GDT: Sea Dogs at Rocket - January 29, 2008

[mrlittlewolf]

wish he would have stopped his heavy breathing into the mic

[dogcatcher]

SEA DOGS TAKE DOWN ROCKET

Saint John Holds On To Top Spot In The QMJHL East with 5-3 Win In P.E.I.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. --- The Saint John Sea Dogs improved their 2007-08 record to 32-13-1-3 on Thursday night, defeating the P.E.I. Rocket by a score of 5-3 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

The Sea Dogs are now 5-0 versus the Rocket this season and have outscored their divisional rivals 39-17 over the course of their five head-to-head matches.

Saint John remains one point ahead of the Halifax Mooseheads in the race for the #1 position in the QMJHL East. The Mooseheads also earned two points on Tuesday, besting the St. John’s Fog Devils by a score of 7-2 at the Halifax Metro Centre.

Ryan Sparling, Chris DiDomenico (2), Yann Sauvé, and Alexandre Picard-Hooper all scored for Saint John on Tuesday, while Dylan Quaile, Geoff Walker, and Martin Latal all tallied markers for P.E.I.

DiDomenico finished the night with 2G-2A-4P, both reclaiming the top spot in the QMJHL scoring race and establishing a new franchise record for points in a season with 76, surpassing the previous mark of 75 which he set last season as a rookie.

Robert Mayer earned the win in net for the Sea Dogs, making 25 saves on the evening to improve his record to 13-6 on the season. The import goaltender has been between the pipes for all five of Saint John’s wins over P.E.I. this season. Meanwhile, Marc-Antoine Gelinas suffered the loss in goal for the Rocket, falling to 13-14 this year as a result.

After a back-and-forth opening few minutes, star defenseman Yann Sauvé gave the Sea Dogs a 1-0 lead with a highly-impressive unassisted goal. The 17-year old blue-liner intercepted a slow-moving P.E.I. pass at centre ice and carried the puck into the Rocket zone, skating between a pair of defenders prior to wiring a shot over Gelinas’ right shoulder from a tight angle to earn his fourth goal of the year at the 7:47 mark of the first period.

The home team responded on the power play just 1:02 later, with Martin Latal banging a rebound past a sprawling Robert Mayer to record his 14th tally of 2007-08.

The Sea Dogs then regained the lead at the 9:48 mark of the opening frame when Chris DiDomenico and Ryan Sparling executed a perfect two-on-one rush, with DiDomenico carrying the puck deep into Rocket territory prior to hitting Sparling with a picture-perfect pass on the fly. The 19-year old winger made no mistake on the play, one-timing DiDomenico’s feed to the back of the Rocket net to earn his 20th goal of the season.

Saint John went up by two 6:15 later when Alexandre Picard-Hooper scored on the power play. Sparling and DiDomenico both picked up assists on the goal, Picard-Hooper’s 13th as a Sea Dog.

Geoff Walker pulled P.E.I. to within one of the Sea Dogs’ lead 3:00 into the second period, beating Mayer with a well-placed shot during a Rocket power play to inflate his season goal total to 25.

The visitors then went back up by two with 8:27 remaining in the middle frame when Chris DiDomenico scored on a breakaway during a Sea Dogs penalty kill. The 18-year old sniper took a pass from Ryan Sparling in the neutral zone and raced into P.E.I. territory unmolested; he then avoided a poke-check attempt by Gelinas prior to firing a backhand shot to the back of the P.E.I. net to make the score 4-2 in favour of Saint John.

A moment later, Mayer came up huge for the Sea Dogs, stoning Mathew Lachaine on a breakaway to preserve the two-goal advantage for Port City’s major junior squad.

Late in the second period, Lachaine and Ryan Sparling squared off in spirited bout in the Sea Dogs’ zone, with both players landing some decent shots during the unlikely scrap between offensive specialists. Both forwards received 10-minute misconduct penalties following their split decision, as they had each removed their helmets prior to the commencement of the fight.

Sparling’s draw gave him 1G-2A-3P-5PIM, earning the proverbial ‘Gordie Howe Hat Trick’ in just two periods of work.

Chris DiDomenico put Saint John up by three 5:54 into the third period, unleashing a howitzer of a slap shot from the slot that Gelinas couldn’t come up with. The Rocket replied 3:55 later, with Dylan Quaile scoring his seventh goal of the season to pull the home team back to within two of the visitors.

