Hall of Fame
The 2011-12 season was a magical one for the McGill men's hockey program, which rebounded wonderfully from the previous year's heart-breaking loss to UNB in the gold medal final at the CIS Final Eight tournament. That setback set the bar for what followed en route to McGill's first-ever national title in men's hockey.
Guided by head coach Kelly Nobes, a hungry McGill squad posted a 31-11-1 record overall, including a 22-4-2 first-place finish in the 10-team OUA East division, outscoring opponents by a lofty 104-62 margin in regular season play. In the post-season, the team registered an impressive 9-2 mark.
The campaign featured an 11-game win streak and McGill was ranked in all 18 of the Top 10 polls, including two weeks at No.1. Led by goaltender Hubert Morin, McGill tied Alberta for the nation's best defensive record in league play with a stingy 2.20 goals-against average.
The road to Nationals began with an OUA East best-of-three quarter-final series against eighth-seeded Queen's, which McGill swept after a 3-2 victory on home ice and a convincing 5-1 conquest in Kingston. Nicolas Biniek was credited with the series-winning goal in a hotly-contested game that featured 72 penalty minutes.
Biniek, a sophomore centre, also tallied the series winner in the divisional semifinal against sixth-seeded Ottawa, which produced another sweep with a pair of identical 5-3 victories.
The OUA East final series against second-seeded UQTR produced a third consecutive sweep, with a 5-3 decision in the opener at McConnell Arena and a 5-4 double overtime victory in Trois-Rivieres. Senior Andrew Wright netted the winning marker at 4:08 of the second extra 10-minute period.
In the OUA championship game, played in London, Ont., No.2 ranked McGill skated to a 4-1 triumph over No.3 Western, the OUA West champion. Junior Benoît Levesque was credited with the series-clinching goal as McGill captured their third consecutive Queen's Cup title in as many years and the fourth in five seasons after snapping a 62-year drought since their 1946 Cup title.
The CIS Final Eight tourney, held in Fredericton, was the site for the 50th edition of the University Cup. McGill opened with a 6-3 win over seventh-seeded Moncton, led by senior Francis Verreault-Paul, who tallied twice, including the winner. McGill then suffered a 4-3 setback to third-seeded Saskatchewan but all three teams in the pool finished at 1-1 and McGill advanced to the gold medal game with the best goal-differential tie-breaker.
In a rematch against No.4 seeded Western, which had stunned top-seeded UNB in the semifinals, McGill skated to a 4-3 overtime victory when team captain Evan Vossen connected for the Cup-clinching goal at the six-minute mark of the extra session. Three McGillians made the all-tournament team, including tourney MVP Francis Verreault-Paul and Alexandre Picard-Hooper up front and defenceman Marc-André Dorion.
Dorion made the OUA East first all-star team, earned All-Canadian status, was named as the OUA East most valuable player, and took home the OUA and CIS defenceman of the year honours. He led McGill in regular season scoring and topped all rearguards in the nation with a 7-32-39 record in 28 games.
Verreault-Paul, who led the OUA with 21 goals in 23 league games, earned OUA second-team all-star honours along with goaltender Hubert Morin, who posted a league-leading 2.04 goals-against average, to go along with a .921 save percentage, a 13-4 record and four shutouts.
The championship team roster featured, in alphabetical order: Patrick Belzile, Nicolas Biniek, Neil Blunden, Jean-François Boisvert, Vincent Bourgeois, Daniel Conacher, Marc-André Daneau, Marc-André Dorion (alt. capt.), Justin Ducharme, Keven Dupont, Hubert Genest, Guillaume Langelier-Parent, Maxime Langelier-Parent (alt. capt.), Hugo Laporte, Benoît Levesque, Christophe Longpré-Poirier, Ryan McKiernan, Hubert Morin, Benjamin Morse, Alexandre Picard-Hooper, Mark Segal, Nicolas Therrien, Marc-Olivier Vachon, Francis Verreault-Paul, Evan Vossen (captain) and Andrew Wright.
Joining bench boss Kelly Nobes on the coaching staff was Daniel Jacob, Stephane Fortin, Chris Laperle and Jean St-Pierre. Rounding out the support staff was Earl Hawke (equipment manager), Alex Lunan (equipment asst.), Patrick Magee (strength & conditioning), Dr. Kathryn Sun (team physician), Dr. Anne-Marie Leblanc (physician), Dr. Thuraya Al-Shidhani (medical fellow), Pierre-Luc Gosselin (staff therapist), Laetitia Mongeau (therapist), Angela Stamiris (therapist), Catherine Riendeau (therapist) and Caroline Drouin-Tourville (therapist). Key supporters included Charlie Hayward (honourary captain) and Mike Nelson (president, Friends of McGill Hockey).
