Final Results
Feb 02, 07 - 19:00

Redmen 11 - Toronto 1

Game Report by Earl Zukerman

MONTREAL – Mathieu Leclerc scored twice and added three helpers as No.6-ranked McGill left the Toronto Varsity Blues red-faced with an 11-1 win at McConnell Arena, Friday.

It was McGill’s most lopsided win over U of T since a 13-0 conquest at Toronto, Nov. 13, 1993 and the most goals scored against the Blues on McGill ice since a 12-10 overtime victory way back on Jan. 19, 1912 -- the same year that the Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean.

The game featured 102 minutes in penalties, including 76 to the Blues, who had entered the contest with seven straight wins and the top defensive record in the nation and the CIS’s leading starter in nets. By the time they left McConnell Arena, the Redmen had taken ownership of the top defensive record.

McGill led 3-1 after the first period and 8-1 after two, chasing starter Ryan Grinnell (18-6-0) midway through the second after he had conceded six goals on 16 shots. Grinnell, a senior from Toronto had entered the game with a CIS-leading 1.89 goals-against average and an equally impressive .931 save percentage. He was yanked 30 minutes and 15 seconds later with a 2.11 GAA and a .924 percentage.

It was the highest offensive output by the Redmen since a 13-4 pre-season win over Laurier on Oct. 8, 2005 but the most goals in regular season play since a 13-0 whitewash over RMC on Jan. 14, 2000, a span of 208 league and playoff contests.

Shawn Shewchuk of Lloydminster, Alta., who tied a McGill single-game record held by many with a pair of shorthanded goals, was one of three other Redmen to post a four-point night. Serbian sophomore Marko Kovacevic mirrored that performance with an identical 2-2-4 effort, while freshman Vincent Lambert of Ste. Therese, Que., came away with four points, including his second career marker.

Louis-Simon Allaire, who celebrated his 22nd birthday 24 hours earlier, was credited with his second game-winner of the season at only 5:15 of the opening period. It was the eighth goal of the season for the sophomore defenceman from Sherbrooke, Que., the sixth-highest goal total by a McGill rearguard in team history and seven short of the club record set of 15 scored by Gilles Hudon in 1981-82.

Rounding out the scoring for McGill was junior Eric L’Italien of Ste. Foy, Que., senior Benoit Martin of Gaspé, Que., and Daniel Pharand, a sophomore from Gatineau, Que.

The lone Toronto gunman was blueliner André Robichaud, who’s 5-on-3 power play marker ended McGill’s streak of 18 consecutive penalties killed. The Redmen have now snuffed out 44 of their last 46 shorthanded situations.

McGill outshot Toronto 33-19 as Mathieu Poitras made 18 saves, improving his record to 9-5-2 on the season and upping his lifetime mark to 57-25-5, just four wins shy of the school’s all-time record set by Jamie Reeve between 1985 and 1990.

The Redmen improved to 14-7-3 (including an overtime loss) but remained five points back of first-place UQTR (16-7-2), who defeated Queen’s 3-0. McGill has four games remaining, with a game in hand on the Pats and will host Ryerson (2-22-1) at McConnell Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m.

REDMEN RAP: The Redmen, who beat Toronto for the sixth straight time, have dominated the series of late with a 17-3-4 record in head-to-head matchups since 1996. The Blues, however, still lead the lifetime series between the two squads with a 115-74-15 record since the teams began playing each other on Feb. 20, 1899. It is the fifth-oldest on-going hockey rivalry in existence, trailing the Queen’s-RMC series (1886), RMC-McGill (Feb. 27, 1892), Queen’s-McGill (Feb. 2, 1895) and Toronto-Queen’s (Feb. 8, 1895)…

A group of former McGill players, spearheaded by Benoit Leroux and Jean-Guy Daigneault, have set up a Registered Education Savings Plan for three-year old Emma Trudel, the daughter of ex-Redmen defenceman Martin Trudel, who died last week of brain cancer at the age of 33… Contributions can be made payable to “Universitas Foundation – re. Emma Trudel” and sent to the attention of Benoit Leroux, KPMG Tower, 600 de Maisonneuve Blvd., West, Suite 1500, Montreal, QC H3A 0A3.

