SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

ON GALLANT
Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch had an interesting commentary on Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant last week. Along with discussing his current role in Saint John, Arace writes about his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"You know what? It was a great seven years there for me," Gallant said. "There was pressure, and maybe (the promotion to coach) happened a little earlier than it should have happened, but it was an excellent experience. I learned a lot from Dave King and Doug MacLean about video, preparation, practice plans and the like, and that was huge for a young coach."

One of the more interesting notes comes near the end of the article.

Gallant would like another crack at the NHL, but he is not getting ahead of himself. He is happy as of today, happy enough to have turned down at least two offers from American Hockey League teams. As Bowman can attest, when a coach can be selective about what comes next, he is in a good place.

ON THE HOT LIST
Kirill Kabanov’s hot play of late put him on The Hockey News’ Hot List on Tuesday. From THN:

Everyone’s favorite junior loose cannon has focused his ammunition at the opposition this spring and the Maineiacs are soaring because of it. Kabanov has posted seven goals and 18 points in 13 games for Lewiston and is looking like the potent offensive force he was once fawned over as.

DRAFT TRACKER
Buzzing The Net featured Sea Dogs forward Scott Oke in their draft tracker this week. On what scouts say he needs to improve on:

"Probably my physical game. I also have to work on my defensive awareness, there's always room to improve on that. I also see myself becoming a power forward, so I need to get bigger, stronger, learn to finish all my checks. I can produce offensively once I get there."

Oke has four assists in 11 playoff games.

ON GELINAS
A solid piece on Eric Gelinas, a former Maineiac, appeared in the Lewiston Sun Journal last week before the series started. The New Jersey Devils prospect started his junior career in Lewiston before ending up in Chicoutimi and eventaully Saint John.

"In my position, being a 19-year-old and pretty much in my last year of juniors, being on the No. 1 team in Canada is the best opportunity for a guy like me," Gelinas said. "I was really happy to be traded to Saint John. I enjoy being here."

"The guys, early in the season, they said they wanted to dominate again this year, they want to win it this year, and that's pretty much what we focus on," Gelinas also said. "We want to work toward winning the President's Cup and the Memorial Cup, too."

PLAYS OF THE WEEK
Some highlights from the first two games of the Sea Dogs’ semifinal series appeared in the QMJHL Plays of the Week.

SHOW SOME LIFE
We’re not sure what to say about this. From Peter McGuire’s column in Tuesday’s Telegraph-Journal:

It would also be nice to see DeSerres show a little enthusiasm when skating through the giant inflatable Sea Dog at the start of the game. It is the QMJHL semifinal after all.

He can only do so much, especially considering the inflatable thing is where his net would be setup.

JURCO’S MOVE
Via YouTube, Tomas Jurco’s slick move from Game Two that nearly gave the Dogs a goal.



UPDATE
Patrick King gave an update on the state of the Maineiacs last week on Sportsnet.ca. Team president and governor Bill Schurman had some interesting things to say.

"Unfortunately, it's kind of like going to a funeral in a way," he said. "It's a bad analogy, but to try to explain it, the ones that are affected the most are the closest -- the family. People come and pay their respects. The ones that are mostly grieving are the family. In our case, it's our loyal fans that are grieving somewhat and worried that we may not be able to survive here because they love us."

Photo Credits: Marc Grandmaison, Marc Henwood/Station Nation

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

ONE MORE SLEEP
Just one more sleep until the Saint John Sea Dogs – Lewiston MAINEiacs semifinal playoff series kicks off at Harbour Station at 7:30 pm.

According to the Maineiacs’ Facebook page, the team departed Androscoggin Bank Colisee this morning at 8:00 am local time.

“We were an eighth-place team, but I don’t think we played as an eighth-place team,” said Maineiac Zach Zafiris to Metro Halifax. “People know our team is talented, and we definitely need to be looked out for.”

Tickets are still available for both Game One of Friday and Game Two on Saturday.

ABOUT THE SEMIFINALS
Great run down of both semifinal series over at Buzzing The Net.

On why Saint John should win their series against Lewiston:

This is Saint John's series to lose. They have the Huberdeau-Stanislav Galiev-Zack Phillips monster line leading the way up front and a defence corps led by two high-drafted 19-year-olds, Pittsburgh Penguins first-rounder Simon Després and New Jersey Devils second-rounder Eric Gélinas. Unless coach Gerard Gallant's team gets a whack of injuries or a breakdown in discipline, they can win the series on form.

The site predicts Gatineau and Saint John to win their series in six games.

