesink trade, the Saint John Sea Dogs, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will not comment any further. The Commissioner will submit his decision following a review process.

So now we wait.

If you are new to this saga, Tesink, who was traded to the Armada in exchange for a first-round pick during the holiday trading period, has not played since January 13 due to a knee injury. The Armada are claiming the Sea Dogs were aware of the injury before the trade took place.

If you missed Andrew McGilligan’s column today regarding the league’s “no further comment” stance on situations like these, it’s an excellent read.

Fans Owed An Explanation

By Andrew McGilligan

SN Staff

Today is a big moment for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in its relations with fans. It’s the day the league will sit down and hash out whether the claim that Ryan Tesink was damaged goods when the Saint John Sea Dogs dealt the 19-year-old to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for a first-round draft pick is valid or not.

I won’t pretend to know the ins and outs of the situation beyond what has been reported, but I know the league can’t handle this situation in their typical fashion. The QMJHL is prone to simply releasing a statement regarding their decisions and saying no further comment will be forthcoming.

Once again, I don’t know why this is policy, but I do know there have been several decisions that have been controversial at best and the league has never bothered to clarify. Perhaps the theory is if you can’t justify your decision, it’s best not to open your mouth and confirm it.

This brings us to today’s hearing. No matter what the decision, the league – specifically commissioner Gilles Courteau – needs to make it clear why the decision was made in favour of one side or another. If it does not, than fans should feel insulted by the league brass – specifically Courteau.

By not defending key decisions in the past, the league has set a precedent that it doesn’t feel the need to keep the people who make the QMJHL viable – the fans – aware of what is happening in the league they pay money to watch. This boils down, in my opinion, to a simple lack of respect or, at worst, disdain for the fans by those running the league office.

Perhaps Courteau will come out and explain today’s decision. Nothing is impossible, but a betting man wouldn’t be putting money down on that one. Maybe Courteau will do as he has done in the past and pass the buck on the decision by saying it was out of his hands (as he did with the 2012 Memorial Cup bid).

No matter the decision, fans are owed an explanation. If none is forthcoming, than the league will continue to operate at its status quo. A vague and secretive status quo which keeps everyone in the dark, but a status quo none the less.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

GAMEDAY: The Tesink Hearing

The Ryan Tesink trade hearing is supposed to take place today.

Couple tweets from John Moore about today’s events:

Alot of eyes on the @qmjhl office this week.The Sea Dogs/Armada Ryan Tesink injury hearing is today.Both teams to present their case.
— John Moore (@rinkrant) February 18, 2013

Tesink played 6 gms for Armada but hasn't played since due to damaged knee. May boil down to "full disclosure" vs "player privacy."
— John Moore (@rinkrant) February 18, 2013

The Sea Dogs said Thursday they would not be speaking about the hearing until after today’s events unfold, but head coach and general manager Mike Kelly did discuss it a bit in the Telegraph-Journal (paywall).

“In my experience in hockey, these things are handled in a different type of manner,” Kelly said. “But that said, they have every right to (request a hearing). I’m not going to whine and complain about it. I’m just going to follow the procedure.”

There’s no point in even trying to guess what the outcome of this whole thing will be. Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports nailed it on Thursday, writing “’normal,’ ‘QMJHL’ and ‘Saint John Sea Dogs’ should never be in the same sentence.”

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Sea Dogs Notebook

THE FIGHT

Via HockeyFights.com, here’s Friday’s fight between Justin Dickinson and Kyle Haas.

What a tilt.

With Dickinson’s fights this weekend, he is now tied with Oliver Cooper for the team lead with six.

COYLE

Charlie Coyle was sent back down to the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros on Thursday. In five games with the Minnesota Wild, Coyle was held pointless with a -1 rating, two penalty minutes, and six shots on goal.

Despite going pointless in his first NHL stint, he played well.

“I think it’s going to help immensely,” Wild coach Mike Yeo told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “Just learning from the opportunity -- but I just finished talking to him -- and knowing that he can play at this level and knowing that he can be effective. All he has to do is play his game. So he should go back down and be very confident with that. Not sure of the timing, but I’m pretty much all but certain that we’ll see him again at some point.”

He’ll be back in the NHL at some point. In 46 games in the AHL, Sir Charles has 14 goals and 11 assists.

MAYER

Former Sea Dogs goaltender Robert Mayer was on the Montreal Canadiens’ bench last night. He was called up from the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs to backup Peter Budaj with Carey Price out sick.

Mayer did not see any action as Montreal beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Saturday night. He wore No. 65.