“Martin was the toughest, hard-nosed defenceman for the Redmen of the 1990s,” said long-time McGill head coach Martin Raymond. “A fierce competitor and a greatly-respected teammate, he was renowned for thunderous bodychecks and smart positional play. His leadership abilities were apparent very early in his career with us and his teammates will always remember him as a man of character. His former teammates want to support as best they can, Martin’s wife (Manon) and her daughter through the difficult years ahead.”

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 11, Toronto 1
(@ McConnell Arena)

FIRST PERIOD:
1. McGill - Marko Kovacevic (M. Leclerc, L. Madill) - 1:51 (PP)
2. McGill - Louis-Simon Allaire (M. Leclerc, V. Lambert) - 5:15
3. McGill - Shawn Shewchuk (D. Urquhart ) - 10:15 (SH)
4. Toronto - Andre Robichaud (S. Barg ) - 15:31 (PP)

Penalties:
Toronto - A. Nagribianko (Trip), 0:33
Toronto - J. Rand (Cross), 5:43
McGill - B. Lessard (Hook), 8:33
McGill - S. Bloom (Trip), 11:13
Toronto - C. Elliot (Rough), 13:55
McGill - L. Madill (Interfere), 15:10
McGill - K. Morin (Interfere), 15:19
Toronto - T. Kerr (Hook), 17:27

SECOND PERIOD:
5. McGill - Mathieu Leclerc (S. Pearce, L.S. Allaire) - 00:58
6. McGill - Mathieu Leclerc (M. Kovacevic, V. Lambert) - 09:59
7. McGill - Benoit Martin (S. Shewchuk, S. Bloom) - 10:12
8. McGill - Daniel Pharand (G. Demers ) - 12:48
9. McGill - Marko Kovacevic (V. Lambert, D. Pharand) - 19:52

Penalties:
McGill - B. Gazdic (Slash), 5:11
Toronto - R. Rand (Dble Rough, 10 min. Misconduct), 10:15
Toronto - C. Elliot (Rough, 10 min. Misconduct), 10:15
McGill - B. Martin (High-stick), 10:15
Toronto - G. Palka (10 min. Misconduct), 10:45
Toronto - M. Heatley (High-stick), 13:22
McGill - V. Lambert (Slash), 13:25
Toronto - A. Pallotta (Dble Spear), 13:25
McGill - L. Verrilli (Trip), 17:16

THIRD PERIOD:
10. McGill - Vincent Lambert (M. Leclerc, M. Kovacevic) - 0:39
11. McGill - Shawn Shewchuk (B. Martin ) - 5:00 (SH)
12. McGill - Eric L’Italien (S. Shewchuk, K. Morin) - 12:24 (PP)

Penalties:
McGill - M. Leclerc (Interfere), 4:20
Toronto - T. Kerr (Interfere, 10-min. Misconduct), 10:47
Toronto - A. Nagribianko (Rough), 10:47
McGill - S. Pearce (Rough), 10:47
Toronto - G. Palka (High-stick), 12:08
McGill - E. L’Italien (Dble Rough), 16:02
McGill - M. Lymer (Triple minor: Rough, Rough, Cross-check), 16:02
Toronto - B. Sherrard (Hold), 18:20
Toronto - S. Malcolm (Rough), 18:20
McGill - V. Lambert (Rough), 18:20

GOALTENDERS:

McGILL:
Mathieu Poitras (W, 9-5-2; 1GA, 18 saves, 60:00)

TORONTO:
Ryan Grinnell (start, L, 18-6-0; 6GA, 10 saves, 60:00)
Neil Clelland (ND, 5GA, 12 saves)

GOALS BY PERIOD
TEAM: 1 2 3 -- Total
TOR: 1 0 0 -- 1
McG: 3 5 3 -- 11

SHOTS BY PERIOD
TEAM: 1 2 3 -- Total
TOR: 5 8 6 -- 28
McG: 12 15 6 -- 33

PENALTIES (No./Mins.):
TOR: 22/76
McG: 13/26

POWER PLAY (Goals/Chances):
TOR: 1/7
McG: 2/11 (+2SHGs)