THE RIVALRY
Good post from Maineiacs play-by-play man DJ Abisalih in the team’s newsletter about the history of the Sea Dogs – Maineiacs rivalry.

One of the neat things he takes a look at is the very first game played between the two. We’ll post the excerpt because anything involving Martin Bartos is worth posting.

The rivalry began back on September 30, 2005 at Harbour Station. The MAINEiacs were playing in their fourth game of a six-game road trip, while the Sea Dogs were playing in their fourth home game ever. Thanks to three goals in the second period, as well as 37 saves by Jason Churchill, the first ever meeting went to Saint John, as the home team skated to a 5-2 victory in front of 4,346 fans. Lewiston's Mathieu Aubin scored the first goal in the all-time series, while Martin Bartos scored the Sea Dogs' first goal a little more than six minutes later.

ABOUT THOSE MAINEIACS
The good old Kennebec Journal had an article on the Maineiacs today, discussing a little of everything about the frnachise.

Cameron Critchlow on moving to America:

"I was coming not just to a new team, but a new country," said Critchlow, 20, who plays left wing. "It was a culture shock. I didn't know what to expect. Coming to a new country, you get skeptical. Everything is different. The health care is different. People respond differently to situations. People have different views. It was just different. But I got comfortable, especially this year."

Lewiston head coach JF Houle also mentioned that his players don’t really notice the frequently low attendance figures.

BIZARRE
The Sea Dogs lost just seven regulation games during the regular season. The team lost twice to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and once to the Montreal Juniors, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Prince Edward Island Rocket, Lewiston Maineiacs and Victoriaville Tigres.

The Sea Dogs played Cape Breton in the first round, Victoriaville in the second round, and now face Lewiston in the third round - all teams that defeated Saint John in regulation during the regular season. Weird.

A MOCK DRAFT
Mock draft season is starting to pick up and, of course, the Sea Dogs will be heavily involved in the top 30 selections this June.

Friend-of-the-blog Tom Stivali had a good post over at In Lou We Trust on why the Florida Panthers may select Jonathan Huberdeau. It’s a good read.

AWARDS GALA VIDEO
The QMJHL website posted some videos awhile back from the Golden Puck Awards Gala. The videos are unembeddable, sadly, so here is the link to the video page.

CHURCHILL ON ALLAN CUP WIN
Finally, the Chronicle Herald had a story on ex-Sea Dogs goaltender Jason Churchill and his Allan Cup win. It turns out Churchill flies to Newfoundland from Halifax each weekend to play in the senior circuit.

"It’s quite a trek, I’ll tell you that much," said Churchill, a fourth-round selection, 129th overall, by the San Jose Sharks in the 2004 NHL entry draft. "Flying back every weekend, you rack up the air miles. But I love it. I see lots of my friends and family and it’s good hockey."

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

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

OFFICIAL SCHEDULE
The QMJHL released the official schedule for the Saint John Sea Dogs – Victoriaville Tigres quarter-final playoff series. It is the same schedule as the one reported on the Tigres’ Facebook page yesterday.

Here it is (all times local):

2011-04-08 VICTORIAVILLE VS. SAINT JOHN - 7:30 pm
2011-04-09 VICTORIAVILLE VS. SAINT JOHN - 7:00 pm
2011-04-12 SAINT JOHN VS. VICTORIAVILLE - 7:00 pm
2011-04-13 SAINT JOHN VS. VICTORIAVILLE - 7:00 pm
2011-04-15 SAINT JOHN VS. VICTORIAVILLE - 7:00 pm
2011-04-18 VICTORIAVILLE VS. SAINT JOHN - 7:00 pm
2011-04-19 VICTORIAVILLE VS. SAINT JOHN - 7:00 pm

CUSTOM GOAL HORN
The goal horn at Harbour Station had a different tune to it in the final game of the regular season after Michael Kirkpatrick scored. A video labeled “Michael Kirkpatrick Custom Goal Horn" has popped up on YouTube.



Pretty good tune.

ON THE RISE
Central Scouting had some meetings this weekend to discuss their final rankings for upcoming NHL Entry Draft. Among the things discussed were about the top defensemen available for the draft. That list, of course, includes Sea Dog Nathan Beaulieu.

"Nathan is a fluid skater, hard worker and reads the play well," Central Scouting's Chris Bordeleau, who specializes in the QMJHL, told NHL.com, via Fox News. "We thought he should have had more points than he had (45 points in 65 games), but overall he has the NHL quickness already. That's what is really important at this stage."

