Dogs ready for dream matchup
Published Friday November 20th, 2009
QMJHL: Saint John faces defending league champions tonight at 8:30 p.m.
SAINT JOHN - Steven Anthony believes the Saint John Sea Dogs still have something to prove.
Despite being first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the 18-year-old forward feels beating the Drummondville Voltigeurs tonight would make a statement.
"This is the biggest game we've had this year,'' Anthony said. "They're the defending champions and we want to show that we're for real. If we beat them in their own rink, that would really show other teams that we're for real.''
Most teams already know the Sea Dogs (21-4-1-0) are for real based on the 13-game winning streak they carry into tonight's 8:30 p.m. face-off at the Marcel Dionne Centre. But the Volts (19-4-0-1) represent the Sea Dogs' biggest test of the season.
Drummondville is second in the overall standings, trailing Saint John by four points. Fifteen players are back from last year's President's Cup championship squad, including 19-year-old Marc-Olivier Vachon, third in league scoring with 35 points.
But a key piece of last year's title-winning team is now part of the Sea Dogs. Twenty-year-old Mike Hoffman scored 52 regular-season goals and added 21 in the playoffs to help the Volts earn a Memorial Cup berth. The Ottawa Senators' prospect has 11 goals in 15 games for Saint John this season.
"He's definitely going to be on top of his game and that will help us,'' said Anthony, who leads the Sea Dogs with 12 goals. "We just have to follow his lead and play like it's a championship game. We always should do that, but this is a really big game.''
Sea Dogs goalie Marc-Antoine Gelinas agrees. The 20-year-old has enjoyed plenty of individual success, sporting a 14-3 record along with a 2.20 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. The only netminder with more wins is Drummondville's Antoine Tardif (15-5, 2.86 GAA, .881 save percentage).
"We really want to show we're a contender and that we're the best team in the league,'' Gelinas said. "This is the game to show it.
"The 13 wins in a row won't matter if we lose that game. We have to keep the streak going with this game, no matter what it takes.''
Gelinas said Drummondville deserves respect for last year's success.
"They know what it takes to go a long way,'' he said. "Our team didn't make a long run in the playoffs last year and some guys don't know what it takes.
"Some guys know, guys like (Nick) Petersen and Hoffman. It's going to be a really good challenge and it kind of shows early in the season who's the best. It's going to be kind of like a playoff game.
"We're pretty excited and we've been looking forward to this game for a while. We've worked hard this week to be ready for this game.''
Saint John's recent run of success led to it being ranked second in this week's Canadian Hockey League Top 10 list. Drummondville is fourth. And while Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant is generally indifferent to rankings, he admits he's looking forward to tonight's game and Sunday's affair in Lewiston against the Maineiacs (10-12-0-1).
"I'm looking forward to playing some different teams,'' Gallant said. "It's definitely a test, but if we come out of this weekend and we win 7-2 in Drummondville or lose 7-2 in Drummondville, it's one game.
"I don't put a lot of stock into that, but it's going to be fun to play a team like that because we haven't played them and they're the defending champions. You want to challenge yourself and you hope your team responds.''
OUELLET OUT: Nineteen-year-old forward Olivier Ouellet has taken a leave of absence from the Sea Dogs for personal reasons, the club announced Thursday. Ouellet will be out of the Sea Dogs' lineup indefinitely but remains Saint John property. Ouellet practised with the team Wednesday.
"It's not related to hockey,'' Sea Dogs associate coach and director of hockey operations Mike Kelly said Thursday. "He decided it was probably best to go home. It's hard to deal with family issues when you're not around family.''
A native of Drummondville, Que., Ouellet has six goals and nine assists in 25 games. He could not be reached for comment.
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