GDT: Sea Dogs vs Mooseheads - December 14, 2007

[dogcatcher]

SEA DOGS HOST MOOSEHEADS TONIGHT AT HARBOUR STATION!!

The Saint John Sea Dogs will play host to the Halifax Mooseheads tonight at 7:30 PM, with first place in the QMJHL East on the line.

Halifax and Cape Breton are currently tied for first with 46 points each. Saint John presently owns a record of 21-9-1-2, good for 45 points and sole possession of third place in the division. The Sea Dogs have one game in hand over the Mooseheads and have played four fewer games than the Screaming Eagles.

The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads have played three games thus far in 2007-08, with Halifax having emerged victorious in two of the divisional rivals’ head-to-head match-ups.

In the most recent Saint John-Halifax showdown, the Sea Dogs earned a 4-2 win at Harbour Station on December 1 in a game in which Travis Fullerton made 31 saves to lead Port City’s major junior squad to victory.

Scott Howes has paced the Sea Dogs offence against Halifax so far this season. The 20-year old forward has tallied 4G-2A-6P in addition to 12SOG in three games played versus the Mooseheads in 2007-08. Meanwhile, defenseman Alex Grant has earned a rating of +5 against Halifax over the course his 3GP.

Holiday-themed activities that will be offered at tonight's match include pre-game carolling by the Rotary Boys & Girls Choir, an ice sculpting demonstration from renowned local artist Jim Crouch, complimentary cider samples courtesy of Stirling Apples, and a special second intermission visit from Santa Claus.

In addition, the first 4,000 fans in attendance tonight will receive a free holiday flashing light pin courtesy of the Sea Dogs.

Tonight’s game is also presented by Rogers Cable. As part of the accompanying promotional sponsorship, the first 300 fans in attendance will receive a complimentary pair of noise makers, and for every goal scored by the Sea Dogs, Rogers will be giving away a television set to a lucky fan in attendance.

Also, Trudy Gallagher, founder of Bejewel Homemade Jewellery, has provided Rogers with a special one-of-a-kind holiday piece that will be raffled off during the game.

Fans can catch the action live by logging onto News 88.9 FM at www.news889.com/, the official QMJHL webcast at qmjhl.mytelus.com/, or by watching the game on Rogers Television Cable 10 in New Brunswick. Tickets are available by calling the Harbour Station Box Office at [phone].

[dogcatcher]

Saint John Sea Dogs

Record

21-9-1-2

Streak

1W

NHL Draft Picks

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

Players to Watch

F Mike Thomas, F Scott Howes, F Di Domenico

N.B. Players

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

Did You Know?

Goaltender Robert Mayer is the second Sea Dog to play in the World Junior tournament. Felix Schutz represented Germany in 2005 and 2006.

Halifax Mooseheads

Record

21-9-0-4

Streak

3L

NHL Draft Picks

D Andrew Bodnarchuk (Boston Bruins), F Logan MacMillan (Anaheim Ducks), F Ryan Hillier (New York Rangers), Jakub Voracek (Columbus Blue Jackets), F Bryce Swan (Anaheim Ducks)

Players to Watch

F Hillier, F Swan

Did You Know?

Only the Rimouski Oceanic have more NHL draft picks on its roster than the Mooseheads. The Oceanic have six picks to five for Halifax.

[dogcatcher]

Showdown for first
QMJHL: Saint John Sea Dogs one point out going into tonight's game against Halifax Mooseheads

Andrew Mcgilligan
Telegraph-Journal
Published Friday December 14th, 2007
Appeared on page B14

SAINT JOHN - It's a battle for first place in the Eastern division of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League when the Saint John Sea Dogs host the Halifax Mooseheads tonight at Harbour Station beginning at 7 p.m.

The Dogs are one-point out of first-place, which is shared by Halifax and the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles who host the St. John's Fog Devils at 7 p.m.

The last time the Moose and Sea Dogs played, Saint John came out with a 4-2 win - one of the signature victories for the club in the first-half of the season. With a win tonight, the Sea Dogs can even the season series at two games apiece. Halifax won the first two contests. The Mooseheads enter the contest with three-straight losses and without the services of top forward Jakub Voracek.

Despite the absence of the Mooseheads leading scorer, Saint John head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu said it will not affect his team's approach.

"We're going out there with our own game plan," he said. "The tendencies of their team are the same even without some of their players."

He describes Halifax as a puck pressure team that doesn't play any sort of defensive trap.

"They're a good team and they pressure you hard," Beaulieu said.

While the Mooseheads are missing a key player, the Sea Dogs are missing two. Forward Alexandre Picard will miss his eighth game with a knee injury while top-line forward Ryan Sparling will be out for the fourth game in a row with a shoulder problem.

The string of injuries over the past few games means others need to step up and team captain Alex Grant said several players have already answered the call.

"We've had a lot of success with our third and fourth lines lately and we've really needed that," he said.

