Final Results
Feb 21, 07 - 19:00

Redmen 0 - Toronto 1
OUA East Best-of-three Semifinals -- Non-conference Game

Game Report by Earl Zukerman

MONTREAL – Joe Rand, a sophomore from Hamilton, Ont., scored a power play goal with 4:13 remaining as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues upset ninth-ranked McGill 1-0 in the opening game of an OUA East men’s hockey best-of-three semifinal series.

Toronto, which has won six of eight previous playoff series between the long-time rivals and seven of 10 post-season games, will host McGill in Game 2 on Saturday night at Varsity Arena. If a third game is needed, it will be played in Toronto on Sunday night. Both are slated for a 7:30 pm start.

Goaltender Ryan Grinnell, who allowed six goals in an 11-1 loss to the Redmen on Feb. 9, kicked aside 21 shots for the shutout, which ended McGill’s six-game win streak over Toronto, dating back to Feb. 14, 2003. It also marked the eighth time in 94 lifetime playoff games that McGill had been shutout and only the second time on home ice. The last time it happened, the Redmen suffered a 4-0 setback, also to the Blues, in the Queen’s Cup final on March 8, 1947.

Rand, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound left winger, was credited with the game-winner, which deflected off a defenceman, past McGill starter Jean-Michel Filiatrault, who made 18 saves in only his second CIS playoff game and evened his post-season record at 1-1. He now owns a career 15-6-2 record overall with eight shutouts in a McGill uniform.

McGill which outshot Toronto 21-19, failed to click on all eight power play opportunities after entering the game with a staggering 56.5 per cent success rate on the power play (13-for-23) in three playoff games. Since changing their PP formation 10 games ago, McGill had clicked on 30 of 85 PP opportunities for a success rate of 35.3 per cent.

REDMEN RAP: McGill F Shawn Shewchuk saw his 11-game-point-scoring streak come to an end; he had a 9-12-21 record over that span…The McGill-Toronto rivalry dates back to Feb. 20, 1899 and is the fifth-oldest on record… Redmen Former Redmen all-Canadian left-winger Mathieu Darche was sent down to AHL Syracuse after a two-game call-up with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks. In 28 career games with three NHL teams, the 30-year-old Darche has one goal and one assist… Capt. Derek Prohar, who patrolled the Redmen blueline from 1994 to 1998, received the Medal of Military Valour from Governor General Michaëlle Jean and Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier presented the awards during a ceremony at Ottawa’s Château Laurier. Prohar helped launch a successful September 2006 counter-attack against the Taliban while working with U.S. special forces in southern Afghanistan.

SCORING SUMMARY
(@ McConnell Arena)

Toronto 1, McGill 0

FIRST PERIOD:
(no scoring)

Penalties:
McGill - Y. Turcotte (Hook), 3:04
McGill - T. Kyres (Interefere), 7:57
Toronto - M. Heatley (Slash), 10:15
McGill - Y. Turcotte (Hook), 13:09
Toronto - J. Rand (Interfere), 13:39
Toronto - C. Elliot (Hook), 14:41

SECOND PERIOD:
(no scoring)

Penalties:
McGill - S. Bloom (Rough), 3:06
Toronto - K. Martiniuk (Hold), 3:37
Toronto - B. Sherrard (Trip), 4:06
McGill - L. Madill (Charge), 9:42
Toronto - A. Nagribiano (Rough), 15:34

THIRD PERIOD:
1. Toronto - Joe Rand (Simon Barg) - 15:47 (PP)

Penalties:
Toronto - D. Sherrrard (Hold), 3:27 M
cGill - G. Demers (Hold), 15:12
Toronto - D. Sherrrard (Hold), 17:03
McGill - E. L’Italien (Interfere), 19:18

GOALTENDERS:
McGILL:
Jean-Michel Filiatrault (L, 1-1-0; 1GA, 18 saves, 59:04)
Empty-net: (0:56; OGA)

TORONTO:
Ryan Grinnell (W, 1-0-0; 0GA, 21 saves, SHO, 60:00)

