QMJHL Unbeaten in four, Sea Dogs travel to P.E.I. to battle the Rocket

B12

Nathan White
Telegraph-Journal

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Even though their last meeting ended on an ugly note, the Prince Edward Island Rocket and Saint John Sea Dogs do not expect any carry-over tonight.

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Noel Chenier/Telegraph-Journal

Sea Dogs defenceman Yann Sauve leads Saint John into an Atlantic Division battle against the Prince Edward Island Rocket tonight in Charlottetown. Both teams bring win streaks into the game.

The Dogs (6-6) put their four-game Quebec Major Hockey League win streak on the line against P.E.I. (4-5-0-1), a 7 p.m. start in Charlottetown. Saint John has won 10 of its last 11 meetings dating back to March 2007, including playoffs, with the lone loss coming in overtime.

The Sea Dogs beat P.E.I. 6-3 last Wednesday, and Yann Sauve raised the Rocket's ire with a late hit on Mathieu Tousignant. Sauve was assessed a five-minute major for kneeing after leveling Tousignant right in front of the Saint John bench with less than a minute to go.

Rookie Stephen Walker dropped the gloves with the Rocket's Brendan Wright in the ensuing scrum, and P.E.I. coach Guy Chouinard called the hit "a cheap shot" after the game.

"I thought (to only) call a five-minute major for kneeing"‰"¦"‰was the wrong call," said Chouinard. "To me, it was an attempt to injure. Obviously nobody liked what happened at the end of the game. It was 6-3, it was all over, and to do that in the last minute, I think it was pretty cheap."

The video of the incident was inconclusive, as Sauve was already midway through the hit by the time the camera caught up to the play. Saint John coach Jacques Beaulieu does not think his player meant to injure Tousignant, who he believes embellished the severity of the hit. Tousignant played two nights later, although Chouinard said he is wearing a knee brace and is less than 100 per cent.

Sauve and Tousignant won a gold medal together with Team Quebec in the 2006 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Regina. Sauve said he told Tousignant after the game that he didn't intend to catch him with a knee.

"I just tried to hit him in open ice," said Sauve. "He told me it wasn't my fault and (that) he tried to move. He actually hit my lower leg. It's just part of the game."

Sauve said he isn't too concerned about a Rocket player trying to take a run at him.

"Maybe somebody's going to step up. I don't know, I don't care," said the six-foot-three, 220-pound Vancouver Canucks prospect. "I'm just going to play my game and (toughness) is part of my game too."

Chouinard appreciated that Sauve sought out Tousignant after the game.

"It's a very good sign on his part. Maybe he didn't mean to do it," said Chouinard.

The coach said he's not sure what will happen in tonight's contest.

"I don't think you send a message a week afterwards. What was done was done," said Chouinard. "It's not a case of revenge for revenge, but everybody's got to learn. Even a guy like Sauve, who has a career in front of him, he could end not only somebody else's career but his own too (by hitting knee-on-knee)."

While the Sea Dogs carry a four-game winning streak into Charlottetown, P.E.I. comes into tonight fresh off road wins in Baie-Comeau and Chicoutimi.

Beaulieu said, in a tough Atlantic Division battle, anything can happen.

"It's always competitive between us and P.E.I.," said Beaulieu. "Anytime you play divisional games, they're rivalries."