March 10, 2006
QUEEN'S CUP NOTEBOOK
THUNDER BAY - Winning an OUA hockey game is hard enough. Doing it without scoring, well, that's impossible. The McGill Redmen forced that exact frustration on opponents in half of their 24 regular-season games in 2005/2006, establishing new Canadian Interuniversity Sport records for both shutouts (12) and team goals against average (1.21). Second-year netminder Mathieu Poitras, the Bill L'Heureux Trophy winner as the most outstanding player in the OUA, has played the role of gatekeeper for a team that allowed just 29 goals all season long. But what perhaps most surprising about the Redmen's stinginess in their own end is the youth of the blueline corps. Both David Urquhart (Thorold, ON) and Steven Pearce (Fredericton, NB) are second-year D-men - and they're the most experienced of the bunch. McGill's other five defencemen are all rookies.
"Overall, I don't think anybody expected we would give up so few goals," says Redmen head coach Martin Raymond. "We had a lot of first years and second years back there but we prepared for it. We knew we were a young team but the guys have shown maturity. It's a tribute to the kids."
Raymond says the rooks - Louis-Simon Allaire (Sherbrooke, QC), Benoit Lessard (Evain, QC), Ken Morin (St. Prosper, QC), Erik Stilling (Calgary, AB) and Yan Turcotte (Laval, QC), a 6'0", 205-pound bruiser on the back end, who led the team in penalty minutes with 72 - picked up the systems quickly. McGill was hot from the outset, winning its first two games of the season by blanking their opponents, including a 2-0 win over the high-octane UQTR Patriotes. The momentum built from there and though Poitras has been rock solid, the entire team showed a commitment to defend, never changing the way they played whatever the score happened to be.
"The guys are always working hard to come back," says Poitras, a second-year Mechanical Engineering student. "We started with a couple of shutouts when the D was a question. Those were team shutouts, not goalie shutouts.
"It's fun (winning the Bill L'Heureux Trophy) and I'm happy but the way the team played had an impact. We won that as a team."
A young one, at that.
Holding down the Fort
As good as the Redmen are, if they want to earn their first Queen's Cup in 60 years, it will take something that's never been done before - a win in the wild Fort William Gardens. No Lakehead opponent has ever walked out of the Thunder Bay barn with a playoff victory. The Wolves are a spotless 12-0 in five post-seasons of OUA play in the home rink.
"It's gonna be unbelievable," Lakehead forward Dan Speer (Thunder Bay, ON) says of the opportunity to host the Queen's Cup at home. "There's about 4,000 people crammed in there. It's a building that holds so many memories."
Home hardware
As Lakehead captain Joel Scherban (Thunder Bay, ON) prepares to play his last game ever at home, he'll have five years of outstanding memories to look back on. Of course he has a few mementos, too. Scherban is one of the most decorated players in OUA hockey history, having won a boatload of hardware. The big forward has three OUA and two CIS Most Sportsmanlike Awards, one OUA and one CIS MVP (won last season) and five consecutive first-team all-star nods. The Team Canada captain from last year's Universiade is also the OUA's 2006 nominee for the prestigious Randy Gregg award. Scherban was also a draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins - he went 196th overall back in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.
On deck"¦
With Poitras between the pipes, McGill has a bonafide number one star to lead the way for the team. Take a peek down the bench and you'll see there's actually two go-to-guys for Coach Raymond's talented bunch. Redmen rookie Jean-Michel Filiatrault (Laval, QC) hasn't seen as much time in the cage as Poitras but, as crazy as it may seem, his numbers are actually superior. The Management major, who has played in two Memorial Cups as a member of the Quebec Remparts and the Rimouski Oceanic (alongside NHLer Sidney Crosby last year in London), was undefeated in seven OUA games, going 6-0-1 with a startling 0.71 gaa and a .959 save percentage. He pitched shutouts in five of the seven outings. Given Filiatrault's pedigree, the starter has little in the way of advice for his good friend.
