Six Redmen honoured as OUA announces hockey awards
By Earl Zukerman
HAMILTON, Ont. – Six members of the McGill Redmen are among the
honourees as Ontario University Athletics announced their 2008-09
men’s hockey all-stars and major award winners, Wednesday.
Freshman Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., senior Eric
L’Italien of Ste. Foy, Que., and head coach Martin Raymond were all
recipients of major awards, while seniors Ken Morin of St. Prosper,
Que., and Sam Bloom of Toronto both earned a berth with
Picard-Hooper on the OUA East Conference second all-star
team.
Picard-Hooper, who led all OUA rookies with 36 points in 28 games,
including 10 goals, also received the conference rookie-of-the-year
nomination and earned all-rookie honours along with teammate
Marc-Andre Dorion, a rearguard St. Hubert, Que., who was invited to
the NHL’s Dallas Stars rookie camp last September.
L’Italien, a fifth-year right winger and co-captain, is the OUA
East nominee for the Randy Gregg trophy, presented to the CIS
player who best combines academics with hockey and community
service. A solid two-way player who is arguably the fastest skater
in the league, L'Italien earned 13 points in 17 regular season
games. An Academic All-Canadian and second-year law student, he
volunteers with the Montreal police force and other organizations
to promote the importance of combining school and sports with youth
groups. He also offers his time for legal advice to McGill
students, among other supporting groups in the McGill
community.
Raymond, in his 14th season as bench boss of the Redmen, is the OUA
East coach of the year. A native of Pierrefonds, Que., who now
resides in Ste-Basile-le-Grande on the south shore of Montreal,
guided the Redmen to an 18-8-2 record despite losing nine veterans
from last year’s league championship team. Raymond’s troop upset
UQTR last week to capture the OUA East Conference title and a berth
in the OUA Queen’s Cup final in London this Saturday. They also
qualified for the CIS championship tournament in Thunder Bay, Ont.,
March 21-23.
Morin, also a co-captain and a defensive stalwart on the blueline,
earned second-team all-star status. He tallied 13 points, including
three goals – two of them game-winners.
Bloom, tied for the team league in goals with 14 and was second
among Redmen scoring leaders with 34 points in 16 contests.
UQTR right winger Jonathan Boutin of La Pocatière, Que., who led
the conference with 21 goals and 52 points, headlines the first
all-star team and was named conference MVP.
Ottawa’s Dan McDonald of New Liskeard, Ont., was voted the
conference’s most sportsmanlike player and merited all-star
status.
Joining Boutin and McDonald on the all-conference squad was UQTR
teammates Alexandre Demers of Laurier Station, Que., and Tommy
Lafontaine, a defenceman from Chesterville, Que., plus U of T
rearguard Ed Snetsinger of Ajax, Ont., and Queen's goaltender Brady
Morrison of Thamesville, Ont.
Joining Picard-Hooper, Bloom and Morin on the second team was
Concordia forward Mike Baslyk of Montreal, Que., and Varsity Blues
defenceman Brendan Sherrard of Toronto and UQTR goaltender
Jean-Christophe Blanchard of Trois-Rivières, Que.
Blanchard made the all-rookie squad, along with Picard-Hooper and
Dorion, plus Concordia’s Nicolas D'Aoust of Lorraine, Que.,
Toronto’s Byron Elliott of Burlington, Ont., and Carleton
defencemen Christian Boudeau-Mifflen of Ottawa, Ont.) of
Carleton.
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2008-09 OUA EAST CONFERENCE HOCKEY ALL-STARS & AWARDS:
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EAST MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Jonathan Boutin (UQTR)
EAST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Alexandre Picard-Hooper (McGill)
EAST MOST SPORTSMANLIKE PLAYER: Dan McDonald (Ottawa)
EAST RANDY GREGG AWARD NOMINEE: Eric L'Italien (McGill)
EAST COACH OF THE YEAR: Martin Raymond (McGill)
EAST FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS
F - Jonathan Boutin (UQTR)
F - Alexandre Demers (UQTR)
F - Dan McDonald (Ottawa)
D - Tommy Lafontaine (UQTR)
D - Ed Snetsinger (Toronto)
G - Brady Morrison (Queen's)
EAST SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS
F - Mike Baslyk (Concordia)
F - Sam Bloom (McGill)
F - Alexandre Picard-Hooper (McGill)
D - Ken Morin (McGill)
D - Brendan Sherrard (Toronto)
G - Jean-Christophe Blanchard (UQTR)
EAST ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
F - Nicolas D'Aoust (Concordia)
F - Byron Elliott (Toronto)
F - Alexandre Picard-Hooper (McGill)
D - Christian Boudeau-Mifflen (Carleton)
D - Marc-Andre Dorion (McGill)
G - Jean-Christophe Blanchard (UQTR)
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2008-09 OUA WEST CONFERENCE HOCKEY ALL-STARS & AWARDS:
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WEST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Josh Vatri (UOIT)
WEST MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Mark Voakes (Laurier)
WEST MOST SPORTSMANLIKE PLAYER: Salvatore Peralta (Western)
WEST RANDY GREGG AWARD NOMINEE: Andrew Brown (Lakehead)
WEST COACH OF THE YEAR: Kevin Hamlin (Windsor)
WEST FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS
F - Chris Ray (Waterloo)
F - Jean-Michel Rizk (Laurier)
F - Mark Voakes (Laurier)
D - Chris Petrow (Western)
D - Kyle Sonnenburg (Waterloo)
G - Jim Watt (Windsor)
WEST SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS
F - Brock McPherson (Lakehead)
F - Salvatore Peralta (Western)
F - Nick Vergeer (Laurier)
D - Ryan Martinelli (Western)
D - Jordan Smith (Lakehead)
G - Jeff MacDougald (Laurier)
WEST ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
F - Kevin Baker (Western)
F - Scott Restoule (York)
F - Josh Vatri (UOIT)
D - Phil Magistrale (Laurier)
D - Mike Noyes (UOIT)
G - Pier-Olivier Pelletier (Waterloo)
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Dept. of Athletics & Recreation, Room 225 B
McGill University
475 Pine Avenue W.,
Montreal, QC H2W 1S4
CANADA
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
514-398-1956 (Fax)
www.athletics.mcgill.ca