GAME DAY
WHO: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Acadie-Bathurst Titan
WHEN: Tonight, 7:30 pm
WHERE: KC Irving Regional Centre
VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 29-4-0-2 (1st in Atlantic Division)
Last Game: 2-1 win at Cape Breton on December 18
Leading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (35GP-24G-30A-54Pts)
Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs enter action tonight with a record of 29-4-0-2 which is good for first in the Maritimes Division and a tie for second overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They are a single point back of the league leading Quebec Remparts but have played four fewer games than Patrick Roy’s club… in the latest BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings, the Sea Dogs were placed as the No. 1 team in the Canadian Hockey League… the Sea Dogs have not played since December 18 when Stephen MacAulay scored with less than a second remaining in regulation to give Saint John a 2-1 victory over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at Centre 200. Jacob DeSerres made 22 stops in the road win. Saint John was supposed to travel to Charlottetown on Tuesday to face the Rocket but couldn’t because of bad weather… Saint John has won three straight games going into tonight’s match and are 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 games. Their last loss came December 10 in Lewiston against the MAINEiacs… the Dogs continue to lead the QMJHL in goals scored this season with 168 in 35 games. They are averaging 4.8 goals per game… Saint John has also allowed the fewest goals against this year with 90 for an average of 2.6 goals against per game… 12-4-0-1 on the road and have outscored their opposition 74-52 along the way… Saint John has the sixth best power play in the league with a rating of 23.7%… the team's penalty kill is operating at 82.1%, good for fourth overall in the QMJHL. On the road however, their penalty kill slips to 78.6%... Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Dogs in points with 54 in 35 games this season. He also leads the team in assists with 30, is second in goals with 24, has a team high +34 rating, and is second only to the newly acquired Alexandre Beauregard in penalty minutes with 45… Zach Phillips leads the club in goals with 25 and sits just three points back of Huberdeau for the team lead in points… if the goaltending rotation carries over into the second half of the season, Frederic Piche should be getting the call in net. He has a record of 13-2-0-2, a goals against average of 2.45, and a save percentage of 0.915. He has not played since December 17 in Cape Breton, a 6-2 Saint John win… Phillips is second in the league with 11 power play goals… Phillips is tied for the league lead in first goals with seven… Stanislav Galiev, Tomas Jurco, and Huberdeau are tied for second in the league in insurance goals… Beauregard’s 80 penalty minutes place him fifth in the league in time spent in the box.
Record: 23-14-0-0 (2nd in Maritimes Division)
Last Game: 5-4 loss at Halifax on December 18
Leading Scorer: Gabriel Levesque (37GP-16G-35A-51Pts)
Notes: The Acadie-Bathurst Titan enter play this evening with a record of 23-14-0-0 which places them second in the Maritimes Division and seventh overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Titan are currently 14-points back of the division leading Sea Dogs and have played two more games… like the Sea Dogs, the Titan have not played since December 18. Their last game was a 5-4 loss at the Halifax Metro Centre to the cellar dwelling Mooseheads. Vincent Arseneau, Gabriel Levesque with two, and David Gilbert all scored for Bathurst in the loss. Derek Tait allowed two goals on 15 shots while Robert Steeves allowed three of 12 shots. The offensively challenged Mooseheads outshot the Titan 27-25 in the match. Like Saint John, the Titan were scheduled to play on Tuesday but the match was postponed due to poor weather conditions… Bathurst’s power play is ranked eighth in the league with a rating of 22.5%. At home, their power play is operating at 21.3%... the Titan’s penalty kill has been solid this year and has been working at 83%, good for second in the league and only behind the Drummondville Voltigeurs. At home, their penalty kill slips all the way to 78.3%... At the KC Irving Regional Centre this season, the Titan are 12-6-0-0 and have outscored their opposition 68-55… 6-4-0-0 in their last 10-games and are coming off a loss… Gabriel Levesque leads the Titan in scoring with 51 points in 37 games this year. He also leads the team in assists by a large margin with 35… Sebastien Trudeau is the team’s goal scoring leader. He has 17 markers in 37 contests. Levesque and Jonathan Lessard are second on the team in goals with 16 each… Vincent Arseneau has been very involved in the past few Saint John – Bathurst meetings. He leads the club in penalty minutes with 94… Lessard is tied for second in the league in game winning goals with six… no Titan player is in the top-20 of the plus/minus category… Zach O’Brien is fifth in rookie scoring with 27 points… with No. 1 netminder Olivier Roy away with Team Canada at the world juniors, Robert Steeves and Derek Tait are sharing the goaltending duties. Steeves has a record of 7-2-0-0, a goals against average of 1.75, and a save percentage of 0.939. Tait has a record of 4-3-0-0, a GAA of 3.10, and a SV% of 0.894. Steeves has played more minutes than Tait.
Three players will be missing from this game due to duties at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo. Sea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres and the Titan’s No. 1 netminder, Olivier Roy, are currently teammates on Team Canada. Saint John forward Tomas Jurco is also away representing Slovakia.
Also missing from the Titan is forward Brent Turnbull who is playing for Team Atlantic at the World Under-17 Hockey Championships in Manitoba. Sea Dogs’ Hockey Administration Coordinator Greg Leland is the coach of Team Atlantic and Titan equipment manager Nathan Beliveau is also working for the team.
Titan defenseman Jeremie Fraser is also playing at the event with Team Quebec.
BEAUREGARD DEBUT
The newly acquired Alexandre Beauregard will likely make his debut for Saint John tonight in Bathurst. The Sea Dogs acquired the gritty forward from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies last week in exchange for a first round draft pick in 2011.
With the last place Huskies this season, Beauregard has four goals and six assists in 35 games to go along with 80 penalty minutes.
It will be interesting to see if Beauregard simply replaces Tomas Jurco or if the lines will be juggled a bit.
NEW FACES
The Titan have been a bit busy during the holiday trading period. From yesterday’s Telegraph-Journal:
So far, Couturier has added forward Marc-Olivier Mimar in a deal with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in exchange for forward Danny Chiasson and a pair of draft picks (a second-round pick in 2011 and a fourth-round selection in 2012); sent forward Bryce Milson of Miramichi to Lewiston in exchange for a second-round pick in 2012; and acquired forward Yoan Pinette from Gatineau in exchange for a second-round pick in 2011.SPECIAL GUEST
A very special guest will appear at tonight’s game at the KC Irving Regional Centre. From the Titan’s website:
The Titan organization will welcome Janick Arseneau during our December 30th game. She was a top 4 finalist on the show '' SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA''. Janick was a great ambassador for N.B and especially for the Chaleur region. We will be giving away a picture of Janick to the first 2000 fans coming to the game, there will also be an authograph session.
ARENA INFO
Venue: KC Irving Regional Centre
Seating Capacity: 3,542
Average Attendance: 1,578 (18th)
Year Built: 1996
QMJHL Arena Guide
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Live Blog: Station Nation
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal
Follow Station Nation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/station_nation for in-game updates, scores, stats, and live coverage during tonight’s game.
AFTER THE BUZZER
Game Three of the 2010-11 Brunswick News Rivalry Cup goes tomorrow at Harbour Station as the Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats do battle. A limited number of standing room tickets remain for this 7:30 pm match.
