M-HOCKEY PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Ravens get past Blues in double OT
Ottawa Gee-Gees @ Nipissing Lakers
The Nipissing Lakers hadn’t lost two games in a row since November.
But losing two straight in February means the season is over.
Now they’ll have plenty of time to ponder what could have been an extended playoff run.
Matthieu Methot scored his second of the game and third of the series with 11:08 remaining to break a 1-1 tie as the Ottawa Gee Gees ended the Nipissing Lakers’ OUA hockey season with a 3-1 win to complete a sweep in the best-of-three series in front of 1,702 fans at Memorial Gardens, Friday.
The Gee Gees had won the opener 5-2 in Ottawa on Wednesday, a little more than 48 hours earlier.
That’s how quickly things can slip away in a short series — the Lakers (17-7-4) had been the hottest team in the OUA down the stretch, winning eight of 10 games to put themselves in position as a division contender.
Instead, they’re one of the first teams eliminated.
“The game itself was a pretty tight playoff game,” said Lakers head coach Mike McParland. “I thought we had a little bit more push than we had the other night in Ottawa, but unfortunately, we just didn’t have enough power. We had too many guys (struggling) with the flu.
“The disappointment is immense, there’s no question. I don’t think there’s a guy in our room who thinks Ottawa is better. I think if we’re all at 100%, we show a bit different. I think it was evident tonight that we didn’t really have our normal push.”
The second-highest scoring team in the entire OUA during the regular season, the Lakers scored just three goals in the series as Ottawa netminder Russell Abbott made key stops when necessary.
Methot opened the scoring 14:22 into the game, a deflected puck bouncing right to him at the side of the net to swat a backhand past Nipissing goalie Daniel Spence.
The Lakers’ tied it 12:49 into the second period on a power play of their own, when Jeff Leaist tipped Brodie Beard’s point shot. The Lakers’ power play, however, sputtered during the second period, when they generated just two shots in six opportunities.
Methot’s game-winner came when he came off the bench to join the rush as a late attacker, taking a feed in the high slot and beating Spence over the short-side shoulder 8:52 into the third.
Alexandre Touchette sealed it with an empty-netter with 17 seconds remaining as the Lakers pressed for the equalizer.
Nipissing outshot Ottawa 23-18, but quality scoring chances were hard to come by.
“I thought their first line — Methot, (Luc Olivier) Blain and (Stephen) Blunden — was the difference,” McParland said, adding that Methot seems to “own” Nipissing, having scored a hat trick at Memorial Gardens in the Lakers’ first-ever Pink pre-season game in 2009.
McParland said the Lakers’ season was “outstanding,” but the short playoff series are tough to adjust to, a message he delivered in the dressing room after the game.
“I told them ‘I’m at a loss for words right now,’ because it’s the last think I expected,” McParland said. “I really believed we were going to win tonight. I congratulated them for an outstanding season, but we’re just a victim of a best-of-three series and opening on the road with a loss. That’s unfortunate.
“As we’ve said all year, the difference in our division was minimal and we saw that tonight. There wasn’t much difference in that game.”
The Gee Gees will move on to the OUA East semifinal, perhaps against the first-place McGill Redmen, who eliminated Queen’s with a 5-1 win in Kingston, Friday.
The Gee Gees were without a few regulars, including forwards Jon Carnevale, Matt White and Craig Moore. They dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen.
While the Methot-Blain-Blunden line found legs, Gee Gees coach Real Paiement said neither team never really got things going in the tight series.
“I thought they were both strange games,” Paiement said. “There wasn’t much flow. This game, there were more power plays to break the flow, but even with that, there wasn’t much, not a lot of nice plays either way.
“It seemed both teams were limited using their skills in both games. They (the Lakers) have more skill than us, so that probably was to our advantage to have chaotic-type games and our goalie in both games made the key saves at the right time.”
Even if they won’t be back to full health by next round, Paiement said the Gee Gees should be a more confident team, having handled Nipissing.
“The way we battled, blocked shots, did the little things and sacrificed our body for each other, and because we had a few guys out of the lineup, the fact that we did beat a good team with a short bench, everybody is going to get some confidence out of that,” Paiement said.
A year ago, the Lakers swept the first round against Queen’s but were eliminated in two straight by McGill, which affected the way McParland planned to add to the roster. He’ll need some time to digest everything before preparing again for next season.
“I’ll need 24 hours to step back and think about what we did,” McParland said. “What’s hard to judge is the physical (health) of the players in this series.
