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2011 President's Cup Preview

May 4, 2011 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) - Lewiston MAINEiacs News Release


The 2011 President's Cup Final series is now set. The Gatineau Olympiques picked up a 5-2 victory over the Quebec Remparts on Tuesday night, erasing a 3-1 series deficit to advance to the championship round for the tenth time in franchise history. The Hull/Gatineau franchise has taken home the QMJHL's top prize seven times, while going on to win the Mastercard Memorial Cup once in 1997. The Olympiques' opponent in the final will be the Saint John Sea Dogs, who won 58 times during the regular season, before posting a 12-1 record in the first three rounds of the playoffs. This is the Sea Dogs' second appearance in the championship round, after they lost in six games to the Moncton Wildcats last spring.

SAINT JOHN SEA DOGS

Record: 58-7-1-2

Points: 119

Goals For: 324

Goals Against: 165

Power Play: 74-for-295 (25.1%), 6th

Penalty Kill: 236-for-282 (83.7%), 1st

Playoff Record: 12-1

Goals For: 66

Goals Against: 27

Power Play: 21-for-67 (31.3%), 3rd

Penalty Kill: 64-for-68 (94.1%), 1st

Playoff Leaders

11-F-Jonathan Huberdeau (13 goals, 12 assists, 25 points)

7-F-Zack Phillips (8 goals, 14 assists, 22 points)

97-F-Stanislav Galiev (9 goals, 10 assists, 19 points)

13-F-Tomas Jurco (6 goals, 10 assists, 16 points)

28-D-Nathan Beaulieu (3 goals, 11 assists, 14 points)

1-G-Jacob DeSerres (8-1 record, 2.24 GAA, .936 Sv%)

GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES

Record: 43-17-3-5

Points: 94

Goals For: 243

Goals Against: 193

Power Play: 61-for-273 (22.3%), 10th

Penalty Kill: 183-for-231 (79.2%), 10th

Playoff Record: 12-6

Goals For: 63

Goals Against: 40

Power Play: 18-for-73 (24.7%), 5th

Penalty Kill: 58-for-70 (82.9%), 3rd

Playoff Leaders

11-F-Jean-Gabriel Pageau (12 goals, 13 assists, 25 points)

88-F-Philip-Michael Devos (7 goals, 16 assists, 23 points)

4-D-Nicolas Deslauriers (4 goals, 13 assists, 17 points)

24-F-Christian Ouellet (10 goals, 5 assists, 15 points)

17-F-Philippe Halley (7 goals, 8 assists, 15 points)

35-G-Maxime Clermont (9-6 record, 2.09 GAA, .925 Sv%)

GOALTENDING

SAINT JOHN: Corbeil-Theriault, DeSerres

GATINEAU: Clermont, Lacerte

The Sea Dogs and Olympiques have both experienced goaltending carousels of sorts in the first three rounds of the playoffs, as both clubs have seen each of their netminders make multiple appearances. In the Saint John goal, Jacob DeSerres has seen the majority of the action, going 8-1 in ten games, allowing just 22 goals on 246 shots. Mathieu Corbeil-Theriault has appeared in five games for the Sea Dogs, winning four, while also picking up one no-decision, allowing five goals on 78 shots. For Gatineau, Francois Lacerte started the first three games of the postseason, going 2-0 with one no-decision. Since then, he has appeared in just two games, posting an overall mark of 3-0, allowing seven goals on 82 shots. Maxime Clermont has stepped up as the starting goaltender for the Olympiques in the playoffs, going 9-6, while making 381 saves on 412 shots in 15 games.

DEFENSE

SAINT JOHN: Beaulieu, Bourret, Despres, Durepos, Gagne, Gelinas, Seed

GATINEAU: Castonguay, Craddock, Deslauriers, Gagnon, Janosik, Labrie, Picard, Weckworth

On the blueline, both clubs are led by two players who have been drafted into the NHL. The Sea Dogs' Simon Despres was a first round draft pick by Pittsburgh in 2009, while Eric Gelinas was a second round draft pick by New Jersey in the same draft. The Olympiques' Nicolas Deslauriers was a third round pick by Los Angeles in 2009, while Adam Janosik was a third round pick by Tampa Bay one year later. Deslauriers is Gatineau's top offensive defenseman, having recorded 17 points in the team's first 18 playoff contests. Hubert Labrie has also had a strong postseason, picking up eight points in 18 games, while posting a plus-20 rating, after missing all but nine games in the regular season due to injury. Nathan Beaulieu is the top offensive defenseman for Saint John, having scored 14 points in 13 playoff games. Gelinas is second on the club with ten points, while also leading the Sea Dogs with a plus-9 rating in the postseason.

