Men's Hockey | 4/21/2017 11:02:00 PM

MONTREAL – Mathieu Pompei of Laval, Que., was a double award winner as the McGill University men's hockey team officially wrapped up their 141st season on Friday, with their annual Friends of McGill Hockey gala, held before more than 100 alumni and supporters at La Brasserie Molson.

The evening, which also featured an appearance by the McGill Fight Band, was capped by the announcement of a new team captain, with graduating Patrick Delisle-Houde of Quebec City passing the torch to Nathan Chiarlitti of Maple, Ont.

Pompei, an alternate captain, received the Dr. Bobby Bell Memorial Bowl, which has been presented since 1950 to the team's most valuable player. The fifth-year forward also garnered the Molson Cup, presented since 1981 to the player with the most three-star selections.
 
Other major awards went to freshman goaltender Louis-Philip Guindon (rookie of the year) of St. Joseph du Lac, Que., and  first-year forward Samuel Tremblay (most improved player) of Gatineau, Que.
 
The evening wrapped up with an emotional send-off to the team's seven graduating players, namely the aforementioned Patrick Delisle-Houde (MSc - Kinesiology) and Mathieu Pompei (BA - Social Work) , in addition to alternate captain Etienne Boutet (BA - Economics) of Quebec City, goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (BA - Economics) of Sherbrooke, Que., defenceman Alex Chenevert (BSc - Kinesiology) of Repentigny, Que., plus two forwards from Gatineau, Que., Simon Tardif-Richard (BCom - Finance) and Rock Regimbald (BA - Economics).

Head coach Kelly Nobes and full-time assistant coach David Urquhart presented each with their red game jerseys, a framed photo portrait, a pewter mug and a traditional McGill necktie, made famous by Redmen hockey grad Mike Babcock, who wore it when coaching the Canadian Olympic team to gold medal victories at the Vancouver and Sochi Winter Games.
 
Pompei, a 5-foot-7, 166-pound centre, was picked as one of the three stars 11 times in 36 games and posted a 12-31-43 record overall. He missed five contests while playing with the Canadian team that won bronze at the FISU Winter Games in Kazakhstan. The two-time OUA all-star also played for the U SPORTS selects against the Canadian national junior prospects in December. A fifth-year senior majoring in social work, the 25-year-old Pompei finished seventh overall in the OUA scoring race with a 9-24-33 record in 23 regular season games. He either scored or assisted on 36.3 per cent of McGill's 91 goals scored when he was in the lineup. In his freshman season, Pompei became the first McGill rookie to register a hat-trick in his first-ever hockey game, scoring three times in a 5-1 preseason win over Royal Military College on Sept. 14, 2012. Five years later, he graduates with a 74-97-171 record in 185 games overall.

Guindon, a 6-foot-1, 183-pound netminder, was presented with the Friends of McGill Hockey Trophy, which has been offered since 1970 to the top rookie. The 20-year-old science freshman played in 22 contests overall, posting a 15-7 record with one shutout, a stingy 1.92 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.
 
Tremblay, a 20-year-old physical education freshman, received the Albert Fyon Trophy, which has been awarded annually since 1953 to the most improved player. A 5-foot-11, 171-pound forward who previously played for Gatineau in the QMJHL, he dressed for 34 games overall, registering seven goals and 13 points along with 45 penalty minutes.
 
Delisle-Houde, who led the team with 17 goals in 42 games overall, served four of his five seasons wearing a letter on his jersey. He registered 171 career points, including 68 goals, with 318 penalty minutes in 204 contests overall for the Redmen, the second-highest number of games played in team history next to Evan Vossen's 216 games from 2007 to 2012.

Chiarlitti, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound rearguard, posted a 7-11-18 record in 30 games overall, including six power-play goals and a pair of game-winners. He was only penalized four times for eight minutes. In December, Chiarlitti was also selected to play for the U SPORTS all-star squad and served as an alternate captain with the Canadian team at the FISU Winter Games. The first-year master's student in kinesiology transferred to McGill this year after three seasons at StFX, where he was twice-named as an AUS second-team all-star and winner of the Atlantic conference's top student-athlete award. The 24-year-old won the prestigious Dr. Randy Gregg Award last spring as the Canadian university hockey player who best combines academic excellence and citizenship.

The soiree concluded a solid campaign for the Redmen, who finished first in the 10-team OUA East Division with a 21-4-3 record. Overall, the team produced a 29-14-0 mark en route to sweeping both Laurentian and UQTR in the OUA East quarter-and semifinals, respectively. They ran into a hot goalie against Queen's in the divisional finals but bounced back to defeat Windsor in the OUA bronze medal game and merit a berth at the national championship tourney in Fredericton, where they fell to StFX in a sudden-death quarter-final. The Redmen iced a lineup that featured seven freshmen, eight sophomores, five juniors and six seniors.


SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
Sports Info Officer
McGill University Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca