Sea Dogs Picked To Finish Sixth

[dogcatcher]

Sea Dogs Picked To Finish Sixth
Eastern Division

Neil Hodge
Canadaeast News Service
Published Wednesday September 12th, 2007

Appeared on page B8
Predicted order of finish


1. Halifax

2. P.E.I.

3. Acadie-Bathurst

4. Moncton

5. Lewiston

6. Saint John

7. St. John's

8. Cape Breton

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

LAST SEASON: 32-31-3-4 for 71 points. Sixth in the Eastern Division and 14th overall in the league. The Mooseheads lost 4-1 to Lewiston in the second round of the playoffs.

EXHIBITION RECORD: 3-2-0-0.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS: None.

KEY RETURNEES: d Andrew Bodnarchuk (16-41-57, 63 games), d Guillaume Monast, f Jakub Voracek (23-63-86, 59 games), f Ryan Hillier (32-27-59, 70 games), f Colby Pridham (23-36-59, 65 games), f Logan MacMillan (20-35-55, 68 games), f Bryce Swan (35-19-54, 61 games), f Peter-James Corsi (14-30-44, 65 games) and f Garrett Peters (22-17-39, 61 games).

KEY ADDITIONS: f Tomas Knotek (sixth overall pick in 2007 European draft).

EXPECTATIONS: "I think we have a pretty deep team that's capable of finishing in the top two in our division,'' said general manager Marcel

Patenaude. "We expect to be very good offensively and we've got an experienced defence that played very well in the playoffs last season. We're the same defence as last year, but a year older so we should be okay there. If we add anyone, I would think it will be a marquee player. I would say P.E.I., Moncton and Bathurst are maybe as good as us.''

P.E.I. ROCKET

LAST SEASON: 36-26-2-6 for 80 points. Fourth in the Eastern Division and eighth overall in the league. The Rocket lost 4-3 to Acadie-Bathurst in the opening playoff round.

EXHIBITION RECORD: 4-3-0-1.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS: d Marc-Andre Gragnani (22-46-68, 65 games), f David Laliberte (50-48-98, 68 games) and f Guillaume Doucet (35-36-71, 70 games).

KEY RETURNEES: g Antoine Lafleur, d Pierre-Luc Lessard (12-22-34, 70 games), d Benoit Gervais, d Jordon Southorn, f Brett Morrison (35-55-90, 64 games), f Geoff Walker (30-50-80, 65 games), f Martin Latal (18-28-46, 66 games) and f Chris Doyle (18-18-36, 50 games).

KEY ADDITIONS: d Bryan Main and d Jason Swit were acquired in trades. f Jan Kana (first round of 2007 European draft). d Allan Clow (fifth round in 2006 QMJHL draft), d Parker Deighan (fourth round in 2007 QMJHL draft) and f Brandon MacLean (first round in 2007 QMJHL draft).

NBERS: f Lucas McKinley (Fredericton)

EXPECTATIONS: "We want to battle with the contenders,'' said head coach Yanick Jean. "It's time for this team to step up and be fighting for the top spot. We should have three good scoring lines. We feel our top nine forwards can contrbitue offensively. It's the most depth we've had throughout the lineup (in my three seasons here). We have six defencemen with experience. I think we're going to be pretty well balanced. We added skill with Kana and a couple of new defencemen. We have our sights set higher this season.''

MONCTON WILDCATS

LAST SEASON: 39-25-4-2 for 84 points. Third in the Eastern Division and fourth overall in the league. The Wildcats were eliminated in the opening playoff round, losing to Halifax in Game 7 double overtime.

EXHIBITION RECORD: 4-3-0-0.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS: g Jhase Sniderman, d Nathan Welton (15-47-62, 70 games), d Andrew MacDonald (14-44-58, 65 games) and f Christian Gaudet (16-22-38, 63 games).

