(PHOTO BY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ)
MONTREAL - Alex Picard-Hooper scored five
points and linemate Guillaume Doucet tallied four
goals as No.2-ranked McGill skunked the Ottawa Gee-Gees 7-0 in OUA
men's university hockey at McConnell Arena, Friday.
The result established a single-season win record for the
Redmen, who lead the OUA East Conference with a 23-2-2.
"It was a solid 60-minute effort from our guys," said head coach
Kelly Nobes, in his first year at McGill, who has
guided a team to a school record for wins for the third time in his
coaching career. He also accomplished that feat with RMC (8 in
2001-02) and Laurier (22 in 2006-07).
"I really liked the way we moved our feet tonight," added Nobes.
"We took pucks to the net well and got some traffic in front of
their goalie. We were also very solid defensively and didn't give
up many scoring chances. It was a good win."
Picard-Hooper, a third-year centre from Boucherville, Que.,
scored once and set up all four of Doucet's goals, upping his
CIS-leading point-total to 11-45-56 in 27 games. With one game
remaining before playoffs, his assist total is the second-best in
McGill history and seven shy of the club record held since 1982-83
by George Burnett (who currently serves as coach
and GM of the OHL's Belleville Bulls).
Doucet, a senior forward from Anjou, Que., chalked up a natural
hat=trick, all in the second period, to give McGill a 4-0 lead,
then added another marker mid-way through the final stanza to put
the Redmen ahead 6-0. He became the first McGill player to score
four times in a game since Francis Verreault-Paul
accomplished the feat in a 7-1 win over Queen's on Oct. 23,
2010.
McGill, which led 1-0 after the opening period and 4-0 after the
second stanza, had a 37-18 edge in shots on net. It was the first
shutout of the season and fifth career goose-egg for Hubert
Morin, a third-year goaltender from St. Georges de Beauce,
Que., who upped his record to 15-2 on the season and 47-17-1 in 70
appearances overall.
Rounding out the scoring for McGill was Jean-Francois
Boisvert, a sophomore from Mirabel, Que., and rookie
rearguard Hubert Genest of Quebec City, who added
a pair of assists and was credited with the game-winner.
Ottawa starter Aaron Barton of Carlisle, Ont.,
who was beaten four times on 20 shots before being replaced,
dropped to 4-11. He gave way to Harrison May, a
freshman from Vancouver, B.C., who played the final 24 minutes and
45 seconds, and kicked aside 14 of 17 shots.
It was McGill's 10th straight win over the Gee-Gees as the
Redmen improved to 87-77-10 lifetime against Ottawa.
The eighth-place Gee-Gees, who dropped to 11-13-3, will play at
UQTR (18-8-1) on Saturday. Ottawa will need a victory if they want
to avoid returning to Montreal on Feb. 16 for a OUA best-of-three
quarterfinal series opener at McGill. The Redmen, who could also
play Concordia or Toronto in the first round, will close out the
regular season at Concordia on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the 24th annual
Ronald Corey Cup game for hockey supremacy in Montreal. The game is
scheduled to be webcast on the Streaming Sports Network (www.ssncanada.ca) and McGill has a
12-6-3 record in Corey Cup affairs. The Stingers are 7-13-3 and
UQTR is 1-1.
REDMEN RAP: Team captain Evan
Vossen was back in the lineup after a three-game absence,
along with all-Canadian defenceman Marc-Andre
Dorion and Maxime Langelier-Parent, each
of whom helped Canada win bronze at the FISU world university games
in Turkey last week... Montreal Canadiens left winger
Mathieu Darche, a former Redmen team captain,
performed the ceremonial faceoff before the game and a framed Habs
jersey autographed by Darche was unveiled in the McConnell Arena
Alumni Lounge after the game... Among the former Redmen on hand for
the festivities were Darche's old linemates David
Gourde and Dave Grenier, along with
Mathieu Boisvert, Martin Laquerre, Ken
Morin, Charlie Lafontaine and
Mike Farmer... Injured left-winger Francis Verreault-Paul, who continues to lead the nation with 28
goals in 19 games, was scratched for the sixth time in the past
eight contests with a leg ailment. He is expected back for the
playoff opener on Wednesday... Patrick Belzile
(hand) is expected back soon but is considered a doubtful starter
for the playoff opener.
SCORING SUMMARY
Ottawa 0 at McGill 7
(Friday, February 11, 2011 - McConnell Arena)
1st Period-
1, McGill, Hubert Genest 5 (Nicolas Biniek,
M.A. Dorion), 12:51.
Penalties-
Blunden Ott (interference), 6:09;
Ireland Ott (tripping), 8:24;
Forster Ott (high sticking), 19:23.
2nd Period-
2, McGill, Guillaume Doucet 11 (Alex
Picard-Hooper, Vincent Bourgeois), 6:15.
3, McGill, Guillaume Doucet 12 (Christophe
Longpre-Poirier, Alex Picard-Hooper), 14:33.
4, McGill, Guillaume Doucet 13 (Christophe
Longpre-Poirier, Alex Picard-Hooper), 15:15.
Penalties-
Langelier-Parent Mcg (holding), 10:49;
Barton Ott (roughing), 13:10;
White Ott (10-minute misconduct), 13:10;
Langelier-Parent Mcg (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 13:10.
3rd Period-
5, McGill, Alex Picard-Hooper 11 (Hubert Genest, Christophe Longpre-Poirier), 3:00.
6, McGill, Guillaume Doucet 14 (Jean-Francois
Boisvert, Alex Picard-Hooper), 9:57.
7, McGill, Jean-Francois Boisvert 4 (Hubert Genest, Ryan McKiernan), 15:51.
Penalties-
Blunden Ott (roughing), 6:42;
Longpre-Poirier Mcg (roughing double minor), 6:42;
Levesque Mcg (holding), 19:06.
GOALS BY PERIOD:
Ottawa 0-0-0 -- 0
McGill 1-3-3 -- 7
Shots on Goal-
Ottawa 5-8-5 -- 18.
McGill 12-11-14 -- 37.
Power Play Opportunities-
Ottawa 0 / 3;
McGill 0 / 3.
Penalties (No./Mins.)-
Ottawa 6 / 20;
McGill 5 / 10.
Goalies-
Ottawa,
Aaron Barton (start, L. 4-10-0, 20 shots-16
saves; 35:15)
Harrison May (ND, 17 shots-14 saves;
14:45).
McGill,
Hubert Morin (W, 14-2-0, 18 shots-18 saves;
60:00).
Attendance-412
Start: 7:06 PM
End: 9:22 PM
Length: 2:16
Referee-Jonathan Trudel.
MOLSON CUP THREE STARS
1. MCG - 22 Guillaume Doucet
2. MCG - 9 Alex Picard-Hooper
3. MCG - 26 Christophe Longpre-Poirier
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca
(mobile website)
www.mcgill.ca/athletics
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
