MONTREAL --
Simon Tardif-Richard of Gatineau, Que., tallied a hat trick and added an assist as seventh-ranked McGill doubled No.9 Windsor 6-3 to win the OUA men's hockey bronze medal at McConnell Arena on Friday. The result gave McGill a claim to the wild-card berth to the U SPORTS University Cup , in Fredericton, Mar. 15 to 19. It marks the team's eighth national championship appearance in the past 12 years.
It was a game that had more than just local interest.
Mike Babcock was about to start Friday's media session when the Leafs head coach realized he forgot something. He darted out of the scrum and into his office to grab a McGill University hat. Turns out, the McGill alumnus had a bet with assistant coach and Windsor native
D.J. Smith on the OUA bronze medal game between the Lancers and Redmen.
SEE VIDEO.
"I'm real proud of our guys here tonight," said head coach
Kelly Nobes, who improved to 204-92-3 in 299 games overall behind the McGill bench. "It's a big win for our team and our program. I really liked the way we stuck to our plan and didn't get distracted by the way the other team was trying to play us or the way the game was going. We can now turn our focus to the national championship."
McGill went a lethal 3-for-6 on the power play and killed three of four penalties taken.
Tardif-Richard, a 5-foot-11, 203-pound right winger, scored the second, third and sixth goals for the hosts, making the score 2-0, 3-1 and 6-3, respectively.
He was not the only Redmen player to record four points in the contest, as defenceman
Dominic Talbot-Tassi of Mascouche, Que., mirrored his effort with a goal and three assists.
"Here at McGill you play with amazing players and everything is so easy," said Talbot-Tassi, a civil engineering sophomore who snapped a seven-week, 11-game scoring drought, dating back to Jan. 21. "They make my job easier. Guys always jokingly tell me to shoot the puck (more) and tonight I listened to them and everything was going in for me. It's the monkey off my back to score a goal in the playoffs. It feels good."
That offensive explosion almost ended before it began for Talbot-Tassi, who has been the OUA's second-best scoring blueliner in each of his first two seasons.
"The funny thing is, him and (Mathieu) Pompei both ran into each other in the warm-up," noted Nobes. "They both went down and obviously they were okay, but (I joked that) the hit by Pompei in the warm-up must have electrified Tassi because he had a great game. He was hanging onto the puck and he really created a lot for us offensively. He's played very well here and tonight was just a real good game for him."
Five McGillians put up multi-point efforts in the victory as the Redmen outshot their guests 39-25.
Team captain
Patrick Delisle-Houde of Quebec City opened the scoring at 5:31 of the first, assisted by Talbot-Tassi and rookie
Guillaume Gauthier. Tardif-Richard doubled the advantage at 14:38, set up by
Jerome Verrier and
Christophe Lalonde, giving the Redmen a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
Scott Prier put the Lancers on the board with a power-play marker at 8:42 of the middle frame. But Tardif-Richard then netted his second of the contest on the power play at 13:27, with help from Talbot-Tassi and
Frederic Gamelin. Verrier potted another with a man-advantage just 108 seconds after that, assisted by Tardif-Richard and Gamelin.
Chris Scott responded 52 seconds after that for Windsor to narrow the gap to 4-2.
Kyle Hope brought the Lancers within one at 5:41 of the final stanza, but the Redmen maintained their composure. Talbot-Tassi scored a power-play goal at 9:22, assisted by Delisle-Houde and
Mathieu Pompei. Then Tardif-Richard completed his hat trick at 10:41, assisted by Talbot-Tassi and Verrier.
Senior Redmen netminder
Jacob Gervais-Chouinard of Sherbrooke, Que., turned away 22 pucks as his playoff record improved to 3-1.
His Windsor counterpart
Blake Richard made 33 saves in defeat and tumbled to 5-4 in the postseason.
"It was a must-win tonight just to get the ticket to go to Nationals and it feels so amazing," exclaimed Talbot-Tassi. "We need to get our feet back on the ground and just focus, though, because we want to win the Nationals."
The match may also have been the last home game for as many as eight Redmen players who are expected to graduate.
"Yesterday we had a real good team meeting," Nobes offered. "We talked about the significance of today's game -- obviously winning meant going to Nationals and getting the chance to compete for a national championship -- and I think we were really well-received. A lot of the veteran players spoke. It was a big game for those guys and tonight (senior defenceman)
Etienne Boutet brought an A-plus game. He led our group from the back end with what he does best. For us to win (at Nationals) when we get there, it's going to be our D-men and our goaltender who give us a chance."
