PRE-GAME: Game Four at MAINEiacs

GAME DAY

Game Four, Round Three – President’s Cup Playoffs

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Lewiston MAINEiacs

Tonight, April 27, 2011 at 8:00 pm

Androscoggin Bank Colisee

PREVIEW

LEWISTON, Me. – It’s do or die for the Lewiston Maineiacs tonight at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

The Maineiacs are down three-games-to-none in their best-of-seven semifinal playoff series against the Saint John Sea Dogs. If they are unable to pull off a victory tonight, their season will come to an end.

Lewiston played well last night and had control of the game quite a bit. But when they gave the Sea Dogs chances, they would capitalize. When Lewiston had opportunities, goaltender Mathieu Corbeil was there to make the stop.

The Maineiacs have kept all of the games failry close despite Saint John being up 3-0. They blew a two-goal third period lead in Game One and fell in overtime. In Game Two, the Sea Dogs won the match thanks to a five-minute power play. Then in Game Three, a quick start in the second period was all Saint John would need.

In last night’s game, Jonathan Huberdeau, Tomas Jurco, Ryan Tesink, Mike Thomas, and Stanislav Galiev all scored. Mathieu Corbeil was excellent in goal and made 28 saves for the win.

Kirill Kabanov and Christophe Lalonde scored for Lewiston. Nicholas Champion allowed four goals on 22 shots through 40 minutes. Andrey Makarov came in in relief and stopped all seven shots he faced.

The Maineiacs should come out flying this evening with their season on the line. They had a pretty good start last night as well but the Sea Dogs were able to weather that storm and eventually pull ahead with some quick second period goals.

Saint John will also want to try and stay out of the box. The Dogs took three penalties in the third period alone and gave Lewiston a total of seven power plays on the night. Although they have yet to allow a man advantage goal against on the road in the post-season, that will likely catch up with them eventually.

If Lewiston wins, there will be a Game Five on Friday at Harbour Station. A Saint John win, and it’s off to the President’s Cup Finals for the second straight year.

REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

	Lewiston	Saint John
Record	40-24-1-3 (2nd East)	58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	32-0-1-1
Road Record	19-12-0-3	- - -
Streak	2-0-0-0	2-0-0-0
Last 10	4-4-1-1	8-2-0-0
Goals For	265	324
Goals Against	223	165
Goals/Game	3.90 (3rd)	4.76 (1st)
Goals Against/Game	3.28 (10th)	2.43 (1st)
Shots/Game	36.81 (1st)	36.81 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	26.96 (5th)	26.96 (5th)
Overall PP	17.4% (13th)	25.1% (6th)
Home PP	- - -	24.4% (8th)
Road PP	17.7% (13th)	- - -
Overall PK	80.4% (6th)	83.7% (1st)
Home PK	- - -	86.1% (1st)
Road PK	80.1% (7th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	17.7 (1st)	13.1 (13th)

SERIES SCHEDULE/RESULTS
GAME ONE – Lewiston 4, Saint John 5 (OT)
GAME TWO – Lewiston 1, Saint John 4
GAME THREE – Saint John 5, Lewiston 2
GAME FOUR – Wednesday, April 27: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
*GAME FIVE – Friday, April 29: 7:30 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*GAME SIX – Sunday, May 1: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
*GAME SEVEN – Tuesday, May 3: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*If Necessary

EXPECTED GOALTENDERS
Yesterday we wondered who would start in goal for Saint John. Today, it’s Lewiston’s turn.

He carried the Maineiacs to the semifinals, but goaltender Nicholas Champion has been pulled in both of his last two games after giving up four goals in each.

“I am going to sleep on this one and we will make a decision game-time tomorrow,” said Maineiacs head coach JF Houle to the Maine Hockey Journal. “I was really pleased with Makarov, but Nick Champion brought us to the semifinals. He has played very well for us.”

Champion has a record of 8-3-3-0 in the post-season with a goals against average of 2.97 and save percentage of 0.908. Rookie Andrey Makarov has yet to allow a goal in 47:28 of action.

Saint John will likely start Mathieu Corbeil who has been a major factor in this series. The 19-year old is 4-0-0-0 in the playoffs with a GAA of 0.94 and save percentage of 0.961.

LEWISTON LINEUP NOTES
Also from the Maine Hockey Journal:

Michael Chaput and Olivier-Dame Malka are game-time decisions for tomorrow game. Malka left tonight’s game after a knee-on-knee collision with Danick Gauthier.

Chaput, the team’s leading scoring in the playoffs, is listed as “day-to-day.”

“Michael Chaput (concussion) did not play Tuesday and not expected to play tonight for Lewiston vs. Saint John in QMJHL semis,” tweeted Columbus Dispatch reporter Aaron Portzline this afternoon.

LEADING THE WAY
Point leaders in this series:

Saint John
Stanislav Galiev: 2G – 2A
Steven Anthony: 1G – 3A
Zack Phillips: 0G – 4A
Jonathan Huberdeau: 2G – 1A

Lewiston
Samuel Carrier: 0G – 4A
Kirill Kabanov: 3G – 0A
Jess Tanguy: 1G – 1A
Michael Chaput: 0G – 2A

SPECIAL TEAMS
From the Maineiacs newsletter:

The Saint John penalty killing unit held the MAINEiacs scoreless last night on seven power play opportunities. After lighting the lamp eleven times on the man advantage in round two against Montreal, Lewiston has been limited to just one power play goal in 16 chances against the Sea Dogs. With their performance in this series thus far, Saint John has now killed off 60 of 64 opposition power plays in 12 playoff games, giving them a 93.8% success rate.

CLOSING IT OUT
The Sea Dogs can go for the sweep tonight, something they have done just three times in the history of the franchise.

Saint John swept the PEI Rocket in Round One of the 2008 playoffs, swept the Gatineau Olympiques in Round Two of the 2010 playoffs, and just recently swept the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in Round One.

When leading a series 3-0, the Sea Dogs are 3-0 in Game Four matches.

OTHER GAMES TONIGHT
Quebec at Gatineau - 7:30 PM EDT
The Remparts lead the series 2-1.

THE RINK
Venue: Androscoggin Bank Colisee
Capacity: 3,675
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 2,001
Playoff Average Attendance: 1,680
QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Lewiston Sun Journal, Maine Hockey Journal
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) or follow the Live Blog on this site for live coverage of tonight’s game.

AFTER THE BUZZER
If Lewiston wins, Game Five will be Friday at 7:30 pm at Harbour Station. If Saint John wins, the President’s Cup Finals (!) will likely begin Friday, May 7 at the Station.

Photo Credits: Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Google

PRE-GAME: Game Three at MAINEiacs

GAME DAY

Game Three, Round Three – President’s Cup Playoffs

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Lewiston MAINEiacs

Tonight, April 26, 2011 at 8:00 pm

Androscoggin Bank Colisee

PREVIEW

LEWISTON, Me. – The semifinal playoff series between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Lewiston Maineiacs shifts to the United States if America this evening for Game Three. The Sea Dogs currently lead the best-of-seven matchup 2-0.

A Sea Dogs win will give them a stranglehold on the series while a Maineiacs victory will make things little bit more interesting. The winner of this game could carry a lot of the momentum moving forward.

