MONTREAL – In a time-honoured tradition that is fast approaching the 150-year anniversary of the first-ever hockey game in Montreal, the birthplace of the game will be the site this week for arguably one of the fiercest collegiate rivalries in the sport.
 
The fifth-place UQTR Patriotes will be visiting on Wednesday (Feb. 19) to confront fourth-seeded McGill in Game 1 of the OUA East best-of-three quarter-final series at the Place Bell community rink, which is serving as McGill's home venue this season due to major renovations at McConnell Arena.
 
Game 2 is scheduled for Friday (Feb. 21) at Le Colisée Jean-Guy-Talbot in Trois-Rivières. If necessary, a rubber match will be played back at Place Bell on Sunday (Feb. 23). All three games are slated for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
 
Tickets for McGill's home games are available online only at the link below.
 
This will mark the 24th lifetime playoff series between these archrivals, with UQTR winning 15 of the previous 23. But McGill has prevailed in eight of the last 12 series. This dancing duo has tangoed in 53 post-season contests, with the Pats holding a 31-22 advantage. Overall, UQTR leads the lifetime series with McGill, posting a 179-101-17 record in 297 head-to-head confrontations since they first met in 1969. But over the last 20 years, McGill has a 63-53-3 advantage.  
 
This season, they have crossed paths five times, with the Redbirds winning four (including a pair of preseason contests), outscoring the Patriotes 19-14, despite being outshot 146-140. The McGill victories were by scores of 3-1, 7-6 (OT), 5-2 and 1-0. The lone Pats win a a 5-3 decision in the last meeting, at Trois-Rivieres. In the five head-to-head games, McGill has taken 46 penalty minutes, compared to the Pats who have 48 PIMs. On special teams, the Redbirds PP unit is 3-for-19 (15.8%), while the Pats are 4-for-21 (19.1%).
 
Over the regular season, both teams posted identical 18-9-1 records. UQTR outscored opponents 101-64, while McGill has a 106-82 advantage in their games. The Redbirds PP operated at 23.9 per cent, while the PK unit was successful 75.0 per cent of the time. The Pats were 19.4 per cent with the man-advantage and killed off 81.4 per cent of their shorthanded scenarios. McGill scored five shorthanded goals and allowed one, while the Pats had four SHGs and conceded three against.
 
The winner of this series will advance to the OUA East semifinals against top-seeded Concordia (21-3-4), while the loser is done for the season. The other OUA East quarter-final pits sixth-place Ontario Tech (16-9-3) against third-seeded Ottawa (19-6-3). The winner of that round will face second-place Queen's (22-6-0).
 
This season, four OUA teams will qualify for the U SPORTS Final Eight national championship tournament in Ottawa, March 20-23. The Gee-Gees will automatically qualify as the host team.
 
The opening of the OUA playoffs is just two weeks short of the 150th anniversary of the first-ever organized indoor game of hockey that was played on March 3, 1875. That historic event, which involved several McGill students, took place at the Victoria Skating Rink on Drummond Street in Montreal, located just a slapshot away from the current site of the Bell Centre. Two years after that iconic event was the debut of the McGill hockey club, which played its first game against members of the Victoria Skating Rink on Jan. 31, 1877.
 
TICKETS FOR McGILL HOME GAMES

LIVE STATS OUA PLAYOFFS
 
OUA TV STREAM
 
U SPORTS NATIONAL STATS

OUA STATS & STANDINGS
 
SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
CELL: 514-983-7012
E-MAIL:earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca