OUA Men's Hockey Roundup (Feb. 12)
February 7, 2018
Laurier 4 Waterloo 2
WATERLOO, Ont. (February 8, 2018) - With 1005 fans roaring in the stands, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team played their final installment of the Battle of Waterloo where they beat the Waterloo Warriors 4-2 in the Battle at the Aud to give head coach Greg Puhalski his 100th regular season victory.
The win marks the second year in a row that the Hawks have won the Battle at the Aud and also means the purple and gold took the season series 3-1 from their cross-town rivals. Laurier's victory over the Warriors wraps up the season-long Battle of Waterloo competition with an 11-4-4 record in favour of the Golden Hawks.
After a scoreless opening period, Brandon Robinson (Pickering, Ont.) started the scoring for the Hawks in the second period with a power play goal. The tally was the former Rangers eighth of the season and gives him a team-leading 22 points for the year.
Midway through the frame the purple and gold tallied two more goals off of the sticks of Trevor Sauder (Tavistock, Ont.) and rookie Kalob Witzell (Kitchener, Ont.) to secure a 3-0 lead to finish the period. For Witzell, playing in this third career game, it was the first goal of his OUA career and in the process, became the 22nd player to score for Laurier this season.
"It felt good to score my first goal as a Golden Hawk and to ultimately win a game that was so big for us," reflected Witzell. "What to expect from me is that I will keep it simple and play the best I can in every game."
Heading into the final frame, Danny Hanlon (Waterloo, Ont.) found the back of the net for his seventh of the season to further the Hawks lead.
The Warriors started to apply to pressure late in the third and responded with back-to-back goals from Keigan Goertz (New Hamburg, Ont.) and Zac Coulter (Owen Sound, Ont.). However, the goals were too little, too late for the hosts as Laurier officially eliminated Waterloo from the playoffs with the 4-2 victory.
Helping pave the way for the purple and gold was defenceman Mac Clutsam (Flamborough, Ont.) who protected the blue line, blocked shooting lanes and tallied two assists on the night.
Colin Furlong (Cambridge, Ont.) was solid between the pipes as he took the win in net denying 37 shots on goal.
"Winning against your cross-town rivals is a special kind of victory, especially since a bunch of the players on the opposing team are friends who I know work hard and are great players," said Furlong after the victory. "It felt good that we broke the six-game losing streak and most importantly I think it was what the team needed as we head into playoffs. The Battle of Waterloo trophy was just a great bonus."
On the other side of the ice, Warriors' goalie Mike Morrison took the loss as he stopped 43 of the 47 shots on goal.
The Hawks will look to continue their winning ways in their last regular season game as they face off against the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday, February 10 at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
Source: laurierathletics.com
February 8, 2018
Windsor 5 Western 3
The Windsor Lancers men's hockey team made the trip up the 401 to take on the Western Mustangs. The Lancers currently find themselves tied with the Varsity Blues for the last playoff spot in the OUA West and subsequently needing a big win in London. Despite a 3-1 deficit the Lancers were able to power back with four unanswered goals to beat the Mustangs in London, 5-3.
Game Stats
Despite outscoring the Mustangs, the Lancers were slightly outshot. The Lancers put 31 shots on net while Western managed to shoot 34 shots at Reinhart.
The Lancers had a clean sheet as far as the refs were concerned, not being called for a single penalty. The Mustangs played disciplined as well, only serving four minutes on two whistles.
The Lancers defense had a great effort in the third period, the eight shots the Mustangs managed was their lowest output of the game, keeping the Lancers' small lead intact.
Game Flow
The Mustangs got things going a little more than halfway into the first period when Ray Huether was able to get the puck past Jonathan Reinhart. The Mustangs offense kept their foot on the gas and was able to increase their lead at the 12:28 mark of the first period when Mitchell Fitzmorris scored. Luckily the Lancers were able to answer before the period was over. The answer came in the form of Ryan Shaw banging home a rebound to cut the deficit in half going into the first intermission.
Western's Fitzmorris opened the scoring in the second period when Trevor Warnaar helped Fitzmorris get one past Reinhart just four minutes into the period. Down 3-1 the Lancers needed to have the next goal. The Blue and Gold did better than getting the next goal, they got the next three.
Alex Friesen was able to get one past the Mustangs' Luke Peresinni just before the end of the second period to go into the final intermission facing a manageable one goal deficit. In the third, Brennen Feasey took matters into his own hands, netting a power play goal just over six and half minutes into the period. Feasey got on the board again not even three minutes later as the Lancers took their first lead of the game with 11 minutes and change left. Lancers captain Blake Blondeel iced things away with an empty net goal with just over a minute left as the Lancers playoff hopes stayed alive, 5-3.
Source: golancers.ca
York 2 Guelph 6
GUELPH – The bigger the stage, the better the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team performs. On an evening when some of the longest-serving Gryphons were honoured, the experienced Guelph team was at its best. The Gryphons pumped in four first-period goals to defeat the York Lions 6-2 on Senior Night at the Gryphon Centre Arena.
J.P. Villeneuve, Manny Gialedakis, Trevor Morbeck, Josh McFadden, Tryg Strand, and captain Scott Simmondswere recognized in a pre-game ceremony. And like Guelph did on both Aggies Night and the Frosty Mug, once the puck dropped, the goals came quickly and often. No. 7 Guelph (20-6-1) went on to dominate the defending OUA champion Lions in a chippy game, winning for the ninth time in 11 games.
Five of those seniors found the scoresheet against the Lions, who yanked starting goaltender Mack Shields after Guelph tallied three goals on its first eight shots.
"It was an emotional night for us because it was the last regular season home game for these guys," head coach Shawn Camp said of the veterans. "Everyone wanted to put their best foot forward to honour what they've done for our program. And the seniors were great."
Rookie Todd Winder scored twice (his 15th and 16th goals of the season) and added two assists, while Simmonds (two points), Strand, Villeneuve, Zach McFadden also had goals. Morbeck and Josh McFadden each registered an assist, with Cody Thompson contributing four helpers.
Guelph goaltender Andrew Masters made 27 saves for his 12th win of the season.
Camp was clear about what these particular seniors have done to shape the Gryphon program on the ice.
"This is a group of champions," said Camp. "Many of these guys have won an OUA championship so they know what it takes to help get us back there. The best part is that they've all played a lot of games. They've been very durable players in their time here and have all contributed in different ways to make our culture so positive."
The Gryphons have been up to the task in their biggest games this season. They thoroughly beat Toronto 4-1 on Aggies Night back on Nov. 2 and shutout the Laurier Golden Hawks 5-0 in front of a crowd of 4,715 in the recent Frosty Mug at the Sleeman Centre. Guelph also pulled out a dramatic victory last Friday in Toronto against third-place York on a Gialedakis goal with just two seconds remaining when the teams met.
"I hope they they rise for the playoffs, too," Camp said with a smile.
The explosive Gryphon offence showed its potential and built a 4-0 lead in a span of just over five minutes. The younger McFadden got things rolling when he hopped on a loose puck and beat Shields at the 7:35 mark. Just 70 seconds later, brother Josh passed to Thompson, who found Winder near the crease to make it 2-0. Winder was back at it moments later, batting in a puck after a Thompson shot attempt.
York pulled Shields at that point but backup Alex Fotinos fared no better. The senior Strand skated in from the right wing and wired a low shot past the helpless goalie at 12:37. The Gryphons celebrate one of six goals on the night
The game got ugly with a parade of players from both teams making their way to the box. The Gryphons ran into some penalty trouble midway through the second period after Zach McFadden received a 10-minute misconduct and Morbeck also took a penalty. Daniel Nikandrov cashed in on the ensuing York power play just 10 seconds later to make it 4-1. Josh McFadden was then whistled for two minors in one sequence but Guelph killed off the four-minute man advantage for the Lions.
The ill will continued, first with offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct minors and then another 10-minute misconduct for Guelph's Michael Stevens, who hit a York player into the end boards. But the Gryphons came out unscathed and even extended the lead when Simmonds raced to the net on a two-on-one and finished off a nice feed from Thompson at 17:40. Villeneuve made it 6-1 when he beat Fotinos with just 31 seconds in the period.
"We had a great start to the game, a lot of energy," said Camp. "We got a little undisciplined in the second period but we pulled it together in the third. We finished the game the right way."
York's Colton Vanucci closed out the scoring with a shorthanded goal in a physical third period. The teams combined for 68 penalty minutes on the night.
Guelph sits first place in the OUA West with 41 points. The Gryphons, who lead the OUA West with 116 goals, wrap up the regular season Friday night in Toronto against the second-place Ryerson Rams.
Source: gryphons.ca
February 9, 2018
Waterloo 4 Lakehead 5
In a battle that went back and forth all night, the Lakehead Thunderwolves came out on top with a 5-4 overtime victory over the Waterloo Warriors in front of 2,204 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Friday.
Daniel Del Paggio opened the scoring by tipping the puck past Waterloo goalie Trevor Martin at 10:18 of the first, with Billy Jenkins and Matt Alexander assisting.
Jenkins pounced on Del Paggio’s rebound while the Wolves were on the power play to put Lakehead up 2-0 at 13:55.
The Warriors got back into the game midway through the second on a 5-on-3 power play when Daniel Perigo finished off a tic-tac-toe play from the edge of the crease that Wolves’ netminder Nic Renyard had no chance on.
Waterloo evened the score at 2-2 with 3:03 to go in the middle stanza with Eric Diodati redirecting a point shot past Renyard.
Lakehead regained the lead while holding a two-man advantage 5:53 into the third on Matt Alexander’s blast from the top of the circle, with the assists going to Dillon Donnelly and Scott Gall.
The Warriors’ Mike Moffat knotted the score at 8:43 with another power play marker, but the Wolves replied just 26 seconds later when Gall tapped the puck in from the doorstep after a nice set-up by Brennen Dubchak and Dylan Butler.
Diodati scored his second of the night on a deflection with 5:49 remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.
The extra session was a barnburner, with both sides getting some great chances. Butler was stoned by Martin on a penalty shot, and Renyard made a brilliant save on Diodati on a breakaway.
