Final Results
Feb 06, 09 - 19:30
Redmen 4 - UQTR 3
Game Report by Earl Zukerman
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Kevin puts Redmen in seventh heaven with upset over No.3-Pats
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TROIS-RIVIERES – Freshman netminder Kevin Désfossés of Beauport,
Que., made 48 saves and rookie Andrew Wright of Toronto netted the game-winner
as McGill upset No.3-ranked UQTR 4-3 in men’s university hockey before
463 fans at Le Colisée in Trois-Rivières, Friday.
It marked McGill’s sixth consecutive victory – their second in a
row over the division-leading Patriotes – and was the third straight setback
for UQTR.
The unranked Redmen have posted a stellar 16-3-1 record in their last 20 outings
since an 0-4-1 start to their 133rd campaign. They ended up splitting their
four-game season series with UQTR, which leads the OUA Far East with a 20-4-1
record.
“We didn’t play as well defensively as I had hoped but Désfossés
kept us in the game with a solid outing and we had some opportunistic goals,”
said Martin Raymond, in his 14th season as head coach of the Redmen, who were
outshot 51-23. “Overall, our (normally strong) defensive play was average
at best, but most of their shots came from the perimeter. A road win, especially
in this building, is big and we’re pretty happy about that.”
Desfossés has posted a 5-1-0 record with a 2.27 goals-against average
and a .913 save percentage since joining the Redmen in early January. The 21-year-old
management freshman led the Quebec Remparts to the Memorial Cup in 2006 and
was an all-star in the QMJHL last season.
McGill, which never trailed in the game, led 2-1 after one period and 4-2 after
two.
Guillaume Doucet, a sophomore from Montreal, opened the scoring with his 10th
of the season at 8:12 of the first frame, with an unofficial assist from rookie
Ben Morse, who was sitting in the stands.
Doucet, a 5-foot-9, 179-pound centre, had somehow forgotten to pack his size-6
skates for the road game. He borrowed a larger pair from Morse, a defenceman
who brought his 7 and ½ sized skates but wasn’t scheduled to play.
Despite managing to score a first-period goal wearing second-hand skates, Doucet
jumped at the first opportunity to change back into his own footgear during
the first intermission. His skates had arrived during the first period after
a frantic pre-game phone call from Coach Raymond to head athletic physiotherapist
Pierre-Luc Gosselin, who left work early from the McGill Sports Medicine Clinic
in order to transport the forgotten footwear to Trois-Rivières, located
about 90-minutes east of Montreal.
Right-winger Sam Bloom, a senior from Toronto, connected on the power play
to give McGill a 2-0 lead at 17:42 of the opening stanza but Etienne Bellavance-Martin
replied for the Pats just 69 seconds later.
Rookie Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., restored McGill’s
two-goal cushion with his 10th of the season after converting a pass from Bloom
at 8:55 of the middle period. However, UQTR responded again on a marker from
Nicolas Caouette at 11:24.
Freshman Andrew Wright of Toronto tallied the eventual game-winner late in
the middle stanza with his first career goal in CIS play.
Holding a 4-2 lead into the final period, McGill went into a defensive shell
and the Pats poured it on with an 18-5 margin in shots but Désfossés
was equal to the task, allowing only a late power play goal on a rebound. It
ended a string of 24 consecutive power plays without a goal for the Pats, who
entered the game with the top power play (27.6%) in the 18-team league.
The contest was a relatively quiet affair until after the final whistle, when
a melee occurred around the Redmen net, prompting referee Gavin White to issue
nine penalties for 48 minutes, including fighting majors to McGill rearguard
Yan Turcotte and UQTR defenceman Andre Joanisse. Although neither player appeared
to throw more than one punch, they will both receive automatic one-game suspensions.
When cooler heads prevailed, the two teams skated toward each other for the
standard post-game handshakes but the referee instructed the players to go their
separate ways.
McGill, which improved their second-place record to 16-7-2, will play at Concordia
on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m.) in the 22nd annual Ronald Corey Cup game. The Redmen
are 10-6-3 lifetime in Corey Cup play, including a 5-0-1 record in the last
six matchups. Concordia, which shocked UQTR 4-1 on Wednesday and lost 4-1 to
Carleton on Friday, hasn’t beaten McGill in Cup play since a 3-1 win on
Feb. 11, 2002. A victory by McGill will clinch second-place in the division
and give the Redmen home-ice advantage for the OUA best-of-three quarterfinals,
tentatively slated to begin on Feb. 17.