That would be as close as P.E.I. would get however, as the Sea Dogs’ defence was able to keep the Rocket’s offence at bay for the duration of regulation’s final frame, giving Saint John a 5-3 victory in the process.

Up next for the Sea Dogs is a Thursday night match versus the Victoriaville Tigres at Harbour Station. The action gets underway at 7:00pm as Saint John looks to defeat Victoriaville for the first time in franchise history.

[tostitos]

Come on Copy/Paste catcher ... atleast if your going to copy and paste it proofread it first!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. --- The Saint John Sea Dogs improved their 2007-08 record to 32-13-1-3 on Thursday[/u] night, defeating the P.E.I. Rocket by a score of 5-3 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

[playoffbound]

Sparling is a MONSTER!!!!!!!!No question as the announcers' indicated "TOP DOG" of the game!!!!

[mrlittlewolf]

MORE GLARING ERRORS!!!!!

[springer]

PEI finally put up a fight. Actually out hit us, more D's and equal shots and better power play they just don't have the players. Our boys looked a little sharper with no puck hogs tonight. JB must have had a word or two with them. With the tough schedule and late travel I am guessing practices will be light this week to save some energy plus down Howes will not help either. However if we are going to be short players this is the week, 4 games but three teams are under 500 so it should be at least 3 wins.

[dogbert]

mrlittlewolf said:

Sparling is maturing big time this year. He will be a great 20yr old for us IMO

I agree totally, and I was not a fan of his at all the first two seasons.

[dogcatcher]

DI DOMENICO SETS NEW POINTS RECORD IN WIN
QMJHL Four-point night gives forward 76 on season, eclipsing old mark

Andrew McGilligan
Telegraph-Journal
Published Wednesday January 30th, 2008
Appeared on page B12

SAINT JOHN - Saint John Sea Dogs forward Ryan Sparling could've switched the No. 4 on his jersey to No. 9 on Tuesday night.

The 19-year-old forward had a Gordie Howe hat trick in the Sea Dogs 5-3 win over the Prince Edward Island Rocket in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

Sparling registered one goal, two assists and a fight after dropping the gloves with Rocket forward Matthew Lachaine.

"It just happens, it's not something you try and get," he said. "I saw (Chris Di Domenico) get hit at the line and I fought who I thought hit him, but I guess it wasn't him."

Di Domenico had a pair of goals for Saint John while Yann Sauve, Sparling and Alexandre Picard added singles. Martin Latal, Geoff Walker and Dylan Quaile replied for the Rocket.

The first goal of the game was a beauty courtesy of a Sea Dogs blue-liner.

Sauve intercepted a pass at centre and quickly sped off into the Rocket zone. The second-year defenceman drove wide looking for someone to pass to, found no one and ripped a shot over the shoulder of P.E.I. starter Marc-Antoine Gelinas at 7:47 of the first period.

Just over two minutes later, two more goals were up on the scoreboard.

Latal jammed the puck past Saint John starter Robert Mayer on the power play to tie the game 1-1. Moments after that, Sparling redirected a two-on-one feed from Di Domenico for the Sea Dogs second marker and a 2-1 lead at 9:48.

A scary moment for Saint John occurred when Rocket forward Chris Doyle smashed Sea Dogs forward Mike Thomas into the boards from behind. The New Maryland native got up gingerly, but remained in the game.

Saint John would make the Rocket pay on the ensuing power play. A pass from the side of the goal by Picard deflected off a Rocket player and in for a 3-1 edge at 14:03.

Moments after the marker, Michael Kirkpatrick was hit from behind and took a while to get to his feet.

The period came to end with Saint John up 3-1.

Three minutes into the second, P.E.I. notched its second power-play goal of the game. Walker fired a shortside shot over the right shoulder of Mayer to cut the lead to 3-2.

At the midway mark of the second the Sea Dogs took a 4-2 lead when Sparling poked the puck off a Rocket player at centre, leading to a Di Domenico breakaway. The Sea Dogs leading scorer shifted to his backhand and lifted the puck past Gelinas. The goal, coupled with his two assists in the first period, tied his franchise record for most points in a season by a Sea Dog with 75.