Saint John battled back to take Game One by score of 5-4 in overtime on Friday at Harbour Station. Game Two was a much better game for the Sea Dogs as they beat the visitors 4-1 thanks in most part to three goals on the same power play.

The Sea Dogs played a solid game on Saturday and they will look for a similar outing tonight. The top-ranked team in Canada sat back a little bit in the third period of Game Two, but the first two periods were typical Sea Dogs hockey.

Lewiston hasn’t played horribly in this series and they certainly have the ability to comeback from two games down. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s lone American franchise had the Sea Dogs on the ropes in Game One but weren’t able to pull it off. They didn’t play all that bad in Game Two, either, but their penalty woes got them in trouble.

Now on home ice, the Maineiacs will look to do what they have done once already this season – defeat the Sea Dogs at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Back on December 10, the Maineiacs beat Saint John 5-2 to give the Dogs one of their seven regulation loses all season.

The Maineiacs are 5-1-0-0 at the ABC during the post-season and have outscored their opposition 21-11. In the regular season, the team was 21-12-1-0 on home ice and outscored their opponents 142-107.

So far in the playoffs, Saint John is a perfect 5-0-0-0 on the road and have outscored their opponents 23-10.

Game Four of the series is tomorrow night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee while Game Five, if needed, would be on Friday at Harbour Station.

REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

	Lewiston	Saint John
Record	40-24-1-3 (2nd East)	58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	32-0-1-1
Road Record	19-12-0-3	- - -
Streak	2-0-0-0	2-0-0-0
Last 10	4-4-1-1	8-2-0-0
Goals For	265	324
Goals Against	223	165
Goals/Game	3.90 (3rd)	4.76 (1st)
Goals Against/Game	3.28 (10th)	2.43 (1st)
Shots/Game	36.81 (1st)	36.81 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	26.96 (5th)	26.96 (5th)
Overall PP	17.4% (13th)	25.1% (6th)
Home PP	- - -	24.4% (8th)
Road PP	17.7% (13th)	- - -
Overall PK	80.4% (6th)	83.7% (1st)
Home PK	- - -	86.1% (1st)
Road PK	80.1% (7th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	17.7 (1st)	13.1 (13th)

SERIES SCHEDULE/RESULTS
GAME ONE – Lewiston 4, Saint John 5 (OT)
GAME TWO – Lewiston 1, Saint John 4
GAME THREE – Tuesday, April 26: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
GAME FOUR – Wednesday, April 27: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
*GAME FIVE – Friday, April 29: 7:30 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*GAME SIX – Sunday, May 1: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
*GAME SEVEN – Tuesday, May 3: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*If Necessary

EXPECTED GOALTENDERS
One of the big questions going into Game Three: who will start in goal for Saint John.

Will the Sea Dogs stay with the hot hand and go with Mathieu Corbeil or will they go back to the experienced Jacob DeSerres who has played the majority of the team’s playoff games?

"There's a good chance I'm going to start with (Corbeil on Tuesday), but I haven't talked to my goalies yet," Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said to the Lewiston Sun Journal. "All season long I've been rotating goalies, and I've tried to be fair with them game in and game out ... I pulled (DeSerres) out of there, not because he played bad, but to try and spark the team, and then (Corbeil) comes in and stands on his head and lets only one goal in the next 70 or 75 minutes."

In the playoffs, DeSerres is 7-1-0-0 with a 2.14 GAA and a 0.910 save percentage. Corbeil is 3-0-0-0 with a 0.46 GAA and a save percentage of 0.978%.

Nicholas Champion was pulled from the Maineiacs' crease after the Sea Dogs made it 4-0 on Saturday. There wasn’t much he could do, though, given that his team played shorthanded for much of the game.

LEWISTON LINEUP
A couple of lineup notes for the Maineiacs. According to the Sun Journal, Samuel Finn and Michael Chaput are both day-to-day.

Meanwhile, Olivier Dame-Malka, the player who hit Jonathan Huberdeau from behind in Game Two, has not been suspended by the QMJHL. Malka was given a game misconduct and five-minute major for his actions. Huberdeau would be okay and returned a few minutes later.

AN EXTRA BODY
The Maine Hokey Journal reports that the Maineiacs called up goaltender Nathan Kelly to be an extra body in practice.

“Nathan Kelly is a real good guy and fun to be around,” Maineiacs head coach JF Houle said to the MHJ. “He wanted to spend sometime around the team, so it’s nice to have him.”

THE RUSSIANS
Good article in the Telegraph-Journal today on the relationship between fellow Russian forwards Stanislav Galiev of the Sea Dogs and Kirill Kabanov of the Maineiacs.

"He's my good friend,'' Kabanov said of Galiev. "I've known him since childhood, since I was about six years old. He was always good.

Speaking of Kabanov, he has been hot of late. From the team’s newsletter:

Lewiston's Kirill Kabanov had a slow start to the postseason, as he was held scoreless in the club's first three games against Moncton. Since then, the 18-year old forward has been anything but quiet, recording 18 points (7g, 11a) in ten games. Kabanov's ten-game point streak is the longest active streak in the QMJHL, and is one game away from tying Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Frederick Roy for the longest streaks during the 2011 playoffs.

PAYING TRIBUTE
We’ve seen a lot of on-ice pre-game ceremonies this season. But this is definitely a first. From the team’s newsletter:

The Lewiston MAINEiacs are proud to honor Ms. Doris Makas, the oldest season ticket holder in the Canadian Hockey League tonight.

Ms. Makas, age 100, will drop the ceremonial puck prior to Game 3 of the series between the MAINEiacs and Saint John Sea Dogs at 7:00 PM.

Ms. Makas has been a season ticket holder with the MAINEiacs since the inaugural season of the Lewiston franchise in 2003-04.

She is seen in the first row of Section 12 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, in the accompaniment of her daughter, Elaine night after night, and year after year.

The MAINEiacs are truly honored and privledged for the tremendous support of people like Ms. Makas and hundreds of other loyal season ticket holders just like her!

Please come early to tonight's game, and help us honor at true hockey matriarch!

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS


OTHER GAMES TONIGHT
Quebec at Gatineau - 7:30 PM EDT
The series is tied at 1-1.

THE RINK
Venue: Androscoggin Bank Colisee
Capacity: 3,675
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 2,001
Playoff Average Attendance: 1,743
QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Lewiston Sun Journal, Maine Hockey Journal
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) or follow the Live Blog on this site for live coverage of tonight’s game.

AFTER THE BUZZER
Game Four of the series is tomorrow night at 8:00 pm at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

Photo Credits: Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Roaming The Rinks

PRE-GAME: Game Two vs MAINEiacs

GAME DAY

Game Two, Round Three – President’s Cup Playoffs

Lewiston MAINEiacs vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight, April 23, 2011 at 7:00 pm

Harbour Station

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – After a thrilling Game One, the Saint John Sea Dogs and Lewiston MAINEiacs meet again this evening at Harbour Station for Game Two of their semifinal playoff series. Game time is 7:00 pm.

The Sea Dogs escaped with a 5-4 overtime win last night thanks to an epic third period comeback. Down 4-2 with less than six minutes to play Nathan Beaulieu and Tomas Jurco went into beast mode by scoring clutch goals to send the match into overtime. In the extra frame, Simon Despres setup Stephen MacAulay with an unreal pass through the crease to give Saint John the Game One victory.

