Redmen, Badgers set to faceoff for Queen's Cup Mar 04, 08 Ice Hockey (M)

By Michelle Church, OUA

HAMILTON, Ont. - The No. 10-ranked McGill Redmen (18-9-0-1) and the Brock Badgers (17-8-0-3) are set to go toe-to-toe in the Ontario University Athletics Queen’s Cup men’s hockey championship, Saturday in St. Catharines, Ont.

Both teams concluded their semifinal playoff series with close victories this past weekend, as the Redmen ousted the defending champion No. 5 UQTR Patriotes (22-5-0-1) 2-0, while the Badgers defeated the No. 3 Lakehead Thunderwolves (23-4-0-1) 1-0 in overtime to clinch the West Division Championship.

The east and west winners have already earned a berth in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport University Cup championship to be held at the University of Moncton on March 20-23.

Brock and McGill faced off just once in the regular season which saw the Badgers travel to Montreal and take a 3-2 victory on the road. The Redmen look to win their first OUA banner since 1946, while the Badgers look to win their first title.

The road to the final was not an easy one for either of these two teams this season.

The Badgers took game three of their OUA semifinals into overtime with the Lakehead Thunderwolves, earning their place in the OUA championship game thanks to overtime hero Ryan Del Monte of Mississauga, who scored 3:48 into the extra period defeating the Thunderwolves 1-0. Del Monte also scored the OT series winner against the Western Mustangs in game three of their OUA quarter-final series.

Del Monte was the Badgers leading scorer with 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points this season. Brock also looked to fourth year forward Jonathon Labelle o Prevost, Que., who finished the season with 17 goals and 13 assists for the Badgers offence.

On the defensive side, Brock turned to senior goaltender Matt Harpwood of Welland, Ont., who finished the season with 2.67 goals against average, two shutouts, and a .906 save percentage in 23 games played this season.

McGill defeated their long-time Quebec rivals, the UQTR Patriotes with a 2-1 victory, and game winning goal by third-year forward Sam Bloom of Toronto, in the third period earning a 2-0 series sweep. But it was Poitras, a senior from Gatineau, Que., who was the difference, stopping 25 of 26 shots as McGill won its second conference title in three years, but the first on home ice since 1946 at the Montreal Forum.

As a team the Redmen finished second in the league in defence, limiting their opponents to an average of 2.36 goals per game. McGill was led offensively by fifth-year forward Shawn Shewchuk of Lloydminister, Alta., with nine goals and 26 assists. Teammate and 2007-08 OUA East rookie of the year, Simon Courcelles of Rosemere, Que., was the central support figure in the McGill offence with 16 goals and 14 assists for 30 points.

Brock will need to find a way to limit McGill’s shots on net, as Harpwood faced 106 shots in three games against the Thunderwolves. The Redmen will look to remain calm in front of a raucous home crowd. McGill will rely on the skill of some obvious stars to win the game, including Poitras, who has the ability to make the difference on a team which saw three players named to the OUA All-Stars.

Brock Badgers Team Leaders (regular season)

Goals
1. Ryan Del Monte - 19
2. J.J. Martin - 19
3. Jonathon Labelle – 13
4. Gary Friesen – 6
5. Nathan Hooper - 6

Assists
1. Jonathon Labelle – 17
2. Ryan Del Monte – 16
3. Paul Holder – 13
4. Gary Friesen – 12
5. Ryan Allen - 12

Penalty Minutes
1. Ryan Del Monte – 46
2. Curtis Yausie – 46
3. Paul Holder- 38
4. Eric Toonders – 30
5. Nathan Hooper - 29

Goaltending
1. Matt Harpwood – 14-8-0 record, 2.67 gaa, .910 save percentage, 2 shutouts

2. Tom Lee – 3-2-0 record, 2.81 gaa, 0.920 save percentage, 0 shutouts

McGill Redmen Team Leaders (regular season)

Goals
1. Simon Courcelles – 16
2. Guillaume Demers – 11
3. Shawn Shewchuk – 9
4. Guillaume Doucet – 9
5. Sam Bloom – 7
5. Benoit Arsenault - 7

Assists
1. Shawn Shewcuk – 26
2. Sam Bloom – 18
3. Eric L’Italien – 16
4. Simon Courcelles – 14
5. Guillaume Demers - 13

Penalty Minutes
1. Yan Turcotte – 111
2. Shawn Shewchuk – 61
3. Louis-Simon Allaire – 50
4. David Urquhart – 47

Goaltending
1. Mathieu Poitras – 15-7-0 record, 2.24 gaa, .920 save percentage, 0 shutouts

2. Jean-Michel Filatrault – 3-3-0 record, 1.81 gaa, 0.920 save percentage, 0 shutouts

-OUA-

Michelle Church
Communications and Media Relations
Ontario University Athletics
Tel: (905) 540-5156
Email: michelle.church@oua.ca
Web: www.oua.ca

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Badgers, Redmen earn spot in OUA hockey final Mar 05, 08 Ice Hockey (M)

By NiagaraThisWeek.com

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. -- The Queen's Cup will be in unfamiliar territory Saturday night.