Beaulieu was ranked ninth among North American players in Central Scouting’s midterm rankings.

- Thanks to Eric for the link.

THE BIG DEBATE
Also discussed at those same meetings yesterday (after a lunch break) was the debate of who is the better pick: Sean Couturier or Jonathan Huberdeau.

“Chris Bordeleau, who spends most of his time viewing players in the 'Q', opened discussions with a solid evaluation of centers Jonathan Huberdeau and Sean Couturier,” states NHL.com. “He spoke of Huberdeau's great hands around the net and Couturier's two-way acumen. Saint John defenseman Nathan Beaulieu has also been on the radar of every scout and his play was worthy of a lengthy discussion by those boys within the Conn Smythe Board Room.”

SEASON ENDING TALK
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Mario Durocher had a season ending question and answer session with the Cape Breton Post on Friday. His thoughts on the first round playoff sweep by the Sea Dogs:

"For a lot of guys, it was their first experience in the playoffs. I think that experience will be good. They played one of the best teams in Canada and we gave them goals. We know that we have to be in really top shape. If you have to play four games in five days and we have to play a short bench, they have to realize they have to be in good shape. They have to be bigger and stronger, so the summer will be a key thing for a lot of guys. Sometimes dumping the puck and avoiding turnovers make a difference and that’s what they did. Those were little things like that we learned from Saint John."

BUSY WEEK
It’s going to a busy week for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

On Wednesday, the annual QMJHL Awards Gala will be held in Montreal. On Thursday, the QMJHL and CHL will announce the host of the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup. Then on Friday and Saturday, Games One and Two of their quarter-final series against Victoriaville will take place.

Buckle up.

THE CASE FOR FULLERTON
A good piece from Bill Hunt of the Daily Gleaner on how little recognition former Sea Dogs goaltender Travis Fullerton gets for his winning ways with the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds.

"But it's another slap in the mask of Fullerton, who has quietly had a spectacular career at UNB: the first to be blamed when things go wrong, the last to be credited when they go right. Look at the season just completed: 31 goals against in 20 games in the regular season: a 1.60 goals against average. Five shutouts. Post season: nine appearances. Six wins. Two shutouts. And then solid and sometimes spectacular last weekend."

Fullerton has now won two national championships with the V-Reds.

PEACE OUT AMYOT
Former Sea Dogs defenseman Pascal Amyot finished his junior career last week as the Halifax Mooseheads were swept away by the Montreal Juniors.

"Everything goes so fast," Amyot said through tears to the Chronicle Herald. "It feels like just yesterday I was a rookie in the league and now it’s over.

"After being in this league for five years, I came to realize that you don’t know the luck you’ve had until it’s gone."

Amyot, who has to be considered one of the smartest players in junior hockey, will continue studying engineering at Dalhousie next year and will play for the Tigers in the AUS ranks.

Photo Credits: HockeyDB, Marc Henwood/Station Nation, David Connell Web Album

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

MEMORIAL CUP SCHEDULE
The 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup schedule and game times were finalized this week. The QMJHL representative opens the tournament on May 20 at 8:00 pm against the host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors.

Here is the full schedule (times are in EST):

Round-Robin Game 1 – QMJHL vs. Mississauga on Friday May 20, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Round-Robin Game 2 – OHL vs. WHL on Saturday May 21, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Round-Robin Game 3 – Mississauga vs. WHL on Sunday May 22, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Round-Robin Game 4 – OHL vs. QMJHL on Monday May 23, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Round-Robin Game 5 – WHL vs. QMJHL on Tuesday May 24, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Round-Robin Game 6 – Mississauga vs. OHL on Wednesday May 25, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Tie-Breaker (if necessary) – Thursday May 26, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Semi-Final – Friday May 27, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Championship Final – Sunday May 29, 2011 at 7:00 pm

All games are broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet.

SAUVE SENT DOWN
Yann Sauve made his presence known on the Vancouver Canucks blue-line over the past few games, but with the teams inured defense core finally starting to return, the former Saint John Sea Dog was returned to the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose earlier this week.

"It was real fun, a good experience," Sauve said to the Winnipeg Free Press Wednesday. "For sure the pace is faster but I think I got a tempo going and I think I stepped up my game a bit. I had to, otherwise they were going to eat me alive."

In three games with the National Hockey League club he had no points or penalty minutes.

SEA DOGS ON NHL.COM
The Sea Dogs were featured on NHL.com the other day. Not much of an article, but you get what you can get on NHL.com.

