Final Results
Mar 06, 09 - 19:00
Redmen 2 - UQTR (Eastern Conference finals, Game 2) 1
OUA East Best-of-three Finals -- Non-conference Game
Game Report by Earl Zukerman
===================================
Game, Doucet and Match, Redmen knock off Pats
===================================
MONTREAL – Guillaume Doucet of Anjou, Que., scored the game-winner as McGill
rallied with a pair of third-period goals to defeat fifth-ranked Trois-Rivières
2-1 before a standing-room only crowd of 1,079 at McConnell Arena, Friday.
McGill swept the OUA East Conference best-of-three final series and have qualified
for the CIS national championship tourney for the third time in four years –
each time, the Redmen defeated UQTR to win the conference title.
McGill, which has now won four straight games from their bitter provincial
rivals, has only captured three of 14 lifetime playoff series against the perennial
division champions.
After a scoreless first period, Francis Charland broke the ice with a power
play at 12:43 of the middle stanza to give UQTR a 1-0 lead. Rookie Marc-Andre
Dorion, a rearguard from St. Hubert, Que., evened the score on a power play
at 3:24 of the final period.
“This group is a special one,” said McGill co-captain Ken Morin,
a senior from St. Prosper, Que. “It was a learning process for us this
year. We lost nine veterans to graduation last year and had a lot of new faces,
so we struggled at the start of the year and lost our first five games.
“But that fifth loss, in overtime at UQTR, was a turning point. We outworked
them and outplayed them and it was a morale victory. After that we just kept
working hard every game and never gave up. The young guys came in and stepped
up big time. The second and third-year guys took a leadership role, which made
things easier for the seniors and the coaching staff has worked wonders. We’re
having fun and when you do that, you play well and good things happen.”
The Redmen ran into penalty trouble late in the first period and at one point,
played shorthanded for over seven minutes, including a high-sticking major to
senior Sam Bloom, the hard-luck sniper from Toronto who was trying to avoid
being beheaded on the play by a heat-seeking missile disguised as a Pats forward.
Referee Pascal St-Jacques initially called for a double minor to Bloom as the
Pats player was cut but one of his linesman skated over to discuss the incident
and the penalty was changed to a major -- Bloom’s second such stick infraction
this season -- which means it will be reviewed and his third league-imposed
suspension is imminent.
The Redmen penalty-killing unit, which struggled through most of the first
semester, held the vaunted Pats league-leading power play to just one goal in
six chances in the game and 1-for-10 during the two-game series.
“I didn’t recognize my team out there for the first two periods,”
said long-time McGill head coach Martin Raymond, who had a number of stern discussions
with the referee. “I told them in the second intermission that we we’re
only down one goal and if we lost, we still had another game to go in the series
– so let’s show up in the final period and we did just that.
“Desfossés came up with another strong effort in net, Doucet did
a great job filling in for Bloom and scored yet another key goal. Also, I can’t
speak enough about Ken Morin and Eric L’Italien, our co-captains who provided
some great leadership tonight.”
UQTR outshot McGill 30-27 but was held at bay by Redmen netminder Kevin Desfossés,
a freshman from Beauport, Que., who stoned the Pats on a couple of breakaways
and made a few acrobatic game-saving saves in the final period. Trois-Rivières
back-up netminder Michael Dupont started for the sixth straight game and took
the loss.
It was university hockey at its finest that had the crowd on the seat of their
pants until the dying seconds.
“I would love to have the chance to have 28 games like this one during
the regular season,” said a disappointed Jacques Laporte, in his 10th season
as bench boss of the Patriotes. “None of our players should leave here
with their head down. The Redmen are a very good hockey team. I’m convinced
that our league will be very well represented at the Canadian championships.”
McGill improved their record to 26-13-2 overall, including a 6-1 mark in post-season
play. Before heading to the Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ont., the Redmen will
attempt to capture their second successive Queen’s Cup league championship,
a one-game, sudden-death affair on March 14 against the winner of the OUA Western
Conference final between Western and Laurier. Western leads that series 1-0
and Game 2 is set for Saturday. Both OUA finalists will advance to the dance.
