FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MONTREAL -- McGill will meet Queen's in a men's hockey playoff series for the first time in 98 years when the long-time rivals hook up for the opening game of an OUA East semifinal series, beginning Wednesday in Napanee, Ont.

The Queen's-McGill series dates back to 1895 and is the fourth-longest rivalry in hockey history.

The semifinal rendez-vous will be only the second ever playoff meeting between the two teams. In the first match-up, held in Ottawa on March 7, 1910, Queen's skated to an 8-2 victory in a sudden-death affair for the league's Queen's Cup championship, a trophy that is still competed for every year and will be awarded to the OUA champion on March 8.

McGill qualified for the upcoming semifinals after knocking off Carleton 5-3 last Friday to earn a 2-0 sweep over the Ravens in the OUA East best-of-three quarterfinal. Queen's earned a first-round bye after winning the OUA Mid-East Division with a 13-12-3 record.

The Gaels will be in tough against McGill, as the Redmen finished second in the OUA Far-East with an 18-9-1 mark, including a series sweep over the Golden Gaels. McGill won 6-2 in Kingston (Nov. 17) and 10-1 at McConnell Arena (Jan. 18).

In fact, McGill has won nine straight over Queen’s and 25 of the last 27 confrontations.

The best-of-three semi-final series will kick off at the Strathcona Paper Centre on Wednesday, February 20 beginning at 8:30pm. Game 2 is slated for McConnell Arena in Montreal on Friday at 7pm and a rubber match, if needed, will be played at the Kingston Memorial Centre on Saturday, February 23 at 8:30pm.

Tickets are available by calling 613-533-2500 or at the door on game day. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for youths and students with a valid ID card.

Fans unable to attend the games live can still follow the games via the LIVE STATS link online at www.athletics.mcgill.ca.

At least one and perhaps each game of the series is also expected to be broadcast live on CFRC-FM in Kingston, which can be heard via the internet at www.cfrc.ca.

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Dept. of Athletics
McGill University
475 Pine Avenue W.,
Montreal, QC H2W 1S4
CANADA
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
514-398-1956 (Fax)
www.athletics.mcgill.ca