Post by dogcatcher on Dec 3, 2007 8:06:02 GMT -4
Home sweet home
Hockey Sea Dogs begin key December homestand with a pair of impressive victories
Andrew Mcgilligan
Telegraph-Journal
Published Monday December 3rd, 2007
Appeared on page B10
SAINT JOHN - The month of December is an important one for the Saint John Sea Dogs and the team has started off in the right direction.
The team won their first two contests of the month over the weekend with a 10-3 blowout of the Prince Edward Island Rocket on Sunday and a 4-2 win over the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Eastern division leading Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday.
The reason the month takes on extra importance is the Sea Dogs play eight of their 11 December contests at Harbour Station.
Leading scorer Chris Di Domenico said the importance of the holiday season is not lost on the team.
"It's perfect for us because we stay at home and don't have to do a lot of travelling," he said. "We've got to get all the wins we can this month because when we come back from the break we're on the road a lot."
Saint John is the hottest team in the QMJHL right now with six straight wins, a franchise record, and the streak couldn't come at a better time.
"We've just got to keep doing the things we've been doing in the last couple of weeks," said head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu. "This week coming is a huge one for us, if we can play .700 hockey we'll be in good shape heading into the break."
The Sea Dogs take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at Harbour Station on Wednesday before travelling to Bathurst for a return game Friday. Saturday and Sunday see the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles come to Harbour Station, one of two teams above the Sea Dogs in the Eastern standings. In fact, all 11 December games are against Eastern division foes.
"You've got win your home games, we all know that because it's tough to win on the road in this league," Beaulieu said.
Home ice was kind to Saint John on the weekend. Scott Howes had a pair of goals Saturday to lead the Sea Dogs to a 4-2 win over Halifax. Steven Anthony and Ryan Sparling had one goal apiece while Jakub Voracek had both Mooseheads markers.
On Sunday, Alexandre Leduc and Francois Gauthier had two goals each while Alex Grant, Yann Sauve, Di Domenico, Howes, Sparling and Anthony had one goal apiece in the 10-3 win over P.E.I. Geoff Walker, Nathan DesRoches and Maxim Cliche replied for the Rocket.
Both teams looked sluggish in the early going Sunday, but it was the Rocket who got it together for the opening score. Walker batted a pass out of mid-air in front of Sea Dogs starter Robert Mayer at 6:16 of the first period.
Saint John would get the next seven.
The Sea Dogs got on the board at 8:35 of the opening frame when Di Domenico shoveled a puck past Rocket starter Marc-Antoine Gelinas to tie the game 1-1. The goal was Di Domenico's 25th of the season, tying the franchise record he set last season. Ryan Sparling picked up an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games.
Anthony gave the Sea Dogs a 2-1 lead at 13:13 of the first. The rookie forward broke in on Gelinas and made a nice fake before roofing a backhand.
The lead bulged to 3-1 thanks to some hard work from Howes. The Toronto product chased down and stole the puck from a Rocket defender before sliding a pass to Gauthier who redirected it past Gelinas.
The Saint John defence got in on the first period scoring spree in the final two minutes of period. Sauve let a shot go from the point that found its way to the back of the net for a 4-1 Sea Dogs advantage through one period of play.
Saint John kept it coming in the second period. Grant got the second goal from a blue-liner when he ripped a wrist shot past Gelinas at 4:10 for a 5-1 advantage.
The marker chased Gelinas from the game as Antoine Lafleur took over the goaltending duties for P.E.I. He didn't fair much better.
Just over a minute later, Howes used some slick stickhandling in close to slide the puck past Lafleur for a 6-1 Sea Dogs lead.
The first special teams marker of the game came at 10:16 of the second when Gauthier broke down the wing shorthanded and snapped a shot over the glove of Lafleur. Gauthier's second of the game made it 7-1 in favour of Saint John. The goal tied the Sea Dogs franchise record of most goals in a game.
The Rocket got one back when a defensive miscue left DesRoches all alone in front to snap a shot over the blocker of Mayer.
Saint John restored the six-goal edge and set a franchise record at 15:24 of the middle frame. Di Domenico fed a pass from the side of the goal to a waiting Sparling who ripped a one-timer past Lafleur. The goal was the eighth of the game for the Sea Dogs, the most in one game by the team.
The teams traded goals 15 seconds apart to open the third. Leduc made it 9-2 for Saint John at 3:21 and Cliche cut it to 9-3 at 3:36.
Saint John reached double digits with less than five minutes to go in the game. A two-on-one break was finished off by Leduc for his second of the game and a 10-3 Sea Dogs lead.
With the win Saint John improves to 19-7-1-2 while the Rocket drop to 12-15-1-0.
ATTENDANCE. The Sea Dogs drew 5,019 fans for their game Saturday against league-leading Halifax. On Sunday 3,026 watched the Dogs score the most goals in franchise history.
RECORD: Wheaton Settlement native Nick Layton tied the St. John's Fog Devils franchise record for most points in a game on Friday. Layton recorded one goal and four assists for five points in the Fog Devils 8-2 win over the Victoriaville Tigres.
HONOUR: The Val-d'Or Foreurs retired the no. 96 jersey of Nashville Predators forward J.P. Dumont in a ceremony Sunday prior to the team's game against the Rimouski Oceanic. The Montreal product had 154 goals and 177 assists in 231 games with the Foreurs. He's the second Predator to have his jersey retired this week as the Quebec Remparts retired Alexander Radulov's no. 22.
