DOGS MUST STAY MORE DISCIPLINED

SAINT JOHN – It’s hard to find any negatives from the Saint John Sea Dogs’ first round playoff sweep of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. But there is an obvious one – penalties.

The Sea Dogs served 90 penalty minutes in the first round, averaging 22.50 penalty minutes per contest. Their totals in the four-game series is the highest of any team in the playoffs so far.

Saint John averaged 13.13 penalty minutes per game during the regular season.

Going into the series, it was expected to be full of rough stuff as the Eagles tried to take Saint John’s top players off their game. They certainly did that and, not surprisingly, the Sea Dogs occasionally fought back and picked up matching penalties.

But the somewhat concerning part is that not all the penalties were roughing and fighting penalties. There were plenty of slashing calls, hooking calls, interference calls, etc. The undisciplined play was really noticeable in Game Four when the Eagles were awarded seven man advantage chances.

In that fourth and deciding game, the Dogs took one roughing, boarding, hooking, and cross checking penalty. They also took two tripping penalties and three hooking calls.

Luckily for Saint John, it didn’t cost them. The offensively challenged Eagles failed to score on any of their 24 man advantage opportunities in the series.

Not every team in the President’s Cup playoffs will be as offensively brutal as Cape Breton. The Sea Dogs must be more disciplined as the playoffs progress. Even though the team had the best penalty kill during the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season, the constant travel to the sin bin will surely catch up with them eventually.

SEA DOGS MAKE HISTORY

SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs made history on Sunday afternoon at Harbour Station.

A 7-2 win over the Prince Edward Island Rocket gave the Sea Dogs their 58th victory of the year on the final day of the regular season, tying the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League record for wins in a single season.

Two other teams have achieved the mark in the 1973-74 Sorel Eperviers and the 1978-79 Tois-Rivieres Draveurs. The Sea Dogs got 58 wins in a 68 game schedule while the Eperviers reached the mark in a 70 game campaign and the Draveurs in 72 games.

With an unreal record of 58-7-1-2, the Dogs fell one win short of breaking the record.

The win also gave Saint John a record of 32-0-1-1 at home, making them the first team in QMJHL history to go an entire season without losing a match on home ice.

It certainly was quite a regular season for a franchise only in its sixth year of operation. The team won the Maritimes Division, the Brunswick News Rivalry Cup, and the Jean Rougeau Trophy as well.

With this being the final day of the regular season, the team is also on pace to win the Luc Robitaille Trophy for most goals scored during the regular season and the Robert Lebel Trophy for allowing the fewest goals against.

The race for the big trophy, the President’s Cup, begins next Friday against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

100 FOR HUBERDEAU

SYDNEY, NS – Jonathan Huberdeau made franchise history Sunday afternoon in Cape Breton.

At 19:53 of the third period, Jonathan Huberdeau recorded his 41st goal of the season into an empty cage to complete the Saint John Sea Dogs’ 4-1 victory over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

But the goal was big for another reason as the marker represented the 17-year olds 100th point of the 2010-11 campaign. Huberdeau is the first Sea Dog in team history to ever reach the triple digit plateau.

Huberdeau now has 41 goals and 59 assists in 64 games played in this season. He now owns the Sea Dogs records for points and assists in one season.

A top-prospect for the 2011 National Hockey League Entry Draft, Huberdeau seems to improve with every game. He has certainly improved on his totals from last season when the then rookie recorded 35 points 61 games.

Going into action this afternoon, the centre was third in league scoring behind Acadie-Bathurst’s Gabriel Levesque and Gatineau’s Philip-Michael Devos. Levesque has 104 points and Devos has 108, respectively.

The Sea Dogs’ leading scorer still has three games remaining on the schedule to improve on his totals. Whether or not he plays in all of those games remains to be seen.

SEA DOGS PLAY NO. 400 TODAY

SAINT JOHN – This afternoon’s game against the Moncton Wildcats will be a historic match for the Saint John Sea Dogs franchise. Standing room tickets are still available for the 4:00 pm contest.

Along with clinching their first ever Brunswick News Rivalry Cup, the Sea Dogs will play their 400th game in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The Sea Dogs entered the league in 2005 and played three seasons that were 70 games in length. The schedule was shortened in 2008-09 to 68 games and that continues to current day. This afternoon’s match will be the teams 54th game of the 2010-11 campaign.

