Thursday, October 13, 2011

HUBERDEAU NAMED TEAM CAPTAIN

Press Release

SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs have named Jonathan Huberdeau team captain for the 2011-12 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season.

Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant announced Thursday that the 18-year-old forward has been chosen from a strong core of returning leaders to wear the ‘C’. Huberdeau was the team's most valuable player last season, setting club records with 62 assists and 105 points. He was also named MVP of the QMJHL President's Cup playoffs and the MasterCard Memorial Cup championship before being drafted third overall by the Florida Panthers in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

“Jonathan is going to be a great leader for our club. He’s done a lot for our team and we think he’s going to lead us forward,” Gallant said.

The Sea Dogs have 15 full-time veterans returning from last year’s MasterCard Memorial Cup championship team, which gave Gallant plenty of options. Defenceman Kevin Gagne, 19, who served as captain for 11 of the first 12 games with several players away at NHL camps, will be a full-time assistant. Gagne is the only returning player who wore a letter last season.

The other two assistant captaincies will rotate between four players: 20-year-old forward Danick Gauthier, 19-year-old forward Stephen MacAulay, and 19-year-old defencemen Nathan Beaulieu and Pierre Durepos. Gauthier wore the ‘C’ in the team’s season opener before attending a prospects camp with the Phoenix Coyotes.

“We’ve got five very good assistant captains that are going to be a big part of our leadership group. Obviously we left out some very good players and very good leaders but we all know we can’t have nine or 10 assistant captains,” Gallant said. “We’ve got some real good leadership in our room.”

The Sea Dogs have won seven of their last nine games and sit at 7-5 heading into weekend road games in Rouyn-Noranda Friday and Val-d’Or Saturday. The team is ranked No. 5 in the national BMO Canadian Hockey League Top 10 rankings.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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