GDT - Sea Dogs vs Titan - December 5, 2007

[dogcatcher]

SEA DOGS HOST TITAN TONIGHT - STUDENT TIX ONLY $5!!

The Titan visit Harbour Station for the second time this season tonight for an important divisional clash with their provincial rivals.

On October 14, the Sea Dogs earned a hard-fought 2-1 shootout win over Acadie-Bathurst, with Travis Fullerton (31 saves) and Antoine Tardif (36 saves) squaring off in an epic goaltending duel. Chris DiDomenico scored the lone goal in the post-OT breakaway contest, with Fullerton stopping all three shooters he faced to propel Saint John to victory.

Twelve days later, the Titan exacted revenge upon the Sea Dogs, earning a 6-3 win at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre on the strength of a natural hat trick from left wing Tomy Joly. Francois Gauthier and Alexandre Leduc each picked up a pair of assists in the October 26 contest for Saint John.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Talented centre Mathieu Perreault was taken in the sixth round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals. The now 19-year old was named a First-Team QMJHL All-Star in 2006-07 after finishing third in the league with 119 points (41G-78A) on the season. Earlier this season, Perreault earned QMJHL Offensive Player of the Week honours for the week of Oct. 29-Nov. 4 after tallying 2G-4A-6P in addition to a rating of +3 over the course of two games.

SPECIAL NOTES: This game is the first in which the special Student Discount Tickets will be made available. Any fan possessing a valid student ID may obtain an upper bowl ticket for the price of $5. Discounted tickets are available from the Harbour Station box office only and must be purchased on game day.

Fans can catch the action live by logging onto News 88.9 FM at www.news889.com/, or by watching the official QMJHL webcast at qmjhl.mytelus.com/. Tickets are available by calling the Harbour Station Box Office at [phone].


Saint John Sea Dogs
Record

19-7-1-2

Streak

6W

NHL Draft Picks

F Chris Di Domenico (Toronto Maple Leafs), D Alex Grant (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Players to Watch

F Scott Howes, F Ryan Sparling, F Di Domenico

N.B. Players

G Travis Fullerton (Riverview), F Mike Thomas (New Maryland)

Did You Know?

With his next goal, Di Domenico will set a franchise record for most goals in a season.

Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Record

16-10-1-1

Streak

3W

NHL Draft Picks

F Mathieu Perreault (Washington Capitals), F Charles-Antoine Messier (Vancouver Canucks)

Players to Watch

F Tomy Joly, F Jonathan Laberge, F Perreault

N.B. Players

D Brad Tesink (Saint John), D Remi Blanchard (Bas-Caraquet), D Mathieu Labrie (St. Quentin), F Cameron Critchlow (Fredericton)

Did You Know?

Titan forward Joly is on a 13-game point streak heading into tonight's contest. In that span, he has 16 goals and eight assists for 24 points.

[dogcatcher]

Sizzling provincial rivals clash
Hockey Two of QMJHL’s hottest teams collide when Sea Dogs take on Titan at home tonight

Andrew Mcgilligan
Telegraph-Journal
Published Wednesday December 5th, 2007
Appeared on page B7

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will get their first look at the revamped lineup of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan tonight.

The teams square off in a 7 p.m. start at Harbour Station in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

Since the teams last met on Sept. 27, the Titan swapped 20-year-old forwards with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Acadie-Bathurst sent Fredericton product Jordan Clendenning to Cape Breton in exchange for forward and former Sea Dog Jonathan Laberge.

Saint John tough guy Brett Gallant said the trade changes the makeup of the Titan.

"I find (Clendenning) a really hard player to play against," Gallant said. "He picks up his points and is an agitator. He really brought a lot to the table with the Titan."

As for his former teammate, the Summerside native said Laberge should provide more offence for Bathurst.

"Laberge might be a better fit for (Mathieu) Perreault," he said.

Perreault was recently selected to try out for the Canadian squad being assembled for the upcoming World Junior tournament in the Czech Republic.

Saint John head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu said the deal doesn't alter the Sea Dogs game plan.

"I don't think it changes their team too much," he said. "Maybe you've got more of a hard-nosed player in (Clendenning) where Laberge is more of a two-way player."

