Lancers host Patriotes in rematch of 111th Queen’s Cup thriller

Windsor, Ont. – Just three seasons ago, the OUA men’s hockey season came to a thrilling conclusion when UQTR’s Felix Lauzon netted the championship-clinching goal past Windsor’s Nathan Torchia 38 seconds into the third overtime. And with the 114th Queen’s Cup Championship, presented by CCM, on the horizon, it is the Lancers and Patriotes once again eyeing a historic end to their campaign.

After navigating their respective divisional gauntlets in 2025-26, both sides will enter confident that they can claim the conference cup, and while the visitors from UQTR have the edge in historic wins, the feeling of hoisting the Queen’s Cup trophy would be just as sweet for either side.

With 13 OUA titles to date, including three straight banners from 2021-22 to 2023-24, the Patriotes (20-5-3-0, 1st in OUA East) are a program familiar with banner season success. Veteran-laden squads helped them top the OUA gauntlet during that recent stretch, and it will be a pair of seniors relied upon to get them back on top this Saturday as well.

Last year’s East Division MVP Conor Frenette continued his strong play for the powerhouse Patriotes, as the team captain reached the point-per-game mark for a third straight season. To achieve the feat this time around, the first team all-star notched 15 goals and 14 assists in 27 games, ranking in the OUA’s top five in the former.

The fourth-year forward from Gatineau, Que. also added a pair of milestones to his varsity resume this season, playing in his 100th game and notching his 100th career point, demonstrating not just a reliable presence on the ice, but a productive one.

Fellow senior Félix Lafrance matched those milestones for UQTR, meanwhile, as the Saint-Eustache, Que. product hit the century mark on both fronts this year as well. As part of his memorable campaign, Lafrance reached the 30-point plateau for the first time, finishing among the OUA’s leaders with 32 overall. And while Frenette made his mark by lighting the lamp, Lafrance proved to be one of the most effective set-up men in the league with his 27 assists (2nd in OUA).

The duo will be anchoring an offence that must solve one of the best in the business between the pipes. Max Donoso, a second-year netminder for Windsor (18-7-3-0; 1st in OUA West), was the lone goalie to play 28 games on the year in what was his first full OUA campaign. He played almost 120 minutes more than any other goalie this season, finishing second in wins (17), fourth in goals-against average (2.22), and sixth in save percentage (.920).

The Windsor Spitfires alum has found yet another level this postseason, however, authoring an OUA-best 1.29 GAA and .954 save percentage as part of Windsor’s back-to-back series sweeps.

The undefeated run for the West Division goaltender of the year began with a pair of victories against the Guelph Gryphons, including a convincing 5-2 win in Game 1 of the quarterfinals and a 3-2 overtime triumph in the series-clinching Game 2. Logan Linklater played the role of OT hero in that one, but he isn’t the only Lancer to earn that moniker this postseason.

To open up their semifinal series against TMU, it was all-star Keegan McMullen – one of the OUA’s co-leading scorers from the regular season – who closed out Game 1 in the extra frame, before then netting the insurance marker in their 3-1 Game 2 win a couple nights later.

Right alongside McMullen as one of Windsor’s top scoring threats is teammate Colton Smith, who has been another potent postseason performer thus far.

The son of Los Angeles Kings head coach D.J. Smith opened up his playoffs with a hat trick, after accomplishing the feat another two times during the regular season, and he has collected four points overall during his debut quest for the Cup. The offensive acumen is just a continuation of a decorated foray onto the varsity ice for Smith, as the Windsor, Ont. local and OUA West rookie of the year represents the other of the OUA’s co-leaders in goals (21).

These electrifying contributors are a big reason the 111th Queen’s Cup finalists led the OUA with 105 goals on the year – one of just two squads to notch more than 100 overall. But the well-rounded squad does more than just score, as they also allowed the fourth-fewest goals (67), incurred the third-fewest penalty minutes, and on special teams, had a top-five powerplay (21.7%) and second-best penalty kill (86.4%).

All facets of Windsor’s game will need to be on display to counteract the Patriotes, who also offer a plethora of challenges for their opposition.

They will answer the Lancers with the league’s best goals-against average (2.12), having surrendered just 60 goals on the year – largely behind the play of second team all-star William Grimard – while also offering up a strong special teams presence. Like the Lancers, they are among the least penalized teams in the OUA (93 times shorthanded) and surrendered the fourth-fewest powerplay goals on the year (16).

And while they may not score to the same extent as their championship combatants, their ability to put pucks on net (33.6 shots per game; 4th in OUA) will keep Donoso and the host Lancers on their toes all afternoon long, much like it has along their playoff path to date.

UQTR’s latest lengthy postseason run began with a comfortable sweep of the defending national champion Ottawa Gee-Gees, who they outscored 9-2 in their two games. After dropping their semifinal opener to Queen’s, however, the Patriotes needed to dig deep with their backs against the wall; something they fared quite well in with back-to-back win-or-go-home victories.

A pair of first period goals from Anthony Munroe-Boucher and 33 saves from Grimard was enough to squeak out a 2-1 win over the Gaels in Game 2, before their dynamic puck-stopper once again stood tall to back stop them to a similarly low-scoring Game 3 triumph.

But relatively uneventful paths to this point won’t be enough to earn either side the final victory in their quest for the 114th Queen’s Cup.

Saturday’s matinee will be the first time these two teams have played in over 13 months, but it won’t take long for the division-winning sides to get reacquainted on the championship ice once the puck drops on the season finale. And after combining to provide one of the most memorable Queen’s Cup games in the event’s illustrious history just a few years back, it’s anyone’s guess as to which side will come out victorious and whether they’ll need more than the five-plus periods they required on that momentous March night in 2023.