Sea Dogs Notebook

A special moment for the MacAulays. twitter.com/HFXMooseheads/…
— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) May 27, 2013

GALIEV

Got news for you: Stanislav Galiev is a winner.

As Russian Machine Never Breaks breaks down, Galiev has now won league championships in each of his past three seasons thanks to back-to-back QMJHL titles with Saint John and an ECHL title with the Reading Royals this season.

Galiev also won a USHL title with the Indiana Ice in 2009 before joining the Sea Dogs and came within two wins of a 2010 QMJHL Championship.

The Russian forward, playing in his first pro season, only played in Game 5 of the Kelly Cup Final due to injury.

“It’s something special for me because the coach trusts me,” he told The Sports Lair. It’s a Game 5. I was a little injured and wasn’t 100-percent. My foot still hurts a little bit, but it was nice to forget everything out there and help my team get the Cup.”

Galiev had 23 goals and 24 assists in 64 regular season ECHL games and added four goals and seven assists in 10 post-season contests.

Thanks to Emily B. from Japers’ Rink for the link.

CAPITALS

This news came out of nowhere.

The Summerside Journal Pioneer reports that the MHL’s Summerside Western Capitals might be moving. This comes just a couple weeks after hosting the RBC Cup.

The newspaper reports that the team has “given notice to the league that the team is now in the process of seeking another venue for the 2013-2014 junior A hockey season. The reason behind the move is a breakdown in negotiations between the city and management and owners of the team.”

The Caps have had plenty of Sea Dogs connections over the years.

The Memorial Cup Final Is Tonight

The Halifax Mooseheads look to become the second Maritime team to win the MasterCard Memorial Cup tonight.

The Mooseheads take on the Portland Winterhawks in the Memorial Cup Championship Game tonight at 8pm on Sportsnet. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champs defeated the Western Hockey League champs 7-4 earlier in the tournament.

The 2011 Saint John Sea Dogs are the only previous team from Atlantic Canada to win the historic trophy. Halifax will look to join the Sea Dogs in that exclusive club and also bring the Memorial Cup to the QMJHL for a third consecutive year.

There are a ton of comparisons between this year’s Mooseheads and the 2011 Sea Dogs. Like Saint John did two years, Halifax got the bye straight through to the final and has had several days to prepare for this game.

The biggest connection between the Dogs and Moose is Stephen MacAulay who was part of the 2011 Saint John squad. MacAulay, playing in the final game of his unreal junior career, will look to become the first player to ever appear in four President Cup finals, win three President Cups, and win two Memorial Cups.

So that’s that. Good luck, Mooseheads.

Some other stuff…

• Former Sea Dogs captain Alex Grant had two goals, three shots, and a +1 rating as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Syracuse Crunch 4-2 in the opening game of the AHL’s Eastern Conference Final. Game 2 is tonight.
• The Oklahoma City Barons evened up the AHL Western Conference Final at 1-1 with a 4-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins last night. Tomas Jurco had two shots for the Griffins.
• Some more pictures from the Reading Royals’ Kelly Cup win last night can be found over at Sweetest Hockey on Earth.
• In less than 24 hours, the PEI Rocket will no longer exist. Details about the team’s rebranding, new name of the team, image of the new logo, 2013-14 season ticket campaign, and the latest additions to the recently announced ownership group (upon final sale of the team) will be released tomorrow at a 10am press conference.
• QMJHL winners at last night’s CHL Awards: Dominique Ducharme (Halifax Mooseheads) was named the Old Dutch Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year, Valentin Zykov (Baie-Comeau Drakkar) was named the BMO Rookie of the Year, and Jonathan Drouin (Halifax Mooseheads) was named the CCM Player of the Year.

Report: Rocket Staying In PEI

The Guardian newspaper reports that the PEI Rocket/Islanders are staying in Charlottetown.

From the Guardian:

Trent Birt, the club’s vice-president of operations, emerged from a closed-door meeting with investors shortly after 7 p.m. to announce a tentative agreement had been reached. 

"The consortium we’ve been working on for the last 10 or so days just got the deal done,” Birt said. “We worked around the clock until now to get the deal done.” 

The makeup of the new group was not released.

The paper also reports that the Savards are not part of the new ownership group nor have they discussed the name change to Islanders.