Here is a selection from the post:

Keep in mind that there could be as many as six players from the QMJHL taken in the first round of the 2011 Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minn., on June 24. The last time the league produced as many as four first-round NHL draft picks was 2007 when forwards Jakub Voracek, Logan MacMillan, Angelo Esposito and David Perron were all taken among the top 26 selections.

Not only could there be as many as six players from the 'Q' drafted in the opening round, but four of the players might very well be from the surging Sea Dogs.

PRE-GAME RITUALS
The QMJHL website had a video this week asking players what are the most bizarre pre-game rituals they have seen in the league. Nathan Beaulieu and Zack Phillips were both asked.

Click HERE to check out the video.

THE LATEST FROM ISS
International Scouting Services released their Top 30 Rankings for February last week over at Hockey’s Future.

Jonathan Huberdeau was the highest ranked Sea Dog, coming in at No. 13. The only other Saint John player on the list was Tomas Jurco who was ranked at No. 30. The only other player from the QMJHL to make the list was Drummondville Voltigeurs forward Sean Couturier.

THE CASE FOR HUBERDEAU
Another terrific post from Kirk Luedeke of 2011 Bruins Draft Watch. Friday, the site had an article on why the Boston Bruins may consider drafting Jonathan Huberdeau with their top pick (i.e. the Toronto Maple Leafs pick).

The post has a quote from a NHL scout:

"The biggest surprise for me this year with Huberdeau is the goal scoring. I knew he was an excellent passer from seeing him last year, but I didn't see how aggressive he was going to be at taking the puck to the net and finishing off the play. He put a lot of work into his shot, and he's playing with a lot of confidence. The puck is going in a lot for him, and I don't see that it's a fluke. He's got some real upside."- Quebec-based NHL scout for Western Conference Team

A GREAT DAY
Nice article on the QMJHL website about the Sea Dogs'  rise to the top.

"We have a hell of a team here and we plan on going to the Memorial Cup," Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said in the article. "There’s a lot of work to do, but that’s our goal."

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

MORE ON DESPRES
TSN’s Bob McKenzie sent out another tweet this afternoon about Sea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres’ performance so far at Team Canada’s selection camp.

Tyson Barrie played well last night, Simon Despres has struggled. Would have thought Despres would have been top 6 but he needs to step up.

Final cuts come tomorrow.

DeSERRES INTERVIEW
Sea Dogs goaltender Jacob DeSerres had a nice interview with Brandon Wheat Kings voice Bruce Luebke. In the interview, the former Wheat King talks about how it likes the Sea Dogs organization and the team’s chances at winning it all this year.

The interview can be heard HERE.

DeSerres was also featured in the Brandon Sun today. If you just so happen to subscribe to the Brandon Sun online, you can check that out.

TESINK PICKS UP AWARD
Sea Dogs rookie Ryan Tesink was named the team’s mid-season top rookie last week. The award, presented by RDS, puts Tesink in some pretty high company with the likes of Martin Frk and Dillon Fournier picking up the Mooseheads’ and Maineiacs’ award, respectively.

Tesink has been solid this season, playing on a line with just about every Sea Dog at some point this season. In 28 games, the Saint John native has six goals and 12 assists.

HIGH PRAISE
Way, way back on November 26, the Red Line Report – via USA Today – had a small feature on the Sea Dogs and their cupboard full of draft eligible talent.

We’ve been to our share of Saint John Sea Dogs games already this season and can’t help but be impressed by their wealth of talent.

The Sea Dogs have no fewer than six legitimate candidates for this year’s draft and two others who are making a case to push that number to eight. We’ve loved Tomas Jurco for some time already and came away highly impressed with Nathan Beaulieu in recent viewings. We’ve already detailed our opinion on Jonathan Huberdeau and Zack Phillips as solid prospects, and it wasn’t long ago we mentioned how Ryan Tesink and Gabriel Bourret caught our eye as nice mid-round sleepers. But lately we’ve also had to put Guillaume Cloutier and Scott Oke into the conversation as potential dark horses.

With Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly teaching these kids the finer points of the game, who knows how many of them will wind up hearing their named called in June.

JURCO ARTICLE
Telegraph-Journal reporter Scott Briggs had a feature on the QMJHL website last week on Sea Dogs forward Tomas Jurco.

"I cannot say I was happy," Jurco said about his Central Scouting draft ranking. "My goal this year is to make the first round (of the NHL Entry Draft). I know why I was (sixth). I know I had a bad month."

