Struggling In Shawinigan

There were some epic games played between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes during the 2011-12 season. Although Shawinigan won the biggest of the big games, the teams split their regular season and Memorial Cup meetings.

Ever since then though, it’s been all Shawinigan. Including the semi-final victory at the 2012 Memorial Cup, the Cataractes have won seven of the past eight meetings between the two, including every game played in Quebec. Saint John’s only win came at Harbour Station this past November.

Here are the results from each of the past three seasons since the Memorial Cup.

2012-13: 0-2-1-0 vs Shawinigan

Nov. 4, 2012 – Shawinigan 3, Saint John 2

Feb. 2, 2013 – Saint John 2, Shawinigan 3 (OT)

Feb. 14, 2013 – Shawinigan 3, Saint John 2

2013-14: 0-2-0-0 vs Shawinigan

Jan. 29, 2014 – Saint John 2, Shawinigan 4

Feb. 20, 2014 – Shawinigan 3, Saint John 1

2014-15: 1-1-0-0 vs Shawinigan

Nov. 21, 2014 – Shawinigan 2, Saint John 4

Jan. 29, 2015 – Saint John 1, Shawinigan 7

There’s a decent chance the two could meet in the first round of the playoffs, which would be quite intriguing.

Some other Sea Dogs related news and notes…

• In today’s Le Nouvelliste and Hebdo du St-Maurice, Cataractes head coach Martin Bernard said he was less than impressed with how Ross Yates and the Sea Dogs handled themselves last night. The Dogs picked up 21 infractions and gave Shawinigan 13 power plays. 
• We added up Christophe Lalonde’s career numbers against Saint John. In five seasons with Lewiston, Moncton and Shawinigan, Lalonde has 16 goals and 33 points in 29 regular season games against the Sea Dogs.
• TSN’s Bob McKenzie (pictured above, if you didn't know) released his midterm top 60 for the 2015 NHL Draft last night. Jakub Zboril was ranked 16^th and Thomas Chabot 27^th. 
• Future Considerations has released their midterm rankings for the 2015 NHL Draft. Only two Sea Dogs made FC’s top 100 with Jakub Zboril ranked 28^th and Thomas Chabot 35^th. 
• Willy Palov has a column in today’s Chronicle Herald on Halifax McDonald’s forward and top QMJHL draft prospect Shane Bowers. If Bowers goes first overall, it would mark the second straight year that a Nova Scotian has been taken first. 
• La Presse’s junior hockey blog has HockeyProspect.com's top 10 forwards, top three defencemen and top three goaltenders.