A huge thanks to the many people that stepped up to keep this franchise on PEI! Quite an ownership has putcommunity & hockey first!
— Trent Birt (@TrentBirt) April 26, 2013

We must remember the Savard's brought this team to PEI. I can't say how supportive Serge Sr was the last 2 weeks in helping make this happen
— Trent Birt (@TrentBirt) April 26, 2013

This is great news for PEI hockey fans, obviously, but also great news for everyone in the Maritime Division. The Rocket moving to Quebec would have screwed up the divisional format and schedule.

There were reports that if the team could not be sold locally, it would have been bought and moved to Sorel-Tracy, Que.

Well done, PEI. Well done. We’ll see you in the pre-season.

Sea Dogs Notebook

PLAYOFFS

The Halifax Mooseheads are heading to the President Cup Final.

The Mooseheads advanced to the QMJHL Final for the first time since 2005 with a wild 9-6 win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Thursday night, completing a four-game sweep. Halifax is a perfect 12-0 in this year’s playoffs.

Former Sea Dogs forward Stephen MacAulay had three assists in the game to go along with one shot and one hit. MacAulay will play in the President Cup Final for a fourth straight year.

Halifax’s opponent has yet to be determined. In the other semi-final, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Baie-Comeau Drakkar are tied 2-2. Game 5 is tonight.

GELINAS

Former Sea Dogs defenseman Eric Gelinas made his NHL debut last night with the New Jersey Devils. He helped the Devils defeat Simon Despres and the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2.

Gelinas was a -1, recorded one shot, and one hit in 15:59 of ice-time.

Gelinas got official coach's lineup sheet from his first NHL game.
— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) April 26, 2013

Meanwhile, Despres had one hit in 18:56 of ice time for the Pens.

Gelinas joins Jonathan Huberdeau, Despres, Charlie Coyle, Nathan Beaulieu, and Mike Hoffman as former Sea Dogs to play in the NHL this season.

THE CAPS SPEAK

Three former Sea Dogs helped the Summerside Western Capitals win the MHL’s Kent Cup earlier this week.

“There are no words to describe the feeling,” defenseman Jason Seed told the Journal Pioneer. “It never gets old and it’s amazing to win another championship. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”

“Winning championships is exciting each time you do it. . . It was two good teams going at it, and it was a fun game to play and a fun series,” said Spencer MacDonald.

The Fred Page Cup begins next Wednesday in Truro.

ROCKET

Things are looking good for the PEI Rocket/Islanders franchise as at least one group has made an offer to buy the team and keep it on the Island, The Guardian reports. So that’s good.

Sea Dogs president Wayne Long spoke to The Guardian yesterday about what it could mean if the Rocket/Islanders left PEI.

“To lose the Rocket would be, I think, a pretty severe blow to all of the Atlantic teams,” said Long.

“I don’t think there’s a team in our division that wants to see them leave. Obviously, we compete on the ice, but off the ice I think we all have good relationships and we want to see that team stay right where they are at.”

Rocket/Islanders Up For Sale

As you’ve probably heard by know, the PEI Rocket/Islanders announced this morning that the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League franchise is indeed for sale.

All this was confirmed at a press conference this morning in Charlottetown. From The Guardian:

Sarge Savard Jr., president and governor of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team, confirmed Wednesday the league has offered to buy the struggling franchise. 

And Serge Savard Jr., Rocket president and governor, said he's taking the money, somewhere around $3.5 million, unless he can find a local buyer or buyers for the team. 

The league contacted the Rocket on Monday with the proposal.

If a local buyer is not found by April 26, the team will then reportedly be heading to Sorel-Tracy, Quebec where it will be owned by a group featuring François Beauchemin, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Marc Denis.

The Rocket averaged 1,805 fans per game this season, third worst in the league. Savard said at today’s press conference that the team lost over $300,000 this past season.

It’s not really shocking to see the Rocket struggling financially. Since moving the Island in 2003, they have made it past the first-round of the playoffs just once. It’s probably for the best that the franchise finds a new owner(s) - but not many fans wanted it to go like this.

There are plenty of questions surrounding this thing, one of the big ones being what happens to the division alignment and schedule if moved. These aren’t fun times in the Maritimes.

It definitely has to hurt for Rocket fans. They are coming off one of their best seasons ever and were excited to see the transition to “Islanders” this summer. Now… this. 

Wednesday Morning Stuff

Some stuff...

