Monday, May 23, 2011

SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

BOSTON PIZZA PARTY


Boston Pizza Saint John’s Facebook page has some photos up from Friday’s Memorial Cup viewing party. All of Saint John’s Memorial Cup games will be aired at the restaurant.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
The Globe and Mail had a solid article on the Sea Dogs’ road to the Memorial Cup, discussing everything from draft rankings to the unique structure of the coaching staff. On Mike Kelly and Gerard Gallant working together behind the bench:

They are junior hockey’s answer to Hollywood’s Coen brothers – each is involved in directing the picture and they resort to titles of convenience.

“I’m not sure it would work for everybody, but it works real well for us,” smiled Kelly, a former assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks who has previously piloted benches at the University of New Brunswick and in the WHL and OHL.
There is also a small part on the Sea Dogs’ alleged “cheating” at the 2009 QMJHL Entry Draft.

SCOUTS ARE WATCHING
The Toronto Sun had a piece on Saint John and its domination of draft rankings.

“We’ve had a lot of hype and a lot of added pressure, but we’ve fed off each other,” defenseman Nathan Beaulieu said. “I want to win a Memorial Cup first and worry about the draft after that.”

The Sun also brings up the fact that Saint John is an early contender for next year’s Memorial Cup. Gerard Gallant talked about the failed Memorial Cup bid.

“Our team could be as good next year as it was this year,” said Gallant, whose players set a franchise record with 58 wins in the regular season. “We were disappointed, shocked. We’re going to have to do it the hard way.”

BASEBALL
The Sea Dogs went to the Houston Astros – Toronto Blue Jays game on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre. As Sunaya Supurji of Yahoo! Sports Canada writes, import Tomas Jurco isn’t very familiar with America’s pastime.

"There is no baseball," said Jurco (photo) of his homeland. "So I didn't even know the rules before I got to the game. My teammates were trying to explain it to me."
BULLDOGS COMING BACK
Former Sea Dogs goaltender Robert Mayer and the Hamilton Bulldogs are closing in some history in the American Hockey League playoffs. The Bulldogs defeated the Houston Aeros 5-4 in double-overtime in Game Six of the Western Conference Final to force a Game Seven. From the AHL website:

The Bulldogs, who once trailed this series by a 3-0 count, have rallied to force a decisive Game 7 on Tuesday night in Houston.

Hamilton joins the 1960 Rochester Americans and the 1989 Adirondack Red Wings as the only clubs in AHL history to win three straight games in a best-of-7 series after falling into a 3-0 hole; both the Amerks and Red Wings completed the comeback by winning Game 7.
Mayer was the backup goaltender to Drew MacIntyre in last night’s game. The Montreal Canadian prospect has played in just one game in the Bulldogs’ playoff run.

In the regular season, the Swiss netminder had a record of 9-10-2 to go along with a 0.890 save percentage and a 3.06 goals against average.

JURCO’S GOAL
Tomas Jurco has become such a YouTube legend that even some of his less-amazing goals are getting a lot of attention.

Jurco opened the scoring in the Sea Dogs’ 4-3 win over the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors on Friday night, a goal that saw him backhand the puck under JP Anderson. Since it was uploaded on Saturday, the video has over 14,400 views.

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