DOGS DAILY: Big Weekend For LeBlanc

Former Sea Dogs defenseman Olivier LeBlanc had an impressive weekend.

With a total of three goals and two assists in two games against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles alternate captain was named the QMJHL’s first star of week.

Olivier Leblanc (@3LeBlanc), a @BlueJacketsNHL pick, has the game winner for @CBSEHockey tonight in Sydney pic.twitter.com/g97pvYCd6n

— Kris Abbott (@EastlinkKris) January 17, 2016

LeBlanc, who returned from a three-game suspension handed to him following a hit to head on Saint John’s Oliver Felixson, now has five goals and 27 points in 38 games with the Screaming Eagles this year.

Cape Breton is in third place in the Maritimes Division with 50 points, which is seven points back of second place Saint John. The Sea Dogs also have three games in hand.

The Eagles could inch closer to the Dogs this weekend if they are able to pick up some points when the two meet on Friday and Saturday at Harbour Station.

Meanwhile, Victoriaville’s Alexandre Goulet and Moncton’s Conor Garland were named the second and third stars of the week, respectively.

In other news…

• A reminder that Friday’s Screaming Eagles-Sea Dogs game will be broadcast nationally on Sportsnet. Game time is 8 p.m.
• Sportsnet’s QMJHL blog discusses the Sea Dogs’ improved play.
• Former Sea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres, who hasn’t played a game with the Anaheim Ducks since suffering a concussion on Oct. 16, has been sent down to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls for a conditioning stint. In his debut with the Gulls on Saturday, Despres was a -2 with three shots.
• Michael Russo of the Minnesota Star Tribune gave Gerard Gallant the Jack Adams Award in his mid-season NHL awards.
• The Chicoutimi Sagueneens, who are averaging just 2,068 fans per game this season, may have to leave their arena for a year at some point in order for a proposed renovation project to be completed.
• The website “Roaming The Rinks” has a nice review of Harbour Station. “The layout and design of Harbour Station is certainly among the best we have encountered for a major junior arena, and offers viewing from a lower level, the added excellent view from the upper deck, and still maintains an open upper concourse where fans can keep an eye on the ice while grabbing a snack or simply walking around the concourse,” they write.
• Went to the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday and couldn’t find any mention of the 2011 Memorial Cup.
• The latest edition of HockeyNow magazine had this profile on Sea Dogs defenseman Luke Green.