GAME DAY
WHO: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Moncton Wildcats
WHEN: Today, 2:00 pm
WHERE: Moncton Coliseum
VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 30-5-0-2 (1st in Maritimes Division)
Last Game: 4-0 win vs Moncton Friday
Leading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (37GP-25G-33A-58Pts)
Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs enter play this evening with a record of 30-5-0-2 which is good for first in the Maritimes Division and second overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They are one point back of the Quebec Remparts for first overall in the league and have three games in hand over Patrick Roy’s club… in the last BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings, the Sea Dogs were ranked first… Saint John is coming off a 4-0 win over the Moncton Wildcats on Friday night at Harbour Station. Jonathan Huberdeau, Steven Anthony, Zack Phillips, and Kevin Gagne all scored for the winners who remain undefeated in regulation on home ice. Jacob DeSerres picked up his third shutout of the season with the victory… 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games and are coming off a win… 12-5-0-1 on the road this season with their last road loss coming on Thursday night in Bathurst. They have outscored their opposition 78-57 on the road this season… the Sea Dogs enter tonight’s tilt with the sixth best power play in the QMJHL with a rating of 23.9%. On the road, they are operating at 25%... Saint John’s penalty kill enters action today with a rating of 81.6% which places them fourth overall in the league. On the road, their penalty kill is running at just 77%... Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Sea Dogs in points this season with 58 in 37 games. He is second on the team in goals with 25, leads the team in assists with 33, and is a league best +35… Zack Phillips leads Saint John in goals with 26 on the season, his latest coming in Friday’s game against Moncton on a breakaway. He is third in league goal scoring… the newly acquired Alexandre Beauregard has a team high 87 penalty minutes between the Dogs and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. So far, he has served a minor penalty and a five minute major for fighting with Saint John… Phillips is tied for the league lead in power play goals with 12… Phillips is tied for second in game winning goals with six. Huberdeau is a close third with five… Michael Kirkpatrick is second in the league in dangerous shots taken with 105. Huberdeau is third with 95… if the goaltending rotation stays true, Frederic Piche will get the start in net although it may be tempting to start Jacob DeSerres. DeSerres relieved Piche in the second period of Thursday’s game and then recorded a shutout against the Wildcats yesterday. Piche still has solid numbers with a record of 13-2-0-2, a goals against average of 2.60, and a save percentage of 0.909. Piche has the QMJHL’s sixth best save percentage and sixth best GAA… the Sea Dogs are 3-0-0-0 against the Moncton so far this season and 1-0-0-0 at the Coliseum. They have outscored the ‘Cats 19-9 during that stretch… Tomas Jurco and Simon Despres will both miss today’s game due to their duties at the World Junior Hockey Championships.
Record: 20-15-1-3 (3rd in Maritimes Division)
Last Game: 4-0 loss at Saint John Friday
Leading Scorer: Alex Saulnier (39GP-17G-29A-46Pts)
Notes: The Moncton Wildcats come into this afternoon’s match with a record of 20-15-1-3 which places them third in the Maritimes Division and sit tenth overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Wildcats are 18 points back of the division leading Saint John Sea Dogs and four points back of the second place Acadie-Bathurst Titan… the Wildcats are coming off a 4-0 loss in Saint John on Friday night. The Sea Dogs were the better team for the majority of the match and Moncton had limited scoring chances. They were able to fire 28 shots on goal but could not beat Jacob DeSerres. Shane Owen suffered the loss in goal… 3-6-1-0 in their last 10 games… Moncton has hit a slide over the past couple of weeks. The ‘Cats have lost four straight games and have been shutout in two of them. They have been outscored 15-3 in those four loses… at the Moncton Coliseum this season, the defending QMJHL Champions are 9-6-1-2 and have outscored their opponents by the small margin of 65-61 along the way. 21 of the teams 44 points have come at the Coliseum… despite their lack of offense over the past few games, Moncton still has the league’s fifth best power play with a rating of 26.6%. At home, their man advantage percentage is 27.4… on the penalty kill side, the Wildcats are ranked eighth with a rating of 80.1%. At the Coliseum, they are killing off 79.2% of penalties… the Wildcats are averaging the eighth most penalty minutes per game with an average of 14.6… Allain Saulnier leads the Wildcats in scoring with 46 points on the year. His twin, Alex, is a close second with 45 points… Marek Hrivik is currently playing with Team Slovakia at the world juniors but still leads Moncton in goals scored with 18. Allain Saulnier and Daniel Pettersson are a close second with 17 markers each… Shane Owen will likely start in net for Moncton. This season, the former Ontario Hockey Leaguer has a record of 11-12-0-3, a save percentage of 0.911, and a save goals against average of 3.13… the Wildcats are 0-3-0-0 against the Sea Dogs this season… Milan leads all rookies in power play points with 14… Moncton is 16-4-0-1 when scoring first… Owen is third overall in the league in terms of saves with 829… the Wildcats are allowing a league high 33.77 shots per game.
RIVALRY CUP
This is Game Four of the 2010-11 Brunswick News Rivalry Cup. Saint John has a commanding 14-2 lead in the season long series.
Here is this years point system:
(1) Head-to-head on-ice results: Three (3) points awarded to a team for a regulation win, two (2) points awarded for an overtime/shootout victory, and one (1) point awarded for an overtime/shootout loss.According to yesterday’s Times & Transcript, over 4,500 tickets had been sold to this match as of Friday.
(2) Head-to-head attendance figure (per game): Three (3) points awarded for 6,000 fans, two (2) points for 5,000 fans, and one (1) point for 4,000 fans.
(3) EA Sports NHL 11 Fan/Player Video Game Challenge: Saint John and Moncton will each select one fan to participate in an online video game series (best two-out-of-three) using the virtual versions of the Sea Dogs and Wildcats. The winning fan will collect five (5) points for his team/city. In addition, the Sea Dogs and Wildcats will select one player from their current roster to compete in a single-game competition, with the winner set to earn three (3) points for his side. More details regarding this portion of the challenge will be announced at a later date.
FLYING SOLO
The New Year’s Eve game between these two on Friday and today’s match are the only QMJHL games being played this weekend.
COMMENTS
Wildcats head coach Danny Flynn in Saturday’s Times & Transcript on today’s game:
"We have to work on our execution (when we play them tomorrow) and staying out of the penalty box.
"Our puck movement and our decisions with the puck are things that we have to strive to make improvements. We're playing hard and our guys care a lot. You can never question the work ethic of this team."
Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant:
"We know it's going to be a tough game in their building on Sunday.
"There's never an easy game against them.
"We've got a lot of guys back from our team that went to the league final last season. I'm expecting us to win most nights when we play the way we can."
SEASON ONE
As part of the Wildcats' 15th anniversary celebrations, a video tribute to their first season in Moncton was created:
ARENA INFO
Venue: Moncton Coliseum
Seating Capacity: 6,803
Average Attendance: 4,229
Year Built: 1973
QMJHL Arena Guide
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Live Blog: Station Nation
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, L’Acadie Nouvelle, Tomes & Transcript, Telegraph-Journal
Follow Station Nation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/station_nation for in-game updates, scores, stats, and live coverage during tonight’s game.
AFTER THE BUZZER
The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan Tuesday night at Harbour Station.
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