DESPRES JERSEY SIGHTINGS
Before each Penguins home game, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Penguins blog, Empty Netters, posts some photos of jersey wearing fans around the rink. Over the past few weeks, there have been two Simon Despres jersey sightings.

WHAT CHUCKIE SCHEMBRI IS UP TO
The Amherst Daily News provides us with an update on former Sea Dog Chuckie Schembri, who is currently playing as a 20-year old with the Maritime Hockey League’s Amherst Ramblers. He was recently traded to the Ramblers from the Summerside Western Capitals.

“He brings a wealth of experience playing junior hockey,” Ramblers coach Jeff Lewis said. “He’s played in deep playoff runs, so we hope that experience will help with our group.”

GAUTHIER Q&A
Sports Junior had a question and answer session with Sea Dogs forward Danick Gauthier last week. A lot of “different” questions are asked, many of them about the life of playing in Saint John.

DeSERRES NOMINATED
This slipped under the radar a bit, but Sea Dogs goaltender Jacob DeSerres was nominated for the Canadian Hockey League goaltender of the week last week.

Red Deer Rebels netminder Darcy Kuemper won the award.

DESPRES REPORT
Hockey’s Future recently had a report on Pittsburgh Penguins junior prospects, including a feature on Simon Despres.

“Signed to an entry-level deal in 2009, Despres will join the Penguins organization when his QMJHL season is completed,” writes Ian Altenbaugh. “Considering the extensive term and dollar the Penguins have committed to their current group of NHL defenseman, expect Despres to be given as much time as he needs to blossom at the AHL level before being called upon to contribute in the NHL.”

Hockey’s Future currently has Despres listed as the No. 2 prospect in the Pens' system behind forward Eric Tangradi, who is currently in the American Hockey League.

PHILLIPS ON HOT LOST
Zach Phillips made The Hockey News’ prospect "Hot List" this week.

“Scouts have been fascinated with Phillips’ growth as the season progresses and the right winger’s bag of tricks seems to be expanding,” writes Ryan Kennedy. “Now tied for sixth in ‘Q’ scoring, Phillips hasn’t been held off the scoresheet since Nov. 14. Since then, he has 24 points in 10 games and his plus-minus for the season is up to plus-25.”

HUSSEY ON DESPRES
Sea Dogs assistant coach Marc Hussey had a question and answer session with InsidePittsburghSports.com yesterday. Among the things asked were his thoughts on Despres making the national junior team.

JURCO LEAVING
If this NHL.com article is still accurate, Tomas Jurco will be unavailable for Saint John this weekend in Cape Breton due to his duties with the Slovakian junior team that will participate in the World Junior Hockey Championships.

The remaining players and the coaching staff, including coach Stefan Mikes, will fly to the U.S. and join eight Slovakian players currently starring in the Canadian Hockey League to play a pre-tournament schedule in Jamestown, N.Y., starting Dec. 16. Slovakia will play exhibition games against Russia, Norway and the United States, and then will finalize its roster.

GALIEV AND THE RUSSIANS
We have no idea what’s going on with Stanislav Galiev. Two Russian websites have him listed on the Russian world junior camp roster but apparently nothing is official as of yet.

Emily B. from Japers’ Rink came through in the clutch again, sending us this article that states Galiev and the rest of the Canadian Hockey League Russians will join the team when they arrive in North America this Sunday, December 19.

Photo Credits: Marc Henwood, Empty Netters, Empty Netters, Marc Henwood, Marc Henwood

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

JOB WELL DONE
Summerside Journal Pioneer columnist Joe MacIntyre had some nice words for the Prince Edward Island members of the Sea Dogs coaching staff.

Here’s an excerpt:

Gallant has had great success at the junior level, and has the ability to get everything and more out of a player. He is a "players' coach" and has an impressive résumé since taking over Saint John at the beginning of the 2009-10 season. Gallant and Kelly led a youthful Saint John team to the league final last season, before bowing out to the much-more experienced Moncton Wildcats.

One of the true measurements of a good coach is developing a player into a better player, and both Gallant and Kelly have certainly demonstrated that.

MacIntyre also brings up that, if the Sea Dogs make the Memorial Cup, Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly would join Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors head coach Dave Cameron as Islanders behind the bench.

RANKINGS AFTERMATH
More NHL Central Scouting Rankings aftermath has been discovered.

Bruins 2011 Draft Watch, a hidden gem in the world of hockey prospects websites, spoke with some scout about the players ranked from the QMJHL.