Today will also be the clubs 200th regular season home game at Harbour Station.

Saint John’s all-time record in the league sits at 208-163-11-17.

YOUNG GUNS GETTING IT DONE

Another big win for the Saint John Sea Dogs last night produced another big game for a talented trio of players.

The line of Jonathan Huberdeau, Zach Phillips, and Tomas Jurco combined for four goals and six assists in a 7-2 road win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan last night.

The “Bachelor Line,” as Sea Dogs play-by-play man Tim Roszell has coined them, has produced well all season. But in the last six games – all wins for Saint John – the line has taken it up a notch.

Here is a look at their production during the Sea Dogs’ six game winning streak:

Zach Phillips
November 13 vs Bathurst: 0G-1A-1Pts
November 14 vs Quebec: 0G-0A-0Pts
November 21 at Moncton: 2G-1A-3Pts
November 26 vs Bathurst: 2G-1A-3Pts
November 28 vs Halifax: 2G-1A-3Pts
December 1 at Bathurst: 1G-4A-5Pts

Total points over past six games: 7G-8A-15Pts
Total points this season: 27GP-20G-18A-38Pts

Jonathan Huberdeau
November 13 vs Bathurst: 0G-0A-0Pts
November 14 vs Quebec: 1G-1A-2Pts
November 21 at Moncton: 0G-2A-2Pts
November 26 vs Bathurst: 0G-2A-2Pts
November 28 vs Halifax: 1G-3A-4Pts
December 1 at Bathurst: 3G-1A-4Pts

Total points over past six games: 5G-9A-14Pts
Total points this season: 27GP-19G-23A-42Pts

Tomas Jurco
November 13 vs Bathurst: 1G-0A-1Pts
November 14 vs Quebec: 1G-1A-2Pts
November 21 at Moncton: 0G-2A-2Pts
November 26 vs Bathurst: 1G-0A-1Pts
November 28 vs Halifax: 1G-0A-1Pts
December 1 at Bathurst: 0G-1A-1Pts

Total points over past six games: 4G-4A-8Pts
Total points this season: 27GP-14G-14A-28Pts

To put it another way, the three have combined to score 16 of the Sea Dogs’ 40 goals over the past six contests.

All three players are highly touted for the upcoming National Hockey League Entry Draft, and producing in their selection year will definitely help their cause.

ANOTHER NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER

What a month that was.

With November now at its end, the Saint John Sea Dogs can say they had an impressive 30 days.

In seven games this past month, Saint John went an excellent 6-0-0-1. The Sea Dogs, still without a regulation loss at home, went 5-0-0-1 at Harbour Station. They played only one game on the road, defeating the Moncton Wildcats 9-7 in a building the team has struggled in for years.

Saint John was scheduled to play a second road contest, November 20 in Bathurst, but it was postponed to December 1 because of a snow storm.

The Sea Dogs really hit their stride in November, playing some solid and consistent hockey. Despite a good first few weeks to the year, the team didn’t seem to be clicking the right way. Those memories were erased over the past seven games.

The offense had a strong month. Saint John scored 43 goals for an insane average of 6.14 goals per game. The Dogs scored more than five goals in six of their seven games last month.

Not only was the Sea Dogs' offense rolling, but the defense played well. Saint John averaged 2.85 goals against in the month, allowing a total of 20 goals over seven contests. If the 'Meltdown in Wildtown' didn't happen, the Dogs would have had only 13 goals against.

If it wasn’t for that dang shootout loss against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on the 6th, Saint John would have had their second straight perfect November. The club went 10-0-0-0 last year when they were in the middle of an epic 22-game winning streak.

Entering tonight’s QMJHL action, Saint John is tied for first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with a record of 21-3-0-1, good for 44 points. They have scored the most goals of any team with 128 and have allowed the fewest amount of goals with 70.

The Dogs’ hot stretch goes beyond November, though. The team has not lost in regulation since October 22 in Bathurst. They are 11-0-0-1 during that stretch.

Saint John will look to get payback in the building they last suffered a regulation loss in tomorrow when they visit the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 7:30 pm.