CIS men's hockey Friday roundup: Tremblay sets new UNB points record in 4-0 win

FREDERICTON, NB - The game Friday night between the UNB Varsity Reds and the UdeM Aigles Bleus went two periods without a goal, but everything came together for the large, restless, partizan crowd in the dramatic third period when Dion Campbell (Melville, SK) finally solved P.-A. Marion (Gatineau, QC) to open the scoring at 7:17 and Hunter Tremblay (Timmins, ON) capped the offensive explosion five minutes later by setting up Jordan Clendenning (Fredericton, NB) for the final goal of the game in the 4-0 victory.

Tremblay, the CIS MVP last season, had been held pointless the last two games, and his pass that Clendenning one-timed past Marion earned him his 178th career regular season point, establishing a new UNB record. The old record was held by Tremblay's linemate his first year at UNB, Rob Hennigar, who went on to also win the CIS MVP honour, plus the BLG Award in 2008. Tremblay was much happier about the two points for his team rather than the one point for him. "I was thinking that we had a two-game slide last weekend and I didn't want to go a whole entire month on a losing streak and once the floodgates opened I thought we could get it done tonight." "It" being the UNB points record that has been perhaps weighing on him a bit.

For 47 minutes the game was deadlocked, with UdeM goalie Marion making 30 saves to that point to keep the game scoreless. Then defencemen Spencer Corcoran (Summerside, PEI) carried the puck into the Moncton zone and threaded a pass to a streaking Campbell who split the Moncton defence and deked out Marion. Just over a minute later Corcoran found himself on the other side of the ice along the goal line and "it was a delayed penalty and I saw he [Marion] was cheating over and didn't think I was going to come to the net so I just pushed it toward the net" and the puck bounced off Marion's right pad and past him. The goal was Corcoran's first as a V-Red in AUS conference play.

The next goal came just over two minutes later on the power play when fellow defenceman Ben Wright (Foremost, AB) was all alone on the left circle, and had enough time to settle down a wobbly puck before snapping it into the top corner as Marion was still coming across his crease. With a now comfortable lead, the stage was now set for a relieved Tremblay to set his UNB record two minutes later on the Clendenning power play goal. V-Reds head coach Gardiner MacDougall then used his timeout so that Tremblay could get a well deserved ovation from the more than 3600 fans at the Aitken University Centre, the majority of them school children, plus receive a record recognition plaque at centre ice from UNB Athletic Director Kevin Dickie.

For MacDougall it was a special night and a great advertisement of CIS hockey. "It was a great environment, and the kids add such excitement, they were our seventh man tonight." Twice a season the V-Reds have a promotional night for schools in the Fredericton area that fill the stands. For Tremblay, "I love it, it's like being back in Junior or in a pro game." Speaking of Tremblay, coach MacDougall was happy to see him get his accolades from the crowd (and on live television). "He deserves it. He had a couple of shots earlier in the game that didn't go in and he set up his teammates several times. Like last weekend, sometimes they just don't go in." For Moncton coach Serge Bourgeois, "Hunter Tremblay is the best player in the AUS and we had played him tough two previous games this season, but couldn't stop him this time."

Almost lost in the excitement was the fine play of UNB goaltender Travis Fullerton (Riverview, NB). While not near as busy as Marion (Moncton was only credited with 11 shots on net, while UNB had 42) he did have to make several key saves, and the shutout is Fullerton's third of the season to lead the AUS.

The Varsity Reds go into the exam and Christmas break still in first place in the AUS with a record of 11-4-0 while les Aigles Bleus drop their fifth in a row and sit in seventh place with a 5-8-2 record. Next up for UNB will be the visiting McGill Redmen on December 30th, and then they host the NCAA's Providence College Friars on January 1st and 2nd for the annual Pete Kelly Cup Challenge. The V-Reds return to conference play when they host the Dalhousie Tigers on January 7th.

Source: UNB Sports Info

It was the first meeting of the season between the teams but marked McGill's seventh straight win over the Gee-Gees as the Redmen improved their lifetime record to 84-77-10 against Ottawa.

McGill, which had a 39-23 advantage in shots, broke open a tight 1-1 game, exploding for three unanswered goals in the middle period.

Verreault-Paul, who leads the nation in goals and points with a 24-13-37 record in only 15 games, set up McGill's first two markers, by Andrew Wright of Toronto and Marc-Andre Dorion, then scored the team's fifth and eighth goals. Dorion, an all-Canadian defenceman from St. Hubert, Que., finished the soiree with three points and now leads all CIS blue-liners in goals, assists and points with a 7-22-29 record in 17 contests.