Late in the second, Sparling completed the elusive Gordie Howe hat-trick when he dropped the gloves with Lachaine. The two took the helmets off before getting acquainted. Both players landed big shots and were saluted by teammates after the tilt.

Both received 10-minute misconducts for removing their helmets on top of the five-minute majors for fighting. The period ended with Saint John up by two goals.

Di Domenico set the franchise point record at 5:54 of the third. The Woodbridge, Ont. product wired in his 34th goal of the season on a slapshot from the slot that made it 5-2 for Saint John. The goal gave him 76 points on the season.

Di Domenico said it's a nice accomplishment, but wasn't happy with the way the team played.

"It was a close game tonight when it shouldn't have been," Di Domenico said. "It wasn't the best effort from us, a few mental lapses in the defensive zone because we were all trying to get (goals) because of the big scores we had against them in previous games."

Saint John had scored 11 and 12 goals in the previous two wins over P.E.I.

The Rocket made it 5-3 when Quaile found the puck off a scramble and snapped a shot over the glove of Mayer at 9:49 of the final frame.

That's as close as the Rocket would come as the Sea Dogs improve to 32-13-1-3. Saint John remains one-point ahead of the Halifax Mooseheads for top spot in the Eastern division with 68. The Sea Dogs take on the Victoriaville Tigres Thursday at 7 p.m. at Harbour Station.

[reddogbluedog]

Hey littlewolf I had the score bang on and they were passing the puck last night. Got Mayer wrong but what the heck we might see him more than I thought. As for the practices where I am located looks directly onto the entrance/exit to Harbour Station and unless the boys are on strike they are leaving 45 minutes earlier than usual. Their practices coincide directly with my lunch break so I am really familiar with the routine after seeing it for a couple of years. In any case I think that if that is what JB is doing he is smart because if he does not the wheels might come off the train.

My hat's off to PEI as well they gave it a go last night. But on the Dogs defence it must be hard to get up for games like that.

Besides the deep breathing exercises I thought the PEI announcer was decent last night. Kept it fair and was never judgemental unlike our NFLD friend.

Peace Bro

[mboyan]

reddogbluedog said:

My hat's off to PEI as well they gave it a go last night. But on the Dogs defence it must be hard to get up for games like that.

Yep...that must be it.

[killer]

Sparling vs Lachaine from last night

[wingman]

reddogbluedog said:

My hat's off to PEI as well they gave it a go last night. But on the Dogs defence it must be hard to get up for games like that.

I think it's great how the Sea Dogs have progressed and that their fans are being rewarded for their patience by having a team that is doing as well as they are. You guys definitely deserve it.

But not that long ago your team wasn't exactly tearing up the league either, and during that time I am sure fans of your team weren't thinking that it must be hard for opposing teams to get up for games against the Sea Dogs. I wouldn't forget that your team isn't that far removed where opposing teams were having "games like that" against the Sea Dogs.

[canucklehead]

wingman said:

reddogbluedog said:

My hat's off to PEI as well they gave it a go last night. But on the Dogs defence it must be hard to get up for games like that.

I think it's great how the Sea Dogs have progressed and that their fans are being rewarded for their patience by having a team that is doing as well as they are. You guys definitely deserve it.

But not that long ago your team wasn't exactly tearing up the league either, and during that time I am sure fans of your team weren't thinking that it must be hard for opposing teams to get up for games against the Sea Dogs. I wouldn't forget that your team isn't that far removed where opposing teams were having "games like that" against the Sea Dogs.

Thanks for your comments and I'm sure the Dogs have no problem getting up for any games these days no matter who it is.

PEI maybe young on the back end but they still have plenty of goalscorers up front and should never be taken lightly and I'm sure the Dogs don't they did give up 6 goals the previous game.

[juliansteed]

wingman said:

reddogbluedog said:

My hat's off to PEI as well they gave it a go last night. But on the Dogs defence it must be hard to get up for games like that.

I think it's great how the Sea Dogs have progressed and that their fans are being rewarded for their patience by having a team that is doing as well as they are. You guys definitely deserve it.

But not that long ago your team wasn't exactly tearing up the league either, and during that time I am sure fans of your team weren't thinking that it must be hard for opposing teams to get up for games against the Sea Dogs. I wouldn't forget that your team isn't that far removed where opposing teams were having "games like that" against the Sea Dogs.

Actually I figured that was usually the only way we ever managed to win or even keep it close.