No matter the 20-year-old taking the ice, one things remains the same for Acadie-Bathurst - offence is the driving force. The team is in the top five in QMJHL goal scoring and has league's best power play.

"When you've got Perreault on the first line and then come back with Laberge, it's a good one-two punch," Beaulieu said.

In addition to the team numbers, the Titan also boast five players with 30 points or more this season including Perreault, Laberge, Dany Masse, Tomas Svoboda and Tomy Joly.

"We've got to try and shut down their top two lines and from there get some timely scoring and saves," the bench boss said.

This game also features two of the hottest teams in the league. The Sea Dogs are coming into the game on a franchise-best six-game win streak and another franchise record with 10 goals in their last outing versus the Prince Edward Island Rocket. Forward Ryan Sparling is on a 10-game point streak with 19 points in that span.

As for the Titan, they have the hottest player in the QMJHL in Joly.

The 19-year-old has points in his last 13 games including 16 goals and eight assists.

Gallant said it will take old-fashioned hockey for the Sea Dogs to pick up the win tonight.

We've got to play hard and win battles," Gallant said. "We've got to hit them and slow them down."

The teams will play the second half of their home and home set on Friday in Bathurst.

VISITOR: Saint John netminder Robert Mayer has a visitor this week. The Swiss goalie's coach from Switzerland Daniel Humi is in town to tweak Mayer's game before he plays for his country at the upcoming World Junior tournament in the Czech Republic.

"He flew in from Switzerland to give him some fine tuning," Beaulieu said.

INJURIES: Sea Dogs forwards Alexandre Picard and Payton Liske will not play tonight against the Titan. It's unlikely Picard's knee injury suffered Nov. 25 in Cape Breton will be healed enough for him to play this week. As for Liske, his ankle injury is coming along and Beaulieu said there's a 95 per cent chance he'll play this weekend against the Screaming Eagles.

RESCHEDULED: The P.E.I. Rocket and Moncton Wildcats will try again tonight. Tuesday night's game between the two clubs was postponed due to poor weather conditions. The game has been rescheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

[Gallant-Unit(14-0-3)]

good to hear Liske should be back soon. When Hooper and Liske comes back who we going to NOT play?


Wont be at the game tonight or the first weekend game. Go Dogs Go!

[killer]

Will Legros go 3 for 3 and spill yet another litre of blood onto the Harbour Station ice.............

[habh8er]

Should be an entertaining game tonight .....doubt if we see Legros looking for a rematch , but ya never know. The Titan have been pretty hot lately and the Dogs have really been rolling so this matchup should be big for both teams, with the home n' home hopefully we can get this one then go there and see what happens on Friday night....4-2 Dogs....GO DOGS GO!!

[canucklehead]

Played a good game Tardif stole a win for Les Titans tonight it happens just gotta bounce back.

Let's hope Sparling being out for the 3rd was a precaution sounds like a head injury

[elementz]

Tardif stole the show and Perrault and Joly were impressive. What a sloppy game by us in the 3rd though, the winning goal was horrible. Dido coughed it up and Mayer flopped around like a water buffalo.

Let's hope Sparling and Gallant aren't seriously injured.

What a save by Tardif on Dido's one timer.

[Gallant-Unit(14-0-3)]

what happened to gallant and sparling

[Jason]

Hahaha and Tardif steals the two points.

[dogbert]

gallantunit44 said:

what happened to gallant and sparling

Either the webcast or the radio said Sparling reinjured his shoulder and it didn't look good. Gallant was an upper body injury.

[dogcatcher]

SEA DOGS FALL TO TITAN 3-2

Saint John’s Winning Streak Ends at Six Games; Chris DiDomenico Sets New Team Goal Scoring Record in Home Loss

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

SAINT JOHN, NB --- The Saint John Sea Dogs lost at home in regulation for just the second time this season on Wednesday night at Harbour Station, falling to the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan by a score of 3-2.

In a back-and-forth contest filled with exciting two-way action, the Titan scored the lone goal of the third period to emerge victorious after both teams had registered two goals each over the course of the opening forty minutes of play.