KEY RETURNEES: g Nicola Riopel, d Mark Barberio, d Alexi Pianosi, f Randy Cameron (17-22-39, 70 games), f Marc-Andre Labelle (12-23-35, 67 games), f Matt Eagles (18-11-29, 50 games), f Matthew Brenton, f Murdock MacLellan and f Pierre-Marc Lessard. f Matt Marquardt (41-29-70, 67 games), f Phil Mangan (25-32-57, 51 games), f Maxime Lincourt (22-32-54, 68 games) and f Chris Morehouse (15-12-27, 67 games) are the candidates for the three 20-year-old spots.

KEY ADDITIONS: g Charlie Lavigne, d Martin Baca (first round of 2007 European draft), d Matt Boyle, d Andrew Eastman, d Myles Gomes, d Cody Wilson, f Zach Sill, f Scott Brannon, f Adam Bezak (first round of 2007 European draft), f Matt Brown (first round of 2007 QMJHL draft), f Devon MacAusland (second round of 2007 QMJHL draft) and f Ted Stephens.

NBERS: f Matt Eagles (Fredericton), f Chris Morehouse (Rothesay) and f Devon MacAusland (Moncton)

EXPECTATIONS: "It's a loaded question for me (to predict where we could finish),'' said head coach and director of hockey operations Danny Flynn. "I was away from the league last season and I don't really know the rest of the teams well enough yet.''

LEWISTON MAINEIACS

LAST SEASON: 50-14-2-4 for 106 points. First in the Eastern Division and first overall in the league. The MAINEiacs won the league championship. They finished last with a 1-3 record at the 2007 Memorial Cup in Vancouver.

EXHIBITION RECORD: 2-4-0-0.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS: d Chad Denny (17-48-65, 59 Games), d Sebastien Piche, d Michal Korenko, f Pierre-Luc Faubert (32-34-66, 70 games), f Eric Castonguay (27-37-64, 69 games), f Simon Courcelles (20-36-56, 67 games) and f Marc-Andre Cliche (24-30-54, 52 games)

KEY RETURNEES: g Peter Delmas, d Michael Ward, d Tom Michalik, d Kevin Marshall (5-27-32, 70 games), f David Perron (39-44-83, 70 games), f Stefano Giliati (24-33-57, 68 games), f Chris Tutalo (20-26-46, 67 games), f Stefan Chaput (17-29-46, 57 games), f Marc-Andre Daneau (21-15-36, 60 games), f Danick Hudon-Paquette and f Jakub Bundil. It's still unknown whether g Jonathan Bernier, 19, will spend this season in Lewiston or in the pros.

KEY ADDITIONS: d Denis Reul (first round of 2007 European draft). f Todd Chinova was acquired in a trade. d Eric Gelinas (first round) and f Billy Lacasse (second round) are from the 2007 QMJHL draft. d Nicolas Therrien (fifth round) and f Alex Beaton (fifth round) are from the 2006 QMJHL draft.

NBERS: d Michael Ward (Shippagan).

EXPECTATIONS: "Our goal is to finish first in the league every season,'' said head coach and general manager Ed Harding. "I see us being one of the best teams in the league this season. There's a lot of parity in the league and I have a lot of respect for the other teams, but the Lewiston MAINEiacs are going to be tough to play against. I think our speed is pretty good. It may be just a notch lower than it was last season, but I think we're a bit bigger and more physical this season.''

ACADIE-BATHURST TITAN

LAST SEASON: 35-28-2-5 for 77 points. Fifth in the Eastern Division and 12th overall in the league. The Titan lost 4-1 to Cape Breton in the second round of the playoffs.

EXHIBITION RECORD: 4-5-0-0.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS: d Zack Firlotte, f Thomas Beauregard (71-53-124, 69 games), f Charles Bergeron (15-22-37, 66 games) and f Martin Bartos (24-57-81, 62 games).

