Game Day 57: vs Olympiques

SAINT JOHN - The West Division leading Gatineau Olympiques make their lone visit of the season to TD Station tonight.

The Olympiques defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs 5-3 on Nov. 17 at Slush Puppie Centre. Both teams have a different look to them since that game.

Both squads head into tonight's match on three-game winning streaks. The Sea Dogs are coming off a three-game Nova Scotia road trip that saw them defeat the Halifax Mooseheads once and the Cape Breton Eagles twice.

Game time this evening is 7 p.m.

Tonight's match kicks off a tough stretch of games for the Sea Dogs. On Saturday they host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan; Sunday the Quebec Remparts come to town; and then next Thursday the team travels to Charlottetown to face the Islanders.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/93 CFBC/CHL TV

Capacity/Proof of Vaccination/Masks: 100%/None/Not mandatory

Records: The Sea Dogs are 35-17-1-3 for 74 points (third Maritimes/fourth Eastern/fifth QMJHL) while the Olympiques are 31-13-9-2 for 73 points (first West/second Western/sixth QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-1 win in Cape Breton on Saturday afternoon. William Dufour netted a pair of goals while singles came from Josh Lawrence, Ryan Francis and Cam MacDonald. Thomas Couture made 34 saves in the win. The Olympiques are coming off a 4-2 win in Shawinigan on Sunday. Isaac Belliveau, Manix Landry, Mathieu Bizier and Simon Pinard scored for Gatineau. Emerik Despatie made 26 saves in the victory.

2021-22 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 0-1-0-0 against the Olympiques this season while Gatineau is 1-0-0-0 against Saint John.

Tessier wins gold; Dove-McFalls turns pro

U Sports

WOLFVILLE, NS - Former Saint John Sea Dogs forward Julien Tessier is a University Cup champion.

Tessier and the UQTR Patriotes defeated the Alberta Golden Bears 5-4 in double overtime Sunday night to win the program's first national championship since 2003.

Simon Lafrance netted the game-winner at 14:18 of the second extra frame. Tessier had a great chance to win the contest moments earlier. He finished the game with three shots.

MHKY
Quel arrêt important pour permettre la continuité du match

What an important save to keep the game going@GBHKY @PatriotesUQTR#ChaseTheGlory | #ViserHaut pic.twitter.com/KFblYxurEw

— U SPORTS Hockey (@USPORTS_Hockey) April 4, 2022

The 24-year-old Tessier recorded one goal in three games at the University Cup. He posted four goals and 10 assists in 13 regular season games with UQTR, his third season with the program (which includes last year's cancelled campaign).

Goaltender Alexis Gravel, who lost the President Cup final and Memorial Cup final with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2019, made 66 stops in the victory.

The Golden Bears, the No. 1 seed at this year's event, were favoured to win but blew a 4-2 lead in the third period. It's the first time since 2012 (McGill) that a team other than Alberta or UNB has won the University Cup.

Notebook: NB, NS to bid on WJC

WOLFVILLE, NS - It was confirmed Friday that the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia governments are working on a joint bid to host the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship.

If the bid is successful, tournament games would be held in Halifax and Moncton from Dec. 26, 2022 to Jan. 5, 2023. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Russia but the IIHF has removed the country's hosting rights.

In 2003, we showed there is no better place to host the IIHF World Junior Championship (@iihf_wjc) and Nova Scotians are ready to do it again — along with our friends in #NewBrunswick and @premierbhiggs!#WorldJuniors #NovaScotia pic.twitter.com/z97QtNnFMK

— Tim Houston (@TimHoustonNS) April 1, 2022

“As a fan, I know how important hockey is to Canadians, which is why I am proud to offer my government’s support for this bid,” said New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs in a news release. “Sporting events of this magnitude provide a lift to the economy, tourism and sports development. They are also an excellent opportunity to invite people to our province and for hockey fans to experience high-level, exciting competition.”

A number of Canadian cities/groups have expressed some level of interest, particularly the Ottawa Senators. According to CBC, the deadline to submit bids to Hockey Canada is April 4.

New Brunswick has never hosted the event. Nova Scotia held he tournament in 2003 in Halifax and Sydney.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-1

FINAL: Saint John 5, Cape Breton 1

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SYDNEY, NS - The Saint John Sea Dogs' power play came up huge on Saturday at Centre 200.