Rookie Sea Dogs goaltender Robert Mayer made 25 saves in a losing effort on Wednesday night while Titan net minder Antoine Tardif stopped 40 of the 42 shots sent his way to earn the victory as well as a First Star selection for his efforts.

Scott Howes and Chris DiDomenico provided the entirety of Saint John’s offensive production on Wednesday, while Acadie-Bathurst’s Jonathan Laberge, Tomy Joly, and Mathieu Perreault all tallied markers in the divisional showdown.

Saint John was awarded an early power play on Wednesday, with Nicolas Sigouin incurring a two-minute minor for hooking at the 1:12 mark of the first period. The Sea Dogs’ offensive special teams unit wasted no time in capitalizing on their man-up opportunity, as Scott Howes tapped home a one-timer to the back of the net from just outside the Titan goal crease to finish off a dazzling tic-tac-toe passing play for which both Ryan Sparling and Francois Gauthier ended up earning assists.

Acadie-Bathurst responded quickly however, as Mathieu Perrault scored a transition goal 3:10 into the opening frame, deflecting a Tomy Joly pass to the back of the Saint John to earn his 20th tally of the season.

Both teams registered high-quality scoring chances for the remainder of the fast-paced opening twenty, with both Mayer and Tardif each making multiple highlight-reel saves to keep things tied 1-1 as the first period came to an end.

Mayer continued his strong play into the second period, stoning Tomas Svoboda from close range ninety seconds into the frame to earn his eighth save of the match and keep the score knotted at one apiece.

The Sea Dogs then took a 2-1 lead at the 5:01 mark of the middle frame when Chris DiDomenico scored his franchise-record 26th goal of the season with Ryan Sparling and Alexandre Leduc registering assists on another pretty passing play by the home team’s forwards.

Saint John nearly went up by two 8:14 later when Matthew Stoddard was sprung on a breakaway by Steven Anthony. The 17-year old winger was denied by the right pad of Tardif however, as the Acadie-Bathurst net minder’s stellar play between the pipes persisted.

The visiting squad from Gloucester County then re-tied the match at the 36:28 mark of the game, with Tomy Joly beating Mayer form the slot on a low wrist shot to earn his 19th goal of 2007-08 on the power play.

Joly’s goal proved to be the final marker of the second period, and Wednesday’s contest reached the forty minute mark with the score tied 2-2.

The Titan took their first lead of the night 6:20 into the third period when Jonathan Laberge knocked home a rebound to earn a short-handed marker with Mathieu Perreault and Brad Tesink earning assists on the play.

Despite countless scoring chances over the course of the final 13:40 of play, the Sea Dogs were unable to produce the equalizer, as Tardif was simply sensational in goal for the Titan, adding 17 saves to his save total on the night as his team was able to escape with a hard-fought 3-2 win at the expense of their provincial rivals.

The Sea Dogs and Titan will meet again on Friday night, this time in Bathurst at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre. Saint John will then face the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in a pair of weekend contests at Harbour Station

[Judas In My Mind]

Safe to say with no official confirmation that Sparling's injury is a shoulder. There was much pointing to the shoulder from players on the bench at one point.

Who was the jackass that said "The Dogs haven't had to really deal with the injury bug so far" like a week or two ago? Anyone remember? I'm too lazy to go looking for the post to find someone to blame for this.

[habh8er]

Good hockey game tonight ....I guess that we can't win them all, the boys played a pretty solid game against a pretty good team, and hopefully we can end this losing streak on Friday before it starts. Dido was at it again tonight with the "rough stuff" he plays with a chip on his shoulder this year, he should try to keep his focus on his game and not let guys get under his skin. But he is leading the league in goals and set a team record tonight so who am I to tell him?

Mayer looked good in goal for us, but Tardif stole the show...a well deserved first star. And speaking of goaltending.....if we need someone to step in , Alex Grant has pretty quick hands doesn't he. Nice save there with the net empty, it sure would have been sweet if we could have scored after that to tie it up.