Along with MacAulay, Jurco, and Beaulieu, Pierre Durepos and Steven Anthony scored single markers. Lewiston had goals from Matthew Bissonnette, Jess Tanguy, Kirill Kabanov, and Antoine Houde-Caron.

The game was a bit of a mess. Both teams had their chances and both teams had their mistakes.

For Saint John, they got outplayed for the most part in the second period and parts of the third frame. They definitely didn’t play a 60-minute game and looked a little disoriented at times with some of their plays. But today is a new day, and the Sea Dogs will look to pull it all together and take a 2-0 series lead this evening.

The Sea Dogs’ coaching staff pulled goaltender Jacob DeSerres and replaced him with Mathieu Corbeil during the third period media timeout. DeSerres didn’t play horribly, but the move seemed to spark Saint John a bit as they netted two goals following the replacement. Corbeil looked a little cold at times but also made some big saves.

Nicholas Champion was pretty solid in the Maineiacs net, allowing five goals on 31 shots. But there is no escaping his third period error when he came out to play the puck, giving it away to Tomas Jurco who had an open net to tie the game at 4-4.

Lewiston probably won’t be too worried after dropping last night’s game as they lost the opening game of both their first round and second round series. They know what it takes to comeback in a series.

The series shifts to Lewiston for Games Three and Four, making today’s game rather large for both teams.

Just remember, this is the playoffs, where anything can happen.

REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

	Lewiston	Saint John
Record	40-24-1-3 (2nd East)	58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	32-0-1-1
Road Record	19-12-0-3	- - -
Streak	2-0-0-0	2-0-0-0
Last 10	4-4-1-1	8-2-0-0
Goals For	265	324
Goals Against	223	165
Goals/Game	3.90 (3rd)	4.76 (1st)
Goals Against/Game	3.28 (10th)	2.43 (1st)
Shots/Game	36.81 (1st)	36.81 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	26.96 (5th)	26.96 (5th)
Overall PP	17.4% (13th)	25.1% (6th)
Home PP	- - -	24.4% (8th)
Road PP	17.7% (13th)	- - -
Overall PK	80.4% (6th)	83.7% (1st)
Home PK	- - -	86.1% (1st)
Road PK	80.1% (7th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	17.7 (1st)	13.1 (13th)

SERIES SCHEDULE/RESULTS
GAME ONE – Lewiston 4, Saint John 5 (OT)
GAME TWO – Saturday, April 23: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
GAME THREE – Tuesday, April 26: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
GAME FOUR – Wednesday, April 27: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
*GAME FIVE – Friday, April 29: 7:30 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*GAME SIX – Sunday, May 1: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
*GAME SEVEN – Tuesday, May 3: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*If Necessary

EXPECTED GOALTENDERS
For Saint John, Jacob DeSerres will likely get the call in goal. DeSerres had a record of 27-3-0-0 in the regular season with a 2.22 goals against average and a 0.916 save percentage. In the playoffs, he is 7-1-0-0 with a 2.14 GAA and a 0.910 save percentage.

For Lewiston, Nicholas Champion. The former Acadie-Bathurst Titan had a record of 27-11-0-2 in the regular season to along with a 2.83 goals against average and a 0.897 save percentage. In the playoffs, he has a record of 8-1-3-0 with a 2.62 GAA and a 0.916 save percentage.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS



WINNING THE FIRST ONE
The good news for the Sea Dogs – they have never lost a playoff series after winning the first game.

Playoff series where they have won the first game:

2008 round one vs PEI - 4-0 series win
2008 round two vs Bathurst - 4-2 series win
2010 round one vs PEI - 4-1 series win
2010 round two vs Gatineau - 4-0 series win
2010 round three vs Victoriaville - 4-2 series win

LOSING THE FIRST ONE
The Maineiacs lost the first game of the series. Big deal.

Lewiston lost Game One of round one against Moncton by score of 4-1 but went on to win the next four games to take then series. Then in Game One of the second round in Montreal, the Maineiacs lost 6-5 in overtime but eventually took the series in six games.

Of note, Lewiston won Game Two of each of those series.

ON A ROLL
If this was the regular season, the Maineiacs would be on quite a roll right now. Unfortunately for them, overtime loses don’t gain you points in the post-season.

Since their Game One loss in the first round, Lewiston has not lost a game in regulation. Their two loses in the Montreal series and their loss last night were both in extra time, meaning they are on a 8-0-3-0 run.

OTHER GAMES TONIGHT
Gatineau at Quebec - 7:00 PM EDT

THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 4,478
Playoff Average Attendance: 4,716
QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Lewiston Sun Journal, Maine Hockey Journal
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) or follow the Live Blog on this site for live coverage of tonight’s game.

AFTER THE BUZZER
Game Three of the series shifts to Lewiston on Tuesday. Game time is 8:00 pm at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation, La Nouvelle Union

PRE-GAME: Game One vs MAINEiacs

GAME DAY

Game One, Round Three – President’s Cup Playoffs

Lewiston MAINEiacs vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight, April 22, 2011 at 7:30 pm

Harbour Station

PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN – It’s the playoffs. Anything can happen.

The Lewiston Maineiacs are hoping that old cliché proves to be true beginning tonight as they take on the Saint John Sea Dogs in the first game of the best-of-seven Quebec Major Junior Hockey League semifinal.

The Maineiacs have been a nice story so far in the 2011 President’s Cup Playoffs. They grinded out a 4-1 series win over the Moncton Wildcats in the first round and then upset the No. 2 seeded Montreal Junior in six games in the quarter-final. Now, the road to the cup gets even harder for the club as they must go through the top-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League.

"They're the No. 1 team in Canada and they deserve to be,” Maineiacs head coach JF Houle told the Lewiston Sun Journal about the Sea Dogs. “They've played well all year. We're going to have to pull out our best games here in order to compete with them."

Not many people expected to see Lewiston in the semifinals after entering the playoffs as the eighth-seeded team. But as the cliché goes, the Maineiacs have "nothing to lose" in this series as the underdog.

“You feel no pressure,” said Michael Chaput to the Maine Hockey Journal. “Everyone expects Saint John to win obviously, just like they expected to Montreal to win. We just need to go out there like it’s our last chance to win hockey games. We are underdogs. We are supposed to lose. The whole league knows it. We feel no pressure and I think it’s easier to play like that.”

Saint John has had an easier ride through the playoffs – but that doesn’t mean they haven’ had some challenges. After destroying the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in round one, the Dogs took on the defensively strong Victoriaville Tigres. Saint John battled hard to break through the defense and goaltender David Honzik, eventually pulling off a 4-1 series win.

But this series should have a different taste to it. Like Saint John, Lewiston is offensively strong and should make for some entertaining back-and-forth playoff hockey.

The winner of this game will carry the momentum over into tomorrow’s Game Two. The series then shifts to Lewiston for Games Three and Four.

REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

	Lewiston	Saint John
Record	40-24-1-3 (2nd East)	58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	32-0-1-1
Road Record	19-12-0-3	- - -
Streak	2-0-0-0	2-0-0-0
Last 10	4-4-1-1	8-2-0-0
Goals For	265	324
Goals Against	223	165
Goals/Game	3.90 (3rd)	4.76 (1st)
Goals Against/Game	3.28 (10th)	2.43 (1st)
Shots/Game	36.81 (1st)	36.81 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	26.96 (5th)	26.96 (5th)
Overall PP	17.4% (13th)	25.1% (6th)
Home PP	- - -	24.4% (8th)
Road PP	17.7% (13th)	- - -
Overall PK	80.4% (6th)	83.7% (1st)
Home PK	- - -	86.1% (1st)
Road PK	80.1% (7th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	17.7 (1st)	13.1 (13th)

PLAYOFF NUMBERS

	Lewiston	Saint John
Record	8-3-0-0 (2nd East)	8-1-0-0 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	3-1-0-0
Road Record	3-2-0-0	- - -
Streak	8-0-2-0	3-0-0-0
Last 10	8-0-2-0	8-1-0-0
Goals For	44	46
Goals Against	29	15
Goals/Game	4.00 (3rd)	5.11 (2nd)
Goals Against/Game	2.64 (4th)	1.67 (1st)
Shots/Game	30.91 (8th)	41.44 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	32.82 (8th)	23.22 (1st)
Overall PP	27.1 (5th)	33.3% (3rd)
Home PP	- - -	45.5% (2nd)
Road PP	32.4% (6th)	- - -
Overall PK	87.3 (3rd)	93.8% (1st)
Home PK	- - -	87.0 (5th)
Road PK	79.2% (6th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	16.9 (3rd)	16.0 (7th)

SERIES SCHEDULE/RESULTS
GAME ONE – Friday, April 22: 7:30 p.m. @ Harbour Station
GAME TWO – Saturday, April 23: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
GAME THREE – Tuesday, April 26: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
GAME FOUR – Wednesday, April 27: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
*GAME FIVE – Friday, April 29: 7:30 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*GAME SIX – Sunday, May 1: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
*GAME SEVEN – Tuesday, May 3: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*If Necessary

EXPECTED GOALTENDERS
For Saint John, Jacob DeSerres will likely get the call in goal. DeSerres had a record of 27-3-0-0 in the regular season with a 2.22 goals against average and a 0.916 save percentage. In eight playoff games, the 20-year old has a 7-1-0-0 record, 1.87 GAA, and a save percentage of 0.923.

For Lewiston, Nicholas Champion. The former Acadie-Bathurst Titan had a record of 27-11-0-2 in the regular season to along with a 2.83 goals against average and a 0.897 save percentage. In the post-season, Champion is 8-1-2-0 with a GAA of 2.42 and a save percentage of 0.922.

BRING THE POWER
Saint John scored 324 goals during the regular season while Lewiston notched 265. The Sea Dogs have a 100-point scorer while the Maineiacs have a 50-goal getter. All of this adds up to a lot of firepower for one playoff series.

“You prepare the same as usual,” said Maineiacs goaltender Nicolas Champion said to the Maine Hockey Journal on facing a skilled offensive team. “I know I am going to be facing some shots and that could be good for a goaltender to see. You can get into it and really get into that zone. That’s what I am looking to do.”

"Lewiston is a real strong transition team and they go to the net real well," said Sea Dogs associate coach and director of hockey operations Mike Kelly to the Times & Transcript. "They like to create a lot of offence and they go to the tough areas to score goals. We're going to have to be on top of our game against them.

"Their power play is working well and they're playing disciplined. They're a gritty team that plays hard and sticks together as a group. It's going to take a solid game and gritty effort to beat them."

BATTLE OF THE IMPORT DRAFT
Only a few times have Kirill Kabanov, Stanislav Galiev, and Tomas Jurco been on the same ice surface for a QMJHL game. But now, it appears the three will play at least four games with each other.

The three players were the top three QMJHL selections in the 2009 CHL Import Draft. Saint John selected Galiev first overall, Jurco fourth overall, and Kabanov went seventh overall to the Moncton Wildcats. The ‘Cats traded the Russian forward to Lewiston this past fall.

THE SAME THING
Both Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant and Maineiacs head coach JF Houle are pretty much saying the same thing – both teams are offensively dangerous, like to skate, and need to limit defensive mistakes.

"I think we match up well," Houle said to the Lewiston Sun Journal. "I'm sure if you ask their coach, he'll say that Lewiston is one of the teams that can skate with them. We're a skating team, and we're very similar to them. I think their high skill is probably more skilled than us, but if we play physical and move our feet, then we have a chance. The players in this locker room believe it, the coaching staff believes it and even though we're the underdogs, hard work goes a long way."

LAST NIGHT
From Maineiacs play-by-play man DJ Abisalih in the team's newsletter:

For dinner last night, the team enjoyed steak dinners at a local sports grill named "Rocky's" before retreating to their hotel rooms to watch a game that I would be glad to talk about this week! Of course, that was the Boston Bruins' 5-4 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens, in what is shaping up to be another classic series between two phenomenal rivals.

OTHER GAMES TONIGHT
Gatineau at Quebec - 7:00 PM EDT

THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 4,478
Playoff Average Attendance: 4,455
QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Lewiston Sun Journal, Maine Hockey Journal
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) or follow the Live Blog on this site for live coverage of tonight’s game.

AFTER THE BUZZER
Game Two of the semifinal series between the Sea Dogs and Maineiacs is tomorrow night at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.

Photo Credits: Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Marc Henwood/Station Nation, David Connell Web Album, La Nouvelle Union

PRE-GAME: Game Five at Victoriaville Tigres

GAME DAY

President’s Cup Playoffs - Round 2, Game 5

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Victoriaville Tigres

Tonight, April 15, 2011 at 8:00 pm

Colisee Desjardins

SERIES STATUS
The top-seeded Saint John Sea Dogs currently lead the 11th-seeded Victoriaville Tigres 3-1 in the best-of-seven quarter-final playoff series.

PREVIEW
VICTORIAVILLE, Que. – The Saint John Sea Dogs can book their trip to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League semi-finals with a win tonight in Game Five of their quarter-final series against the Victoriaville Tigres.

Saint John currently leads the series 3-1 following an entertaining 5-4 overtime victory in Game Four on Wednesday at Colisee Desjardins. The Tigres scored first but the Sea Dogs quickly took a 2-1 lead. The rest of the match would be back-and-forth with Victoriaville always finding a way to even the game up.

Despite a resilient effort, Jonathan Huberdeau ended any chances of a Victoriaville win when he tapped home a Stanislav Galiev rebound to give the Dogs an extra time win. Also scoring for Saint John was Jason Cameron, Eric Gelinas, Stephan MacAulay, and Tomas Jurco. The Tigres had markers from Phillip Danault, Benjamin Laliberte, Philippe Maillet, and Brandon Hynes.

Both goaltenders were excellent as they have been all series long. Jacob DeSerres made 24 saves for the win while 17-year old import David Honzik made 39 stops in the loss.

The Tigres will likely come out flying tonight as they have for much of the series. Saint John will have to match their intensity level and play a solid game. One of the issues in Game Four was that the Sea Dogs continued to let Victoriaville get back in the match and never took a two-goal lead at any point.

"They're not going to lay down and our team will be ready to play and hopefully wrap it up, but it won't be easy," Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said to Sportsnet.ca. "It will be the toughest one."