The Sea Dogs scored three times on the power play in a 5-1 road win over the Cape Breton Eagles. On Friday night it was the team's penalty kill that came up huge, killing off eight of nine Eagles power plays in a 3-2 shootout victory.

William Dufour scored a pair of goals, setting a new franchise record for goals in a single season with 48. Josh Lawrence, Ryan Francis, Cam MacDonald also scored for Saint John. Lawrence also posted three assists while Vincent Sevigny had two. Thomas Couture made 34 saves in the win.

Jeremy Langlois scored Cape Breton's lone goal. Remi Delafontaine made 27 stops in the loss.

Grenier makes QMJHL debut with 'Cats

WOLFVILLE, NS - Natan Grenier made his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League debut on Friday night.

Grenier, a first-round pick of the Saint John Sea Dogs in last year's QMJHL Entry Draft, was a -2 and recorded one shot in the Moncton Wildcats' 5-1 loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

Grenier was traded to the Wildcats in the Philippe Daoust deal made at the deadline.

The 16-year-old defenseman skated in 37 games with the Quebec under-18 league's Séminaire St-François Blizzard this season, recording seven goals and 28 assists.

The Wildcats sit seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 23-24-5-1 record for 52 points.

Some other things...

• Today at the University Cup, the 1 p.m. semifinal will feature the StFX X-Men (Bailey Webster, Will Thompson and Blade Mann-Dixon) taking on the No. 1 seed Alberta Golden Bears. The 7 p.m. semifinal features the Ryerson Rams (Kevin Gursoy) facing the UQTR Patriotes (Julien Tessier).
• Eve Gascon recorded her first QMJHL win on Friday night, making 23 saves in the Gatineau Olympiques' 7-3 victory over the Drummondville Voltigeurs. It's unclear how long Gascon will remain with the Olympiques. The team visits Saint John on Wednesday.
• Mathieu Joseph recorded his first career NHL hat trick in the Ottawa Senators' 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings Friday night.
• The MHL playoffs are underway: Summerside leads Edmundston 3-1; Fredericton leads Campbellton 3-2; Valley is up 3-1 on Yarmouth; and Truro is ahead of Amherst 3-1. All series are best-of-seven.

Gursoy, Rams upset Reds in quarters

WOLFVILLE, NS - There was a major upset on day two of the 2022 University Cup.

Former Saint John Sea Dogs forward Kevin Gursoy scored just 17 seconds in to help lift the No. 7 seed Ryerson Rams to a 2-1 win over the No. 2 seed and reigning national champion UNB Reds at Acadia University on Friday.

🚨 MHKY: GOAL with 17 secondes #18 Kevin Gursoy give the advance to the Ryerson Rams

Avec seulement 17 secondes le #18 Kevin Gursoy ouvre la marque pour les Ryerson Rams#ChaseTheGlory | #ViserHaut pic.twitter.com/GnNPittQdi

— U SPORTS Hockey (@USPORTS_Hockey) April 1, 2022

Gursoy, who spent the 2017-18 season with the Sea Dogs, is officially in his second season with the Rams (there was no season last year due to COVID). He recorded two goals and two assists in four playoff games, helping Ryerson move past the second round of the OUA playoffs for the first time since 1962.

Former Sea Dogs forward Samuel Dove-McFalls, UNB's captain, scored the Reds' lone goal. The team struggled to score this season - especially after the departure of ex-Dog Nicolas Guay during the COVID pause - and, even as the favourites Friday, were in a serious hole when they fell down 2-0 in this game.

MHKY :
GOAL
What a goal scored by @UNBAthletics #15 Samuel Dove-Mcfalls to cut the @ryersonrams lead by one

BUT
Quel but marqué par le #15 des @UNBAthletics Samuel Dove-Mcfalls pour réduire l’avance des @ryersonrams d'un but#ChaseTheGlory | #ViserHaut pic.twitter.com/nd7ABK8a4X

— U SPORTS Hockey (@USPORTS_Hockey) April 1, 2022

“It feels like two or three seasons jammed into one,” Dove-McFalls, in his fourth season at UNB, said after the game, via 49-Sport. “We stuck together, and after Christmas, the guys became even closer. I’m really proud of all the effort from the boys.”