GELINAS DEAL MAY BE COMPLETED AT DRAFT

Speculation has already begun about who may go from the Saint John Sea Dogs to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens at the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft to, possibly, complete the Eric Gelinas transaction.

In today’s Chronicle Herald, Willy Palov noted that the deal, which saw 17-year old rookie defenseman Guillaume Cloutier go to the Sagueneens in exchange for Eric Gelinas, may not yet be complete.

"The Sea Dogs pulled off their best move with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Wednesday, landing impact defenceman Eric Gelinas for young blue-liner Guillaume Cloutier. It’s also believed the Sagueneens will receive a solid 20-year-old forward at next year’s draft so that makes the price more realistic."

Speculation has already begun about which overage forward may end up in Chicoutimi next season. Both Palov and other QMJHL insiders tweeted on Thursday that the Sags will have the chance to choose between Danick Gauthier and Steven Anthony.

“From what I hear, Chicoutimi can choose between Gauthier/Anthony in June,” tweeted Palov. “Will want to wait on whether Anthony signs with Canucks or not.”

Of course, none of this will be conformed until June. There have been plenty of times that transactions like these have had false rumours attached to them.

Although Cloutier has proven to be a solid rookie defenseman this season, the price does seem a bit low to acquire Gelinas, a New Jersey Devils second-round pick. The Sagueneens have stated though that they were after Cloutier.

"Chicoutimi really wanted him and a lot of teams called about him,'' said Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant to the Telegraph-Journal of Cloutier. "It's tough to give up any of your young kids. We draft kids to play here and that's been our goal, but we want to make sure we push hard and that we're ready to play in the playoffs."

We shall see if these speculations become true at June’s entry draft.

Meanwhile, Gelinas has arrived in the Port City and joined his new team for Sea Dogs night at the Saint John Mill Rats game last evening. The defenseman was spotted wearing a No. 4 jersesy.

The 19-year old could make his Sea Dogs debut tomorrow night when the team visits Halifax at 7:00 pm.

LIVE BLOG: Deadline Day

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s trade deadline goes down today at 1:00 pm AST.

The Saint John Sea Dogs have made three moves so far during the holiday trading period. The team acquired Alexandre Beauregard from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in exchange for a 2011 first round round pick, Jason Seed from the Gatineau Olympiques for a fifth round pick, and Eric Gelinas in exchange for Guillaume Cloutier.

The trade period has been fairly quiet up until yesterday when a flurry of deals were announced. There are still a lot of big name players who could be dealt, making for some interesting storylines today.

All of the official trades can be found HERE.

To help with today’s events, we’ve hooked up the Twitter accounts of several QMJHL reporters, insiders, and followers to this here live blog. Most of the trades find their way onto Twitter long before being official.



Note: There is a bunch of stuff from yesterday getting posted on this thing. Follow with caution.

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

SAUVE SENT TO MOOSE
As we posted the other day, former Sea Dogs defenseman Yann Sauve was assigned to the Manitoba Moose last Thursday. The 20-year had been playing with the East Coast Hockey League’s Victoria Salmon Kings where he had two assists in seven games.

Sauve’s stint in the ECHL was believed to be for conditioning after finally recovering from a concussion he suffered in September. Now, the Vancouver Canucks must decide where to put Sauve for the rest of the season.

A second round pick of the Canucks in 2008, there have been rumblings of him possibly returning for a final year of junior in Saint John.

OKE NAMED TOP STUDENT
Sea Dogs forward Scott Oke was named the teams Student of the Month for November last week. Oke was presented with the honour at Harbour Station earier this month.

Oke is currently a 12th grade student at St. Malachy’s High School.

ISS FEATURES
Tomas Jurco was the lone Sea Dog to make International Scouting Service's list of top 30 prospects for the upcoming National Hockey League Entry Draft.

Jurco was placed in the No. 22 spot and joined Drummondville’s Sean Couturier, ranked first overall, as the only Quebec leaguers to make the list.