KEY RETURNEES: g Antoine Tardif, d Marc-Antoine Desnoyers, d Nicolas Sigouin, d Brad Tesink, d Mathieu Labrie (8-40-48, 70 games), f Mathieu Perreault (41-78-119, 67 games), f Dany Masse (26-30-56, 69 games), f Jordan Clendenning (16-35-51, 64 games) and f Tomy Joly (15-17-32, 68 games).

KEY ADDITIONS: f Cameron Critchlow (first round), d Remy Blanchard (fifth round) and f Taylor Lambke (sixth round) are from the 2007 QMJHL draft). g Tommy Legault, d Carl Chamberland, f Charles-Antoine Messier, f Guillaume Mailloux and f Tomas Svoboda were acquired in trades.

NBERS: d Brad Tesink (Saint John), d Remy Blanchard (Caraquet), d Mathieu Labrie (St. Quentin), f Cameron Critchlow (Fredericton) and f Jordan Clendenning (Woodstock).

EXPECTATIONS: "We've got high expectations,'' said general manager Sylvain Couturier. "We've got a lot of veterans coming back. We lost only our three 20-year-olds (and European forward Martin Bartos). Svoboda and Messier will help fill the gap offensively and we expect our 18-year-olds to do better than last season. team. We should have four lines that can contribute every night and we have six defencemen with experience in the league.''

SAINT JOHN SEA DOGS

LAST SEASON: 20-47-1-2 for 43 points. Last in the Eastern Division and 17th overall in the league. The Sea Dogs missed the playoffs.

EXHIBITION RECORD: 3-2-0-1.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS: d David MacDonald, d Sebastien Rioux and f Steve Bellefleur.

KEY RETURNEES: g Travis Fullerton, d Alex Grant (12-20-32, 68 games), d Yann Sauve, d David Stich, d Pascal Amyot, f Christopher Di Domenico (25-50-75, 70 games), f Ryan Sparling (18-35-53, 70 games), f Francois Gauthier (16-24-40, 69 games), f Kevin Guerette-Charland (18-16-34, 60 games), f Alexandre Leduc and f Payton Liske (8-2-10, 15 games).

KEY ADDITIONS: g Robert Mayer (third overall pick in 2007 European draft). d Simon Despres (first overall pick), f Steven Anthony (10th overall pick) and f Michael Kirkpatrick (second round) are from the 2007 QMJHL draft.

NBERS: g Travis Fullerton (Riverview) and f Mike Thomas (New Maryland).

EXPECTATIONS: "We want to make the playoffs for sure,'' said head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu. "We're still a young hockey team and I think we'll have our moments when we'll show our age, but I think we have skill. Our back end is really good and I think it's only going to get better. We may have some problems scoring goals at times, but I think our defence and our goaltending is going to push us through. We're young on defence, but we're skilled and we're big. I think Halifax, P.E.I. and Bathurst are a notch above everybody in our division, but after that I think it's going to be jammed up.''

ST. JOHN'S FOG DEVILS

LAST SEASON: 28-36-2-4 for 62 points. Seventh in the Eastern Division and 15th overall in the league. The Fog Devils lost 4-0 to Cape Breton in the opening playoff round.

EXHIBITION RECORD: 2-3-0-1.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS: d Luke Gallant (12-29-41, 59 games), f Nicolas Bachand (13-12-25, 48 games) and f Tim Spencer.

KEY RETURNEES: d T.J. Brennan (16-25-41, 68 games), d Maxime Dubuc, d Pat O'Keefe, f Wesley Welcher (21-55-76, 69 games), f Jean-Simon Allard (12-38-50, 69 games), f Mario Kempe (23-19-42, 62 games), f Nick Layton (21-19-40, 65 games) and f Matt Filler (18-18-36, 63 games). g Pierre-Alexandre Marion, d Kyle Stanley, f Ryan Graham (37-37-74, 66 games) and f Olivier Guilbault are the candidates for the three 20-year-old spots.

KEY ADDITIONS: g Timo Pielmeier was the 12th overall pick in the 2007 European draft.