Mayer was sent back down to the AHL today where he has a 11-10-3 record with a 2.99 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 2, Rocket 6

A collection of recaps from last night’s 6-2 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the PEI Rocket…

Our recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs got off to a good start but could not contain the PEI Rocket in a 6-2 loss in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Saturday night at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

The Guardian’s recap. Jimmy Oligny had three assists and the P.E.I. Rocket won its second game in as many nights Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Victor Provencher and Matthew Bursey each had a goal and an assist and Antoine Bibeau made 24 saves as the Rocket (32-21-2) downed Saint John (21-34-1) for the fifth time in six meetings this season.

PEIRocket.com’s recap. Victor Provencher's second period power play goal became the eventual game winning goal as the P.E.I. Rocket downed the Saint John Sea Dogs 6-2 Saturday night at the Civic Centre.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Olivier LeBlanc (flu), Matthew Highmore (lower body), David Weckworth (knee), and Spencer Smallman (flu) on Saturday night.

RECAP: Dogs Lose. Dogs Lose 6-2.

FINAL: Saint John 2, PEI 6

CHARLOTTETOWN – The Saint John Sea Dogs got off to a good start but could not contain the PEI Rocket in a 6-2 loss in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Saturday night at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

The Sea Dogs opened the scoring but would never lead again in the game. They had a fairly good first period, out shooting the Rocket 14-13, but could not carry that over into the rest of the contest. Saint John, playing their third game in three days, had to be feeling some fatigue as the game dragged on.

Michael Abbott and Stephen Anderson scored the Sea Dogs’ only goals. Alex Fournier allowed five goals on 32 shots in the loss.

The Rocket had goals from Louick Marcotte, Victor Provencher, Matej Beran, Erik Robichaud, Yan Pavel Laplante, and Matt Bursey. Antoine Bibeau made 25 saves in the win.

Abbott opened the scoring at 2:54, blasting a slapper by Bibeau to give Saint John a 1-0 lead. The Rocket tied it up at 8:55 as Beran scored his 14^th of the year.

Shots in a fast paced opening frame were 14-13 in favour of Saint John.

Just 13 seconds into the second period, Saint John native Matt Bursey banged a rebound past Fournier to give PEI their first lead of the hockey match.

Fast forward to 11:03, Provencher connected on a power play to give the Rocket a 3-1 lead. Then on a power play of their own, Saint John cut the Rocket’s lead to 3-2 as Anderson scored at 18:57.

Despite being out shot 16-5 in the middle stanza, the Sea Dogs headed to dressing room down just one goal.

Yan Pavel Laplante restored PEI’s two-goal lead at 7:39, making it a 4-2 contest.

At 12:56, heavy weights Justin Dickinson and Patrick McGrath dropped the gloves but it wasn’t much of a fight. Dickinson sort of flipped over McGrath and the two tumbled to the ice, ending that confrontation.

The Sea Dogs took a risk and pulled Fournier with over two minutes remaining in the game. The risk didn’t pay off as Marcotte scored at 17:26 to make it 5-2. Robichaud added another goal 30 seconds later– this one with Fournier in the net – to make it a 6-2 final.

Jack Nevins scored as the final buzzer sounded but, after a review, the goal did not count.

Shots in the third were 9-8 PEI and 38-27 overall.

Saint John went 1-for-7 on the power play while PEI went 1-for-6.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs take on Stephen MacAulay and the Halifax Mooseheads on Wednesday night at Harbour Station.

Sea Dogs Lineup at PEI

The Sea Dogs are on Prince Edward Island to battle the Rocket this evening.  Saint John is coming off one of their best victories of the season last night, beating the Moncton Wildcats 4-2. PEI is coming off a 5-2 win in Bathurst last night.

This is Saint John’s third game in three days so backup Alex Fournier gets the start in net. Fournier's last start was on February 8 where he collected his first QMJHL win.

Here are tonight’s listed Sea Dogs lines and defense pairings courtesy of friend-of-the-blog Nolan Reid:

Villemaire - Anderson - Izacky

Tsogkas – Cameron – Malone

Cooper – Zilbert – Brown

Donaghey – Cuomo – Dickinson

Repe – Durepos

Saab – Duda

Doucet – Abbott

Fournier

Auger

One change for SJ tonight @ PEI: Leblanc out (flu), Abbott in. Highmore (l. body), Weckworth (knee) and Smallman (flu) out. Fournier starts.
— Tim Roszell (@TimRoszell889) February 16, 2013

As always, follow @station_nation on Twitter for in-game updates.

