Sea Dogs will play Olympiques in first round

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - For the third time in franchise history, the Saint John Sea Dogs will take on the Gatineau Olympiques in a playoff series.

In those first two series, the Sea Dogs were favoured to win. This time, not so much.

The Olympiques, who finished second in the Western Conference and fourth in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with a record of 49-12-5-2 and 105 points, will be heavy favourites in their first round matchup with the Sea Dogs.

Saint John finished the season ninth in the Eastern Conference and 15th overall in the league with a record of 24-38-5-1 and 54 points. Because the Sea Dogs finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, they crossover to the Western Conference.

The schedule for the best-of-seven series has not yet been released. It will likely follow a 2-3-2 scheduling format with games one, two, six and seven played at the Slush Puppie Centre.

Saint John swept the Olympiques in the second round of the 2010 playoffs and then defeated them in six games in the 2011 President Cup final - arguably the greatest playoff series played in Sea Dogs franchise history.

Both of those previous series were played at the old Robert Guertin Arena. The new Slush Puppie Centre will host this year's matchup, a building that the Sea Dogs are 0-2-0-0 in since its opening.

Saint John went 1-1-0-0 against Gatineau in the regular season - but that one win came in October, well before the Olympiques revamped their lineup during the holiday trade period. The Olympiques pounded the Sea Dogs 11-3 in February.

Gatineau has a stacked lineup that includes former Sea Dogs forward Cam MacDonald. Their roster features 10 NHL drafted players (although Anaheim Ducks prospect Noah Warren will miss the playoffs due to an injury).

A few notables on Gatineau's roster include former Shawinigan Cataractes forward Olivier Nadeau; Team Canada forward and Newfoundlander Zach Dean; former Acadie-Bathurst Titan forward Riley Kidney; and Moncton native Samuel Savoie.

How good has Gatineau been in the second half? The Olympiques had a 21-game winning streak snapped by the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Wednesday. Gatineau enters the playoffs having earned points in 24 straight games (23-0-1-0).

The QMJHL's first round matchups will be as follows:

Eastern Conference

1. Quebec vs 8. Charlottetown

2. Halifax vs 7. Cape Breton

3. Moncton vs 6. Baie-Comeau

4. Chicoutimi vs 5. Rimouski

Western Conference

1. Sherbrooke vs 8. Blainville-Boisbriand

2. Gatineau vs 7. Saint John

3. Victoriaville vs 6. Drummondville

4. Rouyn-Noranda vs 5. Shawinigan

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Val-d'Or Foreurs were the only teams to miss the playoffs.

The Quebec Remparts were the regular season champions and will be the No. 1 seed throughout the playoffs.