McGill grads go head-to-head in NHL match-up at Bell Centre

(FORMER McGILL HOCKEY CAPTAIN JAMIE KOMPON, NOW AN ASSISTANT COACH WITH THE LA KINGS, APPEARS TO QUESTION HIS DECISION TO NOT WEAR HIS McGILL TIE.  PHOTO COURTESY OF BERNARD BRAULT)

MONTREAL -- They came, they saw, they didn't conquer. The Los Angeles Kings were beaten 4-1 by the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre, Wednesday. For a McGill fan, it was a tough night to cheer as McGill grads were on both benches of this National Hockey League encounter.

In the Habs lineup was Mathieu Darche, a 2000 management graduate from St. Laurent, Que., who assisted on the game's first goal and was also on the ice for his team's last goal. Darche is the 10th McGill player to skate in the NHL.

On the Los Angeles bench was Jamie Kompon, a 1989 physical education grad from Thunder Bay, Ont., who is in his fifth season as an assistant coach with the Kings after nine years with the St. Louis Blues. Kompon is the sixth former Redmen player to coach in the NHL.

The dueling duo is part of a McGill family of quintuplets, all of them former team captains with the Redmen, currently in the NHL, and believed to be the highest total of grads from any single university in Canada or the United States in the NHL at the same time.

Others include Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock (B.Ed. '87) and the Tampa tandem of head coach Guy Boucher [BA '95, BSc (AgrEng), '96] and assistant coach Martin Raymond (BEd '90, MEd '96).

Two other former McGill players have coached in the NHL -- George Burnett (Edmonton, 1994-95; Anaheim, 1999-01) and Lester Patrick (New York Rangers, 1926-28).

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

McGill Athletics & Recreation

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