NBERS: f Taylor MacDougall (Fredericton) and f Nick Layton (Wheaton Settlement, near Salisbury).

EXPECTATIONS: "This is the best team we've had yet,'' said head coach and general manager Real Paiement. "We have a good group of forwards so we'll have more scoring than we've had in the past. I think for the first time we have the type of team that can win low scoring or high scoring games. The strength of our team is in the forwards and our goaltending looks to be solid.''

CAPE BRETON SCREAMING EAGLES

LAST SEASON: 46-22-2-0 for 94 points. Second in the Eastern Division and second overall in the league. The Screaming Eagles lost 4-3 to Val d'Or in the league semifinal.

EXHIBITION RECORD: 4-2-0-0.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS: g Ondrej Pavelec, d Jean-Claude Sawyer (15-62-77, 68 games), d Oskars Bartulis (13-35-48, 55 games), d Jason Swit, d Luc Bourdon, f Cam Fergus (53-45-98, 63 games), f Paul-Alexander McIlveen (37-52-89, 68 games) and f Scott Brannon.

KEY RETURNEES: f Chris Culligan (30-38-68, 70 games) and f Robert Slaney. d Beau Prokopetz, f Dean Ouellet (40-45-85, 70 games), f Jonathan Laberge (19-20-39, 60 games) and f Bradley Gallant are the candidates for the three 20-year-old spots. It's unknown whether f James Sheppard (age 19, 33-63-96, 56 games) will spend this season in Cape Breton or in the pros.

KEY ADDITIONS: d Alex Lamontagne and f Joey Haddad were acquired in trades. g Marek Benda and d Jan Piskacek were taken in the first round of the 2007 European draft. d Samuel Finn (first round of 2007 QMJHL draft).

NBERS: f Dean Ouellet (Edmundston).

EXPECTATIONS: "We have so many new faces so we'll see how the guys adjust to this league,'' said head coach and general manager Pascal Vincent."We know Halifax, Moncton, Bathurst and Lewiston will be strong. I think we'll have good speed. We have hard working players so I think we'll be an in-your-face type of team.''

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

Id move moncton down a little more , other then that i dont know

[dogbert]

Lewy will tank. They've lost too much, are too young, and are undisciplined. Somehow they found discipline for the playoffs last year after some very rag-tag games against us, but they won't this year with the coach and leadership gone and no Mem Cup hope. They have only Perron up front and he can't do it alone.

IMO the Dogs will finish higher than 6th. Their defense is too good and the forward depth looks very good. JB has them focussed and disciplined, and he's obviously ready to play hardball!

Moncton is not a #4 team.

[Judas In My Mind]

At this point in time if we end up finishing in 6th place this year I'll be quite pleased with that result. Especially if it involves being ahead of the Fog Devils.

[elementz]

I would be happy just to make the playoffs

[Y Ddraig Goch]

dogbert said:

IMO the Dogs will finish higher than 6th. Their defense is too good and the forward depth looks very good. JB has them focussed and disciplined, and he's obviously ready to play hardball!

Moncton is not a #4 team.

Your forward depth isn't that good (it's one of the weakest in the division) Halifax and Bathurst has good forward depth, Saint John doesn't.

that's why sixth is about right for where you'll finish. Your defence is very young still although skilled. Pre-season is a million miles away from the reg season. I see the Dogs finishing sixth, fifth as the highest.

I'd flip Bathurst and PEI but apart from that it looks about right at this stage. Hal, Bat and PEI are quite a bit better then there's the chasing pack close together.

[habh8er]

dogbert said:

Lewy will tank. They've lost too much, are too young, and are undisciplined. Somehow they found discipline for the playoffs last year after some very rag-tag games against us, but they won't this year with the coach and leadership gone and no Mem Cup hope. They have only Perron up front and he can't do it alone.

IMO the Dogs will finish higher than 6th. Their defense is too good and the forward depth looks very good. JB has them focussed and disciplined, and he's obviously ready to play hardball!

Moncton is not a #4 team.

