Friday, April 2, 2010

STATION NATION ROUND TWO PREDICTIONS

With round two of the 2010 Presidents Cup Playoffs set to begin this evening, Station Nation presents a preview of the quarterfinals with our predictions.

All stats are courtesy of the Bell Alaint FibreOp Playoff Report. (They are paying us a fortune to say that)

Stats listed are from the regular season.

SAINT JOHN (1) vs. GATINEAU (12)
Regular Season Series:
Won By Sea Dogs 3-0
Round One: Sea Dogs Defeated Rocket 4-1; Olympiques Defeated Juniors 4-3
Records: Sea Dogs: 53-12-1-2 (1st Atlantic, 1st QMJHL); Olympiques: 30-33-1-4 (3rd Telus East, 12th QMJHL)
Special Teams: Sea Dogs: PP - 24.3% (5th); PK - 78.8% (10th); Olympiques: PP - 18.2% (11th); PK - 82.1% (6th)
Leading Scorers: Sea Dogs: Mike Hoffman, 85 points (56GP-46G-39A); Olympiques: Tye McGinn, 62 points (50GP-27G-35A)
Goaltenders: Sea Dogs: Marco Cousineau (25-19 record, 2.82 G.A.A., 0.919 SV%); Olympiques: Maxime Clermont (24-31 record, 2.81 G.A.A., 0.897 SV%)
What you need to know: Gatineau had a regular season road record of 12-21-0-1. But their playoff road record is 3-1 after four games.
Prediction: Gatineau mascot Hully gets way to much attention and will have his tongue ripped out by Gerard Gallant. Sea Dogs win in four games.

DRUMMONDVILLE (2) vs. RIMOUSKI (9)
Regular Season Series:
Won by Voltigeurs 3-0
Round One: Voltigeurs Defeated MAINEiacs 4-0; Océanic Defeated Saguenéens 4-3
Records: Voltigeurs: 51-15-0-2 (1st Telus Central, 2nd QMJHL); Océanic: 34-27-5-2 (2nd Telus East, 9th QMJHL)
Special Teams: Voltigeurs: PP - 22.6% (7th); PK - 80.4% (8th); Océanic: PP - 25.2% (3rd); PK - 76.5% (14th)
Leading Scorers: Voltigeurs: Sean Couturier, 96 points (68GP-41G-55A); Océanic: Félix Lefrançois, 83 points (66GP-39G-44A)
Goaltenders: Voltigeurs: Jake Allen (29-14 record, 2.20 G.A.A., 0.922 SV%); Océanic: Matthew Dopud (22-18 record, 3.59 G.A.A., 0.885 SV%)
What you need to Know: A Drummondville sweep would make it 24 straight wins for the Volts.
Prediction: Santa Clause comes to Drummondville when Sean Couturier lights up former Sea Dog goaltending prospect Matthew Dopud like a Christmas tree. Volts take it in a sweep.

QUEBEC (3) vs. VICTORIAVILLE (6)
Regular Season Series:
Won By Tigres 3-1
Round One: Remparts Defeated Titan 4-1; Tigres Defeated Cataractes 4-2
Records: Remparts: 41-20-3-4 (1st Telus East, 5th QMJHL); Tigres: 46-19-1-2 (2nd Telus Central, 4th QMJHL)
Special Teams: Remparts: PP - 25.1% (4th); PK - 79.2% (9th); Tigres: PP - 25.6% (2nd); PK - 85.8% (1st)
Leading Scorers: Remparts: Dmitri Kugryshev, 87 points (66GP-29G-58A); Tigres: Philip-Michaël Devos, 93 points (68GP-35G-48A)
Goaltenders: Remparts: Louis Domingue (20-17 record, 2.68 G.A.A., 0.906 SV%); Tigres: Kevin Poulin (35-16 record, 2.63 G.A.A., 0.916 SV%)
What you need to know: Quebec goaltender Louis Domingue has a less then stellar 4.14 G.A.A. and 0.875 save percentage so far in the playoffs.
Prediction: Can’t think of anything. Victo’ in six.

ROUYN-NORANDA (4) vs. MONCTON (5)
Regular Season Series:
Tied 1-1
Round One: Huskies Defeated Foreurs 4-2; Wildcats Defeated Screaming Eagles 4-1
Records: Huskies: 41-21-2-4 (1st Telus West, 6th QMJHL); Wildcats: 48-14-2-4 (2nd Atlantic, 3rd QMJHL)
Special Teams: Huskies: PP - 22.7% (6th); PK - 83.8% (2nd); Wildcats: PP - 27.0% (1st); PK - 83.0% (4th)
Leading Scorers: Huskies: Gabriel Lévesque, 82 points (67GP-24G-58A); Wildcats: Nicolas Deschamps, 96 points (64GP-39G-57A)
Goaltenders: Huskies: Nicholas Champion (26-21 record, 2.96 G.A.A., 0.907 SV%); Wildcats: Nicola Riopel (19-5 record, 2.06 G.A.A., 0.918 SV%)
What you need to know: The schedule for this series is amazingly screwed up due to some pre-planned events taking place at the Moncton Coliseum. Game four in Moncton is scheduled as an 8:30 pm local start time.
Prediction: Kirill Kabanov takes a job as the Coliseum’s Zamboni driver. Moncton takes the series in six games.

As expected, next to no one around the hockey blog world took the time to do round two predictions. Crash the Crease is the only site we could find with any:

Saint John is the beast of the East this year. Gatineau struggled through a contest of mediocrity in the last round against Montreal. From the net out, the Dogs are the deepest team left in the Q playoffs. Marco Cousineau was rock solid in round one and will look to continue on that against an offensively challenged Gatineau team. Despres and Sauve are horses on the blue-line while Saint John’s big offensive guns are unparalleled on the Gatineau side. All that having been said, Maxime Clermont was good in round one and could steal a game if he plays to potential.
Saint John in 5

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