GAMEDAY 56 - at PEI

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket

Tonight at 7:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Charlottetown Civic Centre – Charlottetown, PEI

PREVIEW

CHARLOTTETOWN – The Saint John Sea Dogs wrap up a three-in-three tonight in Charlottetown.

The Sea Dogs are coming one of their most entertaining wins of the season as they defeated the Moncton Wildcats 4-2 last night at Harbour Station. It was quite a turnaround from Thursday’s disappointing 3-2 loss to the lowly Shawinigan Cataractes.

Saint John will look to carry the momentum gained from last night’s victory into this evening’s game on Prince Edward Island. The Dogs take on the Rocket at 7pm at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

The Dogs have struggled against the Rocket this season, going 1-4-0-0 against them so far. They have three meetings left including tonight’s tilt.

Saint John enters play with a 21-33-1-0 record which is good for fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 15^th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They have struggled over the past few weeks and are 2-7-1-0 in their last 10 games.

On the road this season the Sea Dogs are 10-16-1-0 and have been outscored 120-80.

PEI enters action tonight with a 31-21-2-0 record. They sit third in the Maritimes Division and ninth overall in the league. The Rocket are only five points back of the Moncton Wildcats who sit second in the division.

The Rocket are in battle for playoff positioning in the middle of the standings. The top eight teams will have home ice advantage in the first round. PEI currently sits ninth with 64 points but are just one-point of the Val-d’Or Foreurs who sit eighth and two back of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies who sit seventh.

PEI is led by two of the league’s top scorers in Ben Duffy and Josh Currie. Duffy sits second in the league in points with 86 while Currie is third with 83.

POSTSCRIPT: Wildcats 2, Sea Dogs 4

A collection of recaps from last night’s 4-2 Saint John Sea Dogs win over the Moncton Wildcats…

Our recap. It was game two of a three game weekend for the Saint John Sea Dogs as they set their sights on long-time rivals the Moncton Wildcats. The two teams battled it out at Harbour Station on Friday evening.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). The Saint John Sea Dogs put pucks on net and were rewarded with a 4-2 win over the Moncton Wildcats Friday evening at Harbour Station.

The Times & Transcript’s recap (paywall). Moncton Wildcats centre Alex Saulnier was a picture of frustration.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Sebastien Auger stopped 44-of-46 shots and Connor Donaghey's second-career QMJHL goal stood up as the winner as the Sea Dogs (21-33-1) doubled up Moncton (34-19-1) for just their second win in their last 11 games.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs upset the Moncton Wildcats by a score of 4-2 in front of 4,056 fans at Harbour Station in Friday’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

Moncton-Wildcats.com’s recap. Behind the goaltending of Sebastien  Auger, the Saint John Seadogs doubled up the Moncton Wildcats 4-2 Friday night at Harbour Station.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Matthew Highmore (lower body), Spencer Smallman (flu), David Weckworth (knee), and Michael Abbott (healthy/day off) on Friday night.

RECAP: Huge Win. Dogs Win 4-2.

FINAL: Moncton 2, Saint John 4

By Tim Lumsden

SN Staff

SAINT JOHN - It was game two of a three game weekend for the Saint John Sea Dogs as they set their sights on long-time rivals the Moncton Wildcats. The two teams battled it out at Harbour Station on Friday evening.

Sebastien Auger once again returned to net for Saint John while Cole Holowenko started in net for Moncton. Holowenko would later be replaced by Alex Dubeau after twenty three minutes of ice time.

FIRST PERIOD

Things kicked off with a bang as Kyle Haas and Justin Dickinson dropped the gloves with less than two minutes into play. They would both be sent off to cool off in the box with fighting penalties.

Alex Saulnier took a high sticking call at 3:34 soon followed by Cole Holowenko for a delay of game at 3:52. Holowenko’s penalty sent the Sea Dogs to their first power play. Jakub Izacky was all over that one as he put the first point up on the board for Saint John with help from Repe and Anderson.

It didn’t take long for Moncton to answer Saint John’s goal with one of their own as Yannick Veilleux scored at 6:43.

Things heated up between Ross Johnston and Maxime Villemaire at 8:48 but the result was a pair of roughing penalties.

The second goal of the game was also for the Sea Dogs, this time scored by Noah Zilbert. He was assisted by Oliver Cooper at 10:12.

Steven Duda took the last penalty of the period at 15:20. He spent time in the penalty box for holding.

Shots were 17-10 Moncton in the first.