“It would be unfair to judge guys who are very good players, but unfortunately were a little bit under the weather and not able to bring what they normally bring.”
Source: Lakers Athletics
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – The Brock University men's hockey team won their first-round OUA West playoff series defeating the University of Waterloo Warriors by the score of 7-4 Friday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
Only 47 seconds into the game, Waterloo's Josh Woolley opened the scoring when he deflected a shot past Brock senior goaltender Kurt Jory (Brandon, Man.).
Brock tied the game 1-1 just two minutes later when MacEachern banged home a rebound. Seniors Ryan Allen (Fort McMurray, Alta) and Isaac Smeltzer (Estevan, Sask.) added the assists.
At 10:28, the Badgers took a 2-1 lead when Smeltzer fired a shot at Warriors goaltender Keaton Hartigan and he could not squeeze his pads to stop the puck from trickling over the goal-line. Assists went to Allen and MacEachern.
The Badgers took a two-goal lead when MacEachern scored his second of the night by stealing the puck behind the Waterloo net, sweeping out front and sliding the puck past Hartigan at 13:53.
With just over a minute left in the first period, MacEachern completed the hat-trick deflecting a point-shot from Smeltzer on a setup from Allen.
Waterloo replaced Hartigan with sophomore Justin Leclerc in goal at the end of the first period.
The Badgers took a 5-1 lead at 9:51 of the second period when Smeltzer made a quick pass to sophomore Thomas Stajan (Mississauga, Ont.) at the side of the net, who buried a one-timer past Waterloo's Justin Leclerc.
The Warriors got right back into the game with two goals in the first three minutes of the third period by Chris Ray and Woolley.
At 16:27, the Badgers took a 6-3 lead when freshman Sean Jones (Newmarket, Ont.) added his first of the postseason with assists going to Stajan and freshman Eric Bonawitz (Lewiston, ME).
Less than a minute later, the Badgers increased their lead to 7-3 when MacEachern put a lead pass to junior Josh Schram (Paris, Ont.) who streaked down the wing and buried a snap shot past Leclerc.
The Warriors Jarrett Schnurr scored a goal in the last minute of play to make the final 7-4.
In goal, Jory recorded 14 saves for the victory. Hartigan suffered the loss after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Leclerc added 21 saves.
Source: Badgers Athletics
McGill Redmen @ Queen’s Gaels
KINGSTON - Maxime Langelier-Parent of Lery, Que., scored once and added two helpers as the visiting McGill men's hockey team, ranked No.2 in the nation, coasted to a 5-1 victory over Queen's at the Kingston Memorial Centre, Friday. The result, combined with Wednesday's 3-2 win, gave McGill a two-game sweep in their OUA East best-of-three quarter-final series.
Langelier-Parent, a speedy, 6-foot-2, 225-pound centre, assisted on the game-winner by Montrealer Nicolas Biniek midway through the opening period. He then gave McGill a commanding 4-0 lead at 8:02 of the second stanza, followed by another assist, on Marc-Andre Daneau's third-period marker to make it 5-0.
His younger brother, Guillaume Langelier-Parent, a freshman forward, also tallied and Christophe Longpre-Poirier of Longueuil, Que., rounded out the scoring for McGill.
Jordan Soquila spoiled Hubert Morin's bid for a shutout with less than 15 minutes remaining in the final period.
McGill had a 43-35 edge in shots as Morin, an engineering senior from St. Georges de Beauce, Que., registered 34 saves to collect the win, improving his career record to 74-26-2 overall, including an 18-5 lifetime mark in post-season play.
Gaels netminder Riley Whitlock was credited with 38 saves in a losing cause.
"We certainly had a much-improved look tonight than we did in the series opener and it showed right off the bat. We were moving our feet, getting the puck in deep, driving the middle lane and that led to a 3-0 lead in the first period," said Redmen head coach Kelly Nobes, who was especially pleased to get goals from four of his five scorers, who combined for just seven markers during the regular season. Over their two playoff games, McGill has netted eight goals from seven different players.
"To win in the playoffs we need production from all 20 guys, so it was great to see those guys rewarded for doing the little details that need to get done to create scoring opportunities," added Nobes.