REDMEN RAP: Turcotte, who ended up with 17 penalty minutes in the game, became
the all-time penalty king in McGill history. With still a year of school remaining
before he graduates, the rugged rearguard now has racked up 546 career PIMs,
breaking the school record of 530 set by blueliner Dan Jacob in 2005… Among
the 463 fans in attendance at le Colisée was Heather Munroe-Blum, principal
and vice-chancellor of McGill University. Dressed in a McGill jersey, she performed
the ceremonial faceoff with UQTR rector Ghislain Bourque, who was outfitted
in Patriotes colours. After the faceoff, the two “heads of state”
exchanged and donned the opposing team’s jerseys.
SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 4 at UQTR 3
(Feb 6, 2009 @ Le Colisee)
FIRST PERIOD:
Scoring -
1. McGill, Guillaume Doucet (10) (V. Lambert, F. Verrault-Paul) 8:12
2. McGill, Sam Bloom (14) (F. Verrault-Paul, A. Picard-Hooper) 17:42 (PP)
3. UQTR, Etienne Bellavance-Martin (12) (A. Demers, J. Boutin) 18:51
Penalties -
M.A. Dorion McG (tripping) 1:25,
C. Bergeron UQTR (hooking) 9:20,
S. Bloom McG (tripping) 13:30,
TEAM UQTR (too many men) 15:39,
M. Simoneau UQTR (cross checking) 16:38
SECOND PERIOD:
Scoring -
4. McGill, Alexandre Picard-Hooper (10) (S. Bloom) 8:55
5. UQTR, Nicolas Caouette (8) (S. Beland, T. Lafontaine) 11:24
6. McGill, Andrew Wright (1) (M.A. Daneau, M. Langelier-Parent) 17:48
Penalties -
F. Verrault-Paul McG (inter. on goaltender) 1:56,
E. Vossen McG (holding) 12:00,
G. Doucet McG (slashing) 18:54
THIRD PERIOD:
Scoring -
7. UQTR, Jonathan Boutin (19) (A. Demers, T. Lafontaine) 17:44 (PP)
Penalties -
A. Demers UQTR (tripping) 3:12,
M. Kovacevic McG (hooking) 9:36,
M. Langelier-Parent McG (hooking) 10:34,
Y. Turcotte McG (roughing) 13:00,
S. Bellefleur UQTR (roughing) 13:00,
F. Verrault-Paul McG (inter. on goaltender) 17:27,
T. Lafontaine UQTR (high sticking) 17:57,
M.A. Dorion McG (roughing) 18:34,
S. Beland UQTR (roughing) 18:34,
K. Morin McG (roughing) 20:00,
Y. Turcotte McG (fighting, GM30) 20:00,
F. Verrault-Paul McG (roughing) 20:00,
A. Demers UQTR (roughing, 10-minute misconduct) 20:00,
N. Desilets UQTR (roughing) 20:00,
A. Joanisse UQTR (fighting, GM30) 20:00
SHOTS BY PERIOD:
MCG: 8 10 5 -- 23
UQTR: 16 17 18 -- 51
GOALS BY PERIOD:
MCG: 2 2 0 -- 4
UQTR: 1 1 1 -- 3
POWER PLAY CONVERSION:
McGill 1-5.
UQTR 1-8.
PENALTIES (No./Mins.):
McGill 14-39.
UQTR 12-43.
GOALTENDERS:
McGill
Kevin Desfosses [W, 5-1-0, 60:00, SV: 48, GA: 3]
UQTR
Jean-Christophe Blanchard [L, 12-5-0, 59:12, SV: 19, GA: 4]
Empty-net: [0:48, 0GA]
Start : 7:39 PM
End : 9:55 PM
Attendance : 463
Referee : Gavin White
McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES
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01 Morin, Hubert (G)
04 Brennan, Spencer (D)
08 Morse, Ben (D)
12 Arsenault, Benoit (F; eye)
15 L Italien, Eric (F; knee)
21 Tindle, Glenn (D)
24 Drager, Timothy (F)
29 Mireault, Danny (G; dressed but DNP)
30 Jarvis, Jake (G)
McGILL LINES
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FORWARDS:
Doucet -- Verreault-Paul -- Lambert
Kovacevic -- Picard-Hooper -- Bloom
Vossen -- Simon-Marcotte -- Verrilli
Daneau -- Langelier-Parent -- Wright
DEFENCEMEN:
K. Morin -- Stilling
Turcotte -- Dorion
Valente -- Gazdic
GOALTENDERS:
Desfosses
Mireault
MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
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1. Kevin Desfosses, McGill
2. Sam Bloom, McGill
3. Jonathan Boutin, UQTR