REDMEN RAP: After the game, Paul Grech, a former teammate of Martin Raymond
who toiled for the Redmen from 1987 to 1991, called the coach to offer his congratulations…
Grech is now a helicopter pilot in the Northwest Territories… Among the
many former Redmen spotted in the crowd to witness the epic battle was Mathieu
Poitras and Jean-Michel Filiatrault, both goaltenders from last year’s
championship squad. Others on hand included Louis-Simon Allaire (’08),
Teddy Kyres (’07), Mathieu Leclerc (’08), Dave Gourde (’00),
David Grenier (’00), Jay McMullan (’84), Herb Madill (‘72), Mike
Richards (’63), Charlie Hayward (’49), Charlie Lafontaine (’49)
and Stephane Marcoux (’89), a native of Boucherville, Que., who has been
living in Columbia for the past decade… Marcoux, who operates his own sporting
equipment store in the South American country, will coach the Columbian national
roller-skating team at the world championships in Italy, July 2-10.
SCORING SUMMARY
UQTR 1 at McGill 2
OUA East Conference Semifinal, Game 2
(Mar 6, 2009 at McConnell Arena)
FIRST PERIOD:
(No Scoring).
Penalties-
Joanisse Uqtr (boarding), 4:39;
Kovacevic Mcg (hooking), 13:25;
Gazdic Mcg (tripping), 14:56;
Bloom Mcg (major-high sticking, GM-53), 17:35;
Demers Uqtr (interference), 18:29;
Lambert Mcg (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 18:29.
SECOND PERIOD:
1, UQTR, Francis Charland 4 (Joanisse, Breton), 12:43 (pp).
Penalties-
Joanisse Uqtr (tripping), 1:23;
Bellefleur Uqtr (checking from behind, game misconduct), 2:10;
Blais Uqtr (slashing), 9:41;
Langelier-Parent Mcg (boarding), 12:19.
THIRD PERIOD:
2, McGill, Marc-Andre Dorion 3 (Picard-Hooper, Gazdic), 3:24 (pp).
3, McGill, Guillaume Doucet 3 (Kovacevic, Turcotte), 10:39.
Penalties-
Boutin Uqtr (tripping), 1:22;
Chicoine Uqtr (slashing), 2:41;
Valente Mcg (hooking), 3:45;
Daneau Mcg (tripping), 12:41;
Gravel Uqtr (interference), 14:30.
SHOTS BY PERIOD:
UQTR 10 - 8 - 12 -- 30.
McGill 12 - 7 - 8 -- 27.
GOALS BY PERIOD:
UQTR 0 - 1 - 0 -- 1
McGill 0 - 0 - 2 -- 2
POWER PLAY OPPORTUNITIES:
UQTR 1 of 6;
McGill 1 of 7.
PENALTIES (No./Mins.):
UQTR 9/26;
McGill 8/27.
Goalies-
UQTR:
Michael Dupont [L, 2-2, 27 shots-25 saves, 59:03];
Empty-net-- (0 goals, 0:57)
McGill:
Kevin Desfossés [W, 6-1, 30 shots-29 saves; 60:00].
Attendance-1,079
Referee-Pascal St-Jacques.
MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 31 Kevin Desfossés
2. MCG - 22 Guillaume Doucet
3. MCG - 6 Marc-Andre Dorion
McGILL LINEUP:
----------------------
FORWARD:
Lambert, Verreault-Paul, L’Italien
Kovacevic, Picard-Hooper, Bloom
Doucet, Marcotte, Daneau
Vossen, Langelier-Parent, Verrilli
DEFENCE:
Morin, Stilling
Turcotte, Dorion
Valente , Gazdic
GOAL:
Desfossés
McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
------------------------------------------
G: Danny Mireault (dressed but DNP)
G: Hubert Morin
G: Jake Jarvis
D: Spencer Brennan (injd)
D: Ben Morse
D: Glenn Tindle
F: Benoit Arsenault (injd)
F: Andrew Wright
F: Tim Drager
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications & Publications Officer
Dept. of Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
475 Pine Avenue West
Montreal, QC H2W 1S4
CANADA
514-398-7012 (tel.)
514-398-1956 (fax)
www.athletics.mcgill.ca