Four Sea Dogs – Jonathan Huberdeau, Zach Phillips, Guillaume Cloutier, and Scott Oke – were listed as “risers.” All four have a paragraph written about them on the Hockey’s Future website.

“Showed us a little more every viewing; played well with Kelly and Tesink,” says the scouting service about Scott Oke. “Showed better vision and passing ability then seen in early viewings; made a few smart 5 foot passes and a few good 30 foot passes, finding seams. Doesn't always see his options, but is showing more patience with puck. Worked hard and made the most of limited ice time...played 4th line with no PP or PK.”

JURCO ON TPS
Last week, Sea Dogs forward Tomas Jurco went on The Pipeline Show radio program. To download the interview, click HERE.

TELUS DISCOUNT
Telus has released their mid-season webcast pricing. You can now buy all webcasts – live and archived – for the remainder of the regular season and all of the playoffs for $129.95.

NEW YEARS EVE
The annual Wildcats – Sea Dogs New Years Eve Game is always a great show, but this year there will be some added events for the Rivalry Cup match.

From a City of Saint John release:

The fun begins at 7:30 p.m. at Harbour Station with a Salute to Saint John Sports Heroes. This special historic event will honour some of Saint John’s outstanding sports personalities as part of the pre-game festivities before the Sea Dogs take on provincial rivals, the Moncton Wildcats. It is a presentation of City Stories, Saint John 225’s online social history project.

The Salute to Saint John Sports Heroes will honour Olympian Monica Hitchcock, international basketball official Fred Horgan and the legendary 1972/73 Mooseheads hockey team, winners of the Hardy Cup. Joining them at centre ice will be the St. Mary’s Band, one of Canada’s longest existing community bands (created in 1903) and tenor Owen McCausland, who will perform the national anthem.

Members of the Sea Dogs will also be participating in the New Years Eve celebrations on the boardwalk following the game.

McGUIRE CHRISTMAS WISHES
Telegraph-Journal columnist Peter McGuire released his annual Christmas gifts to the Sea Dogs column on Tuesday. Always a good read.

KREIDER TO PLAY FOR USA
A Sea Dogs draft pick will once again play for the Americans at the World Junior Hockey Championships. Drafted by Saint John in the 10th round of the 2008 QMJHL Entry Draft, Chris Kreider was named to Team USA yesterday.

"I was just playing and trying to enjoy it," Kreider told NHL.com yesterday about last year’s tournament where he and the Americans captured gold.. "It kind of just passes you by, but I guess that's the nature of the beast."

Currently playing with Boston College where he has five goals and six assists in 16 games, Kreider has never reported to Saint John.

NO BEAULIEU IN GUELPH
Former Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu will not be moving to the Guelph Storm organization as a head coach. The London Free Press recently suggested that he may be a candidate for the vacant position.

The Storm announced today that Scott Walker, 37, who joined the team on a volunteer basis in late October and will now serve as the team’s head coach.

CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM FREDDY BEACH
Daily Gleaner columnist David Ritchie gave some Christmas wishes for a couple of Fredericton-area Sea Dogs players earlier this week:

For Saint John Sea Dogs' Zack Phillips and Mike Thomas, both of Fredericton: For the Sea Dogs to win a Quebec Major Junior championship, and enhance the city's chances of hosting the Memorial Cup tournament. A credible host program is part and parcel of any potential winning bid, and with the Sea Dogs success over the past season and a half, they've already earned respect at the national level, due in great measure to the play of the second-year Phillips and captain Thomas.

ANOTHER LOOK AT SLOVAKIA
Patrick King of Rogers Sportsnet had another look at Team Slovakia’s entry for the world juniors.

Slovakia will ice a roster that is somewhat familiar to junior hockey fans. Guelph Storm forward Richard Panik, who was a member of that 2009 team, will be back for his third tournament while seven more from the CHL will join him. The most notables are defenceman Martin Marincin, an Edmonton Oilers draft pick that played in last year's tournament, and potential first round pick, forward Tomas Jurco.

