Kevin puts Redmen in seventh heaven with upset over No.3-Pats
By Earl Zukerman
TROIS-RIVIERES – Freshman netminder Kevin Désfossés of Beauport,
Que., made 48 saves and rookie Andrew Wright of Toronto netted the
game-winner as McGill upset No.3-ranked UQTR 4-3 in men’s
university hockey before 463 fans at Le Colisée in Trois-Rivières,
Friday.
It marked McGill’s sixth consecutive victory – their second in a
row over the division-leading Patriotes – and was the third
straight setback for UQTR.
The unranked Redmen have posted a stellar 16-3-1 record in their
last 20 outings since an 0-4-1 start to their 133rd campaign. They
ended up splitting their four-game season series with UQTR, which
leads the OUA Far East with a 20-4-1 record.
“We didn’t play as well defensively as I had hoped but Désfossés
kept us in the game with a solid outing and we had some
opportunistic goals,” said Martin Raymond, in his 14th season as
head coach of the Redmen, who were outshot 51-23. “Overall, our
(normally strong) defensive play was average at best, but most of
their shots came from the perimeter. A road win, especially in this
building, is big and we’re pretty happy about that.”
Desfossés has posted a 5-1-0 record with a 2.27 goals-against
average and a .913 save percentage since joining the Redmen in
early January. The 21-year-old management freshman led the Quebec
Remparts to the Memorial Cup in 2006 and was an all-star in the
QMJHL last season.
McGill, which never trailed in the game, led 2-1 after one period
and 4-2 after two.
Guillaume Doucet, a sophomore from Montreal, opened the scoring
with his 10th of the season at 8:12 of the first frame, with an
unofficial assist from rookie Ben Morse, who was sitting in the
stands.
Doucet, a 5-foot-9, 179-pound centre, had somehow forgotten to pack
his size-6 skates for the road game. He borrowed a larger pair from
Morse, a defenceman who brought his 7 and ½ sized skates but wasn’t
scheduled to play. Despite managing to score a first-period goal
wearing second-hand skates, Doucet jumped at the first opportunity
to change back into his own footgear during the first intermission.
His skates had arrived during the first period after a frantic
pre-game phone call from Coach Raymond to head athletic
physiotherapist Pierre-Luc Gosselin, who left work early from the
McGill Sports Medicine Clinic in order to transport the forgotten
footwear to Trois-Rivières, located about 90-minutes east of
Montreal.
Right-winger Sam Bloom, a senior from Toronto, connected on the
power play to give McGill a 2-0 lead at 17:42 of the opening stanza
but Etienne Bellavance-Martin replied for the Pats just 69 seconds
later.
Rookie Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., restored
McGill’s two-goal cushion with his 10th of the season after
converting a pass from Bloom at 8:55 of the middle period. However,
UQTR responded again on a marker from Nicolas Caouette at
11:24.
Freshman Andrew Wright of Toronto tallied the eventual game-winner
late in the middle stanza with his first career goal in CIS
play.
Holding a 4-2 lead into the final period, McGill went into a
defensive shell and the Pats poured it on with an 18-5 margin in
shots but Désfossés was equal to the task, allowing only a late
power play goal on a rebound. It ended a string of 24
consecutive power plays without a goal for the Pats, who entered
the game with the top power play (27.6%) in the 18-team
league.
The contest was a relatively quiet affair until after the final
whistle, when a melee occurred around the Redmen net, prompting
referee Gavin White to issue nine penalties for 48 minutes,
including fighting majors to McGill rearguard Yan Turcotte and UQTR
defenceman Andre Joanisse. Although neither player appeared to
throw more than one punch, they will both receive automatic
one-game suspensions. When cooler heads prevailed, the two teams
skated toward each other for the standard post-game handshakes but
the referee instructed the players to go their separate ways.
McGill, which improved their second-place record to 16-7-2, will
play at Concordia on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m.) in the 22nd annual
Ronald Corey Cup game. The Redmen are 10-6-3 lifetime in Corey Cup
play, including a 5-0-1 record in the last six matchups. Concordia,
which shocked UQTR 4-1 on Wednesday and lost 4-1 to Carleton on
Friday, hasn’t beaten McGill in Cup play since a 3-1 win on Feb.
11, 2002. A victory by McGill will clinch second-place in the
division and give the Redmen home-ice advantage for the OUA
best-of-three quarterfinals, tentatively slated to begin on Feb.
17.
REDMEN RAP: Turcotte, who ended up with 17 penalty minutes in the
game, became the all-time penalty king in McGill history. With
still a year of school remaining before he graduates, the rugged
rearguard now has racked up 546 career PIMs, breaking the school
record of 530 set by blueliner Dan Jacob in 2005… Among the 463
fans in attendance at le Colisée was Heather Munroe-Blum, principal
and vice-chancellor of McGill University. Dressed in a McGill
jersey, she performed the ceremonial faceoff with UQTR rector
Ghislain Bourque, who was outfitted in Patriotes colours. After the
faceoff, the two “heads of state” exchanged and donned the opposing
team’s jerseys.
SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 4 at UQTR 3
(Feb 6, 2009 @ Le Colisee)
FIRST PERIOD:
Scoring -
1. McGill, Guillaume Doucet (10) (V. Lambert, F. Verrault-Paul)
8:12
2. McGill, Sam Bloom (14) (F. Verrault-Paul, A. Picard-Hooper)
17:42 (PP)
3. UQTR, Etienne Bellavance-Martin (12) (A. Demers, J. Boutin)
18:51
Penalties -
M.A. Dorion McG (tripping) 1:25,
C. Bergeron UQTR (hooking) 9:20,
S. Bloom McG (tripping) 13:30,
TEAM UQTR (too many men) 15:39,
M. Simoneau UQTR (cross checking) 16:38
SECOND PERIOD:
Scoring -
4. McGill, Alexandre Picard-Hooper (10) (S. Bloom) 8:55
5. UQTR, Nicolas Caouette (8) (S. Beland, T. Lafontaine)
11:24
6. McGill, Andrew Wright (1) (M.A. Daneau, M. Langelier-Parent)
17:48
Penalties -
F. Verrault-Paul McG (inter. on goaltender) 1:56,
E. Vossen McG (holding) 12:00,
G. Doucet McG (slashing) 18:54
THIRD PERIOD:
Scoring -
7. UQTR, Jonathan Boutin (19) (A. Demers, T. Lafontaine)
17:44 (PP)
Penalties -
A. Demers UQTR (tripping) 3:12,
M. Kovacevic McG (hooking) 9:36,
M. Langelier-Parent McG (hooking) 10:34,
Y. Turcotte McG (roughing) 13:00,
S. Bellefleur UQTR (roughing) 13:00,
F. Verrault-Paul McG (inter. on goaltender) 17:27,
T. Lafontaine UQTR (high sticking) 17:57,
M.A. Dorion McG (roughing) 18:34,
S. Beland UQTR (roughing) 18:34,
K. Morin McG (roughing) 20:00,
Y. Turcotte McG (fighting, GM30) 20:00,
F. Verrault-Paul McG (roughing) 20:00,
A. Demers UQTR (roughing, 10-minute misconduct) 20:00,
N. Desilets UQTR (roughing) 20:00,
A. Joanisse UQTR (fighting, GM30) 20:00
SHOTS BY PERIOD:
MCG: 8 10 5 -- 23
UQTR: 16 17 18 -- 51
GOALS BY PERIOD:
MCG: 2 2 0 -- 4
UQTR: 1 1 1 -- 3
POWER PLAY CONVERSION:
McGill 1-5.
UQTR 1-8.
PENALTIES (No./Mins.):
McGill 14-39.
UQTR 12-43.
GOALTENDERS:
McGill
Kevin Desfosses [W, 5-1-0, 60:00, SV: 48, GA: 3]
UQTR
Jean-Christophe Blanchard [L, 12-5-0, 59:12, SV: 19, GA: 4]
Empty-net: [0:48, 0GA]
Start : 7:39 PM
End : 9:55 PM
Attendance : 463
Referee : Gavin White
McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES
---------------------------------
01 Morin, Hubert (G)
04 Brennan, Spencer (D)
08 Morse, Ben (D)
12 Arsenault, Benoit (F; eye)
15 L Italien, Eric (F; knee)
21 Tindle, Glenn (D)
24 Drager, Timothy (F)
29 Mireault, Danny (G; dressed but DNP)
30 Jarvis, Jake (G)
McGILL LINES
------------------
FORWARDS:
Doucet -- Verreault-Paul -- Lambert
Kovacevic -- Picard-Hooper -- Bloom
Vossen -- Simon-Marcotte -- Verrilli
Daneau -- Langelier-Parent -- Wright
DEFENCEMEN:
K. Morin -- Stilling
Turcotte -- Dorion
Valente -- Gazdic
GOALTENDERS:
Desfosses
Mireault
MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
--------------------------------
1. Kevin Desfosses, McGill
2. Sam Bloom, McGill
3. Jonathan Boutin, UQTR