It has been a hard fought series with two of the four games being decided by one goal. Whatever it is that Victoriaville is doing – it’s working. After sweeping the sixth-seeded Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the first round, the 11th-seeded Tigres are have done extremely well against the nation’s top-ranked team.

If the Sea Dogs are unable to end this series tonight, Game Six is Monday at Harbour Station.

REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

	Victoriaville	Saint John
Record	35-29-1-3 (3rd East)	58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	32-0-1-1
Road Record	19-13-1-1	- - -
Streak	0-3-0-0	2-0-0-0
Last 10	5-5-0-0	8-2-0-0
Goals For	256	324
Goals Against	240	165
Goals/Game	3.76 (6th)	4.76 (1st)
Goals Against/Game	3.53 (12th)	2.43 (1st)
Shots/Game	31.16 (6th)	36.81 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	30.24 (10th)	26.96 (5th)
Overall PP	22.1% (11th)	25.1% (6th)
Home PP	- - -	24.4% (8th)
Road PP	25.4% (6th)	- - -
Overall PK	75.0% (16th)	83.7% (1st)
Home PK	- - -	86.1% (1st)
Road PK	75.9% (14th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	14.0 (11th)	13.1 (13th)

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game One – Tigres 1, Sea Dogs 4
Game Two – Tigres 3, Sea Dogs 3
Game Three – Sea Dogs 6, Tigres 3
Game Four – Sea Dogs 5, Tigres 4 (OT)
Game Five - Friday, April 15, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
*Game Six – Monday, April 18 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station
*Game Seven – Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station

*if necessary

ABOUT HONZIK
The human stop sign, David Honzik, has been Victoriaville’s best player so far in the post-season. Scott Briggs had a solid feature on the import netminder in yesterday’s Telegraph-Journal.

"He's used to big games,'' Tigres head coach Yanick Jean said. "When everybody's emotion goes high, his kind of goes low. He's more focused and more in his own world (under pressure).''

EARNING RESPECT
Patrick King of Rogers Sportsnet had a good article on the surprising Tigres yesterday.

Brandon Hynes on goaltender David Honzik:

"Since he's came here he's just been on a constant climb," Hynes said. "I've never seen a goalie like this in my career. He gives us a chance to win."

STILL STREAKING
Jonathan Huberdeau’s goal streak was in jeopardy of ending on Wednesday night, but a clutch overtime marker kept the streak going.

Huberdeau has now scored in seven straight playoff games. The only game he failed to score in was the opening match of round one against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, a game in which he had four assists.

In just eight playoff games, the 17-year old sniper has 10 goals and nine helpers.

IF LEWISTON WINS TONIGHT
The Lewiston MAINEiacs have been a pleasant surprise in the second round of the 2011 President’s Cup Playoffs. The eighth-seeded Maineiacs are one-win away from pulling off a large upset over the second-seeded Montreal Juniors.

Lewiston currently leads the series 3-1 with Game Five tonight at 8:05 pm in Verdun.

A Lewiston win tonight will propel them into the semi-finals. With the team being the lowest seeded team remaining (assuming Saint John moves on, eliminating Victoriaville), they would play Saint John in the third round.

OTHER GAMES
Shawinigan at Quebec - 7:00 PM EDT
Saint John at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EDT
Lewiston at Montreal - 7:05 PM EDT
Gatineau at Drummondville - 7:30 PM EDT

THE RINK
Venue: Colisee Desjardins
Capacity: 2,933
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 2,551
Playoff Average Attendance: 2,484
QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, La Nouvelle Union
Live Coverage: There will be no SN Live Coverage of tonight’s game.

AFTER THE BUZZER
If Victoriaville wins tonight, Game Six will be Monday night at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.

Photo Credits: Tigres website, Google

PRE-GAME: Game Four at Victoriaville Tigres

GAME DAY

President’s Cup Playoffs - Round 2, Game 4

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Victoriaville Tigres

Tonight, April 13, 2011 at 8:00 pm

Colisee Desjardins

SERIES STATUS
The top-seeded Saint John Sea Dogs currently lead the 11th-seeded Victoriaville Tigres 2-1 in the best-of-seven quarter-final playoff series.

PREVIEW
VICTORIAVILLE, Que. – The Saint John Sea Dogs can take a commanding lead in their best-of-seven quarter-final playoff series tonight against the Victoriaville Tigres.

The Sea Dogs currently lead the Tigres 2-1 in the series, meaning a win tonight would put Saint John in position to clinch the series on Friday in Game Five. Tonight’s game and Friday’s will both be played at Colisee Desjardins.

The Sea Dogs played pretty well in last night’s game. Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice in the match while Eric Gelinas, Zack Phillips, Stephen MacAulay, and Danick Gauthier all added singles. Stanislav Galiev had three assists. Goaltender Jacob DeSerres was solid, making 25 saves in the win.

Saint John got into some penalty trouble early in the first period but managed to escape it thanks to some terrific penalty killing. That wasn’t the only time the penalty kill had to come up big as the Dogs continue to take a lot of penalties. Luckily, the combination of Saint John’s P.K. and Victoriaville’s lackluster power play resulted in no damage done.

The Sea Dogs also had some trouble closing out the second and third period. The Tigres scored at 16:50 of the middle frame and then had all the pressure late in the period. Then in the third, Saint John allowed two goals in the final five minutes, but, they also scored twice during that time frame.

Even with the shaky finishes, the Sea Dogs, for the most part, looked better than they did in Game Two when they fell 3-2 to the Tigres.

Victoriaville should come out flying tonight as they will not want to go down 3-1 in the series and face elimination on Friday.

REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

	Victoriaville	Saint John
Record	35-29-1-3 (3rd East)	58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	32-0-1-1
Road Record	19-13-1-1	- - -
Streak	0-3-0-0	2-0-0-0
Last 10	5-5-0-0	8-2-0-0
Goals For	256	324
Goals Against	240	165
Goals/Game	3.76 (6th)	4.76 (1st)
Goals Against/Game	3.53 (12th)	2.43 (1st)
Shots/Game	31.16 (6th)	36.81 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	30.24 (10th)	26.96 (5th)
Overall PP	22.1% (11th)	25.1% (6th)
Home PP	- - -	24.4% (8th)
Road PP	25.4% (6th)	- - -
Overall PK	75.0% (16th)	83.7% (1st)
Home PK	- - -	86.1% (1st)
Road PK	75.9% (14th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	14.0 (11th)	13.1 (13th)

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game One – Tigres 1, Sea Dogs 4
Game Two – Tigres 3, Sea Dogs 3
Game Three – Sea Dogs 6, Tigres 3
Game Four - Wednesday, April 13, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
Game Five - Friday, April 15, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
*Game Six – Monday, April 18 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station
*Game Seven – Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station

*if necessary

KIRKPATRICK UPDATE
According to News 88.9 last night, Michael Kirkpatrick would be reevaluated today. Kirkpatrick has missed the last two games of the series with an ‘upper body’ injury he suffered in Game One at Harbour Station.

From today’s Telegraph-Journal:

Meanwhile, Dogs centre Michael Kirkpatrick skated during Tuesday’s practice. The 20-year-old missed Games 2 and 3 after experiencing post-concussion symptoms following Saint John’s 4-1 Game 1 victory.