Lakehead finally ended it on a 2-on-1 rush, with Del Paggio feeding Gall who fired the puck past Martin high on the glove side to give the Thundewolves the victory.
Final shots on goal in the game were 44-41 for Waterloo.
Both sides went 2-for-5 on their power play chances for the night.
Source: Thunderwolveshockey.com
UQTR 2 Carleton 4
OTTAWA, ON — A strong start from the offence powered the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team to a 4-2 win over the visiting UQTR Patriotes in the last regular season at the Ice House.
“We thought they would be really emotional and wanted to take advantage of that,” Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen said about the Patriotes, who will not be in the post season for the first time since 1979 after losses to uOttawa and McGill last weekend.
The Ravens scored 34 seconds into the first period when defenceman David Weckworth (Kanata, ON) fired a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle that beat UQTR goalie Sebastien Auger.
UQTR tied the game up on the power play when Elie Berube tipped a pass from Christophe Boivin into an empty net with Ravens goalie Francois Brassard (Gatineau, QC) unable to slide across.
The shots finished 14 to 10 in favour of the home squad at the end of one.
Carleton added to their lead early in the second when Dalen Hedges (Ottawa, ON) circled the UQTR net and threw the puck out front where Adam Chapman (Barrie, ON) tucked it in through Auger’s five hole.
The Ravens extended the lead to two when Jared Steege (Cobden, ON) made a tape-to-tape pass to linemate Alexandre Boivin (Ottawa, ON) and he tipped it past a sprawling Auger.
UQTR cut the lead to one when Berube picked up a rebound and found Alexandre Leclerc and he wristed the rebound through Brassard’s legs.
UQTR led the period in shots by a 15 to 12 margin.
Carleton regained their two-goal cushion halfway through the third when Evan de Haan (Ottawa, ON) wired a slapshot from the point that Ryan Van Stralen (Prescott, ON) redirected past Auger.
UQTR pulled Auger for the extra attacker with under two goals left but, the Ravens were able to hold off the attack to secure the win.
“I thought it was a bit too sloppy for our liking,” said Van Allen in a post-game interview. “We will take the win, but we are going to have to clean it up if we are going to go far in the playoffs.”
The Ravens travel to Montreal for a battle with the Concordia Stingers in their regular season finale at the Ed Meagher Arena tomorrow night at 7:30 pm.
Source: goravens.ca
Toronto 1 Brock 3
The Brock University men's hockey team defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues by the score of 3–1 Friday night at the Seymour Hannah Centre.
Prior to the game, the Badgers recognized 11 graduating players alongside their families as well as their graduating student support staff.
Brock opened the scoring three minutes into the opening period as Skylar Pacheco and Brody Silk setup Mitch Nardi for his third goal of the season and the 1-0 lead.
The Varsity Blues looked for the equalizer as they peppered Brock starter Clint Windsor, who was outstanding between the pipes, but could not solve him as Windsor game up with three big saves late in the second period to hold the 1-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Late in the third period. Brock went up 2-0 as Matt MacLeod found Ayden MacDonald who buried his ninth goal of the season. Brock would then make it 3-0 with just under a minute remaining as Mack Lemmon added the empty-netter with Silk and Josh Timpano adding the assists. With the goalie pulled and a power play Toronto's Aidan Wallace wold spoil Windsor's shutout scoring with 15 seconds left in regulation.
In goal, Windsor registered a game high 40 saves while Toronto starter Andrew Hunt finished with 23 saves in the loss.
Source: gobadgers.ca
Guelph 6 Ryerson 2
TORONTO, Ont. – The playoffs are less than a week away for the No. 7-ranked Gryphons men's hockey team. And they will be entering the postseason in fine form.
Friday night in Toronto at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the Gryphons used a four-goal third period to blow past the Ryerson Rams 6-2. It marked the second straight night the Gryphons exploded for six goals after winning by an identical 6-2 score line over York on Thursday night in Guelph. Todd Winder and Cody Thompson each scored twice as the Gryphons closed out their regular season schedule with their 21st win of the season. The Gryphons (21-6-1) will enter the OUA playoffs as the top-seed in the OUA West but will need to wait until Saturday night to see who their first-round opponent will be.
Friday night's game between the OUA West-leading Gryphons and the second-place Ryerson Rams marked the two team's second meeting in less than a week. After the Rams edged the Gryphs 5-4 back on February 3, the Gryphons wasted no time building up an early lead in the re-match. Cody Thompson celebrates a goal vs RyersonGryphons third year winger Cody Thompson scored :38 seconds into the opening period, and followed that up with another goal just over a minute later. Thompson's third multi-goal game of the season came one night after a four-point night versus York (4 assists). Thompson would also later add an assist to finish with a three-point night on Friday.
Despite the early hole, the host Rams would battle back to tie the game at 2-2, setting the stage for an explosive third period by the Gryphs. Rookie sensation Todd Winder would give the Gryphons a 3-2 with a power play goal just over two minutes into the final period. Veteran defenceman Josh McFadden helped set up the goal by jumping into the rush and making a great pass to set up Winder for his team-leading 17th of the season.