Hockey Sea Dogs begin key December homestand with a pair of impressive victories
Andrew Mcgilligan
Telegraph-Journal
Published Monday December 3rd, 2007
Appeared on page B10
SAINT JOHN - The month of December is an important one for the Saint John Sea Dogs and the team has started off in the right direction.
The team won their first two contests of the month over the weekend with a 10-3 blowout of the Prince Edward Island Rocket on Sunday and a 4-2 win over the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Eastern division leading Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday.
The reason the month takes on extra importance is the Sea Dogs play eight of their 11 December contests at Harbour Station.
Leading scorer Chris Di Domenico said the importance of the holiday season is not lost on the team.
"It's perfect for us because we stay at home and don't have to do a lot of travelling," he said. "We've got to get all the wins we can this month because when we come back from the break we're on the road a lot."
Saint John is the hottest team in the QMJHL right now with six straight wins, a franchise record, and the streak couldn't come at a better time.
"We've just got to keep doing the things we've been doing in the last couple of weeks," said head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu. "This week coming is a huge one for us, if we can play .700 hockey we'll be in good shape heading into the break."
The Sea Dogs take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at Harbour Station on Wednesday before travelling to Bathurst for a return game Friday. Saturday and Sunday see the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles come to Harbour Station, one of two teams above the Sea Dogs in the Eastern standings. In fact, all 11 December games are against Eastern division foes.
"You've got win your home games, we all know that because it's tough to win on the road in this league," Beaulieu said.
Home ice was kind to Saint John on the weekend. Scott Howes had a pair of goals Saturday to lead the Sea Dogs to a 4-2 win over Halifax. Steven Anthony and Ryan Sparling had one goal apiece while Jakub Voracek had both Mooseheads markers.
On Sunday, Alexandre Leduc and Francois Gauthier had two goals each while Alex Grant, Yann Sauve, Di Domenico, Howes, Sparling and Anthony had one goal apiece in the 10-3 win over P.E.I. Geoff Walker, Nathan DesRoches and Maxim Cliche replied for the Rocket.
Both teams looked sluggish in the early going Sunday, but it was the Rocket who got it together for the opening score. Walker batted a pass out of mid-air in front of Sea Dogs starter Robert Mayer at 6:16 of the first period.
Saint John would get the next seven.
The Sea Dogs got on the board at 8:35 of the opening frame when Di Domenico shoveled a puck past Rocket starter Marc-Antoine Gelinas to tie the game 1-1. The goal was Di Domenico's 25th of the season, tying the franchise record he set last season. Ryan Sparling picked up an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games.
Anthony gave the Sea Dogs a 2-1 lead at 13:13 of the first. The rookie forward broke in on Gelinas and made a nice fake before roofing a backhand.
The lead bulged to 3-1 thanks to some hard work from Howes. The Toronto product chased down and stole the puck from a Rocket defender before sliding a pass to Gauthier who redirected it past Gelinas.
The Saint John defence got in on the first period scoring spree in the final two minutes of period. Sauve let a shot go from the point that found its way to the back of the net for a 4-1 Sea Dogs advantage through one period of play.
Saint John kept it coming in the second period. Grant got the second goal from a blue-liner when he ripped a wrist shot past Gelinas at 4:10 for a 5-1 advantage.
The marker chased Gelinas from the game as Antoine Lafleur took over the goaltending duties for P.E.I. He didn't fair much better.
Just over a minute later, Howes used some slick stickhandling in close to slide the puck past Lafleur for a 6-1 Sea Dogs lead.
The first special teams marker of the game came at 10:16 of the second when Gauthier broke down the wing shorthanded and snapped a shot over the glove of Lafleur. Gauthier's second of the game made it 7-1 in favour of Saint John. The goal tied the Sea Dogs franchise record of most goals in a game.
The Rocket got one back when a defensive miscue left DesRoches all alone in front to snap a shot over the blocker of Mayer.
Saint John restored the six-goal edge and set a franchise record at 15:24 of the middle frame. Di Domenico fed a pass from the side of the goal to a waiting Sparling who ripped a one-timer past Lafleur. The goal was the eighth of the game for the Sea Dogs, the most in one game by the team.
The teams traded goals 15 seconds apart to open the third. Leduc made it 9-2 for Saint John at 3:21 and Cliche cut it to 9-3 at 3:36.
Saint John reached double digits with less than five minutes to go in the game. A two-on-one break was finished off by Leduc for his second of the game and a 10-3 Sea Dogs lead.
With the win Saint John improves to 19-7-1-2 while the Rocket drop to 12-15-1-0.
ATTENDANCE. The Sea Dogs drew 5,019 fans for their game Saturday against league-leading Halifax. On Sunday 3,026 watched the Dogs score the most goals in franchise history.
RECORD: Wheaton Settlement native Nick Layton tied the St. John's Fog Devils franchise record for most points in a game on Friday. Layton recorded one goal and four assists for five points in the Fog Devils 8-2 win over the Victoriaville Tigres.
HONOUR: The Val-d'Or Foreurs retired the no. 96 jersey of Nashville Predators forward J.P. Dumont in a ceremony Sunday prior to the team's game against the Rimouski Oceanic. The Montreal product had 154 goals and 177 assists in 231 games with the Foreurs. He's the second Predator to have his jersey retired this week as the Quebec Remparts retired Alexander Radulov's no. 22.
