Game Day 34: One last time at Bathurst

BATHURST - The Saint John Sea Dogs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan first met on Aug. 19, 2005 in a pre-season game at TD Station. The Sea Dogs won that game – their first ever pre-season match – by a score of 7-2.

Today, Dec. 31, 2024, the two provincial rivals meet for potentially the last time. This afternoon's contest is the final meeting of the regular season between Saint John and Bathurst as it's been confirmed that the Titan will relocate to St. John's for 2025-26.

There is a chance the two could meet in the playoffs. But today's game will be the final guaranteed meeting.

Game time is 2 p.m. at the KC Irving Regional Centre for this New Year's Eve matinee.

TV/Radio/Stream: None/None/CHL TV

2024-25 regular season records: The Sea Dogs are 16-17-0-0 for 32 points (fourth Maritimes/seventh Eastern/12th QMJHL) while the Titan are 19-11-1-1 for 40 points (second Maritimes/fourth Eastern/seventh QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-2 loss in Moncton on Saturday. Dylan Rozzi and Nicolas Bilodeau both scored for Saint John. Justin Robinson made 41 stops in the loss. The Titan are coming off a 6-2 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday. Alexandre Lallier scored twice for Bathurst while singles came from Noah Laberge, Mathieu St-Onge, Dawson Sharkey and Louis-Francois Belanger. Joshua Fleming made 32 stops in the win. 

2024-25 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 4-3-0-0 against the Titan this season while Bathurst is 3-3-0-1 against Saint John.

 

Last meeting: Dec. 14 in Saint John where the Sea Dogs edged the Titan 5-4 in a shootout. William Yared, Ben Cross, Nate Tivey and Zachary Morin all scored for Saint John. Bathurst goals came from Louis-Francois Belanger (two), Tyson Goguen and Tyler Wood. Charles-Edward Gravel made 35 saves in the win. Joshua Fleming made 30 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Titan: None.

Titan to watch: Louis-Francois Belanger has three goals in six games against Saint John this season.

Random stat: Saint John's first regular season win in Bathurst came on Oct. 27, 2005 when the Sea Dogs defeated the Titan 3-2. 

Notes: Nate Tivey leads Saint John in points with 28 and assists with 24... Eriks Mateiko leads the team in goals with 14... Colby Huggan leads Bathurst in points with 26 and assists with 14... Huggan and Dawson Sharkey each have a team high 12 goals... Saint John is 6-10-0-0 on the road... Bathurst is 11-6-0-0 at home... Zachary Morin is third in QMJHL rookie scoring with 25 points in 26 games... the Titan are averaging a league high 12.66 penalty minutes per game... the Titan continue to have the league's best power play (87.2%) but second worst penalty kill (12.5%)... the Titan have scored a league high 10 shorthanded goals... the Titan are averaging 2.65 goals against per game, the third fewest in the league... the Titan have won three straight home games... the Sea Dogs have lost four straight road games... the Sea Dogs are without Mateiko due to the world juniors... the Sea Dogs announced the signing of forward Parker Forlin on Monday.

Out of town:

Cape Breton at Halifax - 2:00 PM AST 

Gatineau at Québec - 2:00 PM EST 

Drummondville at Rimouski - 2:00 PM EST 

Val-d'Or at Rouyn-Noranda - 2:00 PM EST 

Blainville-Boisbriand at Shawinigan - 2:00 PM EST 

Baie-Comeau at Sherbrooke - 2:00 PM EST 

Chicoutimi at Victoriaville - 2:00 PM EST 

Charlottetown at Moncton - 4:00 PM AST

Next game: The Sea Dogs travel to Charlottetown to play the first of back-to-back games against the Islanders on Friday at 7 p.m.