After Trevor Morbeck banged home a rebound to make it 4-2 Guelph, Winder would strike again, this time undressing Ryerson goalie Taylor Dupuis on a breakaway for his second of the night and 18th on the season. Winder's 18 goals puts him just one off the U SPORTS leading goal scorers (four players tied at 19). Captain Scott Simmonds would cap off the scoring after converting on a penalty shot for his 12th of the season.
First-year goalie Andrew Masters made 28 saves for his 13th win of the season. The Kitchener native made several huge saves at the end of the second and beginning of the third periods to keep the game knotted at 2-2.
The Gryphons will host either the Windsor Lancers or Toronto Varsity Blues in the opening round of the playoffs (best-of-three series), which will get underway on Thursday, February 15 at the Gryphon Centre. The Gryphons will have to wait until 10pm-ish on Saturday night to find out who their playoff opponent is, with both the Lancers and Varsity Blues are in action on Saturday evening.
Source: gryphons.ca
McGill 3 Concordia 4
MONTREAL -- Anthony Beauregard scored once, added an assist and was credited with the lone marker in a post-overtime shootout as Concordia rallied from a two-goal deficit midway through the third period to edge fourth-ranked McGill 4-3 in the 31st annual Ronald Corey Cup game to wrap up the regular season of OUA men's hockey for the Redmen, before a capacity crowd at Ed Meagher Arena, Friday.
McGill, which split their four-game season series with Concordia, are now 101-98-14 in 213 lifetime confrontations with the Stingers, including a 17-9-3 lifetime record in Corey Cup play since the annual battle for local college hockey supremacy was initiated in 1988. The Stingers are 10-18-3 in Cup play, including two games against UQTR.
The official shots on goal were even at 32-32 but the McGill count had it at 39-33 for the Redmen, including a 4-1 edge in overtime. Both teams were tied at 1-1 after the opening period but McGill led 2-1 after two and went up 3-1 in the third before the Concordia comeback.
"We played a solid game," said McGill bench boss Kelly Nobes, whose troops could've coasted as they had already clinched the OUA's top seed with a 22-4-2 record, and are just awaiting to learn of their next opponent for the OUA best-of-three quarter-finals, slated to open on Valentine's Day. "Given the circumstance we wanted to play a solid game tonight and we did. In preparing for the upcoming playoffs it was a good amount of adversity for us tonight, with the way the game went and what we saw. It just helps to prepare us for next week and beyond."
The game featured 18 minor penalties, split evenly, and there could have easily been another dozen calls. The visitors were 3-for-8 with the man-advantage and 7-for-8 on the penalty kill. McGill finished second in the OUA and third in the nation with a stingy PK success rate of 88.4 per cent. The power-play ended up 10th in the OUA at 17.9 per cent.
"You could say good things about both our (special teams) units tonight," said Nobes. "Our power play got three goals and our penalty kill was real good. Those are where they should be at this point in the year. We keep tweaking them, but it's good to see the PP get going at the right time of the year."
Beauregard, a sophomore who leads the country in scoring with a lofty 19-41-60 record in 27 games, was the sixth and final shooter and the only one to find the back of the net in the shootout.
Defenceman Nikolas Brouillard of St. Hilaire, Que., opened the scoring for the Redmen with his first of two, on a power-play goal at 2:18 of the first period, but Beauregard tied things up at 10:34.
Guillaume Gauthier, a sophomore centre from Ste. Marthe sur le Lac, Que., restored McGill's lead on the man-advantage at 16:24 of the second.
Brouillard, a 5-foot-11, 168-pound transfer from Orlando of the ECHL, added another power-play marker to make it 3-1 at 6:06 of the third.
"He comes as delivered," said Nobes of Brouillard, a two-time all-star rearguard in the QMJHL, who's recorded five points -- three of them goals -- in three games since becoming eligible to play in late January. "He's an offensive defenceman and he scores goals and creates offence. It's great to have him as an addition to the team at this point in the season."
Charles-Éric Légaré narrowed the gap to one at 9:41 and teammate Philippe Hudon forced overtime with a power-play goal on a disputed play at 15:23. McGill argued that Hudon had deflected the puck with his stick above shoulder height. A video replay appeared to sustain the Redmen objection but they are not used in college hockey. The officials met near the penalty box to discuss the play and eventually ruled that the goal was good.
After a highly-entertaining five-minute, 3-on-3 extra session solved nothing, the teams proceeded to the dreaded shootout.
Jerome Verrier, Keanu Yamamoto and Brouillard all came up empty for the Redmen, while Massimo Carozza and Philippe Sanche were turned away for Concordia before Beauregard sealed the result.
Verrier, a junior centre from Drummondville, Que., did collect a pair of assists in the game to finish second in the OUA scoring race with a 12-29-41 record in 28 games. It's the highest point total for a McGill player since 2015-16 when defenceman Samuel Labrecque registered a 16-28-44 total in 28 games. The last time that a McGill forward surpassed the 40-point plateau was in 2010-11, when both Alex Picard-Hooper (28GP: 11-47-58) and Francis Verreault-Paul (19GP: 28-14-42) accomplished the feat.
