Western and McGill to face off in 101st Queen's Cup
HAMILTON, Ont. – The men's hockey rivalry between the Western Mustangs and McGill Redmen will continue this weekend, as the two teams will do battle for the OUA Championship in the 101st Queen's Cup, to be held at Thompson Arena on Saturday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday's contest will serve as a rematch between these two teams, who similarly met at Thompson Arena in last year's title game – one in which the Redmen came away with a 6-2 win. That victory marked McGill's third Queen's Cup championship in the last four seasons, and the sixteenth since the Cup’s inception.
Following up a 22-4-2 regular season, in which they finished one point ahead of the Mustangs for the best record in OUA, the Redmen have gone a perfect 6-0 in the playoffs. Series sweeps against Queen's, Ottawa and UQTR have led McGill to the league championship once again. The Redmen officially punched their ticket with a 5-4 win in overtime over UQTR on Saturday, March 3.
Western was also impressive throughout their postseason run. Following series sweeps over the Laurier Golden Hawks and Brock Badgers in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Mustangs earned a hard-fought 2-1 OUA West Final series victory over the Windsor Lancers. The series was a close battle with the Lancers earning an early series lead off a 4-3 win. The loss at home was more than enough to kick start the ‘Stangs, as they defeated Windsor in two straight games, 5-2 on the road and 2-0 at home, respectively. Western last won the Queen’s Cup in 2009, over McGill, and will be doubly hungry for a win after last year’s result.
There's no shortage of offence on either of these teams, as witnessed by their combined 52 goals in the playoffs thus far. Western's Keaton Turkiewicz (Brantford, Ont.) leads the way, as the OUA West MVP and winner of the 2011-12 scoring title leads all postseason scorers with 13 points. Kevin Baker (Georgetown, Ont.) is tied for third with 10 points (and first with six goals), while Steve Reese (Dorchester, Ont.) and OUA All-Rookie Zach Harnden (Thunder Bay, Ont.) have nine points apiece.
Swift Current, Sask. native Evan Vossen leads McGill with 10 playoff points, while Andrew Wright (Toronto) and Alex-Picard Hooper (Boucherville, Que.) have eight each. McGill will also rely heavily on the talents of well-rounded defenceman Marc-Andre Dorion. The St. Hubert, Que. native became the first rear guard in school history to lead the Redmen in scoring and earned East MVP honours for his contribution. Francis Verreault-Paul (Mashteuiatsh, Que.) led the league with 21 goals in the regular season.
Despite the offensive prowess of both teams, scoring may be a difficult task in this year's Ontario final. Western's Josh Unice (Holland, Ohio) and McGill's Hubert Morin (St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que.) is one of the best goaltending matchups in the league. Morin (13-4) was tops in OUA during the regular season with a 2.04 GAA, while Unice (15-4) was second at 2.10. Unice had the league's best save percentage (.931), while Morin was fourth at .921. Both goalies had four shutouts during the year. Unice, who is coming off a playoff shutout, has the edge in the postseason with a league-best 2.01 GAA. Morin is fourth at 2.57. Unice was named OUA West Goalie of the Year, and a First-Team All-Star. Morin was named to the East Second-Team for his performance between the pipes this season.
Stay tuned to OUA.ca for full results. Click here to purchase tickets to the 101st Queen’s Cup. Tickets will also be available at the door.
