MONTREAL – For the second straight year,
Louis-Philip Guindon of St. Joseph du Lac, Que., has been named most valuable player as the McGill University men's hockey team officially wrapped up their 144th season with the team's annual awards gala, Friday.
The soirée was conducted in a virtual online format through the Zoom application, due to the Coronavirus pandemic that is gripping the world. The event also marked the 50th anniversary of the Friends of McGill Hockey, an alumni support group that was founded in 1970 under the initiative of then head coach
Brian Gilmour.
Guindon, a senior goaltender who turns 25 next week, received the Dr. Bobby Bell Memorial Bowl, which has been presented since 1950 to the team's most valuable player. The master's student in exercise physiology becomes the team's first back-to-back MVP since defenceman
Ryan McKiernan in 2013 and 2014. The last goalie to merit consecutive MVP honours was
Mathieu Poitras in 2005 and 2006.
The Molson Cup, for most three-star selections, also went to Guindon, who was picked a dozen times in his 26 contests overall. He is the sixth goalie to win this award since it was initiated in 1981 and the first netminder since
Hubert Morin in 2013.
Forward
Harlan Orr, a science senior from Lake Country, B.C., took home the Albert Fyon Memorial Trophy, which has been presented since 1953 to the team's most improved player.
The final major award went to defenceman
Michael Campoli, an economics freshman from Pte. Claire, Que., who received the Friends of McGill Hockey Trophy, which has been presented since 1950 to the team's rookie of the year.
The evening wrapped up with an emotional send-off to the team's graduating seniors. The team is expected to lose five seniors to graduation.
That group includes fifth-year veterans
Christophe Lalonde and
Dominic Talbot-Tassi, along with co-captain
Nathanael Halbert, as well as forwards
Guillaume Gauthier and
Jasmin Boutet. Three other seniors -- Guindon, Orr and co-captain
Samuel Tremblay -- are expected back.
Talbot-Tassi, who became the team's all-time top-scoring defenceman in regular season play, did not miss a league game in his five seasons. He tallied 135 points, inluding 106 assists, and holds the team's new ironman mark with 140 consecutive league appearances.
Each senior will receive their game jersey, a framed photo portrait, a pewter mug and a traditional McGill necktie.
THUMBNAIL PROFILES OF 2020 McGILL HOCKEY AWARD RECIPIENTS
Louis-Philip Guindon merited all-star status and the OUA East goaltender of the year award, both of them for the second time in three years. The 6-foot-1, 188-pound goalie registered a nation-best .941 save percentage. He ranked third among his OUA counterparts with a 2.22 goals-against average, while registering three shutouts and posting a 12-8 record. Guindon racked up a pair of 56-save performances this season, including a 3-2 overtime win over Concordia and a 4-2 road victory over Ottawa. Both outings equaled the second-highest save total in school history and the most ever in a McGill victory. Guindon opened the campaign with a stellar performance for the Quebec University All-Stars in a game against the Montreal Canadiens prospects, stopping 19 of 21 shots. In 26 games overall, he had 25 starts with a 14-12 record, a .935 save percentage and a 2.43 goals-against average. Guindon improved his lifetime win-loss mark to 56-29 in 87 OUA regular season games, equaling the school win record, set eight years ago by
Hubert Morin (56-15) who led McGill to a national championship in 2012.
Harlan Orr, a 6-foot-1, 182-pound winger, scored 11 points in 27 games overall. After three seasons without a point in league play, the 25-year-old science senior collected 10 points in 21 OUA contests this year, including six goals and each tally contributed to a victory. His season was highlighted by a career-best, two-goal, one-assist effort, including the game-winner, in a 6-3 road victory at Nipissing in mid-February.
Michael Campoli, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound rearguard, was one of only seven players to dress for all 37 games and the sole rookie to accomplish that feat. He scored six points, including two goals, both of them on the road. His first career marker was the tying goal in the third period of a come-from-behind 2-1 road victory over Ontario Tech. The 22-year-old economics freshman is a product of the QMJHL's Saint John Sea Dogs.
It was a very challenging season for McGill, which had to overcome the loss of head coach
Kelly Nobes, who passed away on the first day of training camp. The coaching reins were handed over to full-time assistant
Liam Heelis on an interim basis. Despite a multitude of injuries -- which kept both co-captains out of the lineup for the entire first semester -- Heelis guided the troops to a respectable 16-10-2 fourth-place finish in the 10-team OUA East and 20-17 record overall. The team made the playoffs for the 16th consecutive year but the season ended abruptly with a 2-1 quarter-final series setback to Concordia. McGill iced a lineup that featured six freshmen, five sophomores, seven juniors and eight seniors. The roster included 16 players from Quebec, five from Ontario, two from British Columbia, plus one from Nova Scotia and two Americans.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
