Tuesday, February 22, 2011

PRE-GAME: vs Halifax Mooseheads

GAME DAY
Halifax Mooseheads vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tonight, February 22, 2011, 7:00 pm
Harbour Station

PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN – The Halifax Moosheads are still fighting for playoff positioning as they enter Harbour Station this evening to play the Saint John Sea Dogs for the final time this year. Game time is 7:00 pm.

The Mooseheads, who have not made the post-season since 2008, are currently ranked 15th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with a record of 18-37-1-2. They scored a big win last Friday over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, moving them two-points up on the final playoff spot. The Eagles currently hold the last post-season seat, eight points up the 17th placed Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

The Herd have been struggling of late and have hot-and-cold all season long. They are 3-7-0-0 in their last 10 games and snapped a lengthy losing skid Friday at Centre 200.

If the Eagles pull off a late season surge and push Halifax into the No. 16 slot, they will likely play Saint John in the opening round.

The Sea Dogs enter play this evening with the QMJHL’s best record of 48-5-1-2 and own a nine-point lead with two games in hand over the Montreal Juniors for the league's top spot. A win this evening or an overtime or shootout loss will give Saint John their second straight 100-point campaign.

The Dogs, top-ranked in the country for several weeks now, have won a season high 13 straight games and have gone 20 games with earning at least a point. Safe to say they are on a bit of hot streak.

You know the Mooseheads will be bringing their ‘A’ game, so hopefully the Sea Dogs can much their intensity all game and play a complete 60 minutes.

THE NUMBERS

HalifaxSaint John
Record18-37-1-2 (5th Maritimes Division)48-5-1-2 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record- - -27-0-1-1
Road Record9-20-0-0- - -
Streak0-1-0-019-0-1-0
Last 103-7-0-010-0-0-0
Goals For165269
Goals Against226139
Overall PP17.5% (13th)24% (6th)
Home PP- - -20.9% (9th)
Road PP17.3% (16th)- - -
Overall PK76.6% (16th)82.4% (3rd)
Home PK- - -85.9% (2nd)
Road PK75.6% (17th)- - -
PIM/GAME15.9 (7th)13.3 (13th)

VISITING TEAM: Halifax Mooseheads

NOTES: The Moosheads are led offensively by Carl Gelinas who has 49 points on the season… Gelinas leads the team in goals with 25 on the year… Martin Frk leads the club in assists with 26 on the season. Gelinas is second with 24… defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser is a team worst minue-30 this year… Frk is third in the league in scoring first goals with seven… Swayer Hannay leads the entire QMJHL in penalty minutes served with 149… Matthew Boudreau is two-for-two in the shootout… Frk has slipped to fifth in rookie scoring with 42 points. He is 11 points back of rookie leader Charles Hudon… the Mooseheads have been outscored 111-79 in 29 road contests this year… 2-8-0-0 in their last 10 road games... 17-16-0-2 when scoring first… 10-19-1-1 against Maritime Division opponents… 0-6-0-1 against the Sea Dogs this season… averaging 2.84 goals per game… allowing 3.90 goals against per game, the second highest in the league… averaging 30.28 shots per game… allowing 28.76 shots against per game.

PROBABLE GOALTENDER: No clue. We’ll guess Frederic Piche for obvious reasons. Since being traded to Halifax, Piche has a record of 2-6-0-1, a goals against average of 3.17, and a save percentage of 0.887. In total, the 19-year old gas a record of 16-8-0-3, a GAA of 2.77, and a SV% of 0.902.

LAST GAME: The Mooseheads are coming off a 2-1 home loss against the Val-d’Or Foreurs on Saturday. Travis Randell scored the lone Halifax goal while Frederic Piche made 19 saves in the loss.

HOME TEAM: Saint John Sea Dogs

NOTES: The Sea Dogs are led in the goal department by Jonathan Huberdeau. The 17-year old scoring sensation has 86 points in 55 games this season. He is just eight points back of QMJHL point leader Philip-Michael Devos… Huberdeau leads the club in goals with 36. Zack Phillips is second with 32… Huberdeau also leads the club in helpers after a three assist effort Saturday against Shawinigan. Phillips is a close second with 49… Phillips is fourth in the league in power play goals with 13… Mike Thomas is sixth in shorthanded goals with three… Phillips is fourth in game winning goals with seven… Phillips is sixth in first goals with seven… Tomas Jurco leads the QMJHL in insurance goals with 7… Huberdeau is a league best plus-52… Ryan Tesink is 11th in rookie scoring with 28 points… Michael Kirkpatrick is second in the league in dangerous shots with 161… Saint John is still without a regulation home loss this season. They are outscoring their opposition 145-62 on Harbour Station ice this season… 9-0-1-0 in their last 10 home games… 33-2-0-1 when scoring first… 29-3-0-0 versus the Maritime Division. Two loses were against Bathurst and the other was against Cape Breton… the Dogs lead the league in goals per game with an average of 4.80… they are allowing the fewest goals against per game with an average of 2.48… averaging a league high 36.84 shots per game… allowing an average of 27.29 shots against per game, good for fifth lowest in the league… Stanislav Galiev has scored in three straight games… Zack Phillips has gotten an assist in seven straight contests… here is the stat of the day: Simon Despres has gotten a penalty minute in five straight games.

PROBABLE GOALTENDER: Mathieu Corbeil will likely get the start in net. The former Moosehead has a record of 14-15-1-1, a goals against average of 3.37, and a save percentage of 0.873. Since joining the Dogs he has a record of 7-0-1-0, a GAA of 2.33, and a SV% of 0.895. He has let in some soft goals since coming over to Saint John, something he needs to correct.

LAST GAME: Saint John is coming off a solid 7-3 home win over the Shawinigan Cataractes on Saturday night at Harbour Station. Zack Phillips scored twice while Michael Kirkpatrick, Stanislav Galiev, Jonathan Huberdeau, Gabriel Bourret, and Tomas Jurco added singles. Jacob DeSerres made 23 stops in net for the win.

JERSEY AUCTION
First game for yet another jersey auction. From the Sea Dogs website:

Saint John Sea Dogs fans will have an opportunity to own a piece of team history over the next month.

The No. 1 major junior hockey team in Canada will be auctioning off game-worn jerseys from the 2009-10 team that captured the Jean Rougeau Trophy as regular-season champions of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

These silent auctions will begin at Tuesday’s game, a 7 p.m. start against the Halifax Mooseheads. On tap for Tuesday’s auction are the blue jerseys worn by Jonathan Huberdeau, Stephen MacAulay, Scott Oke and Marc-Antoine Gelinas. Bid sheets will be situated at Sea Dogs Central and bidding will close at the end of the second period.
THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Average Attendance: 4,259
QMJHL Arena Guide


MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Jouranl, Metro Halifax, Chronicle Herald
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) for live in game coverage. All tweets will also appear in the SN Live Blog that is posted on this site.

AFTER THE BUZZER
The Sea Dogs travel to Gatineau to play the Olympiques Friday night.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

No comments:

Post a Comment