POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 5, Wildcats 3

A collection of recaps from last night’s 5-3 Sea Dogs win over the Moncton Wildcats…

Our recap. What a way to open up the Saint John Sea Dogs’ ninth season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The Times & Transcript’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs got their season started in positive fashion.

MonctonSports.com’s recap. There was a lot of energy from both teams early on in the first period despite the sauna-like conditions in the Moncton Coliseum.

The Canadian Press’ recap. The Sea Dogs' offence exploded for four goals in the third period to rally past the Wildcats.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats met for the first of nine contests in the 2013-14 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season Friday night.

Moncton-Wildcats.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs scored two goals in 32 seconds late in the third period and went to hand the Moncton Wildcats their first loss of the new season 5-3 before 5244 at the Coliseum.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Samuel Dove-McFalls, Connor Donaghey, and Jurij Siska, defensemen Alex McQuaid and Jurij Repe, and goaltender Alex Fournier.

THE HEAT: It was pretty much the 2012 Memorial Cup all over again last night. It was very toasty in the Coliseum and there was fog on the ice before warm-up even started. Add in the flame things used during pre-game festivities and it’s amazing there was still ice to play on.

The puck was bouncing like a tennis ball at times. I saw a guy on the concourse wearing a fleece hoodie that looked ready to pass out. Whoever was wearing the giant Tim Horton’s coffee cup was probably near death by the end of the night.

PRE-GAME: There was a pre-game concert at centre ice that lasted around 10 minutes. Then there were some flame throwers set up on the ice between the blue line and the goal line that were timed to music. After the Wildcats were introduced, they stood on the goal line at the opposite end – college hockey style – while fireworks were released from the centre ice clock.

Was it too hot for things like the flame throwers? Yeah. But was it neat? Yeah. Hopefully the Sea Dogs are inspired to try some new things like that in the future.

LANDRY: Sea Dogs fans at the Coliseum got a surprise when Antoine Landry led the team into the ice. The rookie made his QMJHL debut in last night’s season opener due to an injury to Sebastien Auger. Auger, expected to be one of the better goaltenders in the league this year, was backup.

Landry certainly didn’t seem too nervous and played just like he did all pre-season. He made 33 saves – including a couple of huge stops in the first period – for his first win.

NOEL: Nathan Noel, the 16-year old who was the third overall pick in this summer’s QMJHL Entry Draft, scored his first career goal in the third period. He sniped the puck top shelf over Alex Dubeau to tie the game at 3-3. Noel didn’t have any points in the pre-season but did have plenty of chances.

ABBOTT: Defenseman Michael Abbott was named the game’s first star. He had one goal and an assist.

BENT: Forward Kelly Bent scored the game winner. It was also his first goal as a Sea Dog and just his second in the QMJHL. He is on pace for 68 goals this season.

FACEOFFS: Sea Dogs went 27/67 on faceoffs. Not good.

RADIO: So where was Sea Dogs play-by-play man Tim Roszell last night?

Congrats to @TimGRoszell on the birth of his 1st child today, a healthy baby boy! No word if the baby has a goatee and booming voice yet!
— DK (@SeaDogsDK) September 13, 2013

Derek Cooling filled in and did a fine job.

NOTES: Jason Cameron, Mackenzie Brown, and Kelly Bent were all a +2… Matthew Highmore and Noah Zilbert each had five shots… David Weckworth had two hits… Conor Garland was a -2… Danick Emond is a +2… Garrett Johnston, Cody Drover, Christopher Caissy each had four shots… Zilbert has five career goals against the Wildcats in eight games… Sea Dogs are one of four teams to allow a shorthanded goal already this season… get a new building, Moncton.

BAD TIMES

I had a few bad experiences at this game.

• It was really hot.
• Someone threw beer on my jacket.
• Someone stole my program during intermission.
• Co-pilot got us lost leaving the Coliseum parking lot.
• #FirstWorldProblems

OUT OF TOWN

Cape Breton 1 at Acadie-Bathurst 4

Halifax 2 at Charlottetown 5

Québec 3 at Chicoutimi 4 (OT)

Shawinigan 1 at Victoriaville 4

Rimouski 5 at Baie-Comeau 4

Sherbrooke 2 at Blainville-Boisbriand 5

Rouyn-Noranda 3 at Drummondville 6

Val-d'Or 2 at Gatineau 5

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Bathurst on Sunday to battle the Titan at 3pm.