GRANBY, QUE -- Eight different players scored goals and 14 registered points as the McGill Redbirds cruised to a 9-1 victory over an all-star team from the Quebec Jr. AAA Hockey League before a crowd of 641 at the Centre Sportif Leonard-Grondin, Friday.

It marked McGill's second-ever confrontation with a QJAAAHL all-star squad -- the first since a 9-3 victory in 1999 -- and was a much-needed exhibition tune-up for McGill after a month-long break for exams and holidays. 

"(Despite the lopsided score) it was good for hockey in Quebec to see the player development pathways to higher levels beyond the junior level," said McGill head coach David Urquhart, who admitted that there were a couple of potential recruits on the all-star squad that he has been keeping tabs on. "We have five players in our lineup that came from the Jr. AAA league and moved on to be impactful players in our lineup. From our perspective, it was also nice to get in this game before we hit full speed with our league schedule resuming on Jan. 5 against the top team in the league and we want to be ready to go. So this prepares us for that and also gives us a chance to (shake off some rust) after not playing since Dec. 3."

The Redbirds scored early and often with three goals in the first five minutes. McGill led 3-0 after the opening stanza and 6-0 after two. They were ahead 8-0 in the final frame when the All-Stars broke the shutout bid at 10:22 as Jacob Lavalee connected on a power-play after the Redbirds were caught with too many men on the ice. It was one of only two penalties called in the contest -- both against McGill -- and Lavalee was named as his team's Bauer player of the game.

Eric Uba paced the Redbirds with a pair of goals, while William Rouleau tallied once and added two helpers. Teammate Caiden Daley assisted on three markers.

Two McGill snipers, forward Patrick Larkin and defenceman Olivier Tremblay, each netted their first career goal at the university level. Other marksmen included Brandon Skubel and Alex Plamondon, who was credited with the game-winner.

Rounding out the scoring was Mathieu Gagnon and his younger brother Alexandre Gagnon. The Gagnon brothers were one of two sets of siblings in the McGill lineup. They were buttressed by Maxime Blanchard and Alexandre Blanchard, a recent addition to the roster who was playing his first game for the team. That marked the first time in team history that two sets of brothers had laced up the skates in the same game.

McGill, which deployed two goaltenders, had a 40-18 edge in shots against the all-star squad, which used a different goalie in each period.

Senior Emanuel Vella started between the pipes for the Redbirds. He played just one period, saving all four shots faced, and was credited with the victory. Freshman goalie Fabio Iacobo played the final two periods for McGill. It was his first taste of action at the university level and he turned aside 13 of 14 shots, including a number from point-blank range, to merit Bauer player of the game honours for the Redbirds.

McGill improved to 12-6-3 overall, including a 10-3-3 second-place record in the OUA East conference, with only 10 games remaining before playoffs. The Redbirds will resume league play on Thursday, Jan. 5, when division-leading UQTR (13-3-0) will visit McConnell Arena for a 7 p.m. puck drop. It will mark the first of three key confrontations in 15 days with the Patriotes.

SCORING SUMMARY
 
OUA STANDINGS & STATS
 
OUA SCOREBOARD
 

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)