The country finished fourth last year in Saskatoon.

NO RELATION
Abitibi Express reports that the Sea Dogs’ trade yesterday to acquire Alexandre Beauregard has no relation to the Steven Delisle trade that took place earlier this season.

The Sea Dogs acquired the NHL drafted Delisle for a 12th round pick earlier this year but he remains in the pro ranks. Beauregard was traded to Saint John yesterday for a first round pick.

Apparently, Montreal, Saint John, Victoriaville, and Drummondville were all interested in his services. Stephane Leroux of RDS tweeted yesterday that the Juniors were very close to landing him but would not give up a first round pick.

DELISLE UPDATE
Speaking of Steven Delisle, Justin A. Cohn of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette had an update on the defenseman on December 13.

Defenseman Steve Delisle did have surgery on his shoulder and is presumed out for the season, unless he has an extremely fortuitous recovery.

“Defenseman Steven Delisle also has been moved from 10-day to the 30-day injured reserve list after undergoing potentially season-ending shoulder surgery,” reports News-Sentinel.com.

The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect has appeared in just six games this season with the Central Hockey League’s Fort Wayne Koments.

DESPRES ON WORLD JUNIORS
It’s been rare to see Sea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres quoted anywhere during the world juniors. On Monday, Despres gave TSN, via BuffaloNews.com, his thoughts on Canada being considered on underdog in the tournament.

"They don't know what's waiting for them," Despres said. "I think, we're going to come out strong in the tournament. We'll put on a good, competitive show."

Canada plays their final pre-tournament game tonight in Kitchener against Finland at 8:30pm AST on TSN2.

Photo Credits: Vancouver Canucks, Telus, AP, Columbus Blue Jackets

ANOTHER GOALIE RUMOR SURFACES

Sunday, Sports Juniors reported that the Saint John Sea Dogs were rumored to be interested in an 18-year old goaltender currently playing in the United States.

Today, the website says that the goaltender in question is Martin Ouellette who is currently playing with the NCAA’s University of Maine Black Bears. Ouellette was a seventh round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2010 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

The Quebec born goaltender, who turns 19 on December 30, has played in just three games for Maine this season, going 1-1-1 with a 2.25 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.

According to Hockey’s Future, in 2009-10 “as a senior at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire, Ouellette played 27 games with a 1.61 goals against average and .925 save percentage.”

Here is the Hockey’s Future scouting report on the netminder:

Ouellette is a very calm goaltender. He plays with a tremendous amount of poise for his age. He's good at cutting down angles and challenging shooters, and he's also a fairly adept puck handler for a goalie. Consistency is his glaring weakness as he's known for occasionally allowing a soft goal.

This rumor certainly comes out of left field. It makes sense for the Sea Dogs to go after a non-overage goaltender, but it is rare for a Canadian junior team to dip into the NCAA mid-season and grab one.

A Bangor Daily News article written on December 13th doesn’t have any indication that Ouellette is leaving the Bears program in the second half.

“One of the big positives is we’ve learned a lot about our team,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead about the first half of the season. “We’ve started to get clarity in our goaltending position. It has been solidifying. Dan Sullivan has been our most consistent goaltender and has played the bulk of games. But Martin Ouellette has come on very strong and shown tremendous improvement and promise. And you can’t rule Shawn Sirman out of the mix, either.”

If true and Ouellette will be arriving on the scene, it likely means the end of Jacob DeSerres’ time in Saint John. DeSerres has been very good for the Dogs but continues a rotation with Frederic Piche for net duties. With DeSerres being a 20-year old and only playing half of the games, it isn’t the best use of an overage slot.

Sports Juniors continues to bring up the possibility of an overage defenseman coming to Saint John in Steven Delisle or Yann Sauve - who are both Sea Dogs property. Delisle is reportedly out for several weeks if not the whole season because of shoulder issues while Sauve is a bit of a mystery. The Manitoba Moose recalled the Vancouver Canucks prospect last week from the East Coast Hockey League.