I see this as being a reasonable prediction for the dogs(6th), however as you said Lewiston have lost most of their impact players and with the loss of Clem I see them in for a rough start at least. Until they can get things in gear for the 07 -08 season(new players and coaches) they are not going to intimidate teams like they did last season(if at all), therefore falling in the standings.
The only thing that may save them IMO will be if they get Bernier back...he's capable of stealing games from any team in the league.
The statement that "Moncton is not a #4 team" is the thing that I'm wrestling with...if they are not do you mean they should be #2-3 or #6-7. if you see them as a lower seed than 4 do the Seadogs move up to #3-4 or 5

I said they would finish no lower than 6th in another thread, and was told not to be so optimistic(cleaned up version). It would be nice for the team to get into the playoffs this year, and would be great for attendance down the stretch if we were fighting for home ice ,and not only playing out the remaining games with nothing to win or lose....Moose, PEI, DOGS, WOW, that would be quite an improvement over the past two seasons, I'm ready for that kind of showing..but is the rest of the league. They'll have to find a new doormat!!

[LiskeIsMyHero]

i would be happy with 6th but 4th wouldnt surprise me because the only teams that are stronger for sure is bathurst,hali and Pei i think lewiston is over rated ;D

[dogbert]

I'm feeling the following at the moment. Bernier can steal games, but nobody's going to hold up long witth40 shots a game like was saw vs. us. Moncton is an unknown to many, I just feel they don't have enough top end experience to do too much.

1. Halifax

2. P.E.I.

3. Acadie-Bathurst

4. Saint John

5. Moncton

6. St. John's

7. Lewiston

8. Cape Breton

[Judas In My Mind]

I don't see Lewiston falling lower than 4th this year. Sure they have lost a lot but they still have a lot of established players too, and great goaltending. Plus they were a fair bit ahead of everyone last year to begin with. The reverse of us who stand to gain a lot but we were so far behind compared to everyone else that we'll need to be vastly improved just to be even with the lower half.

Either way should be a very interesting year. Can't wait to see it all play out.

[Y Ddraig Goch]

jrsuperstar said:

I don't see Lewiston falling lower than 4th this year. Sure they have lost a lot but they still have a lot of established players too, and great goaltending. Plus they were a fair bit ahead of everyone last year to begin with. The reverse of us who stand to gain a lot but we were so far behind compared to everyone else that we'll need to be vastly improved just to be even with the lower half.

Either way should be a very interesting year. Can't wait to see it all play out.

Lewiston also have probably the best defence in the Division and even though they lost some big players they still have more forward depth than Saint John. I can't see them finishing below Saint John. I think as well that St John's forwards will keep them above Saint John. They are a considerable step ahead.

[canucklehead]

The problem for the Foggies isn't their offense it's more on their backend.

I agree with the way they are set but the bottom half of the division could be real close but CB will be on the outside this time round.

If Sheppard does come back they should get something for him cuz he will give them a huge boost when it comes to rebuilding.

[Judas In My Mind]

catatonicmoose said:

I think as well that St John's forwards will keep them above Saint John. They are a considerable step ahead.

The fact that in the division standings poll I picked the Fog Devils ahead of the Sea Dogs hints that I agree with you, unfortunately.

The fact that I bet 24 beer against Griffin on the Sea Dogs means I am praying we're both wrong. ;D

[Y Ddraig Goch]

canucklehead said:

The problem for the Foggies isn't their offense it's more on their backend.

I agree with the way they are set but the bottom half of the division could be real close but CB will be on the outside this time round.

If Sheppard does come back they should get something for him cuz he will give them a huge boost when it comes to rebuilding.

If Sheppard comes back it could be interesting cos CB good pick up some points in the first half as he can flat out win games on his own and that line may be the league's best.

[archer]

Making the playoffs is the first step 5th or 6th sounds reasonable, once in anything thing can happen. With the potential on the blue line and in goal we could make it to second round if all goes well.