• RDS reports that the PEI Rocket/Islanders are for sale. Apparently a local group has until April 26 to purchase the club from the Savard family or the team may be bought and moved to Sorel, Quebec. 
• More on the Rocket/Islanders rumours in The Guardian. The Rocket/Islanders had originally planned to unveil their new logo this week but that has been postponed.
• According to a bunch of Quebec media folks on Twitter, the Remparts will be making a bid to host the 2015 Memorial Cup. They last hosted in 2003. As for the Sea Dogs, they’ve been quite silent about their future plans for some time now.
• The MHL Final began last night with the Summerside Western Capitals taking on the Truro Bearcats. Former Sea Dogs Danny Chaisson, Spencer MacDonald, Jason Seed, and Grant West all had points in the game. The Caps won 4-3. Game 2 is on Friday night.
• One year ago: one of the greatest nights in QMJHL history.
• Wild website had an article on Charlie Coyle last week.
• At Buzzing The Net, Stephen MacAulay compares the 2011 Sea Dogs to this year’s Mooseheads.
• If you’re a hockey card collector and are wondering what’s going on with this year’s rookie class, information on that is here.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Rocket Eliminated Forever; 2nd Round Set

It seemed somewhat appropriate that the team known as the “PEI Rocket” saw their season and history end, once again, in the first-round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The Rocket have called PEI home since the 2003-04 season and only once – their first season – did they make it past the first-round. They've missed the post-season entirely twice and were eliminated in the opening round seven times. Given their history, it’s for the best that next season they will change their name to the “PEI Islanders.”

PEI saw their season come to an end this year with a triple-overtime loss to the Val-d’Or Foreurs in Game 6 last night. Yan Pavel Laplante had all three Rocket goals but it wasn’t enough as Cedrick Henley scored 1:03 into the third extra frame to give the Foreurs a 4-3 victory and a 4-2 series win.

Shots in the game were 63-58 in favour of PEI. There were only three penalties called in the entire game.

With the Rocket done, the Halifax Mooseheads are the only Maritime team remaining in this year’s playoffs. Here’s who is playing who in the second-round:

Gatineau Olympiques (13) vs Halifax Mooseheads (1)

Victoriaville Tigres (11) vs Baie-Comeau Drakkar (2)

Val-d’Or Foreurs (10) vs Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (3)

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (8) vs Quebec Remparts (5)

This was one of the best first-rounds the league has seen recently with three upsets and only two series’ ending in sweeps. Let’s hope that carries over into the quarter-finals.

Photo: Foreurs Facebook page

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 5, Rocket 8

A collection of recaps from yesterday’s 8-5 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the PEI Rocket…

Our recap. One of the craziest games of the Saint John Sea Dogs’ season took place on the final day of the regular season.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). The Saint John Sea Dogs will open their best-of-seven playoff season against the powerhouse Halifax Mooseheads Friday night in the Nova Scotia capital after finishing the regular season on a losing note, falling 8-5 to the P.E.I. Rocket at the Civic Centre in Charlottetown on Sunday afternoon.

The Guardian’s recap. Even the players thought the P.E.I Rocket’s 8-5 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Sunday at the Civic Centre was a weird game.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Ben Duffy had a goal and four assists, which gives him the QMJHL scoring title with 110 points, and Josh Currie scored three times as P.E.I. (41-23-4) downed Saint John (23-44-1) to head into the post season on a six-game win streak.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs couldn’t hold the lead over the PEI Rocket, dropping an 8-5 decision to the Rocket in the final day of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season.

PEIRocket.com’s recap. It was a wild end to the season for the P.E.I. Rocket in an 8-5 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs Sunday afternoon at the Civic Centre.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without defensemen Ian Saab (lower body injury according to News 88.9) and Michael Abbott (healthy) along with forward Connor Donaghey (healthy) on Sunday afternoon.

Jason Cameron returned to the Saint John lineup after missing Friday’s game in Halifax with a minor lower body injury.

RECAP: Wild One. Dogs Lose 8-5.

FINAL: Saint John 5, PEI 8

CHARLOTTETOWN – One of the craziest games of the Saint John Sea Dogs’ season took place on the final day of the regular season.

The Sea Dogs lost a wild, back-and-forth game to the PEI Rocket on Sunday afternoon at the Charlottetown Civic Centre, ultimately falling 8-5.

The game was tied 2-2 heading into the second period, setting up a wild 20 minutes of hockey. PEI grabbed a 4-2 lead only to have Saint John score three times and lead 5-4 heading to the third. But the Sea Dogs could not contain the Rocket in the final stanza as the home side scored four times to take the game 8-5.