LEADERS
The top three scorers for each team so far in this series:

Saint John
Jonathan Huberdeau: 4G-2A-6Pts
Steven Anthony: 2G-2A-4Pts
Stanislav Galiev/ Eric Gelinas: 1G-3A-4Pts

Victoriaville
Phillip Danault: 2G-2A-4Pts
Samuel Groulx: 1G-3A-4Pts

Yanni Gourde: 2G-1A-3Pts

ON A ROLL

Jonathan Huberdeau has now scored in six straight games which is the longest goal scoring streak so far in the post-season. He has a total of nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in just seven post-season games.

Jonathan Audy-Marchessault is the playoff scoring leader with 19 points.

Huberdeau had several chances last night but only cashed in on two of them.

"I try to do too much fancy," Huberdeau said to Sportsnet.ca, referring to his near-misses. "I think at the end, great passing play with (Zack) Phillips and (Stanislav) Galiev and I just had to put it in."

OTHER GAMES
Montreal at Lewiston - 7:00 PM EDT
Quebec at Shawinigan - 7:00 PM EDT
Saint John at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EDT
Drummondville at Gatineau - 7:30 PM EDT

THE RINK
Venue: Colisee Desjardins
Capacity: 2,933
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 2,551
Playoff Average Attendance: 2,578
QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) for live in game coverage. All tweets will also appear in the SN Live Blog that is posted on this site.

AFTER THE BUZZER
Game five of the series goes Friday night at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins.

Photo Credits: Marc Grandmaison, Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Roaming The Rinks

PRE-GAME: Game Three at Victoriaville Tigres

GAME DAY

President’s Cup Playoffs - Round 2, Game Three

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Victoriaville Tigres

Tonight, April 12, 2011 at 8:00 pm

Colisee Desjardins

SERIES STATUS
The best-of-seven quarter-final playoff series between the 11th-seeded Victoriaville Tigres and the top-seeded Saint John Sea Dogs is currently tied at 1-1.

PREVIEW
VICTORIAVILLE, Que. – It’s the biggest game of the season for the Saint John Sea Dogs tonight in Victoriaville.

Tied at 1-1 in their best-of-seven quarter-final series against the Victoriaville Tigres, Saint John will try to take a series lead and take a big momentum boost. The Sea Dogs won Game One of the series on Friday at Harbour Station by score of 4-1 and then dropped a 3-2 decision on Saturday.

Victoriaville was very opportunistic with their chances in Saturday’s game and did a fantastic job at shutting down Saint John’s dangerous offense. Although the Sea Dogs had plenty of shots, the Tigres were able to keep them away from any second chances.

Of course, a big reason why Victoriaville was victorious was because of the play of their goaltender, the draft eligible David Honzik. The netminder has been unreal in the post-season so far and is a major factor in how the Tigres made this quarter-final series.

The Tigres jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period of Game Two and that really seemed to give the squad a big boost going forward. With the series now shifting to Quebec, the first goal of the game could prove to be huge in terms of momentum.

Victoriaville has now beaten the Sea Dogs twice in regulation time this season – once at home and once on the road.

In last year’s semi-final series against the Tigres, the Dogs had their troubles in Victoriaville but still managed to come out on top in the six-game series.

The next three games will be played at Colisee Desjardins.

REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

	Victoriaville	Saint John
Record	35-29-1-3 (3rd East)	58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	32-0-1-1
Road Record	19-13-1-1	- - -
Streak	0-3-0-0	2-0-0-0
Last 10	5-5-0-0	8-2-0-0
Goals For	256	324
Goals Against	240	165
Goals/Game	3.76 (6th)	4.76 (1st)
Goals Against/Game	3.53 (12th)	2.43 (1st)
Shots/Game	31.16 (6th)	36.81 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	30.24 (10th)	26.96 (5th)
Overall PP	22.1% (11th)	25.1% (6th)
Home PP	- - -	24.4% (8th)
Road PP	25.4% (6th)	- - -
Overall PK	75.0% (16th)	83.7% (1st)
Home PK	- - -	86.1% (1st)
Road PK	75.9% (14th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	14.0 (11th)	13.1 (13th)

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game One – Tigres 1, Sea Dogs 4
Game Two – Tigres 3, Sea Dogs 3
Game Three - Tuesday, April 12, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
Game Four - Wednesday, April 13, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
Game Five - Friday, April 15, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
*Game Six – Monday, April 18 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station
*Game Seven – Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station

*if necessary

BEATING HONZIK
David Honzik has proven to be the playoff version of Evan Mosher.

Honzik has played all six playoff games so far for the Tigres. He is 5-1 with a 0.934 save percentage and a 2.62 goals against average. The netminder has allowed just 16 goals on 242 shots.

Honzik has been solid in both games of this series, stealing Game Two with some insane stops. He made 39 saves in Game One and 41 in Game Two.

"They have the momentum,'' said Sea Dogs forward Jonathan Huberdeau to the Telegraph-Journal, referring to Victoriaville's 3-2 triumph in Game 2. "We need to break that (tonight) and play simple (by) shooting at the net and making traffic. We know the goalie (David Honzik) is good.''

KIRKPATRICK OUT
The Telegraph-Journal reported this morning that Sea Dogs centre Michael Kirkpatrick is not expected to play tonight. He missed Game Two with what the team is calling an “upper body” injury which is rumored to be a concussion.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Special teams have proven to be a key part of this season.

In Game Two, Victoriaville went 2-for-3 on the power play and Saint John went 2-for-6. In Game One, the Tigres went 1-for-6 while the Sea Dogs went 0-for-2.

The three power play goals that the Tigres have scored in this series are the only man advantage markers Saint John has allowed in the post-season so far. Their penalty kill is operating at 90.9%.

OTHER GAMES
Montreal at Lewiston - 7:00 PM EDT
Quebec at Shawinigan - 7:00 PM EDT
Saint John at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EDT
Drummondville at Gatineau - 7:30 PM EDT

THE RINK
Venue: Colisee Desjardins
Capacity: 2,933
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 2,551
Playoff Average Attendance: 2,403
QMJHL Arena Guide

Apparently, this is hilarious.



MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) for live in game coverage. All tweets will also appear in the SN Live Blog that is posted on this site.

AFTER THE BUZZER
Game four of the series goes tomorrow night at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins.

Photo Credits: Tigres Facebook page, Roaming The Rinks (really cool site)

PRE-GAME: Game Two vs Victoriaville Tigres

GAME DAY

Round Two, Game Two - 2011 President’s Cup Playoffs

Victoriaville Tigres vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight, 7:00 pm

Harbour Station

SERIES STATUS
The top-seeded Saint John Sea Dogs currently lead the 11th-seeded Victoriaville Tigres 1-0 in their best-of-seven quarter-final playoff series.

PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs look to a 2-0 series lead this evening at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.

The Sea Dogs and Victoriaville Tigres opened their best-of-seven quarter-final series last night in Saint John, a match that saw the home side take a 1-0 series lead following a 4-1 victory. Tomas Jurco, Jonathan Huberdeau, Stanislav Galiev, and Steven Anthony all scored for the winners. Yanni Gourde scored the lone Victoriaville goal.

