MAINEiacs Head To Harbour Station
Lewiston MAINEiacs @ Saint John Sea Dogs
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Harbour Station
Season Five - Game # 18 - Road Game # 8
Game Time: 6:00 PM ET
Media: ESPN 1470 AM in Lewiston/Auburn; ESPN 870 AM in Portland;
Audio Stream; Webcast on TELUS
Quick Stats
Lewiston MAINEiacs
4th Place, Eastern Division
Record: 9-7-1-0 (19 pts)
Streak: Won 1
Last 5: 2-2-1-0
Power Play: 18.7% (20 PPGF) 6th (3 PPGA)
Penalty Kill: 82.9% (19 SHGA) 10th (2 SHGF)
Players to watch:
11-LW- Stefano Giliati (11-8-19) 3 PPG; 6 GWG
22-LW- Chris Tutalo (2-12-14) 2 PPG
34-C- Stefan Chaput (6-7-13) 1 PPG; 1 GWG
47-RW- Danick Hudon-Paquette (7-4-11) 5 PPG
46-D- Kevin Marshall (5-6-11) 4 PPG; 1 GWG
21-C- Dave Taylor (4-6-10) 1 PPG; 1 SHG
1-G- Jonathan Bernier (0-2; 4.10 GAA; 0.837 SAV%)
30-G- Peter Delmas (8-6; 2.70 GAA; 0.910 SAV%)
33-G- Kirk Rafuse (1-0; 5.86 GAA; 0.773 SAV%)
Saint John Sea Dogs
3rd Place, Eastern Division
Record: 10-4-0-1 (21 pts)
Streak: Won 1
Last 5: 3-1-0-1
Power Play: 14.6% (13 PPGF) 11th (2 PPGA)
Penalty Kill: 85.6% (13 SHGA) 6th (3 SHGF)
Players to Watch:
25-C- Christopher DiDomenico (12-9-21) 4 PPG; 2 SHG; 3 GWG
19-LW- Payton Liske (3-12-15)
27-LW- Scott Howes (4-8-12) 3 PPG; 1 GWG
14-RW- Francois Gauthier (1-11-12) 1 PPG
55-C- Francois Leduc (5-6-11) 2 PPG; 1 GWG
4-LW- Ryan Sparling (3-7-10) 1 PPG; 1 GWG
34-G- Robert Mayer (6-1; 2.51 GAA; 0.907 SAV%)
1-G- Travis Fullerton (4-4; 3.13 GAA; 0.895 SAV%)
Head-to-Head
(Saint John leads series 2-1)
MAINEiacs Head To Harbour Station
Lewiston and Saint John will face-off for the fourth meeting between the two Eastern Division rivals on the early QMJHL season tonight. The game tonight will be the last game for both teams in the month of October. The month overall has treated both teams well as Lewiston looks to improve on a 7-2-1-0 record, and Saint John with a 6-2-0-1 stretch since October 1st has added to the Sea Dogs best ever start in their two-plus year history.
The tide has certainly changed for the MAINEiacs as the Sea Dogs have outscored Lewiston 9-2 in their last two meetings, arguably two of the worst games that the MAINEiacs have played all season. In both contests, Lewiston coughed the puck up in situations too numerous to count, struggled to maintain puck posession, and had difficulty moving the puck out in breakout situations.
While the Sea Dogs have yet to turn the corner to ‘contender’ status in the QMJHL, thier club has improved to the point where they are going to cause teams problems any night they square off against them. No longer the road-kill of the division and league, Saint John has already put the rest of the league on notice that if teams want two points from them, then better show up to play.
While it could be real easy to focus on Christopher DiDomenico & Payton Liske for a majority of the Sea Dogs offense, all in all 18 players have registered at least one goal for Saint John, showing that depth does indeed pay off in the ‘W’ column when it all adds up. The Sea Dogs aren’t scoring a lot of goals yet, but they will continue to get stronger with every game.
For Lewiston, the gutsy 4-2 victory over Moncton on Sunday was a pleasant turnaround after the dreadful games with Saint John and Chicoutimi last week. The MAINEiacs made a switch in net, with Peter Delmas getting the nod and the Bedford, Nova Scotia native was solid when it mattered late in the game. Lewiston did a better job handling and controlling the puck, but struggled to hold the puck in the offensive zone at times. Most importantly, the club looked much more comfortable on the ice and it showed with a better effort.
The MAINEiacs are seeing the emergence of 17 year-old Alexander Beaton with five points in his last three games (3-2-5) with a shorthanded goal against the Sea Dogs last Wednesday evening that started his upswing. The rookie from Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia has 9 points in 16 games (4-5-9) overall. Working on a line currently with Chris Tutalo and Marc-Andre Daneau, the scoring champion of the Nova Scotia Major Midget League last season for the Dartmouth Subways could play a key role in Lewiston’s success for the season.
Around the QMJHL
Players Of The Week
Michael Frolik of the Rimouski Oceanic earned offensive honors and Timo Pielmeier of the St. John’s Fog Devils defensive honors as TELUS players of the week by the QMJHL on Monday.
Frolik returned to the ‘Nics line up after an early season injury and made a big impact, scoring six goals and adding an assist in three games last week. The 2006 first round draft pick of the Florida Panthers had a hat trick against Chicoutimi last Tuesday, as Rimouski ouscored opponents 15-6 and went 2-1 last week as they slowly turn their season around.
Pielmeier is turning into a rock for St. John’s (excuse the pun) after two road wins over Moncton and PEI last week. Last Thursday against the Wildcats, he turned aside 37 of 39 shots in the Fog Devils 3-2 win. On Friday, he blocked all 42 shots, earning his first QMJHL shutout in a 3-0 victory over the Rocket.
The MAINEiacs’ Alexander Beaton was an honorable mention.
More Changes On the Island
Reorganization of the PEI Rocket front office continues as Serge Savard, Jr. takes over as Governor of the club, replacing his brother, Marc, who recently took a five year position with the Quebec provincial lottery and gaming system, and was forced to resign. The junior Savard retains his title as team President.
With Savard kicking himself upstairs, recently hired coach Guy Chouinard is now taking over GM duties and is now director of hockey operations for the team.
The Rocket will face Lewiston for their only visit to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee this weekend on Friday and Saturday.