PEI out shot Saint John 23-8 in the third period and 49-40 overall.

Rocket veterans Ben Duffy and Josh Currie – playing in their final QMJHL regular season game – each had huge games. Duffy had a goal and four assists for five points, giving him 110 on the year and the league scoring title. Currie had a hat trick, giving him 49 goals on the season.

Louick Marcotte also had two goals while Victor Provencher and Alexis Pepin added singles. Matej Beran had three assists. Antoine Bibeau made 35 saves for the win in net.

Jason Cameron, Jakub Izacky, Pierre Durepos, Maxime Villemaire, and Marcus Cuomo scored for Saint John. Durepos, playing in his final regular season game, also had two helpers.

Alex Fournier got the start in net, allowing eight goals on 46 shots in the loss. He left the game late in the third period after appearing to take a high shot in the throat/mask area. He threw his glove, blocker, and mask off and immediately skated to the Sea Dogs bench for assistance. Sebastien Auger played the remaining 3:11, making three stops.

The Sea Dogs went 3-for-8 on the power play while PEI went 2-for-3. A bizarre incident at 6:31 of the second saw both Jack Nevins and Patrick McGrath get five-minute majors and game misconducts. Nevins for fighting after the original altercation and McGrath for being an aggressor. There was two minutes of three-on-three play followed by a lengthy five-on-three advantage for the Dogs.

With the loss, Saint John finishes the regular season with a 23-44-1-0 record, placing them fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 16^th overall in the league. This was the third worst season in club history.

The playoffs start on Friday.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs take on the Halifax Mooseheads in round one, game one this Friday night at the Metro Centre.

GAMEDAY 68 - at PEI

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket

Today at 3:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Charlottetown Civic Centre – Charlottetown, PEI

PREVIEW

CHARLOTTETOWN – The team known as the “PEI Rocket” will play their last ever regular season game today. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League franchise will be renamed the "PEI Islanders" for next season.

The Rocket’s opponent today will be the Saint John Sea Dogs. It is the final game of the regular season for both clubs. Game time is 3pm at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

It’s a big game for the Rocket who sit seventh overall with a record of 40-23-3-1. If the Moncton Wildcats lose in Bathurst today and PEI wins, the Rocket would move into sixth overall. If the playoffs started today, the Rocket would have to make the long trek to Val-d’Or and face the Foreurs in the first-round.

PEI is heading into the playoffs as one of the league’s hottest teams. They have won five straight and are 7-1-1-1 in their last 10 games.

Something else to follow today is the league’s scoring race. Halifax’s Jonathan Drouin and PEI’s Ben Duffy each sit atop the point leaderboard with 105 points each. PEI’s Josh Currie sits third with 101 points.

For the Sea Dogs, this game doesn’t mean anything in the standings. They are locked in 16^th thanks to a Sherbrooke Phoenix victory last night. They’ll face the top ranked Halifax Mooseheads in the first-round beginning next Friday at the Metro Centre.

Saint John enters action today with a 23-43-1-0 record, placing them fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division. No matter what happens today, this will be the third worst season in franchise history and just the third time ever they’ll finish below .500.

Jakub Izacky is the team’s active leading scoring with 20 goals and 16 assists for 36 points in 62 games.

POSTSCRIPT: Rocket 3, Sea Dogs 2

A collection of recaps from last night’s 3-2 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the PEI Rocket…

Our recap. Saint John played host to The Million Acre Farm on Wednesday evening as the Sea Dogs faced off against the Rocket.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). Yan Pavel Laplante scored with less than five minutes remaining in regulation to lead the Prince Edward Island Rocket to a 3-2 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action in front of 4,738 fans at Harbour Station.

The Guardian’s recap. Yan Pavel Laplante scored the winner with five minutes to play in the third period as the P.E.I. Rocket beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 3-2 Wednesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Yan Pavel Laplante scored with under five minutes left to play as the P.E.I. Rocket dropped the Saint John Sea Dogs 3-2 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Wednesday.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. Yan Pavel Laplante put a dagger into the Saint John Sea Dogs as the PEI Rocket dropped Saint 3-2 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. The Wednesday game brought 4,738 fans to Harbour Station.

PEIRocket.com’s recap. Yan-Pavel Laplante broke a 2-2 tie late in the third period as the P.E.I. Rocket defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs 3-2 Wednesday night at Harbour Station.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Connor Donaghey and Andreas Tsogkas along with defenseman Olivier LeBlanc on Wednesday night.