Maybe Sparling did re-hurt his shoulder, but it looked like the dreaded lower body injury when he left the ice and hobbled down the tunnel. Hope it's nothing too serious. We're having that kind of luck for the past few weeks, one guy gets back and someone else goes down with another injury. Nice to see Liske back tonight , he might find himself moving back up to a different line out of necessity if Sparling and Pecard can't play the weekend. Looked like he was rusty out there tonight skating with Thomas and Gallant, but it could have been trying to get used to the different role of playing on that line. He was throwing some good hits in the second half of the game.

Sparling and Joly both keep the streaks alive....however the streak of getting at least 1 point in a game at home falls tonight.....not bad getting at least a point in every game at the station since being blown out in the home opener( 15 straight games).

[dogcatcher]

Goalie stones Sea Dogs
Hockey Bathurst netminder makes 40 saves as Saint John's six-game win streak comes to an end

Andrew McGilligan
Telegraph-Journal
Published Thursday December 6th, 2007
Appeared on page B9

SAINT JOHN - In a game featuring two of the hottest offenses in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, it was a goaltender who sizzled.

Acadie-Bathurst Titan netminder Antoine Tardif made 40 saves in a 3-2 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Wednesday in front of 3,538 fans at Harbour Station.

Former Sea Dog Jonathan Laberge scored the game-winner for Acadie-Bathurst while Tomy Joly and Mathieu Perreault added singles. Scott Howes and Chris Di Domenico replied for the Sea Dogs.

"(Tardif) was good and gave them a big time chance to win and we just missed an assignment on our power play which cost us the game," said Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu.

Saint John got off to a quick start, taking advantage of the Titan's league-worst penalty kill. A tic-tac-toe passing play was finished off in front by Howes at 1:20 of the first period.

The power-play marker extended three point streaks. Howes and Francois Gauthier pushed their streaks to four games while Ryan Sparling's assist gave him an 11-game streak.

The Titan wasted no time tying the game 1-1. At 3:10 of the opening period, Perreault redirected a pass from Dany Masse, off an odd-man rush, past Sea Dogs starter Robert Mayer. Acadie-Bathurst forward Joly picked up an assist to extend his point streak to 14 games.

It was strength versus strength late in the first when the Titan's top-rated power play took on Saint John's No. 1 ranked penalty kill. Mayer made a couple of nice stops to keep Acadie-Bathurst at bay. The relatively whistle free first ended in a 1-1 draw.

Both teams pressed early in the second period for the go-ahead goal, but both netminders kept it tied. Tardif was the busier of the two, making a flurry of stops in the opening minutes.

However, the Sea Dogs were not to be denied and took a 2-1 lead at 5:01 on a nice passing play. Alexandre Leduc fed a two-on-one pass to Di Domenico, who made a good deke to beat Tardif. The goal was the Woodbridge, Ont. native's 26th of the season, a new franchise record.

Saint John went on their second man advantage just past the midway point of the second. The Sea Dogs had several quality scoring chances, but Tardif turned them away to keep it a one-goal game.

Saint John controlled play throughout the second and without Tardif, the Titan would have been down by more than one.

Acadie-Bathurst rewarded their backstop at 16:28 of the middle frame, tying the contest 2-2 on the power play. Joly took a pass from Masse in the slot and ripped it by Mayer. The goal was his 17th during his 14-game point streak.

Saint John started the third without Brett Gallant and Sparling on the bench. Gallant was unable to play due to a severe headache while Sparling suffered a shoulder injury, which will be re-evaluated today.

The Titan took their first lead of the game with a short-handed goal at 6:20 of the third period. Laberge slid the puck into an open net after some hard work by Perreault to get the puck in front. Saint John product Brad Tesink also picked up an assist on the goal.

The Sea Dogs got a great chance to tie the contest with a power play just past the midway mark of the third. Once again, Tardif was huge, making save after save.

In fact, he made his biggest save in the final seconds when a puck skipped out in front and was one-timed, forcing him to make a pad save as time expired to preserve the Acadie-Bathurst win.

Tardif said the performance was one of his best on the season.

"It was really important for us to get the win here tonight because it's tight in the standings," he said. "We need to catch up to Saint John."

The teams will play the second half of the home-and-home set on Friday in a 7:30 p.m. start in Bathurst.

[Porkchop]

You can't play PEI every night.........lol