A big story from last night’s game was the goaltending as both David Honzik and Jacob DeSerres played well. Honzik let out quite a few rebounds, but also made some huge stops to keep the Tigres in the game. If Saint John can start to take advantage of those rebounds tonight, it could be a much larger margin of victory.

Both teams looked a bit sluggish to start the game off as neither had played in over a week. But tonight, that rust should be gone from both sides and could be a more intensely played affair.

The Sea Dogs are now 5-0 in the post-season and have outscored their opposition 30-3. The Tigres dropped to 4-1, and have outscored their opposition 23-15.

Saint John still has their undefeated-in-regulation-at-home streak still going and the Tigres will be in tough once again to pull off a victory this evening. This is a big game for both squads as the series shifts to Quebec for the next three games.

REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

	Victoriaville	Saint John
Record	35-29-1-3 (3rd East)	58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	32-0-1-1
Road Record	19-13-1-1	- - -
Streak	0-3-0-0	2-0-0-0
Last 10	5-5-0-0	8-2-0-0
Goals For	256	324
Goals Against	240	165
Goals/Game	3.76 (6th)	4.76 (1st)
Goals Against/Game	3.53 (12th)	2.43 (1st)
Shots/Game	31.16 (6th)	36.81 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	30.24 (10th)	26.96 (5th)
Overall PP	22.1% (11th)	25.1% (6th)
Home PP	- - -	24.4% (8th)
Road PP	25.4% (6th)	- - -
Overall PK	75.0% (16th)	83.7% (1st)
Home PK	- - -	86.1% (1st)
Road PK	75.9% (14th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	14.0 (11th)	13.1 (13th)

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game One – Tigres 1, Sea Dogs 4
Game Two - Saturday, April 9 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station
Game Three - Tuesday, April 12, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
Game Four - Wednesday, April 13, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
*Game Five - Friday, April 15, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
*Game Six – Monday, April 18 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station
*Game Seven – Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station

*if necessary

HIGHLIGHTS
From last night’s game:



GALIEV STILL GOING
With a goal last night, Stanislav Galiev has now scored in all five Sea Dogs playoff games. Frederick Roy of the Quebec Remparts is also on a five-game goal scoring streak.

In total, Galiev has six goals and three assists in five playoff games. His six goals ties him with Jonathan Huberdeau for the team lead.

BEATING HONZIK
David Honzik was very good in goal last night for the Tigres. Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant agreed.

"We had lots of scoring chances and Honzik was very good," Gallant said to the Telegraph-Journal.

In five playoff games, Honzik has a 4-1 record to go along with a 2.74 goals against average and a 0.930 save percentage.

NOTES
The QMJHL website posted some notes on each quarter-final playoff series last night.

OTHER GAMES TONIGHT
Lewiston at Montreal - 3:05 PM EDT
Victoriaville at Saint John - 7:00 PM ADT
Gatineau at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EDT
Shawinigan at Quebec - 7:00 PM EDT

THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 4,478
Playoff Average Attendance: 4,286
QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, La Nouvelle Union

AFTER THE BUZZER
The series shifts to Victoriaville on Tuesday for Game Three at 8:00 pm.

Photo Credits: Marc Grandmaison, Google

PRE-GAME: Game One vs Victoriaville Tigres

GAME DAY

Round Two, Game One - 2011 President’s Cup Playoffs

Victoriaville Tigres vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight, 7:30 pm

Harbour Station

SERIES STATUS
This is the first game of the best-of-seven quarter-final series between the 11th seeded Victoriaville Tigres and the top seeded Saint John Sea Dogs.

PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN – Oh yeah, the playoffs!

The Saint John Sea Dogs have not played a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game in over a week thanks to their four-game dismantling of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in the first round. Saint John swept the Eagles in convincing fashion, outscoring them 26-2.

Since that series ended last Wednesday in Sydney, two members of the Sea Dogs’ coaching staff picked up awards, two players won awards, two players were also named to the league’s first all-star team, and the franchise suffered through the disappointment of watching the Shawinigan Cataractes awarded 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup hosting duties.

It has been an eventful few days, but now it’s time to get back down to business.

The Sea Dogs host the Victoriaville Tigres tonight at Harbour Station in Game One of their quarter-final best-of-seven series. Game time is 7:30 pm.

It's a surprise to see the Tigres playing in the second round of the President’s Cup playoffs. The squad went up against the sixth seeded Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the first round and were definitely considered the underdogs. But the Tigres shocked the world by not only winning the series, but sweeping Bathurst.

Victoriaville is not the team they were last year when they took the Sea Dogs to six games in the semi-finals before falling, but they still have plenty of talented players. Even without QMJHL leading scorer Philip-Michael Devos, the team still has Philippe Maillet, Phillip Danault, Brandon Hynes, and the star of the first round – goaltender David Honzik.

Saint John can’t take the Tigres lightly. Unlike the first round against Cape Breton, Victoriaville does have the ability to steal at least a game.

REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

	Victoriaville	Saint John
Record	35-29-1-3 (3rd East)	58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	- - -	32-0-1-1
Road Record	19-13-1-1	- - -
Streak	0-3-0-0	2-0-0-0
Last 10	5-5-0-0	8-2-0-0
Goals For	256	324
Goals Against	240	165
Goals/Game	3.76 (6th)	4.76 (1st)
Goals Against/Game	3.53 (12th)	2.43 (1st)
Shots/Game	31.16 (6th)	36.81 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	30.24 (10th)	26.96 (5th)
Overall PP	22.1% (11th)	25.1% (6th)
Home PP	- - -	24.4% (8th)
Road PP	25.4% (6th)	- - -
Overall PK	75.0% (16th)	83.7% (1st)
Home PK	- - -	86.1% (1st)
Road PK	75.9% (14th)	- - -
PIM/GAME	14.0 (11th)	13.1 (13th)

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game One - Friday, April 8 at 7:30 pm at Harbour Station
Game Two - Saturday, April 9 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station
Game Three - Tuesday, April 12, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
Game Four - Wednesday, April 13, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
*Game Five - Friday, April 15, at 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins
*Game Six – Monday, April 18 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station
*Game Seven – Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station

*if necessary

MIND GAMES
After yesterday’s disappointment, the Sea Dogs can’t let it get to them. Especially since, well, they have a decent chance at winning at all this year.

According to the Telegraph-Journal, “after the practice had ended, head coach Gerard Gallant gathered his players and reminded them to stay focused on their second-round playoff series against the Victoriaville Tigres.”

"I don't think the best team won,” said Gallant. “The five committee members have to live with (their decision), so if they think it's the right thing, that's all that matters.''

Of note, if Saint John and Shawinigan both win their series and the Lewiston MAINEiacs don’t advance, the Sea Dogs and Cataractes would meet in the semi-finals.

LONG WAIT
It’s been awhile since the Sea Dogs played a game, but Gerard Gallant doesn’t seem to think that will affect his team. From today’s Times & Transcript:

"No, I don't think so," said Gallant when asked if he has any concerns that Victoriaville may be more battle ready than his club because it's coming off a tougher test in the opening round.

"That doesn't bother us at all. We played a lot of those (lopsided) games this season. It really doesn't affect our team. We usually just come out and play our type of game whether we're facing a top team or one of the weaker teams in the league."