OFFENSE

SAINT JOHN: Anthony, Beauregard, Cameron, Galiev, Gauthier, Huberdeau, Jurco, Kelly, Kirkpatrick, MacAulay, Oke, Phillips, Tesink, Thomas

GATINEAU: Bergeron, Bernier, Burke, Conrad, Devos, Gagnon, Halley, Lafontaine, Levitsky, Linteau, McGinn, Ouellet, Pageau, Porowski, Talbot, Tremblay

When it comes to putting the puck in the net, the two sides each have one player who has taken the league by storm during the playoffs. The Sea Dogs' Jonathan Huberdeau is having his second straight stellar postseason, following up a 105-point regular season with 13 goals and 25 points in 13 playoff games. Huberdeau has at least one point in 21 of his last 22 games, dating back to February 27th. Meanwhile, Jean-Gabriel Pageau has been the brightest offensive star for the Olympiques, scoring 12 goals and 25 points in 18 playoff games, after a 32-goal effort during the regular season. Saint John had a lethal offense during the regular season, as five different players (Huberdeau, Phillips, Galiev, Kirkpatrick, Jurco) lit the lamp at least 30 times, helping the team to a league best 324 goals. Gatineau had three players (Devos, Pageau, McGinn) reach the 30-goal plateau during the regular season, including Philip-Michael Devos, who finished the year with 47 tallies and a league best 114 points.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Saint John and Gatineau have both had significant success with special teams play in the playoffs, especially while playing shorthanded. The Sea Dogs boast the best penalty kill in the league during the postseason, successfully killing off 64 of 68 shorthanded situations for a 94.1% success rate in the first three rounds. Saint John has also found the back of the net three times while being down a man. The Olympiques' penalty kill ranks third in postseason play, as they have killed off 58 of 70 shorthanded situations for an 82.9% success rate. Gatineau has scored one shorthanded goal. When it comes to the power play, the Sea Dogs are ranked third in the league, having scored 21 times in 67 opportunities for a 31.3% success rate. Jonathan Huberdeau has six power play goals for Saint John, while Zack Phillips has five. Meanwhile, the Olympiques are ranked fifth in the league on the power play, scoring 18 times in 73 opportunities for a 24.7% success rate. Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Christian Ouellet both have three power play markers for Gatineau.

TOUGHNESS

During the regular season, the Sea Dogs were far from being a team with a lot of pugilists, as they dropped the gloves just 37 times in 68 games. Seven of those fighting majors were assessed to Alexandre Beauregard, who also had eight bouts during his time with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at the beginning of the season. Beauregard has danced with a member of the opposition once during the playoffs, joining four other Saint John players with one fight each. The Olympiques were in the middle of the pack when it came to fighting majors during the regular season, finishing the year with 57. Tommy Tremblay had the most, duking it out ten times, while Mitchell Porowski finished second on the team with eight fighting majors. Tremblay has dropped the gloves three times during the playoffs, joining three of his teammates who have also been assessed fighting majors during the postseason.

COACHING

Benoit Groulx of the Olympiques has created quite the legacy as a head coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Groulx took over as the head coach of the club during the 2001-02 season, and aside from a two-year stint with the AHL's Rochester Americans, has been there ever since. After Groulx took over in 2001-02, the Olympiques won 21 of 30 regular season games, as well as one round of the playoffs. Hull/Gatineau has won at least 33 games in each of his seven full seasons behind the bench, as well as 40-plus games on three different occasions. Groulx has three President's Cup titles on his resume as well. The Sea Dogs' Gerard Gallant has only been in the QMJHL for two seasons, but is quickly on his way to joining Groulx as one of the elite bench bosses in the league. Gallant led his squad to the Jean Rougeau Trophy in back-to-back years for the most points during the regular season, while also taking Saint John to the President's Cup Final in back-to-back years.

EXPERIENCE

The Sea Dogs' roster consists of 15 players who reached the championship round with Saint John last season, including ten players who played in all 21 postseason contests. Three other players on the Sea Dogs' roster have playoff experience with other clubs in the league, while four players are experiencing their first postseason runs in the QMJHL. The Olympiques' roster consists of two players who have been a part of a championship run, as Hugo Labrie and Maxime Clermont were both on the Gatineau club that took home the 2008 President's Cup. Nicolas Deslauriers and Tommy Tremblay are both appearing in their second championship series, but both are still looking for their first titles. Deslauriers came up short in 2008, when he was a member of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, while Tremblay came up short in 2009, when he was a member of the Shawinigan Cataractes. In terms of ages, both teams have three 20-year olds and six 19-year olds. Saint John has one more 18-year old and one more 17-year old than Gatineau, while the Olympiques have the only two 16-year old players.

The series between the Sea Dogs and Olympiques will begin at Harbour Station in Saint John on Thursday night, with puck drop scheduled for 6:00. The series will follow a 2-2-1-1-1 format, with the winner advancing to the 2011 Mastercard Memorial Cup in Mississauga, Ontario. The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors and Owen Sound Attack have already earned bids to the tournament, as Mississauga is the host team, while Owen Sound earns their bid by facing Mississauga in the Ontario Hockey League's championship series. The Western Hockey League's bid will go to the winner of the championship series between the Portland Winterhawks and Kootenay Ice.

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from May 4, 2011


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