Final Results
Mar 14, 09 - 19:30

Redmen 1 - Western (Queen's Cup Championship Game) 2
OUA Queen's Cup Championship Game -- Non-conference Game

Game Report by Earl Zukerman

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Mustangs edge Redmen in Queen’s Cup final
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LONDON, Ont. – Freshman Keaton Turkiewicz netted the game-winner and added a helper as the University of Western Ontario dethroned McGill 2-1 to capture the Queen’s Cup as OUA men’s hockey champions at Thompson Arena in London, Saturday.

The victory was just Western’s third OUA title and their first Queen’s Cup triumph since 2004-05. “It was very exciting, and a great effort by our guys,” said UWO head coach Clarke Singer.

Sophomore Ryan Martinelli had opened the scoring for the Mustangs on a first-period power play 52 seconds after McGill was nailed for a too-many-men penalty. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound rearguard wired a high shot through traffic past the blocker of Redmen netminder Kevin Desfossés.

McGill had a 31-27 edge in shots but went 0-for-5 on the power play as Game MVP Brad Topping made 30 saves, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior from Strathroy, Ont, came up with numerous timely saves, especially in the final period when the Redmen registered 30 attempted shots (12 on net) compared to only 13 by Western (eight on net).

“We did a great job of keeping them to the outside,” said Topping. “It made my job easier. Guys were out there blocking shots, taking hits, taking punches. Anyone could have won MVP.”

With less than 30 seconds left in the first period, Topping made several big saves to preserve the lead. He robbed Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., on the doorstep. The freshman centre, who was held pointless for the first time in post-season play, ended up winning the OUA playoff scoring title with five goals and 11 points in eight contests.

After stoning Picard-Hooper, Topping then turned aside Serbian native Marko Kovacevic’s shot from the slot.

“Brad stood tall,” said Singer. “He earned the MVP.”

Turkiewicz put the Mustangs ahead 2-0 just before the midway point of the second period. He jumped on a loose puck in the McGill zone, wheeled around, and snapped a quick shot through Desfossés’s legs.

But three minutes later, the Redmen cut into the lead. Junior Ben Gazdic, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound blueliner from Toronto, drifted into the slot, and beat Topping with a hard shot to the glove side.

Desfossés, whose post-season record dropped to 6-2, made 25 saves for the Redmen, including two in the opening stanza on Mustangs’ defenceman Jason Swit of Mississauga, who found himself on back-to-back breakaways within seconds of each other.

With seven minutes remaining in the game and Western clinging to a precarious 2-1 lead, McGill co-captain Eric L’Italien, from St. Foy, Que., streaked down the right side, and cut in on goal, but couldn’t beat Topping. Western’s netminder then stopped two separate tips by freshman Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteviatsh, Que.

“I’m disappointed with the result,” said McGill head coach Martin Raymond. “We didn’t play our best game and struggled on the power play. Western was a tough team and they played well and it might be easier to accept if we had played our game and lost to a better team. But we had puck control problems that resulted in way too many turnovers.”

Both the Mustangs and Redmen have already qualified for the CIS championship in Thunder Bay, Ont., March 26-29.

“It will be a sad, long bus ride home but at least we get a second chance,” added Raymond. “It’s not often you get a second chance like this, so we have to learn from this experience and move on.”

REDMEN RAP: The Redmen had to make do without the services of forward Sam Bloom, the senior from Toronto who was their top sniper with 14 goals during the regular season. Bloom, a key man on the power play, was serving a league-imposed one-game suspension for a high-sticking major called the previous week in the UQTR series. He ended up leading the OUA post-season in penalty minutes with 42 in just five games, matching his regular season total of 42 PIMs in 26 contests… Dan Durack, the events coordinator and public address announcer at UWO’s Thompson Arena went beyond the call of duty. Originally from Pierrefonds, Que., he announced all goal and penalty announcements bilingually… Gazing into the crystal ball, McGill is likely to be grouped at the Nationals in Pool A with the Atlantic conference champion (UNB or St. Mary’s) and Lakehead, the host team. An alternate but less likely option would have the Redmen grouped in Pool B with Western and the Canada West champion. However, the official tourney draw will not be known before the evening of March 22.

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 1 at Western 2

(Mar 14, 2009 - Queen’s Cup Final @ Thompson Arena)

FIRST PERIOD:
1, Western, Ryan Martinelli 2 (Turkiewicz, Baker), 15:24 (pp).

Penalties-
Picard-Hooper MCG (tripping), 4:44;
Peralta UWO (slashing), 5:37;
Morin MCG (slashing), 6:34;
BENCH MCG (too many men, served by Doucet), 14:32.

SECOND PERIOD:
2, Western, Keaton Turkiewicz 2 (Snow), 9:25.
3, McGill, Ben Gazdic 2 (Verreault-Paul, Lambert), 12:29.

Penalties-
Turcotte MCG (hooking), 1:58;
Courtney UWO (cross checking), 13:53;
Lamb UWO (holding), 18:14;
Kovacevic MCG (slashing), 18:34;
Farmanara UWO (roughing), 18:34.

THIRD PERIOD:
(No Scoring).

Penalties-
Farmanara UWO (boarding), 5:30;
Martinelli UWO (cross checking), 9:50.

SHOTS BY PERIOD:
McGill 10 - 9 - 12 -- 31.
Western 11 - 8 - 8 -- 27.

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 0 - 1 - 0 -- 1
Western 1 - 1 -0 -- 2

POWER PLAY OPPORTUNITIES:
McGill 0 of 5;
Western 1 of 4.

PENALTIES (No/Mins):
McGill 5/10;
Western 6/12.

GOALTENDERS:

McGill,
Kevin Desfossés [L, 6-2, 27 shots, 25 saves, 58:57]
Empty-net (1:03, 0 goals).

Western,
Brad Topping [W, 7-1, 31 shots, 30 saves, 60:00].

A-689

Referee: Sean Reid.

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
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1. Brad Topping, Western
2. Kevin Desfossés, McGill
3. Keaton Turkiewicz, Western

McGILL LINEUP:
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FORWARD:
Lambert, Verreault-Paul, L’Italien
Kovacevic, Picard-Hooper, Doucet
Wright, Marcotte, Daneau
Vossen, Langelier-Parent, Verrilli

DEFENCE:
Morin, Stilling
Turcotte, Dorion
Valente, Gazdic

GOAL:
Desfossés

McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
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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: Sam Bloom (serving one-game suspension)
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