B8

PETER MCGUIRE
Game on

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

'Well, what do you think?'

Enlarge Photo

Peter Walsh/Telegraph-Journal

Payton Liske continues to show flashes of the dominant offensive force he could be if he played with more aggression.

It was easily the most popular intermission question Saturday night at Harbour Station. It was a reference to the new-look Saint John Sea Dogs after the team re-tooled over the holiday trading period, shipping out their two best players - defenceman Alex Grant to Shawinigan and forward Chris DiDomenico to Drummondville.

When it was suggested that the team showed more energy, one NHL scout offered some wisdom:

"There's an old saying, 'Don't confuse activity with achievement'."

He obviously wasn't that impressed with the new-look Dogs but regulars in attendance for the game against the Gatineau Olympiques had to be pleased with the team's apparent new approach, which appears to include more hitting and a strong forecheck.

Translation - more energy and more entertainment.

Yes it was just one game - and a 4-3 loss at that - but everyone in the lineup looked like they had something to prove.

And by finishing the weekend off by hammering the Olympiques 8-1 on Sunday afternoon, you have to think that maybe it won't be that long a winter after all.

-

OVERHAUL: To give you an idea of just how much the team has changed, consider this: on Dec. 6, the Sea Dogs posted a 3-2 win over the Victoriaville Tigres. A little more than a month later, only nine players (not including goaltenders) from that night were in the lineup on Saturday. That's half of the team.

Others shipped out or sent home by the Sea Dogs include forwards Keven Charland, Stephen Walker, Kyle Dilosa, Alexei Dostoinov and Matthew Stoddard and defenceman Pascal Amyot. New faces or those fairly new to the lineup are Olivier Ouellet, Danick Gauthier, Nicholas Pard, Mathieu Gingras, Shea Kewin, Josh Schram and Benjamin Lecomte. The best of the bunch appears to be Ouellet. He's not very big - 5-foot-8, 165 pounds - but the 18-year-old will no doubt contribute offensively and he doesn't mind throwing his weight around either.

-

NICE PLAY: Speaking of people throwing their weight around, Payton Liske may have had the best shift of his career on Saturday when he set up rookie defenceman Kevin Gagne with the team's third goal. After delivering a solid hit deep in the offensive zone, the 6-foot-5, 218-pound 20-year-old picked up the puck and threaded the needle, hitting the streaking Gagne coming in from the point with a crisp pass, and he one-timed his third of the season past Marc-Antoine Gelinas. It was easily one of the prettiest goals of the season. The only frustrating thing that resulted was that it showed exactly how dominant Liske could be if he played with a physical edge on a consistent basis.

-

LET 'EM GO: When Saint John power forward Mike Thomas dropped the gloves with Spencer Metcalfe just past the midway point of the first period, they were quickly separated by linesmen Matt MacPherson and Shane Black and boos rained down from the 4,000-plus on hand at Harbour Station. "Those linesmen are confused," said one season-ticket holder. "They don't know that we came to watch the players, not the linesmen." Thomas and Metcalfe renewed acquaintances in the second period and wasted no time in getting down to business. The New Maryland product made quick work of Metcalfe, delivering a punishing blow early that sent his opponent to the ice and then to the dressing room for some patchwork.

Peter McGuire is the Telegraph-Journal's city editor. His weekly QMJHL column appears on Tuesdays. Email him at mcguire.peter@telegraphjournal.com