It was a somewhat costly win for McGill, however, as they lost 5-foot-10 sniper Francis Verreault-Paul, a three-time OUA leading goal-scorer, for the next two playoff encounters after he was enticed into a scuffle with 6-foot-1 blueliner Patrick McEachen, who had provoked the incident by slashing the McGill senior. It didn't appear that either player threw more than a punch but nonetheless, referee Ron Stakes assessed each a fighting major and an automatic game misconduct. The infraction was Verreault-Paul's second such major of the season and with a cumulative rule in effect, he will have to sit out the next two games.
The game featured 72 minutes in penalties, including 51 to the Gaels, who somehow managed to kill off all eight McGill power-plays. Queen's went 0-for-3 with the man-advantage.
"I thought our guys played with class tonight," said Nobes, who had a number of conversations with the referee and wasn't happy with the style of play by the Gaels, who drew five of their eight minor penalties for stick-work, to go along with a pair of checking-from-behind infractions, a fighting major, a pair of 10-minute misconducts and a game misconduct.
Source: Redmen Athletics
The Lakehead Thunderwolves beat the Guelph Gryphons in Game #2 of the OUA West Division Quarterfinals on Friday night in Thunder Bay.
Mike Quesnele looked particularly strong and was rewarded at 5:21 of the first as he lugged the puck up the ice, gained the blue line and put a low shot past Gryphon netminder Cody St. Jacques.
Jake Carrick was all over the ice in the period, and has two terrific chances to increase Lakehead’s lead, but couldn’t put the puck past St. Jacques.
The Wolves came out hungry again in the second period. Even though they started the period shorthanded after some skirmishes at the end of the first, Mike Hammond converted a beautiful pass from Jake Carrick just 1:57 into the second, to increase Lakehead’s lead to 2-0.
Guelph answered back at 10:32 of the second on the power-play, as Guelph forward Ed Gale put a nice shot over the shoulder of Lakehead goaltender Alex Dupuis, looking to rebound after a shaky outing on Wednesday.
The Thunderwolves restored their two-goal lead less than four minutes later when freshman Keith Grondin walked in from the blue line and wired a wrister over St. Jacques’ glove, putting Lakehead in front 3-1. Assists on the goal were credited to Andrew Wilkins and Quesnele.
Lakehead kept the pressure on in the third period, clearly not wanting to let Guelph gain any form of momentum. The Wolves played a smart, physical game, getting the puck in deep and blocking a lot of shots.
Alex Dupuis was strong late in the third period making some big saves to keep Lakehead in front.
Lakehead scored its second shorthanded goal of the game with a little over two-minutes left in the game when Carrick buried on a breakaway to increase the Wolves lead to 4-1. Mitch Maunu was credited with the lone assist. Keith Grondin scored his second marker of the game with only one second remaining to make the final score 5-1 for the Thunderwolves.
Western Mustangs @ Laurier Golden Hawks
WATERLOO, Ont. – Keaton Turkiewicz netted a late third period goal to lift the Mustangs 2-1 past the Laurier Golden Hawks and into the OUA West Semi-finals. Western hosted the Golden Hawks last night and pulled ahead of the best-of-three series with a 4-2 win before finishing out the series on Feb. 17 at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex.
Kevin Baker scored Western’s second goal while also adding an assist on the game winner. Thomas Middup scored the only Laurier goal.
Both goalies backed their teams with solid goaltending, as the game remained scoreless until Middup’s goal at 5:55 of the third period. Baker followed with a tying goal for the Mustangs just 16 seconds later.
Turkiewicz added the game-winning goal with less than two minutes remaining with assists from Baker and Julian Cimadamore.
Neither team could add a power play point as Western had six chances and Laurier had three. The Mustangs outshot the Golden Hawks 55-27.
Source: Mustangs Athletics
Ryerson Rams @ UQTR Patriotes
Trois-Rivières, Que.-The UQTR Patriotes scored four goals in the second period, and added two more in the third to even the best-of-three OUA Quarter-Final match-up at 1-1, hanging on to defeat the Ryerson Rams 7-5 at Le Colisee on Saturday afternoon.
However, the Patriotes added an empty netter in the final seconds to force a third and deciding game tomorrow evening in Trois-Rivières.
After Ryerson took a 2-1 lead through the first 20 minutes on goals from Buck (Newmarket, Ont.) and Jason Kelly (Toronto), the Patriotes exploded offensively in the second with four markers. Kelly and Buck each tallied their second of the game in the middle frame to help the Rams keep pace, but a late short-handed goal by Felix Petit with 1:07 left in the second put UQTR up 5-4 heading into the final period.
