LIVE BLOG: Sea Dogs vs Rocket

GAMEDAY 27 - at PEI

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket

Tonight, November 18, 2011 at 7pm

Charlottetown Civic Centre

PREVIEW

CHARLOTTETOWN – Winners of six straight, the Saint John Sea Dogs open up a road stretch this evening against the PEI Rocket. Game time is 7pm at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

Tonight’s game kicks of a stretch that will see the Sea Dogs play three road games in five days. After tonight’s tilt, the Dogs play in Bathurst on Sunday and in Quebec City this Tuesday.

Saint John enters play this evening with a 20-6-0-0 record, good for first in the Maritimes Division and top spot in the entire Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They are three points up on the second-place Quebec Remparts.

The Sea Dogs haven’t been playing their best the past few games but are still winning. They have won six straight and are 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 games.

On the road, Saint John is 8-5-0-0 and have outscored their opponents 52-45. Their last road contest was one week ago tonight in Charlottetown when they defeated the Rocket 7-3. The Dogs will be looking for a repeat performance this evening.

The Rocket sit last in the entire QMJHL with a record of 6-17-2-1. They have 15 points on the year and sit one-point back of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for the final playoff spot.

PEI has lost five straight going into tonight and are a woeful 2-7-1-0 in their past 10 games.

At the CCC this season, the Rocket are 3-6-2-1 and have been outscored 51-42.

This is the third meeting of the season between Saint John and PEI. The Sea Dogs have won all three by scores of 5-3, 10-3, and 7-3.

The World Juniors Theme Song

With the World Juniors being held in Canada this year, we knew something like this would come along eventually.

Here’s the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championships theme song, “I Was There,” by Paul Brandt.

Paul Brandt - I Was There by Calgary Herald

We can't wait for the alternate version featuring all of Pierre McGuire's sound bites from over the years.

This song makes us wonder: whatever happened to the ‘Sea Dogs Are Ready to Play’ song? 

POSTSCRIPT: Huskies 3, Sea Dogs 4

A collection of recaps from last night’s 4-3 Saint John Sea Dogs win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies…

Our recap. Saint John had their struggles offensively, but luckily their power play clicked when they needed it most.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap. "They worked harder than we did for most of the game,'' Charles-Olivier Roussel said. "We have to work harder, it's as simple as that. It's going to cost us games if we continue like that.''

The Canadian Press’ recap. Zack Phillips had two goals and Gauthier scored his league-leading 23rd goal and added two assists for the Sea Dogs (20-6-0), who have won six straight games overall and nine of their last 10.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The announced crowd of 4,227 fans cheered Saint John to their 12th straight home win, which was tougher than the standings might have predicted.

SN Live Blog replay. Saint John’s power play came up big.

MISSING IN ACTION: The Sea Dogs were without Jonathan Huberdeau, Stanislav Galiev, and Ryan Tesink once again due to injuries. Tyrone Sock and Devon Oliver-Dares are currently not with the team.

WIN STREAK: With the victory, Saint John extended their win streak to six games. They also extended their home winning streak to 12 games with their only loss coming in the season opener against the Moncton Wildcats.

RECAP: Win Is A Win. Dogs Win 4-3.

FINAL: Rouyn-Noranda 3, Saint John 4

SAINT JOHN – It wasn’t pretty, but the Saint John Sea Dogs escaped with a 4-3 win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Wednesday night at Harbour Station.

The Huskies, who entered action in 16^th place in the league, battled with the Sea Dogs up until the final horn. They managed to outshoot Saint John 30-29 but were not able to outscore them on this night.

Saint John had their struggles offensively, but luckily their power play clicked when they needed it most. The Sea Dogs went two-for-two on the man advantage with one of those goals being the game-winner.

The big dogs stepped up with the offense struggling as Zack Phillips netted a pair, Charles-Olivier Roussel registered the winner and Danick Gauthier scored his league-leading 23^rd goal of the season. Mathieu Corbeil was solid in net for Saint John, making 27 saves for the win.

The Sea Dogs were once again without three of their top forwards in Ryan Tesink, Jonathan Huberdeau and Stanislav Galiev. Tesink could play Friday in Prince Edward Island while Huberdeau and Galiev will still be out for a little while yet.

Although it was ugly in many ways, the Sea Dogs will take any win they can get with this depleted lineup.

Rouyn-Noranda had two goals from Mathieu Brisebois and a solo marker from Mathieu Lemay. Robin Gusse allowed four goals on 29 shots in the loss. The Huskies went zero-for-two on the power play.

Sea Dogs Ranked 2nd Again

Once again this week, the Saint John Sea Dogs are second in the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings. The latest edition of the rankings were released this afternoon.

The Sea Dogs had a busy weekend, playing three games in three nights. Saint John defeated the PEI Rocket 7-3 on Friday, the Halifax Mooseheads 4-3 on Saturday and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 5-3 on Sunday. Friday’s match was played on the road.

Saint John now sits atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League standings with a record of 19-6-0-0 record.

Other QMJHL teams to crack this week’s top 10 were the Quebec Remparts at No. 4, Shawinigan Cataractes are No. 9 and the Victoriaville Tigres at No. 10.

Jacques Beaulieu and the Sarnia Sting were ranked fifth.

The weekly rankings of the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 teams are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.

Here are the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings for week nine:

1. London Knights (16-3-0-1)
2. Saint John Sea Dogs (19-6-0-0)
3. Tri-City Americans (15-5-0-0)
4. Quebec Remparts (16-4-2-1)
5. Sarnia Sting (13-3-1-3)
6. Saskatoon Blades (15-6-0-1)
7. Red Deer Rebels (14-4-0-2)
8. Plymouth Whalers (13-6-2-1)
9. Shawinigan Cataractes (16-7-1-2)
10. Victoriaville Tigres (16-8-0-1) 

Honourable Mention:
Medicine Hat Tigers (14-6-1-1)
Ottawa 67's (12-6-2-1)
Brandon Wheat Kings (14-6-1-1)

In Buzzing The Net’s Dynamic Dozen this week, the Sea Dogs were ranked second behind the Remparts.

Saint John has a tough week ahead with four games on the schedule. Tonight, they host the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies before hitting the road. They play in PEI on Friday, in Bathurst on Sunday and in Quebec City on Tuesday.

The Remparts – Sea Dogs match next Tuesday should be a dandy. 

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation