Redmen to meet Pats in OUA Eastern final series
By Earl Zukerman
MONTREAL – The perennial Battle of Quebec in men’s university
hockey begins Wednesday (Mar. 4) when visiting McGill (22-9-2)
takes on the top-seeded UQTR (26-5-3) in an OUA East conference
best-of-three final series at Le Colisée in Trois-Rivières.
Game 2 of the series is slated for McConnell Arena on Friday and a
rubber match, if necessary, will be back in Trois-Rivières Sunday
night. All games are scheduled for 7 p.m.
At stake will be an automatic berth at the CIS championships in
Thunder Bay, Ont., which McGill is attempting to reach for the
third time in four years.
The Patriotes have won 11 of the previous 13 post-season series
between these arch-rivals, winning six of eight in the conference
finals. McGill, the defending league champions, has captured the
last two playoff reunions, sweeping both OUA East final series 2-0,
in 2006 and again last year.
This season, the teams split their four meetings, with the Pats
winning the first two (7-3 at McConnell and 3-2 in OT at Le
Colisée) and McGill winning the last two matchups (4-3 in OT at
home, 4-3 on the road). In those four games combined, UQTR outshot
McGill 148-132, outscored the Redmen 16-13 and went 6-for-26 on the
powerplay (23.1%). McGill was 5-for-28 with the man-advantage
(17.9%) and allowed one shorthanded marker.
Despite finishing tied for the OUA points lead, the Patriotes
slumped down the stretch, winning just two of their last seven
regular season games. During their semifinal series against
Carleton, UQTR lost 4-2 at home in Game 1 and bounced back to won
2-1 on the road and 5-4 in double-overtime at home. .
Rookie centre Francis Charland of Victoriaville, Que., led the Pats
with three goals and a pair of helpers in the series against
Carleton. Sophomore centre Jean-Sebastien Breton of Pincourt, Que.,
scored the series-clinching goal against the Ravens after 22:45 of
overtime.
McGill, which features 14 rookies on their roster, ended the
regular season on a tear, winning eight of nine games. After going
a full three games against Ottawa in the quarterfinals, McGill has
won three straight contests, including a two-game sweep over
Toronto (3-2 and 6-3).
Freshman centre Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que.), has
taken the Redmen under his wings with five goals in five games. And
rookie goaltender Kevin Desfossés, a native of Beauport, Que., who
was an all-star with the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts last year, has
been strong between the pipes for McGill since joining the team in
January. He was 6-2 with a 2.09 goal-against average and a .920
save percentage during the season. In playoffs, he is 3-1 with a
2.00 GAA and a .915 percentage.
Since a Quebec team is not permitted to host the OUA championship
game, the winner of the OUA Western Conference series between
Laurier and Western, will host the East winner in a sudden-death
matchup for the Queen’s Cup on March 14.
OUA MEN’S HOCKEY CONFERENCE FINALS
Wed., Mar. 4
7 p.m. – McGill @ UQTR (Game 1)
8 p.m. – Western @ Laurier (Game 1)
Fri., Mar. 6
7 p.m. – UQTR @ McGill (Game 2)
Sat., Mar. 7
7:30 p.m. – Laurier @ Western (Game 2)
Sun., Mar. 8
7 p.m. – McGill @ UQTR (Game 3, if necessary)
7:30 p.m. – Western @ Laurier (Game 3, if necessary)