The Rams were 1-for-5 on the power-play, while UQTR was 0-for-7. Troy Passingham (Mississauga) stopped 31 shots for the Rams, and Guillaume Nadeau made 22 saves in the win for UQTR.
Source: Rams Athletics
The Windsor Lancers Men's Hockey team continued their impressive late season play as they swept the York Lions in the OUA West Quarter-Finals with an impressive 5-1 win on Saturday night in Toronto.
With the victory and the series sweep, the Lancers now advance to round two of the OUA playoffs starting next week.
On Saturday night, the Lancers jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage as rookie Spencer Pommels scored his first ever post season goal to the give the visitors the lead. Ryan Green was credited with the assist.
York answered four minutes later as Rob Labute scored on the man advantage to even the score up at 1-1.
The Lancers would continue to apply pressure on the Lions and were rewarded again midway through the first as Steve Ferry scored his first of the post season on the powerplay to put his team ahead 2-1. Matt McCready assisted on the goal.
The second period was all Windsor as they applied tremendous pressure early in the frame and were rewarded with three straight goals.
Captain Matt McCready scored on the powerplay a minute into the period to put the Lancers ahead 3-1. D.J. Turner and Evan Stibbard were credited with assists.
Ryan Green then scored his second of the post season less then twenty seconds later to put Windsor up 4-1. Spencer Pommels and Brett Vandehogen assisted.
Finally, Evan Stibbard scored his first of the playoffs at 6:14 of the second period with assists to McCready and Drew Palmer to give the Lancers the commanding 5-1 lead.
From there on out, the Lancers shut down the Lions as Parker Van Buskirk was rock solid in net and they skated to the impressive 5-1 road win.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team edged the Guelph Gryphons with a 3-2 victory in the third and deciding game of the OUA West Division Quarter-Finals at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.
Devin Welsh scored the winner when he deflected a nice feed from Thomas Frazee over the shoulder of Guelph netminder Cody St. Jacques with only 48 seconds remaining in regulation time.
Mike Quesnele, who also assisted on Welsh’s game winner, opened the scoring for the Wolves at 5:11 of the first period on a power play goal set up by Mitch Fillman and Trevor Gamache. Guelph tied it up at 12:37 of the opening period when Zach Lillie beat Lakehead goaltender Alex Dupuis on an unassisted effort.
Both goaltenders were sharp in this game, with St. Jacques and Dupuis making plenty of big saves to keep the game tied at 1-1 through the end of the second period.
Guelph broke the stalemate with a power play goal by Edward Gale from Nathan Martine, giving the Gryphons a 2-1 lead at 4:14 of the third period. Lakehead responded quickly with a power play marker as well, when Andrew Wilkins shoveled one by St. Jacques at 5:54 with helpers going to Fillman and Frazee.
Both goalies continued their outstanding play in the final stanza and the game appeared to be headed for overtime before Welsh netted the winner.
Carleton Ravens @ Toronto Varsity Blues
Rookie forward Tyler Liukkonen scored two goals 34 seconds apart to lead the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team to a 3-0 win over the Carleton Ravens in Game 2 of an OUA East quarter-final series on Saturday night.
Blues netminder Garrett Sheehan (Cremona, Alta.) posted 26 saves in the shut out victory.
Liukkonen opened the scoring 6:11 into the second period, taking a centering pass from fellow rookie Paul Van De Velde and backhanding the puck past Ravens goaltender Matthew Dopud (Pointe-Claire, Que.).
The Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., native struck again just 34 seconds later, roofing the puck over Dopud’s blocker off a scramble in front of the Ravens net.
The Blues held the 2-0 lead heading into the third.
Fifth-year defenceman Dan Brewer added an insurance marker with just under eight minutes remaining. The Cambridge, Ont., native capped off a beautiful 2-on-1 with a one-timer shot off a Byron Elliott pass.
Source: Varsity Blues Athletics
Ryerson Rams @ UQTR Patriotes
TROIS-RIVIERES, Que. - The Ryerson Rams men's hockey team was eliminated from the post-season Sunday night, falling 5-3 to the No. 10 UQTR Patriotes in game three of a best-of-three OUA East quarter-final series.
Tommy Tremblay opened the scoring just under three minutes into the contest to give the Patriotes an ealry 1-0 lead. The Rams would respond less than a minute later as assistant captain Greg Payne scored his third of the post-season. Jeff Desjardin gave UQTR a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes with a power play goal late in the period.
