Q Round-up: Sea Dogs solidify off-ice, on-ice product

The Saint John Sea Dogs had great news all week last week.

Firstly, the team got newly-signed Florida prospect Jonathan Huberdeau back from the Panthers. He was back in the lineup last weekend for the Dogs pair of home games. The return of Huberdeau from the NHL means that, for all intents and purposes, the Sea Dogs now have all the players they expected to have back, and can ice their full lineup.

As well, the team traded for overage defenceman Charles-Olivier Roussel last week. Roussel, 20, played last season with the Montreal Juniors, scoring five goals and 30 points from the blueline. He added four points in 10 games in the playoffs. The Sea Dogs sent their first round pick in 2013 and a fifth round pick in 2012 to the Armada to make the trade. Roussel adds a huge veteran presence on the blueline for the Sea Dogs, and fills a role left empty by the graduated Simon Despres. Roussel, a Predators draft pick, was able to be sent to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, but the Preds felt that the defenceman would be better suited for another year of seasoning in junior. The move lines another talented player to the coffers of the Sea Dogs, poised to make another Memorial Cup run this season.

Next, Saint John secured the future of the two men who control the on-ice product to long term deals. Head Coach Gerard Gallant and Director of Hockey Operations and Associate Coach Mike Kelly were signed to three-year extensions last Friday. Since the two men took over at Harbour Station, the Sea Dogs have a combined record of 118-23-0-2 in their two years and counting. The Sea Dogs reached the QMJHL Finals in 2009-10, bowing out to the Moncton Wildcats, and won the QMJHL title last season.

Over the weekend, Saint John showed their dominance, handily winning two games at home. First, they beat Rimouski on Saturday night, 8-2, and then iced Victoriaville on Sunday, 6-2. Huberdeau and Roussel each had five points in their Sea Dog season debuts. They now sit in second in the QMJHL, with a record of 7-4-0-0.

The team is on the road this week, starting in Gatineau to take on the Olympiques on Wednesday. They travel up to the Abitibi-Temiscamingue for games this coming weekend, battling the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Friday and the Val-d’Or Foreurs Saturday.

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The QMJHL announced their stars of the month this past week.

Victoriaville’s Yanni Gourde was named September’s first star. The Tigres forward finally overtook the scoring lead in the QMJHL last week, finishing the month with 22 points. He had four games where he scored three points or more, including a game earlier this month where he had seven points in an 8-2 Tigres victory over the Rimouski Oceanic.

Acadie-Bathurst’s Zach O’Brien was named second star of the month. O’Brien finished the month second in league scoring after leading it for most of the month. He tallied 20 points in the month for a Titan team that won their first three games, and then didn’t register another win in September. O’Brien scored points in every game he played this month.

Shawinigan goaltender Alex Dubeau was named third star. Dubeau was the best goaltender in the first month of the QMJHL season, registering five wins and a shutout. Over the month of September, Dubeau had a 1.96 goals against average and a .933 save percentage.

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Rimouski captain Etienne Boutet received a five game suspension for a hit to the head in Rimouski’s 7-2 win over the Moncton Wildcats on Oct. 1.

Boutet cut across the ice to hit Wildcat forward Thomas Flynn as he was streaking to the net with the puck. Boutet makes contact as Flynn cuts to the goal, hitting the head first with a tucked elbow. He powered toward Flynn and hit him head first, clipping his head and a bit of his body.

Flynn didn’t fall to the ice and remained on his feet, though visibly shaken up. He headed to the bench immediately, though slowly. He didn’t make any sudden movements prior to the hit, or put himself in a vulnerable position to get hit. At the angle Flynn was skating, it is a debate as to whether he could see Boutet coming or not.

The league determined that Boutet should be suspended based on video review, and referee reports on the incident. It should be noted that Boutet didn’t receive a penalty on the play.

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The QMJHL released their three stars of the week for the period ending Oct. 9.

Foreurs goaltender Francois Tremblay was named first star of the week last week. Tremblay had two shutouts in three games this week, his only blemish a 5-4 shootout loss. He finished the week with a .956 save percentage.

Halifax Mooseheads defenceman Konrad Abeltsauser was the league’s second star. The Moosehead defenceman had seven points in three victories last week. The crescendo was his performance against the P.E.I. Rocket last weekend, where he had four assists in a 6-4 win.

Sea Dogs forward Ryan Tesink was named third star of the week. He had six points in Saint John’s two victories last weekend against the Oceanic and the Tigres.

As well, the Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Week last week was from the QMJHL. Jimmy Appleby of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar was named the CHL goalie of the week in the period ending Oct. 4. In his two starts, Appleby gave up three goals in two victories. He had a save percentage of .940 in the two games.

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The TELUS East Division is crammed with good teams so far this season.

The top four teams by points are in the division, with the Memorial Cup hosts Shawinigan Cataractes leading the charge.

The Cataractes have 17 points to lead the league, followed by the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Victoriaville Tigres and Quebec Remparts, each tied with 16 points. The Rimouski Oceanic and Chicoutimi Sagueneens are tied in the basement for 12 points, which would be enough to at least tie them for third in any other division in the QMJHL.

The other two divisions are led by the Saint John Sea Dogs and the Val-d’Or Foreurs with 14 points apiece.

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Gourde and O’Brien sit neck-and-neck atop the QMJHL scoring race. Both players are the only two that have led the circuit.

O’Brien and Gourde are tied with 26 points. O’Brien takes the scoring lead on the account of his 11 goals, which are two up on Gourde’s nine.

Matthew Bissonnette, O’Brien’s linemate, sits in third with 11 goals and 23 points. The Wildcats’ Alex Saulnier climbs to fourth this week, tied with the Titan’s Sebastien Trudeau with 19 points.

Rounding out the top ten are Benjamin Casavant and Michael Beaudry of Shawinigan, and Mikhail Grigorenko of Quebec, all tied with 18 points, then four players tied with 17 points, including Gourde’s teammate, Philippe Maillet, a regular in the top five until this week, and Rimouski defenceman Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, who leads all rearguards in scoring.

Behind Gauthier-Leduc in defenceman scoring is Mikael Tam with 14 points. Behind them are three blueliners tied with 11 points: Mathieu Gagnon of the Gatineau Olympiques, Gabriel Bourret of the Sagueneens, and Martin Lefebvre of the Remparts.

There’s a three-way-tie atop the league goal scoring list. O’Brien and Bissonnette are tied with the Cataractes’ Anton Zlobin with 11 goals. Casavant, and forwards Michael Bournival of the Cataractes and Victor Provencher of the P.E.I. Rocket all check in with 10 goals.

Quebec’s Mikhail Grigorenko continues to lead all Q rookies in scoring with 18 points. He is followed by Nathan MacKinnon of the Halifax Mooseheads with 16 points. Denis Kamaev of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies sits in third with 14.

Alex Dubeau of the Shawinigan Cataractes takes over the lead in goals against average and in save percentage with a GAA of 2.43 and a SV% of .918 in 11 games. Dubeau is tied for the lead the league in wins with seven.

Roman Will is the other goalie with seven wins, but he pairs it up with five losses in 12 games.

Three other goalies sit with save percentages above .900: Mathieu Corbeil of the Saint John Sea Dogs (.912 in seven games), rookie Francois Brassard of the Remparts (.903 in eight games), and Francois Tremblay of the Foreurs (.902 in 12 games). Tremblay is the only goalie with two shutouts, which he registered this week. Six other goalies have one.