Rookie forward Michael Kirkpatrick has three goals in the Sea Dogs past four games while New Maryland native Mike Thomas racked up three points in the teams 4-1 win Sunday over Cape Breton.

The Sea Dogs will also be without goaltender Robert Mayer. The first-year netminder will take part in the World Junior tournament with his native Switzerland. That means rookie Troy Passingham will suit up for Saint John along with starter Travis Fullerton.

The Riverview product said the strong defensive play in front of him was key to the Sea Dogs win against the Mooseheads last time around.

"I though the defence kept them to the outside for the most part," Fullerton said. "We limited their power play opportunities and that was big because they've got one of the best power plays in the league."

The Mooseheads scoring attack is likely to get even better when the teams face off in the New Year. Halifax is expected to start off the QMJHL holiday trading period with a bang by acquiring Nova Scotia native Brad Marchand from the Val-d'Or Foreurs Monday. A second-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2006, and a former Moncton Wildcat, Marchand should bolster an already potent Halifax offence.

The 19-year-old has 21 goals and 23 assists for 44 points in 33 games this season with Val-d'Or. Marchand also figures to be a key contributor to Team Canada at this years World Junior tournament.

Grant said Marchand could bring a lot to the Mooseheads.

"He's very skilled and has a great shot," the 18-year-old said. "He's a bit of a spark plug kind of guy and another player to keep an eye on with Halifax."

[Y Ddraig Goch]

dogcatcher said:

Did You Know?

Goaltender Robert Mayer is the second Sea Dog to play in the World Junior tournament. Felix Schutz represented Germany in 2005 and 2006.

Actually Germany got relegated in 2005 so Schutz didn't play in 2006 - although doesn't change the fact he's the second player.

[bjindaho]

Div 1 is still part of the World Juniors

[elementz]

Damn, was hoping Picard would suit up tonight.

[dogbert]

catatonicmoose said:

dogcatcher said:

Did You Know?

Goaltender Robert Mayer is the second Sea Dog to play in the World Junior tournament. Felix Schutz represented Germany in 2005 and 2006.

Actually Germany got relegated in 2005 so Schutz didn't play in 2006 - although doesn't change the fact he's the second player.

Shutz played in last year's tourney, whatever year that was called. I watched him against USA.

[reddogbluedog]

Dog Catcher has Mike Thomas as a player to watch but if he is stuck on the fourth line again to me this is a waste. He is one of the best skaters on the team and one of the best hitters in the league. We need this toughness to get more than the token shift. I still say with him and Howes on the same line it would give other teams fits. People just cough up the puck knowing that they are on the ice. We need a tough checking line to play on a regular basis and I really do not care who is on it but it would pay off down the stretch when we can really bang other teams around.

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

wont be there again. they lost every game this season that i wasnt at. they will win this one. 4-3 Dogs

[mrlittlewolf]

and you call yourself a fan..........lol
what about bunny wars your gonna miss that too

[berner]

reddogbluedog said:

Dog Catcher has Mike Thomas as a player to watch but if he is stuck on the fourth line again to me this is a waste. He is one of the best skaters on the team and one of the best hitters in the league. We need this toughness to get more than the token shift. I still say with him and Howes on the same line it would give other teams fits. People just cough up the puck knowing that they are on the ice. We need a tough checking line to play on a regular basis and I really do not care who is on it but it would pay off down the stretch when we can really bang other teams around.

Maybe you should pass the word on to Coach Beaulieu, he obviously needs advice on how to get the most out of his players. After all, the team is only in third place, one point behind the two front-runners. Looks like he could use all the advice he could get.

[Gman]

"While the Mooseheads are missing a key player, the Sea Dogs are missing two. "

LOL. More like the Moose are missing 2 key players, possibly 3. MacMillan seems to be forgotten a lot when talking about Moosehead scratches. Bodnarchuk may not play since he just came back from WJC camp.

[Y Ddraig Goch]

dogbert said:

catatonicmoose said:

Actually Germany got relegated in 2005 so Schutz didn't play in 2006 - although doesn't change the fact he's the second player.

Shutz played in last year's tourney, whatever year that was called. I watched him against USA.

He didn't play in last year's tournament, he played in this year's tournament (2007).

[canucklehead]

reddogbluedog said:

Dog Catcher has Mike Thomas as a player to watch but if he is stuck on the fourth line again to me this is a waste. He is one of the best skaters on the team and one of the best hitters in the league. We need this toughness to get more than the token shift. I still say with him and Howes on the same line it would give other teams fits. People just cough up the puck knowing that they are on the ice. We need a tough checking line to play on a regular basis and I really do not care who is on it but it would pay off down the stretch when we can really bang other teams around.

DC doesn't have Thomas as a player to watch it comes from the telegraph journal and and they try to have different players instead of Dido and Howes all the time.

[Judas In My Mind]

Yeah you cant blame Dog Catcher for anything he posts...because it is all copy/pasted from someone else. ;D