"I've got nothing to tell him," Poitras says with a laugh, suggesting that the kid is likely even better than himself. "He's a great competitor, just like me."
"They're both amazing," says McGill forward Shawn Shewchuk (Lloydminster, AB). "You don't get 12 shutouts without some great goaltending."
Provincial town
There's a real local flavour on the Thunderwolves. Five team members hail from the hometown hockey hotbed of Thunder Bay. But the Lakehead program has attracted some talent from all over the Great White North, with four provinces in total being represented. Two Wolves arrived from British Columbia; defenceman Kris Callaway, North Delta and forward Brad Priestlay, Kamloops; four are from Alberta; defenceman Erik Lodge, Innisfail, defenceman Matt Jacques, Fort Saskatchewan, goalie Grant McCune, Sherwood Park and forward Mark Robinson, Okotoks; and one lone player is from Quebec; defenceman Hugo Lehoux from St. Elzear.
The Cup runneth over
For over 100 years, university hockey players have battled for the Queen's Cup. The trophy was first awarded in 1903 to the champion Redmen, who won the first of 13 provincial championships that season. McGill is second all-time for most Queen's Cup wins behind the Toronto Varsity Blues, who won 41, the last of which came in the 1992/93 season. The Blues hold the record for most consecutive Cup wins with 11 - from 1914/15 to 1928/29 (no competition took place during the WWI years), while Toronto and McGill share the second-longest streak at eight straight Cups. UQTR has manufactured the most recent run of dominance, having won five consecutive seasons from 1998/99 to 2002/03. The Patriotes also nabbed the CIS University Cup in two of those years.
2006 OUA Queen's Cup
Saturday, March 11, 7:30 pm @ Fort Williams Gardens in Thunder Bay, ON
No. 2 McGill Redmen vs No. 5 Lakehead Thunderwolves
Pioneer Petroleums and Pizza Pizza are the official sponsors of the Men's and Women's OUA Hockey Playoffs.
- O U A -
(Photo: Lakehead captain Joel Scherban, one of the most decorated players in OUA history, plays his final home game in this Saturday's Queen's Cup.)
Enquires can be addressed to:
David DiCenzo
Communications and Media Relations Coordinator
Ontario University Athletics
Phone: 905-540-5156
Fax: 905-540-5149
Email: david.dicenzo@oua.ca
Web: www.oua.ca
"Overall, I don't think anybody expected we would give up so few goals," says Redmen head coach Martin Raymond. "We had a lot of first years and second years back there but we prepared for it. We knew we were a young team but the guys have shown maturity. It's a tribute to the kids."
Raymond says the rooks - Louis-Simon Allaire (Sherbrooke, QC), Benoit Lessard (Evain, QC), Ken Morin (St. Prosper, QC), Erik Stilling (Calgary, AB) and Yan Turcotte (Laval, QC), a 6'0", 205-pound bruiser on the back end, who led the team in penalty minutes with 72 - picked up the systems quickly. McGill was hot from the outset, winning its first two games of the season by blanking their opponents, including a 2-0 win over the high-octane UQTR Patriotes. The momentum built from there and though Poitras has been rock solid, the entire team showed a commitment to defend, never changing the way they played whatever the score happened to be.
"The guys are always working hard to come back," says Poitras, a second-year Mechanical Engineering student. "We started with a couple of shutouts when the D was a question. Those were team shutouts, not goalie shutouts.
"It's fun (winning the Bill L'Heureux Trophy) and I'm happy but the way the team played had an impact. We won that as a team."
A young one, at that.
Holding down the Fort
As good as the Redmen are, if they want to earn their first Queen's Cup in 60 years, it will take something that's never been done before - a win in the wild Fort William Gardens. No Lakehead opponent has ever walked out of the Thunder Bay barn with a playoff victory. The Wolves are a spotless 12-0 in five post-seasons of OUA play in the home rink.
