Redmen phenomenal, paste Pats in Trois-Rivieres
(PHOTO BY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ)
TROIS-RIVIERES, Que. -- Simon Marcotte-Légaré, a third-year forward from Longueuil, Que., scored twice and added an assist as visiting McGill shocked the UQTR Patriotes 7-3 in men's university hockey preseason action at Trois-Rivières, Que., Wednesday.
It marked McGill's fifth straight victory over the Pats but their first-ever preseason road victory in 13 lifetime exhibition meetings (1-11-1) there, since the teams began playing each other in 1969.
Six different players scored for the Redmen in what was their highest offensive output over UQTR since a 9-8 loss at McConnell Arena on Nov. 12, 1986. It also marked McGill's highest goal total at Trois-Rivieres since a 9-4 win on Jan. 31, 1979.
The Redmen led 2-0 after the opening period and 6-1 after two. They continued to great special teams play, chalking up three power play markers in addition to a shorthanded goal by rookie Christophe Longpré-Poirier, also from Longueuil.
Marcotte, a smooth-skating, 6-foot-1, 190-pound centre, set-up Glenn Tindle's power-play goal at 14:33 of the middle period to make it 5-2 for the Redmen. He then scored three minutes later to put the game out of reach and added a third period marker as the icing on the cake.
"Marcotte reminded me of (former NHL legend) Gilbert Perreault in the last half of the game," said new McGill head coach Jim Webster, who once captained the Redmen back in 1972-73 when he won team MVP honours and captured a league scoring title. "I've been impressed with how deeply talented and hard-working our team appears to be."
Rounding out the scoring for McGill was sophomore centre Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., sophomore forward Evan Vossen, a junior from Swift Current, Sask., and senior defenceman Yan Turcotte.
"It was a good team win and important to win in their barn," said the rugged Turcotte, the team's all-time penalty king and newly-elected team captain. "Hopefully, this win will help us move up in the national Top 10 rankings."
McGill outshot the Pats by a wide 48-24 margin, registering 16 shots in each period against an annual contender that hammered Concordia 11-0 in exhibition play last week.
Sophomore netminder Hubert Morin, who was not slated to start, picked up the win to even his preseason record at 2-2. Morin, a native of St. Georges de Beauce, Que., was asked to start after the pre-game warm-up when Danny Mireault somehow managed to cut open his thumb on a table in the dressing room.
The Patriotes will have to endure the embarrassing home-ice loss to their arch-rivals for months as the two teams are not slated to meet again until mid-January.
McGill finishes preseason play with a 3-2 record and now prepares for their 134th campaign opener when they host Concordia during Homecoming Week at McConnell Arena on Oct. 16
SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 7 at UQTR 3
(preseason game; Oct 7, 2009)
1st Period-
1, McGill, Yan Turcotte 2 (Marc-Andre Dorion, Evan Vossen), 1:02 (pp).
2, McGill, Alexandre Picard-Hooper 3 (Francis Verreault-Paul, Andrew Wright), 3:22.
Penalties-
A. Demers UQTR (hooking), 0:36;
Y. Turcotte McGill (slashing), 5:32;
C. Longpre-Poirier McGill (hooking), 7:57;
N. Desilets UQTR (holding), 8:16;
A. Picard-Hooper McGill (roughing), 11:24;
S. Richard UQTR (interference), 14:35;
S. Bellefleur UQTR (holding), 19:48.
2nd Period-
3, UQTR, Alexandre Demers 1 (Guillaume Chicoine, Alexandre Blais), 5:19.
4, McGill, Christophe Longpre-Poirier 1 (Marc-Andre Daneau), 8:10 (sh).
5, McGill, Evan Vossen 3 (Andrew Wright), 9:05.
6, UQTR, Alexandre Demers 2 (Nicolas Desilets, Maxime Levesque), 11:32 (pp).
7, McGill, Glenn Tindle 1 (Guillaume Doucet, Simon Marcotte-Legare), 14:11 (pp).
8, McGill, Simon Marcotte-Legare 1 (Guillaume Doucet, Glenn Tindle), 17:29.
Penalties-
A. Wright McGill (slashing), 6:39;
E. Vossen McGill (elbowing), 10:51;
C. Bergeron UQTR (high sticking), 12:18;
M.A. Dorion McGill (roughing), 18:30;
C. Bergeron UQTR (inter. on goaltender), 18:30;
L.E. Leblanc UQTR (slashing), 19:46;
BENCH, McGill (leaving player bench, served by G. Tindle), 20:00.
3rd Period-
9, UQTR, Guillaume Chicoine 1 (Louis-Etienne Leblanc), 8:22.
10, McGill, Simon Marcotte-Legare 2 (Marc-Andre Dorion), 13:21 (pp).
Penalties-
S. Richard UQTR (hooking), 6:25;
S. Marcotte-Legare McGill (hooking), 7:43;
P. Bronsard UQTR (cross checking), 11:45;
A. Joanisse UQTR (holding), 15:40;
A. Demers UQTR (high sticking), 17:34;
L.E. Leblanc UQTR (10-minute misconduct), 17:34;
Y. Turcotte McGill (roughing), 18:05;
S. Bellefleur UQTR (roughing), 18:05.
GOALS BY PERIOD
McGill 2-4-1 -- 7
UQTR 0-2-1 -- 3
SHOTS BY PERIOD
McGill 16-16-16--48.
UQTR 9-7-8--24.
Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 3 of 10
UQTR 1 of 7 (one SH goal against)
Goalies-
McGill, Hubert Morin (W, 2-2-0, 24 shots-21 saves).
UQTR, Jean-Christophe Blanchard (L, 2-2-0, 48 shots-41 saves).
ATT-148
(@ Pavillion de la Jeunesse)
Referee-Francois Fortin.
LINEUP SCRATCHES:
McGill
G Danny Mireault (dressed but DNP)
G Hunter Shaw
D Thomas Vlasic
D Ben Morse
D Ben Gazdic
F Benoit Arsenault
F Leonard Verrilli (injd)
F Kale Dolinski
UQTR
G Sebastien Comeau (dressed but DNP)
G Mathieu Levesque
D Marc-Andre Nadeau
F Etienne Bellevance-Martin
F Francis Charland