McGill netminder Louis-Philip Guindon of St. Joseph du Lac, Que., made 28 saves on 31 shots through 65 minutes as his record dropped to 18-6. The 6-foot-1, 183-pound science sophomore led the OUA in wins, shutouts (3) and goals-against average (2.22). He ranks 11th in save percentage (.917) and fourth in minutes played.
At the other end of the ice, sophomore Marc-Antoine Turcotte of Chateauguay, Que., stopped 29 of 32 for the Stingers and improved to 15-9. The dueling netminders, who played against each other for years in the QMJHL, bumped fists in a sign of respect at centre-ice just before the shootout.
The Redmen (22-4-2) begin their playoff campaign with an OUA East quarter-final on Wednesday, Feb. 14. They will play the eighth-place team, which will be the winner of Saturday's season-ending game between RMC (7-15-5) and Laurentian (9-17-1). If RMC wins, McGill would host them in Game 1 on Feb. 14 but if Laurentian wins, the Redmen would play Game 1 in Sudbury on Feb. 14 because of the OUA travel policy, then host the final two games on Feb. 17 and 18 (if needed).
Fourth-place Concordia (17-7-3) rounds out their season against Carleton (17-6-4) on Saturday (Feb. 10) in a battle for third-place and home-ice advantage in post-season play.
GAME NOTES: Most of the Stingers used pink-tinted hockey sticks in support of Concordia's pink-themed "Shoot for the Cure" weekend, a fundraiser for breast cancer, which will feature six home games against McGill. On Saturday, the hockey Martlets play at 3 pm, sandwiched between a basketball doubleheader, with the women's game at 2 pm, followed by the men's matchup at 4 pm. On Sunday, McGill plays an indoor soccer doubleheader at Concordia's StingerDome, with the women's kickoff slated for 1 p.m., followed by the men's meeting at 3 p.m.
Source: mcgillathletics.ca
Laurentian 1 UOIT 5
OSHAWA, Ont. – There were numerous storylines in the UOIT men's hockey team's final home game of the regular season – with arguments for each as the highlight of the evening.
Prior to defeating the visiting Voyageurs team 5-1, the Ridgebacks honoured assistant captain Ben Blasko(Kingston, Ont.), who was playing his final regular season home game with UOIT. He earned an assist in the game – his 25th of the season – to add to his single-season record setting 34 points.
That assist came on Connor Jarvis' (Port Union, Ont.) first goal of the season. Although he has been out of the lineup in multiple games this year, Jarvis finished 2016-17 with 13 goals and 20 points. Getting the monkey off his back couldn't have happened in much better fashion as he one-timed the saucer pass from Blasko past Mackenzie Savard for UOIT's third goal of the night.
"I had a couple two-on-ones before that and the defencemen made nice plays, so it was nice to finally get it across to Jarvy, even though they did get a piece of it," said Blasko. "It was nice to see him get a couple tonight and hopefully we can keep him rolling going into the playoffs."
At that point in the second period, the 16:30 mark, the Ridgebacks had already seen goals by Jack Patterson (Bedford, N.S.) in the first period and Malik Johnson's (Montreal, Que.) shorthanded marker in the second. Before the second intermission Dylan Fitze put the Voyageurs on the board as they trailed 3-1.
The next storyline – and the smile couldn't have been bigger for the birthday boy – came from Tucker White (Holden, Mass.). The 6'5 defenceman, in his rookie season with the Ridgebacks, has appeared in 23 games – earning four assists before Friday night's tilt. With a blast from the point he put the puck in the top right corner past Savard at the 9:51 mark of the third for his first OUA goal.
"I was saving it for the playoffs, but I guess it came early," White joked after the game.
Jarvis added his second of the night with an empty-net goal with 4:55 to go. The Voyageurs pulling the goalie appeared to be in hopes of sparking the offence as they're in a playoff race for the final playoff spot with the RMC Paladins and need a lone win this weekend to clinch.
Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) made 32 saves for his eighth win of the season.
UOIT will now help determine their fate tomorrow as they travel to Ottawa to face the Gee-Gees. The winner, if in regulation, will finish fifth in the OUA eastern conference and play the loser – again if in regulation – of the Carleton and Concordia game.
Regardless, the Ridgebacks will likely play Carleton or Concordia, unless the Nipissing Lakers upset the second-place Queen's Gaels.
Source: uoitridgebacks.com
Queen’s 1 Ottawa 4
Quinn O’Brien’s torrid scoring streak continued on Friday night with the forward notching a pair of goals in the third period to lead the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees men’s hockey team to a 4-1 win over the Queen’s Gaels. With the two goals against Queen’s, O’Brien extended his goal scoring streak to four games, tallying six goals along the way.
Fellow teammates were quick to declare O’Brien as the hottest goal scorer in Canada, but O’Brien preferred a humbler approach. “I think it’s just good to be able to contribute to the game in an offensive way,” he said following the game.
The Gee-Gees’ penalty kill has been especially strong as of late, but were forced to rely on the unit early on, taking three penalties in the first frame. Queen’s capitalized on this, scoring on the power play to claim an early lead. This marked only the third time in the past 11 games where Ottawa gave up a goal on the man advantage.
The second period was highlighted by defensive systems, with both teams refusing to concede an inch of space in their respective zones.
