Sea Dogs open series for President Cup against unfamiliar foe

The race for the President Cup in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is creeping closer to its end and the team the Saint John Sea Dogs are about to take on remains somewhat mysterious to the hometown crowd.

The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, which play about a 40-minute drive from downtown Montreal, have only squared off against Saint John twice this season. Each team scored a win at home, and Saint John's coach Danny Flynn thinks both are now much different teams.

After watching his team skate in the morning practice Friday, Flynn said the Sea Dogs and the Armada were on a similar path during the first half of the regular season.

"This is a team that finished just behind us in the regular season, that went through some key injuries as we did, that made some excellent mid-season additions," Flynn said.

Series opens at Harbour Station

Flynn is sure of one thing heading into the final series opener at 7 p.m. Friday at Harbour Station: it will be hard-fought.

"This is going to be a tough series," he said. "They're a very good team and we're preparing for a seven-game series."

But the Sea Dogs, Flynn said, are well-prepared, thanks to both scouting and video analysis. He's sure the Armada have worked on scouting and video analysis as well.

"We don't see them often," said team captain Spencer Smallman, but he thinks his teammates have a good idea of who they're facing.

"They're a pesky, hard-working team, they're fast, they play with a high pace" Smallman said. "You know they're going to come out really hard and so are we."

Mystery to fans

Just as in the dark about the mysterious contenders are some Saint John fans. Picking up tickets at the box office, Mike McGarvey admitted he doesn't know much about Blainville-Boisbriand.

What McGarvey does know is that any team that's made it this far is a threat.

"I know they've pulled some upsets," McGarvey said. "They took Charlottetown out quite easily, surprisingly."

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Friendly wager?

One New Brunswicker already knows how much of a threat Blainville-Boisbriand can be. Bathurst Mayor Paolo Fongemie lost a friendly wager and had to fly the flags of both Blainville and Boisbriand outside City Hall when the Acadie-Bathurst Titan lost their matchup to the Armada in the quarter-finals.

Saint John Mayor Don Darling, who is also a Sea Dogs season ticket holder, hasn't made any bets yet. But Darling likes the idea of seeing the hometown flag flying in Quebec.

"A friendly wager, I'd be open to that," he said. "At the end of the day it's all in fun."

For now, Darling said, his only definitive plan regarding flags is to get the Saint John colours flying high in front of City Hall.