VS VICTO
The Sea Dogs went 1-1-0-0 against the Tigres this season, winning 4-2 on October 17 at Harbour Station and then falling 2-1 at Colisee Desjardins on February 26.

The win:



The loss:



OTHER GAMES TONIGHT
Victoriaville at Saint John - 7:30 PM ADT
Shawinigan at Quebec - 7:00 PM EDT
Lewiston at Montreal - 7:05 PM EDT
Gatineau at Drummondville - 7:30 PM EDT

THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 4,478
Playoff Average Attendance: 4,010
QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, La Nouvelle Union
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) or follow the Live Blog on this site for live coverage of tonight’s game.

AFTER THE BUZZER
The Sea Dog and Tigres meet tomorrow night at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station in Game Two of their second round series.

Photo Credits: Yahoo! Sports, Google

PRE-GAME: Game Four at Screaming Eagles

GAME DAY

Round One, Game Four- 2011 President’s Cup Playoffs

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

Tonight, March 30, 7:00 pm

Centre 200

SERIES STATUS
The top-seeded Saint John Sea Dogs currently lead the 16th seeded Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 3-0 in the best-of-seven first round series.

PREVIEW
SYDNEY, NS – It could all be over this evening at Centre 200.

Currently holding a 3-0 series lead, the Saint John Sea Dogs are just a win away from eliminating the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles from the 2011 President’s Cup playoffs. Game Four goes down tonight at 7:00 pm at Centre 200.

Saint John has dominated the series so far, outscoring the Eagles 22-2 over three games. The Sea Dogs are averaging 7.33 goals per game and 41 shots per contest. They have simply owned Cape Breton so far, something that isn’t too surprising when you have the top-ranked team in Canada is facing the 16th seeded team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

In last night’s game, Saint John defeated Cape Breton 5-1. It was a better game by the Eagles and probably their best of the series. They had some decent scoring chances but could only connect once. Although the team played much better, they were, once again, still not up to the Sea Dogs’ superior level of play.

Jonathan Huberdeau, Steven Anthony, Kevin Gagne, Stanislav Galiev, and Tomas Jurco all scored for the winners who had a 33-22 shots on goal edge in the affair. Dany Potvin scored the lone Cape Breton goal on a nice feed from Denis Kindl.

In net, former Brandon Wheat Kings goaltenders Jacob DeSerres and Andrew Hayes dueled. Like the first two games, DeSerres came out victorious. Both will likely start in goal again this evening.

The season is on the line for Cape Breton and they will be ready to roll when the clock strikes seven. They’ve been physical all series and tonight should feature more of the same.

A Saint John win will propel them into the quarter-finals and will give the team over a week off.

REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

	Cape Breton	Saint John
Record	18-45-1-4 (6th Maritimes)	58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	10-21-1-2	- - -
Road Record	- - -	27-7-0-1
Streak	1-0-0-0	2-0-0-0
Last 10	2-8-0-0	8-2-0-0
Goals For	154	324
Goals Against	276	165
Goals/Game	2.26 (16th)	4.76 (1st)
Goals Against/Game	4.06 (17th)	2.43 (1st)
Shots/Game	25.38 (17th)	36.81 (1st)
Shots Against/Game	30.22 (9th)	26.96 (5th)
Overall PP	15.2% (16th)	25.1% (6th)
Home PP	13.4% (17th)	- - -
Road PP	- - -	26.0% (5th)
Overall PK	74.1% (17th)	83.7% (1st)
Home PK	74.1% (16th)	- - -
Road PK	- - -	80.6% (5th)
PIM/GAME	16.1 (6th)	13.1 (13th)

SCHEDULE/RESULTS
GAME ONE – Friday, March 25: Cape Breton 0, Saint John 10
GAME TWO – Saturday, March 26: Cape Breton 1, Saint John 7
GAME THREE – Tuesday, March 29: Saint John 5, Cape Breton 1
GAME FOUR – Wednesday, March 30: 7 p.m. @ Centre 200
*GAME FIVE – Friday, April 1: 7:30 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*GAME SIX – Sunday, April 3: 4 p.m. @ Centre 200
*GAME SEVEN – Tuesday, April 5: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*If Necessary

SWEEPING
The brooms will be out tonight in Cape Breton as Saint John looks to take the first round playoff series in a sweep of four straight contests.

The Sea Dogs have swept only two other playoff series in their team history. The first came in the opening round of the 2008 post-season against the Prince Edward Island Rocket and the other in last year’s second round against the Gatineau Olympiques.

Saint John can also get a little revenge with a win tonight. In 2009, the Screaming Eagles were on the other end of things and swept the Sea Dogs out to sea in the opening round.

All-time, the Dogs are 11-5 in first round games.

EAGLES LINE-UP NOTES
Rough times get rougher in Cape Breton. From the CB Post:

Cape Breton’s injury woes continued Tuesday night. Defenceman Wes Herrett (forearm) was injured after being checked into the Eagles bench in the second period. Fellow blue-liner Stephen Woodworth (foot) was also injured blocking a shot. They’ll get assessed today. Another defenceman, Loic Leduc (head), may also miss tonight’s game. Forward Cory MacIntosh, who suffered a hit to the head in Saint John, is likely done for the season.

PP MAGIC
Saint John’s unreal power play has been a big story in this series. The Sea Dogs are operating at a league high 55.6% in the playoffs. They have scored 10 power play goals on 18 opportunities.

“With our hockey club, we’re definitely a top power-play team,” said Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant to the Cape Breton Post. “We can move the puck with our skill level and speed. We got another two goals, so it’s been very good for us.”

The Sea Dogs went 2-for-4 on the power play last night.

Cape Breton’s penalty kill on the other hand is running at 44.4%.

GALIEV’S HOT STREAK
Stanislav Galiev has been playing some of his best hockey as a member of the Saint John Sea Dogs over the past few weeks.

Thanks in much part to playing with one of the top offensive duos in the QMJHL in Jonathan Huberdeau and Zack Phillips, Galiev recorded six goals and two assists in the regular season portion of March. His hot play carried over into the playoffs as the Russian has scored in all three games, registering a total of four goals to go along with two assists.

In 21 playoff games last year, Galiev recorded eight goals and 11 assists.

OTHER GAMES TONIGHT
Montréal at Halifax - 7:00 PM ADT
Lewiston at Moncton - 7:00 PM ADT
Shawinigan at P.E.I. - 7:00 PM ADT
Acadie-Bathurst at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EDT
Drummondville at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EDT
Gatineau at Rimouski - 7:30 PM EDT
Québec at Val-d'Or - 7:30 PM EDT

THE RINK
Venue: Centre 200
Capacity: 4,881
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 2,954
Playoff Average Attendance: 1,869
QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Cape Breton Post
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) or check out the SN Live Blog on this site for live coverage of this evening’s game.

AFTER THE BUZZER
If the Eagles win, Game Five is Friday at 7:30 pm at Harbour Station. If the Sea Dogs win, the quarter-finals will likely begin Friday, April 8 in Saint John. The way things are going at the moment, it looks like they will be playing the Victoriaville Tigres.

Photo Credits: Marc Henwood/Station Nation, some broom site, Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Screaming Eagles Facebook page