Relaxed Redmen set to face Patriotes Feb 27, 08 Ice Hockey (M)
By RANDY PHILLIPS, The Gazette
Relaxed Redmen set to face Patriotes
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University hockey playoff series begins tonight in Trois Rivières
By RANDY PHILLIPS
(reprinted from The Gazette)
The McGill Redmen are much more relaxed this season, which is a big reason
why they rolled through the first two rounds of the OUA Eastern Conference hockey
playoffs with relative ease after suffering a shocking elimination in the second
round last season.
"Last year was tough for all of us," head coach Martin Raymond said
yesterday. "The atmosphere around the team was more intense. We put a lot
of pressure on ourself, as a team, and players put a lot of pressure on themselves
because there were a lot of guys playing their last season and they wanted to
go back to the national championship for another kick at the can.
"The tension and pressure on and around the team was a bit out of control,"
Raymond added. "It was a learning experience for us, even for me as a coach.
It was the first time we had been conference playoff champions and for us it
was an eye-opener."
The Redmen are in Trois Rivières tonight to face the Patriotes in Game
1 of the best-of-three conference final. Game 2 is Friday at 7 p.m. at McGill's
McConnell Arena.
McGill has returned to the Eastern final for the second time in three years.
Their bid to return to the national championship last year was derailed with
a second-round playoff loss to the upstart Toronto Varsity Blues.
The Redmen will be facing the Patriotes in the Eastern final for the second
time in three years. Trois Rivières, which finished first in the Far
East Division - eight points ahead of second-place McGill - has lost only once
in the previous 12 playoff series between the two teams.
Goaltender Mathieu Poitras has played a key role in the Redmen reaching the
Eastern final this season after sweeping the first two best-of-three series,
against Ottawa and Queen's. The fourth-year senior from Gatineau, who played
major-junior hockey with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, has allowed only five goals
in four playoff games after posting a 2.24 goals-against average in 22 regular-season
games.
The Redmen and Patriotes split the four games they played against each other
during the regular season and McGill's game plan is to set the tone for the
series as soon as the puck drops tonight.
"We'll certainly do everything we can to get on top of this series early,
so we can come back Friday night at home with a win under our belt," Raymond
said.
rphillips@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008
