(REDMEN CELEBRATE WINNING OUA EAST CHAMPIONSHIP FOR FOURTH TIME IN SIX YEARS. PHOTO COURTESY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ)

 

MONTREAL -- Six different Redmen scored as No.2-ranked McGill turned the table on the UQTR Patriotes, winning 6-1 in men's hockey before a near-capacity crowd at McConnell Arena, Sunday.

The victory gave McGill the OUA Eastern Conference title and an automatic berth at the CIS national championship tournament, for the fifth time in six years. Before that, however, the Redmen have a little business to take care of. They will head to London, Ont., to take on the Western Ontario Mustangs next Saturday in the 100th edition of the Queen's Cup league championship.

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McGill, which had lost by an identical 6-1 score in Game 2 of the series on Friday, had opened the best-of-three affair with a 5-3 win at home last Wednesday. The Redmen completed their home schedule with an unprecedented and unblemished 21-0 record overall.

"The guys played hard and it was a big win, a good response for us to bounce back like that after losing Game 2 the way we did," said Evan Vossen, the Redmen team captain from Swift Current, Sask., who opened the scoring at 7:17 of the first period. "We have so much confidence in everybody in our locker room. It was a big team effort... blocked shots, playing smart, chipping pucks deep. Our special teams were unreal and that's really what contributed to our success tonight."

McGill had a 47-25 edge in shots, including a 14-5 margin in the opening period. They led 1-0 after the first and exploded for three more to lead 4-1 after two, sparked by sniper Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteuiatsh, Que., who struck at the 59-second mark of the middle period to make the score 2-0 with what proved to be the game-winner.

After Felix Petit of Jonquiere, Que., narrowed the gap to 2-1 with his eighth of the playoffs, defenceman Marc-Andre Dorion of St. Hubert, Que., connected on a power-play two minutes later  to regain a two-goal cushion for the Redmen.

Veteran Guillaume Doucet of Anjou, Que., netted his fourth of the post-season at 18:26 to make it 4-1. Rounding out the scoring in the final stanza was Christophe Longpre-Poirier and Simon Marcotte-Legare, both native of Longueuil, Que., who clicked on the power-play, which went 3-for-8 in the game.

"Our three graduating seniors all came up with huge efforts in their final home game," said Andrew Wright, a junior from Toronto who chalked up three assists and leads the OUA playoff scoring race with a 5-11-16 record in seven games. "Guillaume and Simon were spark-plugs for us offensively and Stephen Valente had a great game on defence. They were a dominant force out there for us and a key part of this victory."

It marked McGill's fifth straight playoff series win over the Patriotes, a team that had won the first 11 series matchups over the previous four decades.

"It was the result of 20 guys playing real hard, a complete 60-minute effort," said Redmen head coach Kelly Nobes, who has guided the team to a single-season school record for wins, posting a 35-4-3 dossier,  one more victory than last year, with as many as four games remaining en route to bring home McGill's first-ever national championship.

"We had six different scorers again tonight and that depth has really been important for us," said Nobes who was wearing his new McGill belt buckle and is now 6-0 in the playoffs when wearing the hand-carved lucky charm. "Specialty teams were a factor; we moved our feet, got to the net and tried to create a lot of offensive opportunities by getting pucks on their goalie, low, and with some traffic in the crease.

"We were very thorough defensively and Hubert Morin had a solid game in net. It was great to see him rebound after a tough outing the other night. He's elevated his game and I could see a relaxed look in his face when he came to the rink earlier in the day for a light run."

The Redmen, who posted a 5-2 record against the Pats this season,  will depart on Friday for London, Ont., where they will meet Western on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the league championship game. McGill, which defeated Western 6-3 in the Mustangs pre-season tourney, is the defending Queen's Cup champion and will be gunning for their 16th Cup title. Both OUA finalists will then advance to the CIS championship, a six-team tourney in Fredericton, N.B., March 22-27.

REDMEN RAP: Former McGill head coach Martin Raymond, now an assistant coach with the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning,  called from Tampa after the game to find out how the Redmen fared... Montreal Canadiens forward Mathieu Darche was among the faces in the crowd to see his alma mater play for the second straight home game. He brought along Habs teammate David Desharnais, who was a former junior teammate of Verreault-Paul... Other ex-Redmen on hand included David Gourde, Dave Grenier, Mathieu Poitras, Yan Turcotte, Ron Perowne, Guillaume Demers, Chris Churchill-Smith, Charles Gauthier, Dan Gubiani, Herb Madill and Charlie Lafontaine.

OUA EASTERN CONFERENCE BEST-OF-THREE FINAL SERIES (Game 3)

SCORING SUMMARY

UQTR 1 at McGill 6
(Sunday, March 6, 2011 - McConnell Arena)

1st Period-

1, McGill, Evan Vossen 2 (Simon Marcotte-Legare), 7:17.

 

Penalties-

Robichaud Uqtr (cross checking), 9:35;

Langelier-Parent Mcg (cross checking), 12:39.

 

2nd Period-

2, McGill, Francis Verreault-Paul 6 (Alex Picard-Hooper, Andrew Wright), 0:59.

3, UQTR, Felix Petit 8 (Pierre-Luc Lessard, Jeff Desjardins), 3:21.

4, McGill, Marc-Andre Dorion 1 (Alex Picard-Hooper, Andrew Wright), 5:19 (PP).

5, McGill, Guillaume Doucet 4 (Andrew Wright, Alex Picard-Hooper), 18:26.

 

Penalties-

Desilets Uqtr (high sticking), 4:24;

Bourgeois Mcg (holding), 13:29;

Daneau Mcg (hooking), 15:09.

 

3rd Period-

6, McGill, Christophe Longpre-Poirier 2 (Evan Vossen), 10:48 (PP).

7, McGill, Simon Marcotte-Legare 5 (Ben Morse, Guillaume Doucet), 17:00 (PP).

 

Penalties-

McKiernan Mcg (hooking), 1:53;

Demers Uqtr (high sticking dble minor), 5:52;

Lessard Uqtr (tripping), 10:20;

Joncas Uqtr (slashing), 10:59;

Levesque Mcg (charging), 13:24;

Charland Uqtr (tripping), 15:35;

Chicoine Uqtr (major-slashing; Game Misconduct), 19:57.

 

GOALS BY PERIOD:

UQTR 0-1-0 - 1

McGill 1-3-2 - 6

 

Shots on Goal-

UQTR 5-12-8 -- 25.

McGill 14-17-16 -- 47.

 

Power Play Opportunities-

UQTR 0 / 5;

McGill 3 / 8.

 

Penalties (No/Mins)-

UQTR:  9 / 29;

McGill:  5 / 10.

 

Goalies-

UQTR, Jean-Christophe Blanchard (L, 5-4, 47 shots-41 saves; 60:00).

McGill, Hubert Morin (W, 6-1, 25 shots-24 saves; 60:00).

 

Attendance: 662

Start: 7:05 PM

End: 9:15 PM

Length: 2:10

Referee-Mathieu Bergeron.

 

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS

1. MCG - 25 Simon Marcotte-Legare
2. MCG - 22 Guillaume Doucet
3. MCG - 3 Stephen Valente

 

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

McGill Athletics & Recreation

514-398-7012