Gaels reclaim Carr-Harris Cup with 5-1 win over RMC Paladins

KINGSTON, Ont. (February 5, 2015) - The Queen's Gaels (12-12-1) had no trouble taking down the RMC Paladins (0-21-3) with a 5-1 victory in front of 3,295 at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in the 29th annual Carr-Harris Cup. The attendance mark is a record for the Carr-Harris Cup game beating the previous mark set in 2013.

Patrick McGillis (Calgary) was named MVP of the Carr-Harris Cup for the Queen's Gaels while Paladins forward Bruce Hornbrook was honoured by being named MVP of the game for RMC. Queen's improves to 18-9-2 in the Carr-Harris Cup against RMC having scored a total of 124 goals for compared to 80 against.

Brett Foy (Niagara Falls, Ont.) led the Gaels offensively with a pair of goals while Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) added a goal and an assist. Jake Bullen scored the lone marker for the Paladins.

"It was a great performance for us," said Gaels head coach Brett Gibson after the game. "If their goalie doesn't make a lot of those saves, it could have been a lot worse than it was. Credit to our guys, they got the ugly goals and they got the win. The win keeps us alive for our goal of fourth place. We've got a big game on Saturday night, we decide our own fate. We want to avoid that sixth slot. "

In a game that saw the intensity pushed to the limit from both benches Gibson in the end supported the result from his players. "I said to the guys at the start, we can't afford to lose any bodies to stupidity. All in all, it's hockey, game of emotions, they handled it alright."

The Gaels and Paladins kept the action close early on throwing big hits to get the crowd into the game. At the 6:21 mark the Gaels were the first to strike. Ryan Bloom (Calgary, Alta.) was able to break through the RMC defence and find Brett Foy (Niagara Falls, Ont.) who made a nice move to beat RMC netminder Evan Deviller for the goal, his fourth of the season. Collecting the second assist along with Bloom was Yannick Laflamme (Thetford Mines, Que.). A few minutes later the Gaels went to work on the powerplay and after receiving a pass from McGillis, rookie defenceman Abraham fired a point shot that made its way through a screen and in between the legs of Deviller.

RMC responded at the 15:36 mark of the first as Jake Bullen fired a shot through that beat Gaels starting goalie Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) and cut the Gaels lead in half. The Gaels finished the period outshooting RMC 17-9.

After trading powerplays in the second Queen's found themselves on the man-advantage once again. Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) took an initial point shot that was blocked in front then pulled the puck out of a pile in front and lifted a shot over Deviller into the back of the net. Corey Bureau (Amherstview, Ont.) and Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) added the two assists on the goal.

The Paladins went to the powerplay once more before the period ended but the Gaels were able to kill it off. Final shots for the period were 11-6 in favour of Queen's.

The third period saw the passion of the 129 year old rivalry come through. Both sides continued their physical play and nearing the mid-point of the third a flurry of penalties were taken by each team after the two long-time foes nearly came to blows before cooler heads prevailed. The result saw the Paladins go on the man-advantage. The Paladins could only muster a deflection that went off the cross-bar as Queen's killed off the penalty.

At the 11:32 mark Queen's went ahead 4-1 thanks to a nifty tip from Foy on a point shot from Steele that found its way to the back of the net. Laflamme added the second assist for his second point of the night for Queen's.

With five minutes on the clock, Greenaway sealed the Gaels victory scoring his first of the night straight from a faceoff to wrap up the 29th annual Carr-Harris Cup 5-1 for the Gaels. Final shots ended in favour of the tricolour 45-21.

Bailie picked up the win for the Gaels stopping 20 of the 21 shots he faced while Deviller made 40 saves for RMC in a losing effort.

The Carr-Harris Challenge Cup was initiated in 1986 by the International Hockey Hall of Fame in celebration of the hockey rivalry between Queen's and RMC, which dates back to 1886. The rivalry is the longest in the world on record.

The Gaels men's hockey team was also able to raise over $1,000 for Neil Doef who is an injured hockey player from the Smiths Falls Bears. Doef was injured in December during a game in Saskatchewan where he suffered a serious spinal cord injury. The Doef Strong movement has since raised over $100,000 for the player and his family.

Source: Queen's Gaels