Referee: P. St-Jacques

Attendance: 523

MOLSON CUP 3 GAME STARS:
(selected by Randy Phillips, The Gazette)

1. Mathieu Leclerc, McGill
2. Shawn Shewchuk, McGill
3. Vincent Lambert, McGill

McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
--------------------------------
G: Jake Jarvis
G: Jean-Michel Filiatrault (dressed but DNP)
D: Erik Stilling (injd)
D: Yan Turcotte (suspended)
F: Charles Gauthier (injd)
F: Benoit Arsenault (injd)
F: Chris Churchill-Smith (injd)
F: Teddy Kyres (injd)

Mid East's best no match for Leclerc's Redmen Feb 03, 07 Ice Hockey (M)

By RANDY PHILLIPS, The Gazette

Mid East's best no match for Leclerc's Redmen
--------------------------------------------------
Redmen 11, Blues 1
Centreman scores twice, adds three assists in dismantling of Toronto

By RANDY PHILLIPS
(reprinted from The Gazette)

McGill head coach Martin Raymond spent a lot of time stressing the importance of his team getting back to the way they want to play.

"The big thing for us is our work ethic. We've felt that it's gotten away from us, at times, this year. As a result, things unfortunately have been up and down for us," Raymond said.

Raymond had no complaints with the effort his team displayed in an 11-1 rout of the Toronto Varsity Blues in an OUA men's hockey game before 521 at McConnell Arena last night.

It was the most goals McGill has scored in a game this season and the most against the Blues at McConnell since a 12-10 overtime win on Jan. 19, 1912.

Sixth-ranked McGill, still in the hunt for first place in the Far East Division, skated circles around the Blues, the best team by a large margin in the Mid East Division, for a full 60 minutes. And the Redmen chased Toronto goalie Ryan Grinnell, who went into the game with the best goals-against average in the country (1.89) and with the most wins (18), from the net midway through the second period after lighting him up six times.

Mathieu Leclerc, a fourth-year centre from Quebec City, led the rout with two goals and three assists. Leclerc went into the game with one goal in his last 14 games.

Left-wing Shawn Shewchuk scored a pair of shorthanded goals to tie a team record for most in a game and added two assists. Left-wing Vincent Lambert, a rookie from Ste. Therese, had a goal and three assists.

Defenceman Louis-Simon Allaire and team captain Benoit Martin each had a goal and an assist and McGill also got goals from centre Daniel Pharand and right-wing Eric L'Italien.

McGill led 3-1 after the first period and 8-1 after two, and the offensive outpouring included two power-play goals, the first by Kovacevic to open the scoring at 1:51 of the first.

Neil Clelland replaced Grinnell at 10:15 of the second and was promptly beaten by Pharand and Kovacevic, with his second of the game. Clelland gave up three in the third.

McGill sits comfortably in second-place at 14-7-3 in the four-team Far East and the victory eased a little bit of the frustration left in the wake of blowing a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 loss to the ninth-ranked Patriotes in Trois Rivieres Wednesday.

"We were a lot better tonight. We let one slip the other night. (The Pats) played hard, but we should have buried them. That kind of thing has happened to us a few times this season," said Shewchuk, a fourth-year veteran from Lloydminster, Alta.

"The key for us is to pursue the puck whenever we don't have it. That's our whole game and when we don't do it, we create problems for ourselves."

Defenceman Andre Robichaud beat McGill's Mathieu Poitras late in the first period on a power play for the Blues' only goal in a game that featured 102 minutes in penalties, including 76 to Toronto.

McGill entertains the Ryerson Rams tonight at 7.

Stingers slide in OT: Despite 4-2 and 5-3 leads, the Stingers suffered a 7-6 loss in overtime to the Royal Military College Paladins at Ed Meagher Arena. Concordia's Marc-Andre Rizk scored with 22 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime, but the decisive blow came from the stick of Duaine Sepzner at 2:26 of the extra session. Mike Baslyk led the Stingers with a two goals.

rphillips@thegazette.canwest.com

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007