The Saint John Sea Dogs have one more step to take toward their goal to be Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champions and they don't expect it to be easy.
The Sea Dogs will have been idle for eight days when they play host to battle-hardened Gatineau Olympiques in the opening game of the best-of-seven QMJHL final on Thursday night.
The Olympiques will have had one day off since their stunning 5-2 victory over the Remparts in Quebec City in Game 7 of their semifinal series. The win completed a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit that saw them take two of the final three games at the Pepsi Colisee.
"They'll be real tough," Sea Dogs coach Gerard Gallant said Wednesday. "We watched them against Drummondville (in the quarter-finals) and they were down 2-0 in that one.
"They're not going to quit. We won't be complacent because we know this is the final. We just have to make sure we get up to our game level because we haven't played in a while."
The talent-packed Sea Dogs' last game was April 27, when they finished off a sweep of the Lewiston Maineiacs, who had upset the second-seeded Montreal Juniors. Saint John is 12-1 in the post-season, with their only loss a 3-2 decision at home in the second round against Victoriaville.
But they were also the favourite a year ago, when they were upset in six games in the final by the Moncton Wildcats. The goal for this season was to make up for that setback and book a trip to the Memorial Cup May 19-29 in Mississauga, Ont.
They steamrolled the league this season, going 58-7-3, including wins in both meetings with Gatineau.
The Olympiques flew into Saint John on Wednesday morning after a wild night in Quebec, when they chased goalie Louis Dominque with two early goals, saw the Remparts tie it and then have a potential Quebec go-ahead goal disallowed early in the third by a quick whistle. Then Gatineau won it with a pair of goals in a 55-second span and an empty netter.
Later, Remparts coach and general manager Patrick Roy blasted the officials, saying referee Nicolas Dutil was the difference in the game. A day later, the QMJHL named Dutil as one of six refs to work the final.
Gatineau coach Benoit Groulx said his team went into Quebec confident it would win.
"We're excited to be in the final and we think we deserve to be there," he said. "We've improved our game since the first game of the playoffs and we think we're ready for Saint John.
"We have no complex. We know how big a challenge it is. It's our goal to complicate their lives."
A key weapon for Gatineau is New Jersey Devils prospect Maxime Clermont, who was named goaltender of the week in the Canadian Hockey League for posting a 1.77 goals-against average and .934 save percentage in four games.
The attack is led by Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Philip-Michael Devos with 25 and 23 points respectively in 18 playoff games.
The Sea Dogs respond with a lineup that will be the talk of the NHL draft in June.
Centre Jonathan Huberdeau, who has 13 goals and 12 assists in 13 games, is ranked third by NHL Central Scouting. Also rated to go in the first round are No. 5 defenceman Nathan Beaulieu, No. 15 centre Zach Phillips and No. 20 right winger Tomas Jurko.
Ranked for later rounds are No. 44 Scott Oke, No. 47 Ryan Tesink, No. 92 Gabriel Bourret, No. 94 Kelly Aiden and No. 124 Jason Cameron.
"They're a well-balanced team," said Groulx. "We have to make sure we don't give them anything for free.
"We know they have three good lines and they have depth on defence and up front. Our positioning on the ice will have to be very good."
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