GOALS BY PERIOD

TEAM: 1 2 3 -- Total
TOR: 0 0 1 -- 1
McG: 0 0 0 -- 0

SHOTS BY PERIOD

TEAM: 1 2 3 -- Total
TOR: 7 7 5 -- 19
McG: 9 5 7 -- 21

PENALTIES (No./Mins.):
TOR: 8/16
McG: 7/14

POWER PLAY (Goals/Chances):
TOR: 1/7
McG: 0/8

Referee: Pascal St-Jacques

Attendance: 501

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

1. Joe Rand, Toronto
2. Ryan Grinnell, Toronto
3. Jean-Michel Filiatraul, McGill

McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
--------------------------------
G: Jake Jarvis
G: Mathieu Poitras (dressed but DNP)
D: Erik Stilling (injd)
F: Charles Gauthier (injd)
F: Benoit Arsenault (injd)
F: Mathieu Leclerc (injd)
F: Ben Gazdic
J. Jeremy Burgess

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Redmen suffer playoff power outage Feb 22, 07 Ice Hockey (M)

By RANDY PHILLIPS, The Gazette

Redmen suffer playoff power outage
------------------------------------------
McGill 0-for-8 with man advantage. Varsity Blues 1, Redmen 0. Toronto draws first blood in best-of-three East semifinal

By RANDY PHILLIPS
(reprinted from The Gazette)

McGill head coach Martin Raymond said his team, for whatever reason, has liked having a gun to its head at times this season and it's precisely the situation the Redmen find themselves in.

The Toronto Varsity Blues took advantage of the lacklustre ninth-ranked Redmen during a 1-0 Game 1 win in their OUA East Conference best-of-three semifinal before a sparse crowd of only few hundred at McConnell Arena last night.

Second-year left-wing Joe Rand beat McGill goaltender Jean-Michel Filiatrault with a power-play goal at 15:47 of the third period.

McGill went on the power play fewer than two minutes later and also pulled Filiatrault for an extra attacker, but a penalty to McGill's Eric L'Italien in the final minute of play effectively killed any chance to tie the game and force overtime.

"This team likes to have the gun to the head. It's been like that all year," said Raymond, referring to his team's pattern of inconsistent play from game to game during the regular season. "Now we're in that position again."

The series resumes with Game 2 Saturday night in Toronto. If a third game is necessary, it will be played Sunday night in Toronto.

The winner will face the Trois Rivieres Patriotes or Ottawa Gee-Gees in the best-of-three conference final.

The Patriotes got goals from Samuel Gibbons, Samuel Beland and Mathieu Gravel during a 3-0 win in Game 1 of their series in Trois Rivieres last night.

Last night marked only the second time McGill had been shutout on home ice in the playoffs. Toronto also handed McGill its first, in the 1947 Queen's Cup final.

McGill defeated the Varsity Blues both times during the regular season, most recently an 11-1 rout on Feb. 2 at McConnell Arena. But the Redmen's performance last night wasn't even close to what it was the last time the teams met and there was a real sense that it was going to be different scenario from the get-go because of the way they took the ice in the first period.

"I thought we were a little sluggish in the first period. To (Toronto's) credit they had some jump. They had 10 days off and they're going to have some jump. We knew that," Raymond said.

"I thought we had a good second and third period in terms of our overall play, but certainly not in terms of scoring."

McGill outshot Toronto 21-19, including 7-5 in the third period, but what really told the tale was an 0-for-8 effort on the power play. McGill went into the game with a 56.5-per-cent success rate with the man advantage in the playoffs.

"They pressured well. Penalty-killed well," Raymond said.

"Their penalty-killing is close to what we do. But their power played scored tonight and ours didn't. That's the way it goes, I guess."

Toronto head coach Darren Lowe said his team's focus was to keep the game as tight as possible for as long as possible. His team also had considerably more zip than in its last visit.

"I think that you're a little bit more motivated when you lose like that (11-1). I think our guys have a lot of pride and that's why they came here ready to play," Lowe said.

Regardless of last night's outcome, Lowe said his team still has a lot of work ahead.

"We're going to have to remember the things we did well in this game and not get too high," he said. "McGill has such a good hockey team and I'm sure they've got a lot of pride going for them as well.

Ryan Grinnell got the shutout for Toronto.

rphillips@thegazette.canwest.com

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007