It's been 62 years since the McGill Redmen hoisted the symbol of OUA men's hockey supremacy while the Brock Badgers have never even played in the OUA final.

That streak ended Saturday night, however, when captain Ryan Del Monte scored at 3:48 of overtime to give Brock a 1-0 victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the third and deciding game of the OUA semifinals.

The Badgers and McGill will meet for the Queen's Cup -- first awarded by Queen's University in 1903 -- Saturday at the Seymour-Hannah Complex with faceoff at 7:35 p.m. The Redmen will have some local flavor of their own in the lineup in the person of Thorold native David Urquhart, who last season was an All-Canadian defenceman for McGill.

Del Monte's dramatic goal, his second series clinching overtime score in the playoffs, also earned Brock a berth into the CIS National Championships for the first time in school history.

The teams split the first two games of the series with Brock winning the opener 4-2 on home ice before Lakehead forced a deciding game with a 4-3 victory.

Del Monte, who scored in overtime to eliminate Western from the quarter-finals, missed the second game of the Lakehead series after picking up a checking from behind penalty late in Game 1 but made his presence known in the final game.

After gathering in a bouncing puck, Del Monte used his explosive speed to beat both Lakehead defensemen, skate in alone and slide a backhander past Lakehead netminder Chris Whitley for his fifth goal of the post-season.

Brock goalie Matt Harpwood was outstanding once again, making 23 stops to record his third shutout of the season and first of the playoffs.

"It's not an easy place to sneak out a win, but we managed to do it," said Badgers' head coach Murray Nystrom Monday, speaking about the Fort Williams Gardens which was filled with Lakehead supporters. "It was tense game, almost like chess at times. The longer it went like that, we felt it was better for us because we were able to keep the crowd out of it. The guys played a great road game and then we had that one opportunity for our best player to make a difference."

Despite being ensured a spot at the national championships, Nystrom says there is still plenty to play for Saturday.

"The conference winners all get seeded one, two and three at the nationals so it (winning) is important from that standpoint to get a higher seed for the tournament," said Nystrom. "Plus this is a championship game and the trophy is something like 105 years old and that's a lot of hockey history that we are a part of now. So I think that in itself is a lot to play for."

'The national championship is the pinnacle, but you never want to lessen the importance of this game and this championship."

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March madness hits Montreal, McGill Mar 06, 08 Ice Hockey (M)

By BY NEALE MCDEVITT, The McGill Reporter

For Montreal hockey fans, these are heady times. While the Montreal Canadiens are vying for top spot in the NHL's Eastern Conference, they're not the only game in town. This weekend, both McGill hockey squads are on their own championship quests.

The Martlets will vie for their first Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) title at the national championship tournament in Winnipeg from March 6-10. Like their mythological namesake, the nation's top-ranked university women's team is flying high heading into the tourney, having just won their third consecutive Dr. Ed Enos trophy as Quebec champions and finishing the regular season a perfect 18-0.

Despite that lofty record, the Martlets have their skates firmly on the ice, knowing all too well the pressure that comes with being the nation's No. 1 team. Last year, the squad was the top-seeded team going into the CIS championships only to be shocked 4-0 by the University of Alberta Pandas in the finals.

The loss, devastating as it was, has made this year's team that much stronger. "It was a hard lesson to learn," said coach Peter Smith, "but our players took something away with them. Now we know what to expect going into the national championships. We're ready."

On the men's side of the rink, the Redmen are gearing up for a one-game tilt with the Brock Badgers for the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Queen's Cup Men's Hockey Championship on March 8 in St. Catharine's, Ont.

The Redmen are fresh off of their upset victory over archrival Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) in the OUA Eastern conference finals this past weekend.

The 10th-ranked McGill squad swept the nation's fifth-ranked team in the best-of-three series, a feat that surprised many observers – but not Redmen coach Martin Raymond.

"If there is one quality that stands out on this team, it's the ability to rise to the occasion in big games," he said. "We beat [UQTR] 2-1 on their rink in January, so we knew we could compete with them."

The Redmen's grace under pressure will be tested from here on, as the rest of the season will be marked by pressure-cooker intensity. Win or lose the Queen's Cup, the squad will begin preparations for the six-team CIS University Cup Championship to be held at the University of Moncton March 20-23.