"We knew he had the offense prior to the season," the scout said when asked about the #2 ranked Jonathan Huberdeau. "But the goal scoring has been a bonus. He's a very smart, instinctive player. I think he's still learning and needs to improve his complete game, but he's on the rise with the kind of start he's had."

"Beaulieu is a very good skater," the scout said. "He didn't get off to a great start, but he's done better over the last month or so, and has the skills to be a fine NHL prospect. I'm not sure of his upside, but with his size and mobility, he's up there."

BEAULIEU ON THE RADIO
Sea Dogs defenseman Nathan Beaulieu went on RBC Junior Hockey Radio this week to talk about his game and the releasing of the NHL Central Scouting’s first set of draft rankings.

Interview starts around the 14:30 mark.

The legendary Gino Reda has an interesting pronunciation of Beaulieu’s name.

TSN RANKINGS
We forgot the TSN QMJHL Power Rankings even existed until last week. This year, TSN has expanded the list to 40 players.

Sea Dogs on the list this week include:

2 – Jonathan Huberdeau
12 – Michael Kirkpatrick
21 – Tomas Jurco
22 – Steven Anthony
38 – Stanislav Galiev

Victoriaville Tigre forward Philip-Michael Devos is ranked first overall.

Player rankings are based on statistical production and are intended to value the impact a player has on the game.

STILL STUNNED
The Moncton Wildcats are still recovering from their 9-7 loss against Saint John on Sunday.

"I can't remember the last time I was involved in a game where my team gave up that many goals,” said Wildcats head coach Danny Flynn to the Times & Transcript. “I always say that when you lose you analyze why you lost so that hopefully you don't lose again for the same reasons. We'll spend a fair amount of time looking at the tape of that game."

"I think as we watch the tape of that game we will definitely see some areas of our game that we need to solidify," said Flynn. "Sometimes it comes down to just winning your one-on-one battles and wanting the puck more than the other team. Saint John outmuscled us on some pucks in front of our net and that resulted in goals against."

The Sea Dogs and Wildcats do not play again until New Year’s Eve at Harbour Station.

A LOOK BACK
Steve Turcotte had an interesting article earlier this week which featured a look back to the 2007 QMJHL Entry Draft. Turcotte “corrected” the first round selections, placing severall big time players that slipped into the later rounds as first round picks.

Simon Despres remained the first overall selection of the draft. The Sea Dogs also selected 10th overall that year, drafting Steven Anthony. The Vancouver Canucks pick did not make Turcotte’s first round list though. Instead, he was replaced by Acadie-Bathurst Titan goaltender Olivier Roy.

It’s worth checking out to see the players Saint John could have taken.

STILL ON TOP
The Sea Dogs remain atop the Open Ice Hockey weekly QMJHL power rankings.

The Sea Dogs played just one game this week, a 9-7 win in Moncton, but have not lost a game in regulation since October 22 in Bathurst.

The rankings are calculated using a formula based on weekly and season long play.

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

ST. LAURENT OFF TO SOLID START
Former Sea Dogs netminder Karel St. Laurent is off to a solid start with the British Columbia Junior ‘A’ Hockey League’s Surrey Eagles.

St. Laurent made his debut on November 4th in Langley, an 8-4 Eagles win. Saint John’s backup goaltender in 2008-09 and 2009-10 made 37 saves in the victory. He then backstopped Surrey to a 5-4 overtime win over Langley the next night.

"He hadn't played for two or three weeks and he admits in the first game there were one or two goals he would like back," Eagles head coach Matt Erhart told Surrey Now last Tuesday. "He was better the next two nights; he made some big saves for us, especially in the third period and overtime Friday. He's been really solid for us."

"He played major junior hockey for the past three years," the coach said. "He's been on a really good team for the past two years as one of the two goalies playing for them. When he became available we thought he would be a good addition to the team."

THE POUTINE
SN reader Paul Leger has been telling us about his dream of having poutine sold at Harbour Station for quite awhile.

So, Paul has created a online petition to help support the movement. Apparently, Harbour Station doesn’t currently have the proper equipment to make the cheese and gravy goodness. We encourage everyone to sign, mainly because Harbour Station menu options are few and far between.

We still don’t know how you can have a QUEBEC Major Junior Hockey League team and not sell poutine.

MILL RAT PEOPLE
The Saint John Mill Rats will have a familiar face running their game day operations.

“Selma Kilisli, who was a game day hostess and community assistant for the Sea Dogs, has joined the Mill Rats staff as game day operations manager,” reported the Telegraph-Journal on October 30th. “Among her duties will be the familiar role of roving master-of-ceremonies during Mill Rats home games.”

