Sea Dogs Notebook

TOMORROW

The Sea Dogs are back in action tomorrow night against the PEI Rocket. Game time is 7pm at Harbour Station.

Saint John will look to end a six-game losing skid while PEI has won three straight. Both teams have something to play for down the stretch – the Sea Dogs are trying to get into the playoffs and the Rocket are trying to get home-ice advantage in the first-round.

The Guardian reports today that forward Yan-Pavel Laplante is expected to make his season debut tomorrow. He has missed all season with a shoulder injury. He had 21 points in 57 games last year.

The Sea Dogs are asking fans to bring donations of nutritious cereal (pictured) or breakfast bars to tomorrow’s game. All cereal collected will go to the breakfast programs at seven Community/PALS Schools in the city of Saint John. The only request is that the cereals be healthy and nutritious.

STATS

Interesting piece of info in Sam Cosentino’s latest column over at Sportsnet.ca. The Sea Dogs have the best winning percentage in the Canadian Hockey League in games that go into extra time.

Saint John is 5-1 in overtime games and 3-0 in shootouts for a .889 winning percentage. Their only extra time loss came last Saturday in Shawinigan when the team lost in overtime.

The Barrie Colts are the second best team with a .833 winning percentage.

WECKWORTH

Sea Dogs defenseman David Weckworth has been named the Sea Dogs’ student of the month for January. Weckworth is a student at UNBSJ.

“The scholastic players UL Mutual demonstrate each and every month their commitment towards education. At UL Mutual, we encourage their good work”, said UL Mutual President and CEO, Jacques Desbiens, in a league release.

This initiative’s goal, which was developed by the QMJHL and its member clubs, is to recognize student athletes’ performances both on the ice and at school. The players are selected for their school results, their implication, the school-hockey conciliation, their team spirit and their on-ice performances.

HADE

The Sherbrooke Phoenix announced via their website on Tuesday that former Sea Dog Benjamin Hade has left the team. The defenseman was traded to Sherbrooke in exchange for a 2014 fourth-round pick during the holiday trading period.

Hade had a goal in eight games with Sherbrooke. He had an assist in 12 games with Saint John this season prior to being dealt.

Hade was a fourth-round pick of Saint John in the 2010 QMJHL Entry Draft.

Gallant Inks Deal With Islanders

Former Sea Dogs forward/fighter/fan favourite Brett Gallant signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the New York Islanders today.

Gallant has spent most of the past three seasons with the American Hockey League’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islanders top affiliate. The Connecticut Post reports the 24-year old will stay with the AHL club for now.

The Islanders blog Lighthouse Hockey breaks down what the signing may mean for the NHL team.

“In essence, this gives the Isles the option of calling him up should they want an enforcer and (Eric) Boulton is either unavailable or deemed less worthy of minutes than Gallant,” writes Dominik.

According to HockeyFights.com, Gallant has 22 fights this season to go along with no points and 174 penalty minutes in 37 games.

The Summerside native spent three seasons with Saint John from 2005-06 to 2007-08 and is still one of the most popular players in franchise history. According to HockeyFights.com, Gallant had 66 career fights with the Sea Dogs and, with the way things are going, that record may never be broken. Mike Thomas is second with 41.

If you have some free time, search "Brett Gallant" on YouTube to see what he has been up to over the past few years.

Coyle Made His NHL Debut Monday

Charlie Coyle all set for his NHL debut. twitter.com/styleswild/sta…
— Styleswild (@styleswild) February 4, 2013

Charlie Coyle made his National Hockey League debut last night with the Minnesota Wild.

Coyle saw of 12:44 of ice time and registered two shots, one hit, and a blocked shot as the Wild fell 2-1 to the Coyotes in Phoenix.

“Pretty good, really,” writes Brian Reynolds of Hockey Wilderness on how Coyle looked in his first NHL game. “The kid looks to have the chops. Just needs some time.”

Via the Wild website, here’s Coyle speaking after the game.

It’s unclear how long Coyle will stay up with Minnesota. He has 14 goals and 10 assists in 44 games with the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros.

Coyle joins Yann Sauve, Simon Despres, Mike Hoffman, and Jonathan Huberdeau as former Sea Dogs to make it into a NHL game.

Last night’s game was played in front of a massive crowd of 9,508 fans at Jobing.com Arena. The Quebec Remparts are averaging 10,908 fans per home game this season. No idea how the Coyotes are surviving down there.

Sea Dogs Notebook

TONIGHT

Charlie Coyle is expected to make his NHL debut tonight when his Minnesota Wild take on the Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona. Here’s Coyle speaking to the media after practice yesterday:

Coyle practiced on a line with Pierre-Marc Bouchard and center Matt Cullen yesterday. He will wear No. 63 with the Wild.