Jacob Sweeney finally broke open the deadlock with just two minutes to go in the period, unleashing a slapshot into the top corner of the goal for his third of the year. The Gee-Gees secured a stranglehold on the game with O’Brien scoring goals two minutes apart halfway through the third period. After going goalless through his first 18 games of the campaign, he now has six over the past four games.
“I think he’s been playing hard for a long time, getting close, but not getting the bounces,” assistant coach Chris Gaudet said. “He shows that working hard really pays off.”
Queen’s attempted to rally a comeback late in the game, but an empty net goal from Kevin Domingue quashed all hopes.
Domingue’s 19th goal of the season keeps him on pace with the top goal scorers in Canada. He trails only RMC’s Riley Brandt (21) and is tied with Concordia’s Anthony Beauregard for the national lead in goals.
The Gee-Gees will wrap up the regular season with a game against the UOIT Ridgebacks tomorrow night. The game will mark a battle for 5th place in the OUA East. Ottawa currently occupies the spot with 34 points while UOIT trails by a single point.
Source: geegees.ca
RMC 4 Nipissing 3
With a playoff spot already locked up and earning a single point Friday night, the Nipissing Lakers are set for the first round of the playoffs.
The Lakers came up short against the RMC Paladins, losing 4-3 in a shootout, but did manage to secure seventh place by picking up a point, erasing a 3-1 deficit in the third period.
The teams traded goals in the first period, with RMC opening up the scoring very early.
Danny Desrochers replied on the power play, set up by Matt Donnelly and Guillaume Naud.
RMC scored twice in the second period to go up 3-1 after 40 minutes, thanks to two power play markers.
Down a pair entering the third period, the Lakers stormed back, scoring twice, including a late goal with less than five minutes lef.t
Erik Robichaud made it 3-2 RMC, with assists going to Dylan Staples and Harrison Harper and then Desrochers scored his second of the game to tie things up.
Naud and Colin Campbell earned helpers on the Lakers second goal coming with the man advantage.
After a scoreless overtime, the game moved to a shootout where a lone RMC goal would be the difference.
Brent Moran was busy in net, finishing with 50 saves in the loss.
Nipissing now closes out the regular season Saturday night in Kingston against Queens.
Source: nulakers.ca
February 10, 2018
Toronto 1 York 6
The York University Lions men's hockey team posted a dominant 6-1 victory over the rival Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday night at Canlan Ice Sports in their final regular-season home game to finish in second place in the OUA West Division standings.
The win tied the Lions with the Ryerson Rams with 35 points apiece, but the Lions earn second place thanks to their 17 wins on the season, compared to 16 by the Rams. The Lions finished with a 17-10-1 record and the Rams 16-9-3.
Toronto had to win in order to qualify for the playoffs and instead will watch from the sidelines for the second straight year after finishing ninth in the division with a record of 11-16-1.
After allowing the opening goal just 5:23 into the first period, which was scored by Dean Klomp, the Lions scored six unanswered goals to win convincingly.
Defenceman Derek Sheppard got the scoring started just 37 seconds after Klomp's goal to tie the score at 1-1, where it would remain for the rest of the first period.
Midway through the second period, Daniel Nikandrov scored a shorthanded tally to give the Lions their first lead of the game, and 37 seconds later team captain Shayne Rover found the back of the net to make the score 3-1. The Lions added another before the end of the period, courtesy of Kyle Campbell on the power play at 16:12, and the Lions carried their 4-1 advantage into the final frame.
Nikandrov scored his second of the night at 5:34 to stretch the lead, and Andrew Doyle rounded out the scoring at 6:01.
Nikandrov finished with four points on the night, picking up a pair of assists to go with his two goals, while Sheppard also had two assists for a three-point effort.
Mack Shields bounced back from a tough outing on Thursday, making 32 saves and allowing just the one goal to earn the win in net. Toronto's Andrew Hunt was in net for all six Lions goals and otherwise made 30 saves.
Source: yorkulions.ca
UOIT 3 Ottawa 4
The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees men’s hockey team wrapped up the 2017/18 regular season with a 4-3 overtime win over the UOIT Ridgebacks. Heading into playoffs head coach Patrick Grandmaître says his team is feeling confident.
“We’ve been playing well. I think we can mach up well against any team,” Grandmaître said. “Our guys are starting to believe it and playing the right way. Everyone is chipping in and we don’t rely on one person.”
The game opened with a hot start for the Gee-Gees. Quinn O’Brien wasted little time before scoring to extend his recent goal streak to five games with 7 goals over that span. Before the game even reached the halfway point of the opening period, Cody Drover tallied a highlight reel goal to notch his 50th career point and double the lead.
Late in the frame, the Gee-Gees were assessed a pair of penalties and were forced to kill a lengthy five-on-three sequence. UOIT converted on the power play with only five seconds remaining to cut the lead in half. Lack of discipline continued to be a trend for the Gee-Gees, with three consecutive penalties and another power play goal against in the second period. UOIT gained their first lead of the night with a snap shot from Ben Blasko with two minutes to go in the frame.