PHILLIPS INTERVIEW
Our friend Randy Corey of Freddy Puck Radio interviewed Zach Phillips Friday on the weekly Fredericton based hockey program. They discuss just about everything.

Interview begins around the 31 minute mark:



Freddy Puck Radio airs every Friday night at 6pm on the interweb and 95.7 The Wolf in the Freddy Beach area.

LOTS OF MONEY
Pink in the Rink was quite successful this year in the QMJHL.

"The QMJHL and each of its eighteen franchises worked very hard to develop pink prototype jerseys in collaboration with our official supplier, Reebok/CCM, and its partner in this project, SP Apparel," said Commissioner Gilles Courteau in a release. "More than 400 pink jerseys worn by the players were sold with the proceeds being distributed to local, regional or national organizations dedicated to the fight against breast cancer. Furthermore, the QMJHL’s major partner, TELUS, came on board, contributing $100 for every goal scored during the 18 fight against breast cancer games. In total, 125 goals were scored, bringing TELUS’ contribution to $12,500. Today, I am proud to announce that over $115,000 have been generated as a result of our clubs’ efforts. Congratulations to all of our teams for their valued contribution. Also, thank you to our great fans for their lending their support behind this important endeavour."

SUPER THOUGHTS FROM A SUPER SERIES
Derek LeBlanc from HockeySense.ca had some thoughts on Game One of the Subway Super Series at Harbour Station.

On Nathan Beaulieu: “He did have a goal and an assist with 5 shots but didn’t look like his normal noticeable self. He didn’t stand out as much as he normally does.”

On Stanislav Galiev: “Looked like one of the strongest Russians out there. It must have been weird for him to be the enemy in his home barn.”

BEAULIEU SENIOR IN HOUSE
According to last Wednesday’s London Free Press, former Sea Dogs head coach Jacques Beaulieu was in the house for the Super Series and watched his son Nathan skate for Team QMJHL.

“The Russians said it’s their best team they’ve sent over since 1990,” Beaulieu said. “When the game’s in London, it will be a big one for (London Knights goaltender) Igor (Bobkov). He’s trying to show the Russians something. He’s trying to show us. He’s fighting for minutes, fighting to get into games.”

Beaulieu, now an assistant coach with the Knights, was reported to be in Rouyn-Noranda during Saint John’s recent road trip.

LADS AND LOBSTERS
This is something different:

PIPELINE SHOW
Sea Dogs play-by-play man Tim Roszell went on The Pipeline Show on Saturday to talk Sea Dogs. Among other things, Roszell discusses the five Sea Dogs players on the draft radar.

You can check out the interview HERE by selecting the November 13 show.

COOL IN SCHOOL
As announced before Saturday’s home game, defenseman Kevin Gagne is the Sea Dogs’ scholastic player of the month. The QMJHL made it official on Monday.

Gagne is currently enrolled at the University of New Brunswick Saint John campus.

Also of note, Mickael Audette is the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies top scholastic player for October. He is the netminder who lost his mind in a game against Saint John earlier this season.

BONUS LINKS
Nathan White on the Sea Dogs' representing in the NHL Central Scouting rankings released yesterday.

Neate Sager on the Sea Dogs staying away from posting Patrick Roy on the big screen. Chris Bosh sucks.

Photo Credits: Surrey Eagles Facebook page, Wikipedia, Sea Dogs website, Sea Dogs newsletter

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

DOUBLE-O
Former Sea Dogs forward Olivier Ouellet has resurfaced in Quebec. The crafty center is currently playing with the Inouk de Granby in the Quebec ‘AAA’ ranks and has seven goals and four assists in 11 games but is also a -8.

Ouellet left the Sea Dogs during the first half of last season and eventually ended up playing in 25 games with Shawinigan Cataractes last year. In 48 career games with Saint John, he had 14 goals and 24 assists.

The 20-year old was always regarded as a solid second line player, but had a hard time finding ice time last year with the likes of Steven Anthony, Tomas Jurco, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Zach Phillips available to fill that role.

(Ed. Note: Props to Stacie for sending this in.)

‘EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOCKEY EDITION’
According to the Vancouver Canucks website, the team is looking for Steven Anthony to perform an “Extreme Makeover: Hockey Edition.” The site says that they are hoping Anthony “can ditch that nice guy persona on the ice” and add some nastiness to his game.