RECAP: RIP Stompin' Tom. Dogs Lose 3-2.

FINAL: PEI 3, Saint John 2

By Tim Lumsden

SN Staff

SAINT JOHN - Saint John played host to The Million Acre Farm on Wednesday evening as the Sea Dogs faced off against the Rocket.

Guarding the net for Saint John was Sebastien Auger while PEI had Antoine Bibeau stepping into net for the evening.

FIRST PERIOD

Alex Micallef took the first penalty of the evening with four minutes for high sticking at 7:10. That was quite a stretch before any penalties. The Dogs scored on the man advantage but was ruled no goal after video review apparently showed a kicking motion by Maxime Villemaire.

Jurij Repe was called for hooking at 12:47, sending the Rocket to the power play.

This was when things got interesting. PEI’s Matej Beran scored the first goal of the game. At the same time, Ian Saab took a roughing penalty as well as an abuse of officials misconduct at 14:31. Just like that, it was 1-0 for PEI.

Alexis Pepin took the next penalty at 17:37 for slashing while his teammate, Victor Provencher, took the last penalty of the penalty at 19:56 for holding. This would start PEI off short a man as they headed into the second period.

It was obvious that PEI dominated that period with over double the shots on goal. They led the Sea Dogs 17-8 in shots after the first 20 minutes of hockey.

SECOND PERIOD

2:46 was the time of a Ryan Graves penalty as he was sent off for interference.

PEI went up 2-0 at 6:00 with Alex Micallef’s unassisted goal on Sebastien Auger.

This was soon answered by Jakub Izacky at 7:21. Villemaire and Anderson snagged the assists on the goal as the Sea Dogs closed the game 2-1.

Sea Dogs Lineup vs Rocket

SAINT JOHN – Welcome to Harbour Station where the Sea Dogs are hosting the PEI Rocket in their next-to-last home game of the regular season.

The Dogs are dressing 11 forwards and seven defenseman. Here’s Saint John’s listed lines and defense pairings:

Villemaire – Anderson – Brown

Cuomo – Cameron – Izacky

Cooper – Highmore – Zilbert

Malone – Smallman

Saab – Durepos

Repe – Weckworth

Doucet – Abbott

Duda

Auger

Fournier

Sea Dogs scratches are Connor Donaghey, Olivier LeBlanc, and Andreas Tsogkas.

As always, follow @station_nation on Twitter for in-game updates.

GAMEDAY 63 - vs Rocket

GAMEDAY

PEI Rocket vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight at 7:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Harbour Station – Saint John, NB

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN - There are six games left in the Saint John Sea Dogs’ regular season, but tonight’s contest against the PEI Rocket will be their second-to-last home game. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm.

The Sea Dogs have already clinched a playoff spot, but as we wrote about last night, they are still in battle with the Sherbrooke Phoenix for playoff/draft positioning. With six games left, the Phoenix sit in 15^th-place, one-point ahead of the Sea Dogs.

Saint John enters action with a 22-39-1-0 record which places them fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 16^th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Dogs have lost back-to-back games and are 2-8-0-0 in their last 10.

As the home portion of their 2012-13 schedule winds down, the Sea Dogs have a 12-20-0-0 at Harbour Station. They have been outscored 111-76.

Jakub Izacky leads the Dogs in scoring with 19 goals and 14 assists for 33 points in 57 games.

With the Rocket changing their name to “Islanders” next season, tonight’s contest will likely be the final time a team called the “PEI Rocket” plays the Sea Dogs at Harbour Station. The name won’t be missed.

PEI enters play this evening with a 35-23-3-1 record which is good for third in the Maritimes Division and seventh overall. The Rocket are in quite a battle in the middle of the standings for playoff positioning. Val-d’Or, Drummondville, Rouyn-Noranda, and PEI all have 74 points.

The Rocket have two of the league’s top scorers in Ben Duffy and Josh Currie. Duffy sits second in the league in scoring with 97 points while Currie is third with 95.

Sea Dogs Notebook

THE FINAL STRETCH

The Sea Dogs play their final two home games of the regular season this week. They host the PEI Rocket on Wednesday at 7pm and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Friday at 7:30pm.

Saint John is 12-20-0-0 at Harbour Station this season.

The Dogs are averaging 3,891 fans per game. Tickets for Wednesday’s game are listed as “good” and Friday’s game as “limited” on the Harbour Station website.

