Nelson gives Redmen playoff-hockey boost Feb 14, 08 Ice Hockey (M)

By RANDY PHILLIPS, The Gazette

Nelson gives Redmen playoff-hockey boost
Support-group chief. 'We've always bounced back'

By RANDY PHILLIPS
(reprinted from The Gazette)

When Mike Nelson wore a Redmen uniform, McGill hockey and playoffs weren't synonymous. But times have changed and Nelson is enjoying a regular dose of playoff action through today's crop of players wearing the red and white.

"The fact this team has made the playoffs so consistently since I played, is testimony to how good the program has become," Nelson said.

"And it speaks to resiliency in that no matter how many times we may have been knocked down, we've always bounced back."

Nelson, a former defenceman, last played for the Redmen in 1983-1984, returning to McGill for one more year of hockey, despite having finished his law degree in 1982. Now, running his law firm, Nelson Cameron Champagne, he is arguably the team's most passionate supporter as president of the Friends of McGill Hockey alumni support group for the past decade.

Nelson's last season was the only time McGill made the playoffs during his career, which started in 1978. Since '84, the Redmen have missed postseason play only three times - 2004, 1999 and '94.

McGill, making its 22nd playoff appearance in the last 25 years, got a goal and two assists from forward Eric L'Italien during a 5-1 victory over the Carleton Ravens in Game 1 of the OUA East Conference best-of-three quarterfinal at McConnell Arena last night. The series continues in Ottawa tomorrow night.

The Redmen, after finishing the regular season third overall in the conference, look to avoid the disappointment of last year, when they were eliminated in the first round by Toronto.

Nelson's only playoff experience, back when Ottawa was the only Ontario team in what was then the Quebec Universities Athletic Association, also ended sooner than expected for him and teammates.

"We played Ottawa in a best-of-five and after losing the first two games, we came back with a big win (9-5) at home," Nelson said.

"But back in Ottawa, the next game was a real heartbreaker with us losing in overtime (3-2). We just couldn't get over the hurdles of making the playoffs regularly back then. Things were different then, of course, with fewer teams making the playoffs, but McGill teams since have been excellent in doing that."

McGill went into last night's game with a 25-36 record in the playoffs since joining Ontario University Athletics in 1987-1988. All-time in the playoffs, its intercollegiate record is 32-63 with 14 series wins.

McGill's last division title came two years ago, beating Ottawa and longtime playoff nemesis Trois Rivières en route to the OUA East championship. It's previous title came via a sudden-death-game win over Toronto for the Queen's Cup in 1946.

"The playoffs are always an exciting time, but the thing to remember is that there are no guarantees. We've seen that over and over. That's the beauty of the game, of course, and all you can do as a player is your best when you're out there on the ice," Nelson said.

McGill jumped to a 2-0 lead last night on first-period goals by Guillaume Demers at 1:03 and Mathieu Leclerc on the power play at 17:54. The Ravens, back in CIS hockey for the first time in 33 years, notched their first playoff goal in 37 years at 12:26 of the second when Justin Caruna beat goalie Mathieu Poitras with a power-play marker.

Ken Morin and Sam Bloom scored within a four-minute span in the second period and L'Italien completed the rout at 14.20 of third as McGill outshot Carleton 37-23.

"The message (for Game 2) is that it's not going to be any easier," McGill head coach Martin Raymond said.

rphillips@ thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008