The Dogs have some time to work things out as they do not play again until December 28th in Charlottetown. The QMJHL trade deadline is January 6.

FUTURE STILL A FOCUS FOR DOGS

Just in case we all needed some reassurance, the Saint John Sea Dogs organization is very much still committed to the future, a squad that will hopefully be participating as host in the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup at Harbour Station.

Currently sitting first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at the mid-season break, it would be understandable if the Sea Dogs chose to go all in this season during the holiday trading period. But Saint John is still very much committed to hosting - and winning – the Canadian Hockey League’s top prize next season.

Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant told the Moncton Times & Transcript on Monday that the future is still key.

"I don't think we're going to react to anybody," said Gallant. "If it's a smart deal, we're going to do it. If it's not smart in our minds, we're not going to do it. Sure, there's other teams that are going to load up and get better.

"We'll try to tweak our lineup a little, but we really like our team. We're not going to trade our young kids to make deals for one season. We're not going to risk the future of our club. If we can make our team better, we'll do it. If not, we'll move forward and do the best we can."

This is basically the same thing Gallant and director of hockey operations Mike Kelly said last season during the trade period when the Moncton Wildcats loaded up and ultimately beat the Sea Dogs in a six game President’s Cup Final.

The Quebec Remparts sit just two points back of the Sea Dogs for first. The Montreal Juniors are three points back. Last season, thanks to a 22-game winning streak, there was a much wider margin in the race for first than this season. With the Sea Dogs knowing there are at least two teams knocking on the backdoor, could this have an effect on how they swing some deals?

Rogers Sportsnet junior hockey columnist Patrick King shared his thoughts today:

Many predicted the Montreal Juniors and Saint John Sea Dogs would be in the running, but not as many were quick to anoint the perennial contender Québec Remparts in that same category. All three teams are atop their respective divisions heading into the break with only three points separating them. The Sea Dogs were the class of the league in the regular season a year ago, but were unable to overcome the Wildcats in the league final. There’s a lot to like about Saint John given their experience, balanced lineup and suddenly strong goaltending from former Brandon Wheat King Jacob DeSerres.

The Remparts and Juniors may need to be a little more active in the trade market to match the Sea Dogs’ talent level.

Speaking of the 2012 Memorial Cup bid, Telegraph-Journal columnist Peter McGuire had an interesting tidbit in his annual Christmas gift piece:

Scott McCain - the right to host the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup. The plan all along was to make a bid to host next year's tournament but when the league hiked the hosting fee by 40 per cent, there was some talk of pulling out. Instead, McCain, the team's majority owner, and his fellow members of the local ownership group decided to bite the bullet and submit the bid. With four teams officially in the mix - Halifax, Cape Breton, Shawinigan and Saint John - it is believed the latter two are the frontrunners.

The rate hike was probably part of the financial concerns McCain expressed in an interview earlier this season on News 95.7 in Halifax.

REPORT: Sea Dogs in talks for Mastropietro

Finally, a legit trade rumor involving the Saint John Sea Dogs has been brought up.

Steve Turcotte of the Shawinigan newspaper La Nouvelliste posted on his blog yesterday that the Sea Dogs have been in talks with the Victoriaville Tigres about goaltender Antonio Mastropietro.

Turcotte is very reliable, always posting a ton of rumors and reports during the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League holiday trading period – which opens today. Neil Hodge of the Times & Transcript also included the St. Leonard, Quebec native on his list of players who could be on the move over the next couple of weeks.

This could be an interesting move by the Sea Dogs. By acquiring the 19-year old goaltender, he would help fix some of Saint John’s goaltending concerns for next season when the team makes a run for the 2012 Memorial Cup.

Or, perhaps the Sea Dogs plan on bringing in another overage player. If so, goaltender Jacob DeSerres could be on his way out, and with Saint John having no real solid goaltending prospects, Mastropietro may be the man to go after.

So far this season with the Tigres, he is 12-7-1-1 to go along with a 2.94 goals against average and a 0.902 save percentage. Mastropietro has been Victoriaville’s No. 1 netminder this season and made 32 saves earlier this year in a 4-2 loss to the Sea Dogs at Harbour Station.