LOOK AHEAD

The Sea Dogs have yet another busy week ahead of them. The team will play three games in four days beginning on Thursday. Two of the three contests will be played at Harbour Station.

On Thursday, the Sea Dogs host the PEI Rocket before travelling to Bathurst for a Friday night tilt with the Titan. Then on Sunday, the Dogs host Scott Oke, Kevin Gagne, and Rimouski Oceanic in what could be a first round playoff preview.

Saint John, 19-30-1-0 and losers of six straight, are only five points ahead of the 16^th-place Sherbrooke Phoenix with a game in hand.

BOGO

Last week, the Sea Dogs announced they will be offering a BOGO ticket special.

Fans who purchase a ticket to the Feb. 7 Sea Dogs game versus the PEI Rocket and receive a voucher for a complimentary ticket to the Feb. 14 game against the Shawinigan Cataractes as well.

Fans who have already purchased tickets are also able to take advantage of the great offer. Anyone with a purchased ticket (offer not valid for complimentary tickets, ie. $0.00 value on ticket) can bring their game ticket to Sea Dog Central on Thursday, Feb. 7 and pick up a voucher that can be exchanged at the box office for a free ticket to the contest against the Cataractes.

If fans are unable to claim their voucher at Sea Dogs Central on Feb. 7, vouchers can be claimed with their Feb. 7 ticket at the Sea Dogs office up until 4:30 p.m. Feb. 14.

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 2, Cataractes 3

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

Our recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs salvaged a point in the final game of their three-game road trip.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). Frank Schumacher scored at 2:17 over overtime to lift the Shawingian Cataractes to a 3-2 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

Le Nouvelliste’s recap. Shawinigan won.

L’Echo de Shawinigan’s recap. Big two points for the Cataractes.

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

The Canadian Press’ recap. Frank Schumacher's first-career QMJHL goal came 2:43 into overtime and Marvin Cupper made 34 saves as the Cataractes (12-32-6) edged Saint John (19-30-1), which is winless in six games.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs and the Shawinigan Cataractes met for the second time this season in Saturday’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action as the Cataractes took the contest 3-2 in overtime.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Matthew Highmore (lower body), Michael Abbott (lower body), Brett Malone (personal reasons), and Steven Duda (healthy) on Saturday.

DONAGHEY: Forward Connor Donaghey returned to the Sea Dogs lineup on Saturday. He hadn’t played since January 12 due to a shoulder injury. He had one shot and was a -1 in the loss.

DELISLE-HOUDE: Alexandre Delisle-Houde scored his first QMJHL goal in the first period. It was a beauty as he showed some patience in front of the net and deked out Sebastien Auger. He was playing in just his third game with Shawinigan.

GLASS: A Mackenzie Brown hit 4:41 into the second period broke a piece of glass along the side boards. Both teams headed to the dressing room as arena workers made repairs. There was a 20-30 minute delay, causing this game to take nearly three hours to complete.

A piece of glass broke during warm-up of a Sea Dogs/Cataractes game last season at Centre Bionest and there was a significant delay to start that game. It would have made for some exciting TV if some glass broke at the Memorial Cup last year.

Charlie Coyle Gets The Call

The Minnesota Wild have called up Charlie Coyle.

The Boston Hockey Blog first reported the news and was later confirmed by Michael Russo of the Minnesota Star Tribune. “Coyle is on his way to Phoenix to likely make his NHL debut Monday against the Coyotes,” writes Russo.

The 20-year old forward is having a solid rookie campaign with the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros. He’s recorded 14 goals and 10 assists in 44 games this year.

Coyle left Boston University after the first half of 2011-12 season and joined the Sea Dogs following the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship. He made quite an impact with Saint John, registering 15 goals and 23 assists in 23 regular season games. He then scored 15 goals and added 19 helpers in 17 playoff games, earning him the QMJHL playoff MVP award.

The Sea Dogs were loaded with talent last year but Coyle really stood out. He seemed like he was the most pro ready player on the 2011-12 Saint John squad, and many predicted a year ago that he’d see some time in the NHL this year.

If he does play Friday for the Wild, he’ll join Yann Sauve, Simon Despres, Mike Hoffman, and Jonathan Huberdeau as former Sea Dogs to appear in a NHL game. Despres (Pittsburgh) and Huberdeau (Florida) have been playing in The Show since the lockout ended.

Best of luck to Sir Charles. Somewhere, a tear rolls down Jack Parker’s face.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation