Mustangs squad to battle McGill for OUA supremacy
By Dan Levine, OUA
UNIVERSITY HOCKEY (OUA Queen’s Cup Preview): Young Mustangs squad
to battle McGill for OUA supremacy
By Dan Levine
LONDON, Ont. – The No. 6-ranked Western Mustangs will host the
McGill Redmen in the OUA Queen’s Cup league championship game on
Mar. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Thompson Arena in London.
The Mustangs will look to continue their playoff success, after
sweeping the Laurier Golden Hawks in the OUA West Final. The Redmen
will look to win their second straight Queen’s Cup after beating
the Brock Badgers 4-1 in last year’s contest. McGill swept the No.
5 Trois Rivières Patriotes in their OUA East Final matchup.
Both teams are 6-1 in the playoffs, and both have already
guaranteed themselves a trip to the national championship in
Thunder Bay, Ont. This game will affect each team’s seed in the
tournament, and will provide the winner with a boost of confidence,
and a sense of pride.
“There aren’t many opportunities in an athlete’s career when they
get to play a game with the trophy in the building,” said Western’s
head coach Clarke Singer.
“We're very excited about the nationals, but the focus from here
until Saturday is on winning the Queen’s Cup.”
This is the first meeting between the teams this season, and Singer
said the Mustangs have some work to do, as they prepare for an
unfamiliar opponent.
“To be honest, we don’t know a lot about them right now,” said
Singer. “We’ll try to do some homework in the next few days to get
an idea of how they play.”
But Singer says his squad needs to put the focus squarely on
themselves.
“They have a great team, but we need to focus on playing well,”
said Singer. “We have to take care of our own business.”
For the Mustangs, a Queen’s Cup victory would cap an incredible
season in the OUA. The young squad spent the majority of the
regular season trailing Lakehead, Laurier and Waterloo in the
standings, but Western will now play for the Ontario championship
and for the national title for the first time since 2004-05.
“It always takes young players a while to get adjusted to this
level of hockey,” said Singer. We knew we'd get better, and we're
really happy with how hard the players have worked.”
This game is a matchup between two of hockey’s most historic teams.
Western first competed in 1907, before making its intercollegiate
debut in 1923. The Redmen are the world’s oldest hockey team, and
have now played in 132 seasons. Each storied program would love to
add another championship to its resume.
The Mustangs have been led by a mix of rookies and veteran
leaders.
In the regular season, veteran Sal Peralta (Leamington, Ont.) and
rookie Kevin Baker (Georgetown, Ont.) each finished with 28 points
for, while Aaron Snow (Windsor, Ont.) led the Mustangs with 14
goals. Ryan Martinelli (London, Ont.) finished tied for second in
OUA defencemen scoring with 23 points.
In the post-season, Snow and Keaton Turkiewicz (Brantford, Ont.)
have led the way offensively, with 9 and 8 points, respectively.
Yashar Farmanara (West Vancouver, B.C.) has 7 points in the
playoffs, including two huge goals against Laurier.
“We have a deep, balanced attack,” said Singer. “Other teams have
shortened their benches, and we’ve been able to keep rolling out
lines.”
McGill is led by rookie Alexandre Picard-Hooper (Boucherville,
Que.) and veteran forward Sam Bloom (Toronto, Ont.). Picard-Hooper
led all OUA rookies in scoring, and finished 9th overall with 36
points. Bloom notched 34 points, and recorded the OUA’s longest
point streak during a 15-game stretch from October to January.
Bloom also finished third in the OUA with a +7 rating.
Picard-Hooper has filled up the score sheet during the playoffs,
recording 11 points in seven games, while Marko Kovacevic
(Belgrade, Serbia) is second with two goals and six assists.
In goal, Western will turn to Brad Topping (Strathroy, Ont.), while
McGill will counter with rookie Kevin Desfosses (Beauport, Que.).
Both netminders have started every game of the playoffs, and both
have stellar post-season save percentages above .930.
“(Desfosses) has done a great job,” said Singer.
The goalies will need to be sharp early, as the first period will
likely be a major factor in deciding the outcome of this game.
Incredibly, both Western and McGill are undefeated when leading
after the opening frame. Conversely, the teams are a combined
5-11-1 when trailing after the first period.
Tickets
Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for youths and seniors. Students
wearing purple can gain admission for $5, and groups are encouraged
to call 519-661-4077.
Broadcast
Fans can also see the game live via www.westernmustangs.ca. No need
to register, just click on live game-day video button on right hand
side of page. At game time, a PLAY button will become
available.
The game will also be tape delayed on Rogers cable 13, Sunday, Mar.
15 at 2 p.m.
SOURCE:
Andy Watson
Sports Information and Media Relations Coordinator
The University of Western Ontario
Room 3170 F, Thames Hall
London, ON N6A 3K7
C: 519-709-1858
W: 519-661-3089
awatso47 [at] uwo.ca
www.westernmustangs.ca