Last season, Mastropietro was the backup to New York Islanders prospect Kevin Poulin. In the semi-final playoff series against Saint John, Mastropietro saw just 23 seconds of ice time.

The Sea Dogs begin their 10-day break today and return to action on December 28 in Prince Edward Island. The trading period closes on January 6.

For some reason, there are a ton of videos of Mastropietro practicing his skills on YouTube. Here is one of them:



Photo Credit: Telegraph-Journal

SEA DOGS OUTSIDER: It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

By Bert Richardson
Station Nation Staff

And so it begins.

Today marks the first day of the Quebec Major Hockey League’s holiday trading period, a two-and-a-half week frenzy that can turn pretenders into contenders and put mid-pack teams into rebuild mode.

The Saint John Sea Dogs enter the trade period ranked first in the Maritimes Division, first in the QMJHL, and first in the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings. Not too shabby.

The Port City juniors were expected to take a bit of a step back this season after a trip to the President’s Cup Final last season. But with a 29-4-0-2 record in the first half, they have done anything but.

So here are the Sea Dogs, in a similar position they were in last year. The only moves Saint John made during the holiday trading period were minor, acquiring defenseman Christian Morin and overage goaltender Marco Cousineau.

Could this year, however, be a different story?

“Everyone keeps telling me Saint John is going to make a splash during the trade period,” tweeted the Chronicle Herald’s Willy Palov earlier this week. “They have the assets to do it.”

Right now, the Sea Dogs have more options than Christmas shopping at the As-Seen-On-TV Store.

They could sell, showing they are focused on their 2012 Memorial Cup run and nothing else. At the start of the year, I thought this would be the way the way to go. Then the Sea Dogs went 29-4-0-2 in the first half and Zach Phillips and Jonathan Huberdeau are on pace for 100 points. Selling doesn’t seem likely at this point.

They could do absolutely nothing, or maybe a few minor tweaks like last season. But then the problem becomes what if another team chooses to go for it all this year, possibly surpassing the Sea Dogs like the Moncton Wildcats did last season.

Then there is the buying option. With the thoughts of hosting the Memorial Cup next season, the last thing the Sea Dogs will do is sell the farm like Moncton did last season. But as Palov pointed out in his tweet, the Sea Dogs have so many assets that they could easily pull off a big trade and still be dominant next season.

The Sea Dogs have been solid just about everywhere this season, leading the league is goals score and allowing the fewest goals against. But, obviously, anything can be improved.

One area I wonder about is the goaltending situation. The rotation of 19-year old Frederic Piche and 20-year old Jacob DeSerres has worked wonders so far this year. But having one of the teams three permitted 20-year olds sitting on the bench every-other game is a bit of a waste. Plus, Saint John may want to get a head start on settling their yearly goaltending problems that will take place next fall.

Nathan White of Yahoo! Sports had a solid run down of players who may be on the market over the next couple of weeks. The Times & Transcript's Neil Hodge had an epic column yesterday of players who may be on the move as well:

- Victoriaville goaltender Antonio Mastropietro and forward Philip-Michael Devos, the league scoring leader.
- Chicoutimi goaltenders Christopher Gibson and Robin Gusse and defenceman Eric Gelinas. It would be Gibson or Gusse on the way out, but not both.
- Gatineau goaltender Maxime Clermont
- P.E.I. goaltender Evan Mosher, defenceman Matthew Hobbs and forwards Andrej Nestrasil, Philippe Paradis and Jordan Escott
- Shawinigan goaltender Gabriel Girard and forward Dave Labrecque
- Rimouski defencemen Ryan Kavanagh and Gleason Fournier and forwards Jakub Culek and Petr Straka

Sea Dogs director of hockey operations, Mike Kelly, seems to be tight lipped as there have been little rumblings of what Saint John may do or who they may target. During his post-game show tonight, Tim Roszell certainly didn’t know what to expect either.