Cooler heads prevailed for the Gee-Gees in the third as they pressured for the equalizing goal. With time dwindling on the clock, Ottawa drew a pair of calls to generate a five-on-three opportunity with only three minutes to go in regulation. After some close calls, the Gee-Gees tied the game with a one-timer from Mathieu Newcomb.
In overtime, Jacob Sweeney capitalized on a loose puck in the crease to bury it and take the game.
The Gee-Gees’ upcoming playoff opponent will be Concordia or Carleton depending on the result of other ongoing OUA games that were not completed as of press time. “Both teams are really, really good,” Grandmaître said. “I would say one team is more physical than the other one. Judging by the standings this year and our matchups and the way everything went, nothing is going to be easy. But I don't think we’ll be an easy pushover as an underdog.”
“Obviously we’ll have to create an upset, but with the confidence we have coming in, we have a chance to create that upset.”
Source: geegees.ca
Laurier 4 Lakehead 1
THUNDER BAY, Ont. (February 11, 2018) - The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team took care of business in their regular season finale on Saturday night as they defeated the Lakehead Thunderwolves 4-1.
The win, combined with the Western Mustangs 7-1 loss to the Windsor Lancers, moved Laurier into fourth place in the OUA West division standings which secured the Hawks home ice advantage for the opening round of the conference playoffs beginning next week.
The first period was scoreless as it was a battle of the goaltenders. Laurier's Colin Furlong (Cambridge, Ont.) kept his team in the game early, stopping all 20 shots he faced while Lakehead's netminder Justin McDonald (Turtleford, Sask.) saved nine.
Brandon Robinson (Pickering, Ont.) opened the scoring early in the second to score his ninth goal of the season.
This was shortly followed by Jeremy Pullara (Vaughan, Ont.) with his seventh goal of the season and, off a power play, Christian Mroczkowski (Kitchener, Ont.) with his fourth goal of the season to bring the Hawks to a 3-0 lead by the end of the frame.
Heading into the final period, Kyle Jenkins (Brampton, Ont.) scored his fourth goal of the season to further the lead before Sam Schutt (Palmer Rapids, Ont.) found the back of the net for the Thunderwolves during a power play to bring the final score to 4-1.
Furlong stood strong between the pipes as he shut down 43 shots on goal to take the win. The performance vaulted him to second in the conference with a sparkling 0.927 save percentage, the third-best mark in modern team history, while lowering his goals against average to 2.32, the third best mark in the OUA and tops in modern team history.
On the other side of the ice, McDonald took the loss as he stopped 28 of the 32 shots on goal.
Laurier will now turn their attention to the Brock Badgers, the fifth seed in the West division, who they will face in the opening round of the playoffs.
Game 1 of the series is set for Wednesday night, February 14, at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex, with puck drop at 7:07 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased at tickets.laurierathletics.com and the game will be broadcast live on OUA.tv.
Source: laurierathletics.com
Brock 3 Ryerson 0
The Brock University men's hockey team ended the OUA regular season with a 3-0 victory over the Ryerson Rams Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
With the victory, Brock finishes in fifth place in the OUA West standings and will matchup in the first round of playoffs against the fourth place Laurier Golden Hawks, who they split with during the regular season.
Brock opened the scoring 11:25 into the opening period as Adam Lloyd and Skylar Pacheco setup Cosimo Fontana for his seventh goal of the season.
Eight minutes into the second period, Chris Maniccia would beat Ryerson starter Taylor Dupuis for his third goal of the campaign with Fontana and Lloyd adding the assists.
The Badgers added an insurance marker 8:35 into the third period as Maniccia and Lloyd found Fontana who buried home his second goal of the night and eighth of the season.
In goal, Brock's Alex Brooks-Potts git the start and did not disappoint registering 34 saves for the shutout. Dupuis collected 22 saves in the loss.
The Badgers will open the first round of playoffs on the road next week against the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Badgers will host Game Two Friday night at 7:15pm at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
Source: gobadgers.ca
Carleton 2 Concordia 4
MONTREAL, QC — The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team fell 4-2 to the Concordia Stingers in Montreal in a very emotional game.
The contest was a penalty-filled affair with Carleton totalling 34 minutes in infractions.
The Stingers got on the board first, while on the power play, when Alexis Pepin tipped a point shot past Ravens goaltender Francois Brassard (Gatineau, QC).
Five minutes later the Ravens tied the game when Jared Steege (Cobden, ON) fired a shot on the Stingers’ goal that rebounded out to Alexandre Boivin (Ottawa, ON), who backhanded it up over Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte for his 11th goal of the season.
The period finished with the Ravens trailing in shots on goal by a 12-11 margin.
Emotions ran high in the second frame after Stingers defenceman Phillipe Charbonneau caught Ravens captain Brett Welychka (London, ON) with a hit along the boards. Welychka remained on the ice for a while before skating to the bench on his own.
With tempers flaring for the Ravens, Brett Gustavsen (Scarborough, ON) finished a check on Stingers captain Phillipe Hudon. Hudon remained on the ice for a long time before being helped off the ice by a pair of teammates.
With three minutes remaining in the second, the Stingers grabbed the lead when forward Phillipe Sanche sniped a goal over Brassard’s shoulder.
The second frame ended with the Ravens behind 8-7 in shots on goal.