"It's gonna be unbelievable," Lakehead forward Dan Speer (Thunder Bay, ON) says of the opportunity to host the Queen's Cup at home. "There's about 4,000 people crammed in there. It's a building that holds so many memories."
Home hardware
As Lakehead captain Joel Scherban (Thunder Bay, ON) prepares to play his last game ever at home, he'll have five years of outstanding memories to look back on. Of course he has a few mementos, too. Scherban is one of the most decorated players in OUA hockey history, having won a boatload of hardware. The big forward has three OUA and two CIS Most Sportsmanlike Awards, one OUA and one CIS MVP (won last season) and five consecutive first-team all-star nods. The Team Canada captain from last year's Universiade is also the OUA's 2006 nominee for the prestigious Randy Gregg award. Scherban was also a draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins - he went 196th overall back in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.
On deck"¦
With Poitras between the pipes, McGill has a bonafide number one star to lead the way for the team. Take a peek down the bench and you'll see there's actually two go-to-guys for Coach Raymond's talented bunch. Redmen rookie Jean-Michel Filiatrault (Laval, QC) hasn't seen as much time in the cage as Poitras but, as crazy as it may seem, his numbers are actually superior. The Management major, who has played in two Memorial Cups as a member of the Quebec Remparts and the Rimouski Oceanic (alongside NHLer Sidney Crosby last year in London), was undefeated in seven OUA games, going 6-0-1 with a startling 0.71 gaa and a .959 save percentage. He pitched shutouts in five of the seven outings. Given Filiatrault's pedigree, the starter has little in the way of advice for his good friend.
"I've got nothing to tell him," Poitras says with a laugh, suggesting that the kid is likely even better than himself. "He's a great competitor, just like me."
"They're both amazing," says McGill forward Shawn Shewchuk (Lloydminster, AB). "You don't get 12 shutouts without some great goaltending."
Provincial town
There's a real local flavour on the Thunderwolves. Five team members hail from the hometown hockey hotbed of Thunder Bay. But the Lakehead program has attracted some talent from all over the Great White North, with four provinces in total being represented. Two Wolves arrived from British Columbia; defenceman Kris Callaway, North Delta and forward Brad Priestlay, Kamloops; four are from Alberta; defenceman Erik Lodge, Innisfail, defenceman Matt Jacques, Fort Saskatchewan, goalie Grant McCune, Sherwood Park and forward Mark Robinson, Okotoks; and one lone player is from Quebec; defenceman Hugo Lehoux from St. Elzear.
The Cup runneth over
For over 100 years, university hockey players have battled for the Queen's Cup. The trophy was first awarded in 1903 to the champion Redmen, who won the first of 13 provincial championships that season. McGill is second all-time for most Queen's Cup wins behind the Toronto Varsity Blues, who won 41, the last of which came in the 1992/93 season. The Blues hold the record for most consecutive Cup wins with 11 - from 1914/15 to 1928/29 (no competition took place during the WWI years), while Toronto and McGill share the second-longest streak at eight straight Cups. UQTR has manufactured the most recent run of dominance, having won five consecutive seasons from 1998/99 to 2002/03. The Patriotes also nabbed the CIS University Cup in two of those years.
2006 OUA Queen's Cup
Saturday, March 11, 7:30 pm @ Fort Williams Gardens in Thunder Bay, ON
No. 2 McGill Redmen vs No. 5 Lakehead Thunderwolves
Pioneer Petroleums and Pizza Pizza are the official sponsors of the Men's and Women's OUA Hockey Playoffs.
- O U A -
(Photo: Lakehead captain Joel Scherban, one of the most decorated players in OUA history, plays his final home game in this Saturday's Queen's Cup.)
Enquires can be addressed to:
David DiCenzo
Communications and Media Relations Coordinator
Ontario University Athletics
Phone: 905-540-5156
Fax: 905-540-5149
Email: david.dicenzo@oua.ca
Web: www.oua.ca