Ryerson defenceman Dean Willmott knotted the game at 2-2 early in the middle frame, scoring on the power play for his first of the playoffs. UQTR would then score once with the man advantage and once while shorthanded to go up 4-2. The Rams would get one back before the end of the frame as Jason Kelly netted his team-leading fourth goal of the post-season.
Desjardin added an insurance marker for the Patriotes just 39 seconds into the third period.
Rams goaltender Troy Passingham stopped 24 of 29 shots, while Guillaume Nadeau saved 23 of 26 shots for UQTR. The Rams were 1-for-5 on the power play and the Patriotes were 2-for-8 with the man advantage.
UQTR will face Carleton (15-10-3) in the next round.
The Rams finished the regular season with a 13-12-3 record and 29 points. The 13 victories ties the Ryerson mark for wins in a season set by the 1988-89 Rams, who were 13-12-1. The 29 points is the most recorded in a single season by the Rams. It is also the first time in 23 years that the team has posted a winning record.
The Rams roster featured 18 new players this year and 27 of 28 players are eligible to return for the 2012-13 season.
Source: Rams Athletics
Carleton Ravens @ Toronto Varsity Blues
The Carleton University Ravens men’s hockey team has booked its rematch in the second round of the playoffs with the UQTR Patriotes, after knocking off the pesky University of Toronto Varsity Blues 4-3 in overtime on Sunday night.
Matthew Dopud (Pointe-Claire, Que.) provided sturdy goaltending with 24 saves for the Ravens in the win, including six saves in the first overtime period, marking the second straight season Carleton has knocked off an offensively-gifted Toronto team in the opening round of the playoffs.
Garrett Sheehan (Cremona, Alta.) dazzled the crowd at Varsity Arena for the second straight night despite the loss, stopping 52 shots and at times single-handedly keeping the Varsity Blues alive.
After dominating play for the most part of a 3-0 shutout loss the previous night, the Ravens knew they would have to test Sheehan early and often. But in the early going, it was the Blues who came out looking to strike.
With Linden Bahm (Kinburn, Ont.) in the box just 13 seconds into the game, the Blues’ regular season scoring leader Byron Elliott (Burlington, Ont.) took advantage at the 30-second mark to give Toronto a 1-0 lead.
The Blues continued applying pressure and were rewarded just minutes later when Kyle Ventura (Scarborough, Ont.) beat Dopud to give Toronto a 2-0 edge in the opening minutes of the game.
Finding themselves in a do-or-die situation the Ravens found a spark in the form of second-year forward Joe Pleckaitis (Ottawa), who buried Carleton’s first goal of the game past Sheehan to cut his team’s deficit to one.
From there, the Ravens dominated play for the rest of the first period, but Sheehan continued to show confidence, turning aside a barrage of Carleton scoring chances. The Ravens defence, meanwhile, held Toronto’s highly-talented offence in check the rest of the way.
In the second frame, Carleton continued to carry the play, but for the opening half of the period couldn’t solve Sheehan. Halfway through the period, Tyler Turcotte (St. Catharines, Ont.) took what would turn out to be a costly cross-checking penalty.
Brandon MacLean (Burlington, Ont.) continued his late-season hot streak to take advantage with the extra man, tying the game at two goals apiece with his second goal of the playoffs.
With Carleton continuing to pepper Sheehan with shots, the Ravens would open the door for the Blues to get back on the board on a hooking call on Christian Bourdeau-Mifflen (Ottawa) that would send the offensive defenceman to the penalty box. On the ensuing power play, Matt Walters (Winnipeg) fired from the point through traffic to beat Dopud, restoring Toronto’s lead.
In the third period, with Carleton facing elimination and a pressing need to get on the board, Jordan Deagle (Lethbridge, Alta.) took advantage of some key third-period minutes when his shot beat Sheehan top corner to once again even the score.
From then on, both goaltenders shut the door, forcing an extra overtime period. The first overtime solved nothing, sending both teams to the dressing rooms for a much-needed 15-minute break, which seemed to work in Carleton’s favour.
Early in the second overtime period, Ventura was sent off the ice for a tripping penalty, giving the Ravens a golden opportunity to get the winning goal. And after struggling through most of the regular season, Carleton’s power play came through in a big way.
Manley took a pass from Bourdeau-Mifflen and made no mistake, burying his first of the playoffs past a helpless Sheehan to give the Ravens a 4-3 overtime win and the win in the series.
Source: Ravens Athletics
OUA SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Stay tuned for scheduling for OUA divisional Semifinal action.