Following these two home games, Saint John will play their final four matches on the road.

AUS FINAL

The best-of-three Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey final between the UNB Varsity Reds and the Saint Mary’s Huskies continues tomorrow night in Halifax. The Reds lead the series 1-0 after a 1-0 double-overtime victory on Saturday.

There is only one former Sea Dog involved in the series – UNB goaltender Travis Fullerton. He went 8-4-0-0 in the regular season with a 2.23 goals against average and a .877 save percentage. Despite all the success Fullerton has had at UNB over the years, he’s had more of a backup role to Dan LaCosta this year.

UNB and Saint Mary’s have already earned trips to nationals in Saskatoon. If a Game 3 is needed in the AUS Final, it will be held Thursday night in Fredericton.

KNOX

Speaking of the AUS, former Sea Dog and current UPEI Panther forward Jordan Knox was named the “2012-13 Atlantic conference recipient of the Godfrey Award and is nominated for the prestigious Dr. Randy Gregg award. The Godfrey Award, named after Dr. Bill Godfrey, is given annually to the player who best represents the spirit of intercollegiate hockey by his leadership both on and off the ice and by his conduct throughout the season.”

Knox had nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points in 28 games this season with the Panthers. He also helped UPEI make it the AUS semi-final where they were eliminated in four games by UNB.

The Skinner’s Pond, PEI native played two games with Saint John in 2007-08, registering a -2 rating and no points.

MACAULAY

The QMJHL website caught up with former Sea Dog and current Moosehead Stephen MacAulay. You can check that video out HERE.

MacAulay has 13 goals and 11 assists in 23 games with Halifax.

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 2, Rocket 6

A collection of recaps from last night’s 6-2 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the PEI Rocket…

Our recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs got off to a good start but could not contain the PEI Rocket in a 6-2 loss in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Saturday night at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

The Guardian’s recap. Jimmy Oligny had three assists and the P.E.I. Rocket won its second game in as many nights Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Victor Provencher and Matthew Bursey each had a goal and an assist and Antoine Bibeau made 24 saves as the Rocket (32-21-2) downed Saint John (21-34-1) for the fifth time in six meetings this season.

PEIRocket.com’s recap. Victor Provencher's second period power play goal became the eventual game winning goal as the P.E.I. Rocket downed the Saint John Sea Dogs 6-2 Saturday night at the Civic Centre.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Olivier LeBlanc (flu), Matthew Highmore (lower body), David Weckworth (knee), and Spencer Smallman (flu) on Saturday night.

RECAP: Dogs Lose. Dogs Lose 6-2.

FINAL: Saint John 2, PEI 6

CHARLOTTETOWN – The Saint John Sea Dogs got off to a good start but could not contain the PEI Rocket in a 6-2 loss in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Saturday night at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

The Sea Dogs opened the scoring but would never lead again in the game. They had a fairly good first period, out shooting the Rocket 14-13, but could not carry that over into the rest of the contest. Saint John, playing their third game in three days, had to be feeling some fatigue as the game dragged on.

Michael Abbott and Stephen Anderson scored the Sea Dogs’ only goals. Alex Fournier allowed five goals on 32 shots in the loss.

The Rocket had goals from Louick Marcotte, Victor Provencher, Matej Beran, Erik Robichaud, Yan Pavel Laplante, and Matt Bursey. Antoine Bibeau made 25 saves in the win.

Abbott opened the scoring at 2:54, blasting a slapper by Bibeau to give Saint John a 1-0 lead. The Rocket tied it up at 8:55 as Beran scored his 14^th of the year.

Shots in a fast paced opening frame were 14-13 in favour of Saint John.

Just 13 seconds into the second period, Saint John native Matt Bursey banged a rebound past Fournier to give PEI their first lead of the hockey match.

Fast forward to 11:03, Provencher connected on a power play to give the Rocket a 3-1 lead. Then on a power play of their own, Saint John cut the Rocket’s lead to 3-2 as Anderson scored at 18:57.

Despite being out shot 16-5 in the middle stanza, the Sea Dogs headed to dressing room down just one goal.

Yan Pavel Laplante restored PEI’s two-goal lead at 7:39, making it a 4-2 contest.

At 12:56, heavy weights Justin Dickinson and Patrick McGrath dropped the gloves but it wasn’t much of a fight. Dickinson sort of flipped over McGrath and the two tumbled to the ice, ending that confrontation.