“After the game (Canucks assistant coach) Rick (Bowness) just said that for me to play like I did in that Calgary game, playing every shift as hard as I can, hitting guys, skating and moving my feet, he said play like that in Saint John and do it consistently and that I’ll have success,” said Anthony about a Canucks pre-season game. “So that’s what I took back from Vancouver and I think that’s going to help me this season.”

Anthony also spoke about where he sees the Sea Dogs team heading this year.

“I think we do have all the tools in place to repeat as league champs and hopefully win it all this time instead of losing in the finals. We had a weekend early on where we played Moncton, Montreal and Rimouski, three teams that are near the top of the league and we won all three games.”

(Ed Note: Thanks to SN reader Cody for sending this in)

GELINAS PUT ON WAIVERS
Our friend Michael Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post informed us last week that former Sea Dogs goaltender Marc-Antoine Gelinas has been put on waivers by the Central Hockey League’s Odessa Jackalopes. The Jackalopes are the ‘AA’ affiliate of the New York Islanders.

According to OA Online, “Gelinas started both of the Jackalopes games to open the season, suffering a 5-3 loss at Missouri on Friday. He then was between the pipes for Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Quad City.” He was put on waivers after number one goaltender Joel Martin returned from an American Hockey League tryout.

Gelinas played some of the best hockey of his career last season with Saint John, recording a record of 21-5, a goals against average of 2.56, and a save percentage of 0.913. He would be moved to Shawinigan during the holiday trading period in a controversial trade.

PICTURES
The Brunswick Square Facebook page has some pictures a fashion show that took place awhile back, featuring a few Sea Dogs players.

ALEX GRANT MODELING AS WELL
Former Sea Dogs captain Alex Grant was doing some modeling last week as well, appearing at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Meet the Players Mixer Night. Grant showed off one of the Penguins’ new specialty jerseys honouring firefighters.

Grant is still on the Pittsburgh Penguins injured reserve list after his nasty injury during the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie tournament in which he suffered a a broken left wrist, pulled ligaments in his neck, and a bruised jaw.

According to the WB/S Penguins blog Chirps From Center Ice, Grant “had a splint on his left wrist and is still a few months away from a return.”

PICARD-HOOOOOOOPER
Former Sea Dogs forward Alexandre Picard-Hooper was named one of the McGill University Athletes of the Week last week.

“Picard-Hooper, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound centre on the men's hockey team, scored four points, including a pair of goals, as the Redmen defeated UQTR 6-2 in Trois-Rivieres last Thursday,” states a release on the University website. “The 23-year-old finance junior assisted on the game’s first goal to give McGill a 1-0 lead midway through the opening period, then scored early in third to put the Redmen ahead 2-1. After the Patriotes tied the game at 2-2, Picard-Hooper assisted on what proved to be the winning goal, then scored his second marker to put the game out of reach at 5-2 with five minutes remaining. A graduate of College de Chicoutimi, he joined the Redmen in 2008 after playing for St. John in the QMJHL.”

Picard played in 58 games with the Sea Dogs in 2007-08, scoring 23 goals and 45 assists. In the post-season, he added another four goals and 12 assists to help Saint John reach the QMJHL semi-finals.

SALLOWS ON TESINK
The epic website that is DanSallows.com had a question and answer segment posted this past week with Sea Dogs rookie Ryan Tesink. Among the questions asked were: is there an NHLer you mold your game after, in your opinion, what is the biggest goal you’ve ever scored, and his thoughts on the NCAA route among other things.

He also asked some of the bizarre questions that are given to players at the NHL Combine.

‘If you could have dinner with any 3 people you wanted, who would you pick’

Ryan: Jonathan Papelbon, Jim Carey, and Peyton Manning.

MORE ON DESPRES
Yet another article on Simon Despres' improved confidence and work ethic has been release – this time written in the French language.

Despres also tells CyberPresse.ca that the Penguins told him he is capable of playing in the NHL this season but did not have enough ice time to make it worth keeping the Big Horse.

S.S.S.
Game one of the Subway Super Series goes down two weeks from tonight at Harbour Station. There are still some awesome seats left.

“The game is not sold out yet, please encourage your friends and family to come out and support the Sea Dogs playing as well as show the CHL and QMJHL that Saint John, NB is the best choice for the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup!!!,” posted the Sea Dogs on their Facebook page last week.

BEAULIEU VIDEO
Halifax Mooseheads play-by-play John Moore interviewed Nathan Beaulieu in Halifax this weekend.



Photo Credits: David Connell web album, Chirps From Center Ice