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No. 5 Redmen rout Stingers before raucous Carnival crowd of 1,080
MONTREAL - Guillaume Doucet of Anjou, Que., and Evan Vossen of
Swift Current, Sask., each scored hat-tricks as fifth-ranked McGill
crushed Concordia 12-3 in a wild men's university hockey game
before a raucous, standing-room only Winter Carnival crowd of 1,080
at McConnell Arena, Wednesday. It was the largest gathering at the
950-seat rink since Nov. 4, 2006, when 1,314 crammed into the then
50-year-old facility to see McGill double Queen's 6-3.
McGill led Concordia 2-0 after the opening period and 9-1 after
two. The Redmen dominated the ice surface with a lopsided 61-21
edge in shots on goal, including a 26-7 advantage in the middle
frame (two short of the school record of 28 in a period).
The game was a wild affair that featured 122 minutes in penalties
(100 to Concordia), 82 shots on net, three shorthanded goals, four
powerplay markers and a even a female streaker -- everything but
the kitchen sink.
It marked the fifth straight win for the red-hot Redmen, who
improved to 15-2 (8-0 at home) and finally moved into first-place
in the OUA East, one point ahead of UQTR (14-2-1), who are
scheduled to play at McGill for the first time this season, on
Friday night. McGill won a pre-season meeting 7-3 in Trois-Rivieres
and another capacity crowd is expected when the bitter rivals meet
for what is expected to be an epic battle on Jan. 15.
Doucet, who has 14 goals and Vossen, with a career-high 11 markers,
now have two hat-tricks apiece and are tied for the team lead with
sniper Francis Verreault-Paul, who had a three-point night,
including his CIS-leading 17th goal. The sophomore centre from
Mashteuiatsh, Que., currently tops the OUA scoring race with 35
points in 15 games, two ahead of linemate Alexandre Picard-Hooper
of Boucherville, Que., who collected five assists and sits second
among OUA point-getters with a 6-27-33 record in 17 contests.
In all, eight different players scored for McGill, including
shorthanded goals from freshman forward Christophe Longpre-Poirier
of Longueuil, Que., and sophomore defenceman Marc-Andre Dorion of
St. Hubert, Que., who is first among all OUA rearguards with a
6-19-25 record in 17 contests. McGill's PK unit leads the league
with an .899 success rate and has now scored 10 shorthanded goals
in 28 games overall, two shy of the single-season school
record.
Other Redmen marksmen who hit the bulls-eye were freshman
Jean-Francois Boisvert (his 6th) of Mirabel, Que., sophomore Andrew
Wright (7th) of Toronto, and rookie Patrick Belzile (3rd) of St.
Eloi, Que.
Replying for the Stingers was Marc-Andre Element of Cadillac, Que.,
with his 9th and 10th goals of the season and Montrealer P.J.
Corsi, a son of former Concordia and Edmonton Oilers goaltender Jim
Corsi, who tallied his first CIS goal.
The dozen goals were the most ever scored by McGill against their
cross-town rivals and marked only the second time in 179 lifetime
meetings with Concordia that the Redmen had reached double digits
in scoring. Their previous high was a 10-5 conquest at McConnell
Arena on Oct. 31, 1986. McGill has won their last five
confrontations against the Stingers and now owns a 20-3-1 record in
the last 24 match-ups and a 76-89-14 lifetime mark against
Concordia.
The cellar-dwelling Stingers, who dropped to 4-13-0, play at
ninth-place Ottawa (4-14-1) on Jan. 15. The top eight teams in the
division qualify for playoffs and the last playoff berth in the OUA
East is currently held by RMC at 4-11-3.
REDMEN RAP: McGill is chasing their team record of 12 SHGs which
has been accomplished twice: in 40 games played during 1987-88 and
in 37 games during the 1995-96 season... The Redmen continue to
lead the nation in scoring and are averaging 6.29 goals per game...
Defensively, they have the fifth-best record in the CIS, allowing
an average of 2.47 goals against.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman, McGill Athletics & Recreation