The Sea Dogs took a risk and pulled Fournier with over two minutes remaining in the game. The risk didn’t pay off as Marcotte scored at 17:26 to make it 5-2. Robichaud added another goal 30 seconds later– this one with Fournier in the net – to make it a 6-2 final.

Jack Nevins scored as the final buzzer sounded but, after a review, the goal did not count.

Shots in the third were 9-8 PEI and 38-27 overall.

Saint John went 1-for-7 on the power play while PEI went 1-for-6.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs take on Stephen MacAulay and the Halifax Mooseheads on Wednesday night at Harbour Station.

Sea Dogs Lineup at PEI

The Sea Dogs are on Prince Edward Island to battle the Rocket this evening.  Saint John is coming off one of their best victories of the season last night, beating the Moncton Wildcats 4-2. PEI is coming off a 5-2 win in Bathurst last night.

This is Saint John’s third game in three days so backup Alex Fournier gets the start in net. Fournier's last start was on February 8 where he collected his first QMJHL win.

Here are tonight’s listed Sea Dogs lines and defense pairings courtesy of friend-of-the-blog Nolan Reid:

Villemaire - Anderson - Izacky

Tsogkas – Cameron – Malone

Cooper – Zilbert – Brown

Donaghey – Cuomo – Dickinson

Repe – Durepos

Saab – Duda

Doucet – Abbott

Fournier

Auger

One change for SJ tonight @ PEI: Leblanc out (flu), Abbott in. Highmore (l. body), Weckworth (knee) and Smallman (flu) out. Fournier starts.
— Tim Roszell (@TimRoszell889) February 16, 2013

As always, follow @station_nation on Twitter for in-game updates.

GAMEDAY 56 - at PEI

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket

Tonight at 7:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Charlottetown Civic Centre – Charlottetown, PEI

PREVIEW

CHARLOTTETOWN – The Saint John Sea Dogs wrap up a three-in-three tonight in Charlottetown.

The Sea Dogs are coming one of their most entertaining wins of the season as they defeated the Moncton Wildcats 4-2 last night at Harbour Station. It was quite a turnaround from Thursday’s disappointing 3-2 loss to the lowly Shawinigan Cataractes.

Saint John will look to carry the momentum gained from last night’s victory into this evening’s game on Prince Edward Island. The Dogs take on the Rocket at 7pm at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

The Dogs have struggled against the Rocket this season, going 1-4-0-0 against them so far. They have three meetings left including tonight’s tilt.

Saint John enters play with a 21-33-1-0 record which is good for fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 15^th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They have struggled over the past few weeks and are 2-7-1-0 in their last 10 games.

On the road this season the Sea Dogs are 10-16-1-0 and have been outscored 120-80.

PEI enters action tonight with a 31-21-2-0 record. They sit third in the Maritimes Division and ninth overall in the league. The Rocket are only five points back of the Moncton Wildcats who sit second in the division.

The Rocket are in battle for playoff positioning in the middle of the standings. The top eight teams will have home ice advantage in the first round. PEI currently sits ninth with 64 points but are just one-point of the Val-d’Or Foreurs who sit eighth and two back of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies who sit seventh.

PEI is led by two of the league’s top scorers in Ben Duffy and Josh Currie. Duffy sits second in the league in points with 86 while Currie is third with 83.

POSTSCRIPT: Rocket 6, Sea Dogs 3

A collection of recaps from last night’s 6-3 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the PEI Rocket…

Our recap. Saint John returned to Harbour Station on Thursday night to battle it out against the PEI Rocket.

The Guardian’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs took some ill-timed penalties that led to a 6-3 loss to the P.E.I. Rocket before 3,111 fans Thursday night at Harbour Station.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Ben Duffy had a goal and four assists Thursday as the P.E.I. Rocket defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs 6-3 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs took on the PEI Rocket at Harbour Station in Thursday’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action as PEI extended their wins streak with a 6-3 victory in front of 3,112 fans.

PEIRocket.com’s recap. The PEI Rocket won their 4th game in a row this evening doubling up the Saint John Sea Dogs 6-3 at Harbour Station in Saint John. 

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Connor Donaghey (healthy), Matthew Highmore (lower body), Jeremy Doucet (healthy), and Jurij Repe (sore hand) on Thursday night.

Not playing tonight because of my hand ( to sore ) #injury #notgood
— Jurij Repe (@JurijRepe) February 7, 2013