It’s going to be an interesting few weeks.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF YANN SAUVE

Is defenseman Yann Sauve returning for an overage season of junior hockey? Well, for the time being, it remains a question mark.

The former Saint John Sea Dogs defender is currently playing in the East Coast Hockey League with the Victoria Salmon Kings, the Vancouver Canucks’ ‘AA’ affiliate. The 20-year old was expected to play with the Manitoba Moose in the American Hockey League, but unfortunately for Sauve, he was hit by a car during Canucks rookie camp and was out of game action for over two months.

"I've been out for two months now and I've got to say I've (come) a long way to get in shape,” said Sauve to the Vancouver Sun earlier this week. “I can just worry about my game. The coach will decide whose playing."

But with a demotion the ECHL and still recovering from the effects of a concussion, rumblings that the first overall selection in the 2006 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft could be returning to the Sea Dogs have begun.

In Tuesday’s L’Acadie Nouvelle, Stephane Paquette reported that the Sea Dogs are denying the rumors of Sauve returning.

Later that night, Canadian Hockey League Insider Sam Cosentino went on The Pipeline Show to talk about Sauve’s possible return (full interview can be found HERE by selecting “CHL Insider: Part 2”).

“It’s slim,” said Cosentino about the possible return of Sauve. “When we were there for the Subway Super Series I spoke to Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly and they thought he was on their radar; there’s no question about it that there’s a chance. They put that chance somewhere around 50%.”

“I spoke to Mike Gillis the other day – the GM of the Canucks – and I asked him that question. There was a need for bodies in the East Coast league. It was a good place for him to go to get started. It was under the watchful eye of Vancouver.”

“Once they get a little healthier, he is going to report to Manitoba first. They want to try and get him into some games before Christmas time, and maybe, just after the Christmas break, where he’s playing 15-20 minutes a game and then from there make a determination.”

Cosentino went on to say that Gillis “did not close the door” on Sauve returning to Saint John.

“I wouldn’t rule it out yet. I would call it, a probability of it happening, probably at 50% right now. “

Sauve is still considered a wildcard to return. But with the acquisition of Steven Delisle’s rights earlier this season, it’s clear the Sea Dogs are looking for a strong defenseman to help boost their team’s chances down the stretch and into the post-season.

Adding Sauve would be a huge boost for an already steady defense core. Add the veteran to a lineup featuring the experienced Simon Despres, Nathan Beaulieu, Kevin Gagne, Pierre Durepos, and Gabriel Bourret and its shutdown city.

But, if Sauve does not return, there will surely be other options if the Sea Dogs are looking to add a body on defense. Who knows, even a relatively minor transaction like the Christian Morin deal last season could do the trick.

The QMJHL trade deadline opens on December 19.

Photo Credit: David Connell Web Album

FORT WAYNE GIVING DELISLE A CHANCE

It doesn’t look like Steven Delisle will be a Saint John Sea Dog in the immediate future.

Delisle, whose rights were traded to Saint John Friday from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in exchange for a 12th round pick in the 2012 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft, was assigned by the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Central Hockey League’s Fort Wayne Komets on Friday. He had been with the American Hockey League’s Springfield Falcons but had not played in a game.

News-Sentinel.com’s Komets blog, Tailing the Komets, posted this yesterday:

He’s a 6-6, 209 pound rookie defenseman who has not played yet this season. Komets GM David Franke said Delisle will be in town Sunday and at practice on Monday. He’ll be in the lineup Friday night.

So it looks like Delisle will get a shot at proffensional hockey in Fort Wayne.

The 20-year old Jackets prospect was considered a long shot to return to junior this season, especially after signing a three-year entry level deal with the Jackets over the summer.

It’s still a good gamble by the Sea Dogs as 12th round picks rarely amount to anything, and, given the timing of the trade, Saint John must. know something others do not. Let us not forget about Gerard Gallant's connections to Columbus as he was the head coach of the team from January 1, 2004 to November 13, 2006.