Joining Boutet among the list of seniors expected to graduate is team captain
Patrick Delisle-Houde and alternate captain
Mathieu Pompei, both fellow fifth-year veterans and the team's top scoring forwards. Other seniors who still have eligibility remaining and could return include centres
Simon Tardif-Richard and
Rock Regimbald, plus defencemen
Francis Lambert-Lemay and
Alex Chenevert, (injured), in addition to goaltender
Jacob Gervais-Chouinard.
The Redmen, who blanked the Lancers 4-0 and 5-0 in both previous meetings this season, improved their head-to-head record to 11-8 in 19 match-ups overall with Windsor, including a 6-3 mark at home.
McGill is expected to depart for Fredericton on Monday evening after practice. The Redmen were the last of eight teams to qualify for the national championship tourney, which they won in Fredericton back in 2012. Other teams joining McGill include the league champions UNB and Alberta, plus Queen's, York, Saskatchewan, Acadia and St.FX. The seeding and schedule will be announced by on Sunday afternoon.
REDMEN RAP: After the game, both teams lined up on their respective bluelines for the post-game medal ceremony, where
Marc Gélinas, executive director of athletics & recreation at McGill, handed out bronze medals to the Redmen.... Among the McGill hockey grads spotted in the crowd was
Guy Arguin, who was visiting from Dubai, plus
Samuel Labrecque,
Alain Robichaud,
Dan Gubiani,
Pierre-Antoine Paquet,
Charles Gauthier,
Jocelyn Perreault,
Mike Farmer and
Michael Nelson.
OUA BRONZE MEDAL GAME FOR WILD-CARD BERTH AT NATIONALS
SCORING SUMMARY
Windsor 3 at McGill 6
(Friday, March 10, 2017 - McConnell Arena)
GOALS BY PERIOD:
Windsor 0-2-1 -- 3
McGill 2-2-2 -- 6
1st Period-
1, McGill,
Patrick Delisle-Houde 4 (Talbot-Tassi, Gauthier), 5:31.
2, McGill,
Simon Tardif-Richard 2 (Verrier, Lalonde), 14:38.
Penalties-Verrier Mcg (goaltender interference), 8:25; Hope Wsr (interference), 9:28.
2nd Period-
3, Windsor,
Scott Prier 1 (Anthony), 8:42 (PP).
4, McGill,
Simon Tardif-Richard 3 (Talbot-Tassi, Gamelin), 13:27 (PP).
5, McGill,
Jerome Verrier 2 (Tardif-Richard, Gamelin), 15:15 (PP).
6, Windsor,
Chris Scott 1 (Dundas), 16:07.
Penalties-Gamelin Mcg (roughing), 3:55; Verrier Mcg (cross checking), 7:32; Bauman Wsr (holding), 10:41; Haas Wsr (holding), 13:23; Christou Wsr (interference), 14:34; Lambert-Lemay Mcg (kneeing), 19:45.
3rd Period-
7, Windsor,
Kyle Hope 5 (Prier, Shepley), 5:41.
8, McGill,
Dominic Talbot-Tassi 1 (Delisle-Houde, Pompei), 9:22 (PP).
9, McGill,
Simon Tardif-Richard 4 (Talbot-Tassi, Verrier), 10:41.
Penalties-Hope Wsr (high sticking), 1:20; Bauman Wsr (high sticking), 8:47.
Shots on Goal-
Windsor 4-13-8 -- 25.
McGill 14-10-15 -- 39.
Power Play Opportunities-
Windsor 1 / 4;
McGill 3 / 6.
Goalies-
Windsor,
Blake Richard (L, 5-4-0, 39 shots-33 saves; 60:00).
McGill,
Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (W, 3-1-0, 25 shots-22 saves; 60:00).
Attendance: 677
Start: 7:01 PM
End: 9:13 PM
Length: 2:12
Referees-Alexandre Cote, Jesse Gour.
Linesmen-Nicolas Boivin, Julien Fournier.
THREE STARS:
1.
MCG - 27
Dominic Talbot-Tassi
2.
MCG - 8
Simon Tardif-Richard
3.
MCG - 21
Jerome Verrier