On an early power play, in the third, the Stingers extended their lead when Pepin scored his second goal of the contest on the man advantage.
With six minutes remaining in the game Scott Oke tipped a shot past Brassard for the 4-1 advantage.
With three minutes left in the game Concordia decided to take Turcotte out of the net and give backup Antoine Dagenais some practice.
The Ravens scored their first power play marker when Ryan Van Stralen (Prescott, ON) threw the puck in front and Hayden Hulton (Kingston, ON) poked the puck past Dagenais for his first goal of the season.
The loss sets up an all Ottawa first-round playoff series with the uOttawa Gee-Gees. As the OUA East’s No.4 seed, Carleton will own home ice advantage in the best-of-3 matchup.
Source: goravens.ca
Nipissing 0 Queen’s 5
KINGSTON, Ont. (February 10, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels (19-6-3) closed out their regular season schedule with a big 5-0 win over the Nipissing Lakers (9-15-4). Jacob Brennan (Halifax, N.S.) was strong in net for the Gaels, making 37 saves, earning a shutout. Alex Row(Elizabethtown, Ont.) led the way with three assists for Queen's. The Gaels clinched second place in the OUA East with tonight's victory and set a new program record for wins in a season with 19 beating the previous record from 2016-17.
The Gaels and Lakers will now meet in the OUA playoffs as Queen's finishes second and Nipissing seventh in the OUA East.
GAME FLOW
Queen's came out fast as Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) got the goal scoring started in the first period when he beat Lakers goaltender Domenic Graham over his blocker side shoulder for his 18th goal of the campaign. Ben Fanjoy(Ottawa) followed that up with his fifth of the season at 6:09. Near the midway point of the period, Luke Bertolucci(Montrose, B.C.) was able to score his third of the season after some hard work along the boards from Row. The Gaels would head into the second period with a 3-0 lead.
The goals kept on coming in the second period, starting when Jaden Lindo (Brampton, Ont.) notched his fifth of the season at 5:13. Francesco Vilardi (Kingston, Ont.) scored his second of the season after a centering pass from Row at 14:18 to give the Gaels a 5-0 lead.
The final period was the best for Brennan as he turned aside all 14 shots that the Lakers sent his way. The Gaels were able to hold off Nipissing and preserve Brennan's shutout.
Brennan earned his eighth win of the season for the Gaels while Graham took the loss for the Lakers. Brent Moran also made an appearance in net for the Lakers, after Graham was pulled.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
Western 1 Windsor 7
The Lancer men's hockey team solidified their spot in the post season following a dominating 7-1 win over the Western Mustangs Saturday night at South Windsor Arena.
With the win, the Lancers finish the season eighth overall in the west division, and will face the Guelph Gryphons in the first round of the playoffs next week. Stay tuned to www.goLancers.ca and @WindsorLancers for playoff information as it becomes available.
Windsor took a commanding 5-0 lead before the Mustangs spoiled Jonathan Reinhart's shutout. However, the Blue & Gold retaliated quickly and captain Blake Blondeel scored less than a minute later to regain the five goal lead. Lancer goal scorers included Ben Assad (2), Todd Ratchford, Alex Friesen, Ian Parker, Kody Gagnon, and Blondeel.
Reinhart made 38 saves to secure the victory.
Source: golancers.ca
RMC 2 Laurentian 5
On Saturday night, the Voyageurs men's hockey team beat the visiting RMC Paladins 4-2.
This game was a very important game as both teams were battling for a playoff spot. The team that would leave this contest with a win would be the team to receive the 8th and final playoff spot.
This do or die contest started off early as the Voyageurs opened the scoring promptly as Richard Therrien scored his team leading 13th goal just 1:04 into the first period. Blake Forslund and Caleb Apperson assisted on the play.
RMC was quick to answer, however, just four minutes later when Deric Boudreau beat Mackenzie Savard short handed to tie the already intense contest.
RMC would add another late in the period as Bruce Hornbrook would score on the powerplay at 17:56, sending both teams to the first intermission with the Paladins up 2-1.
The Voyageurs Brent Pedersen tied the game at 9:54 with the assistance of Xavier Couture.
The Vees would then break the tie late in the second period at 17:07 from a tip goal by Richard Therrin adding to his tally. The assists on that goal would be Dylan Fitze and Kaden Ruest.
The third period was very intense as RMC showcased a very strong and valiant effort and left nothing on the table.
Moments got very tense as the Vees supplied RMC with a four minute power play with five minutes remaining, giving RMC a very good opportunity to tie and potentially the game.
The Vees' Mackenzie Savard came up large with many game saving saves, bailing the Vees out of the four minute power play.
Couture would add an insurance marker with just under a minute remaining, converting a 2-on-1 with Pedersen. After the Paladins pulled the goaltender in a last ditch effort, Luke McCaw would ice the game with four seconds remaining, making the final score 5-2.
With the win, the Voyageurs grabbed the 8th and final playoff spot and earned a date with the McGill Redmen in the first round. Game 1 goes Wednesday night at Countryside Arena at 7:35pm before shifting to Montreal on the weekend for games 2 and 3.
Source: luvoyageurs.com