Maxime Langelier-Parent, a smooth-skating 6-foot-2, 245-pound centre from Lery, Que., had a dominant performance on the ice. He netted the game-winner in the second period and set up a third-period marker by team captain Evan Vossen, a senior from Swift Current, Sask., who tallied twice and now has 11 goals in 16 games.

Rounding out the scoring for McGill was Guillaume Doucet, a senior from Anjou, Que., who notched his sixth of the season, on the power play.

Centre Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., contributed three assists and now continues to lead the nation in that category with 29 to go along with his four goals.

Replying for Ottawa was defenceman Dylan Hole of Edmonton, Alta., and rookie scoring sensation Luc Blain of Longueuil, Que., who tallied their first and 11th markers of the season, respectively.

Redmen netminder Hubert Morin of St. Georges de Beauce, Que., registered 21 saves and improved to 10-1, while Ottawa's Aaron Barton of Carlisle, Ont., posted 31 saves and saw his record dip to 4-5.

McGill, which improved to 15-0-2, will host the Gee-Gees (9-5-2) again on Saturday at 7 p.m. in their final game before the three-week break for exams.

REDMEN RAP: Excluding two "home" games played at McGill's Macdonald campus, the Redmen have now won 12 consecutive games at McConnell Arena, including non-conference and playoff action, which breaks the team record for consecutive victories on home ice. The previous mark was 11 in a row, set between Jan. 17, 1985 and Oct. 25, 1986... Five members of the Redmen are among 31 hockey players from the OUA that have been invited to a CIS training camp next week in preparation for the 24th Winter Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey next month. Verreault-Paul, heads the group along with Vossen, Langelier-Parent, Dorion and Morin. The event, also known as the World University Winter Games, will run from January 23 to February 6.

Source: McGill Sports Info

The Badgers started the second period just as they finished the first. Forty-eight seconds into the period when Derek Brochu (Welland, Ont.) and Dickson set up rookie Jordan Gignac (Hamilton, Ont.) for his sixth of the season. Less than two minutes later Geldart added his eighth of the season from Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) and Schwark to put the Badgers up 3-0.

Waterloo finally got on the board at 7:33 of the second period. It was then that Steve Whitely beat Badger goalie Kurt Jory on the power play, with Kyle Sonnenburg and Tyler Moir picking up the assists.

Brock would regain their three-goal lead at 9:28 when Schwark picked up his second of the game from Abercrombie and Joey Pell (Dryden, Ont.) Schwark's goal would send the teams to the locker room with the Badgers up 4-1.

Waterloo closed the gap to 4-2 11:58 into the third when Josh Schappert and Whitely set up Chris Ray on the power play. The Badgers would reply with a power play marker of their own at the 15:52 mark. Schwark completed his hat-trick with Pell and Abercrombie picking up helpers.

With the goalie pulled and a Badger in the penalty box Waterloo would score their third of the game at the 18:00 mark. Tyler Moir would tip in Sonnenburg's shot from the point with Jarrett Schnurr picking up the other assist.

Moir's goal would make the score 5-3 put that's as close as the Warriors would get, as Jory and the Badgers defence closed the door to preserve the victory.

The Badgers converted on two of their eight power play chances, while Waterloo was 3-for-8 with the man advantage.

In goal, Jory made 19 saves to earn his seventh win of the season, while Keaton Hartigan made 32 saves in the loss.

The win is the third by the Badgers over ranked teams. Prior to beating the No. 10 Warriors the Badgers downed previously No. 10 Concordia and No. 2 McGill on back to back nights.

The Badgers and the rest of the OUA now break for exams and the holidays. Action resumes for Brock in the new year when they visit Laurier on January 6. The play their first home game of 2011 when the host Western on January 7 for a 7:15 p.m. start.

Source: Brock Sports Info

Briefly after a Laurier penalty, six-foot-three defenseman Garrett Sinfield (London, Ont.) recorded his first of the year. Zack Shepley (Milton, Ont.) set up Thomas Middup (Richmond Hill, Ont.) to put the Hawks up by two after one.

Guelph's Kris Belan (Florence, Ont.) power play marker brought the deficit to one. However, Ryan Daniels was too good on this night as that would be their last goal of the game. Matthew Reid (Markham, Ont.) added another for the Hawks to finish the second period.

Garret Sinfield scored his second of the night on the power play. The two goals are the first two of his OUA career. After the goal with ten minutes to go in the game, Andrew Loverrock (Elmvale, Ont.) was pulled Scott VanBommel (Norwich, Ont.). Seeing his first action of the year, VanBommel stopped all five shots he face. Loverrock made 15 saves on 19 shots in fifty minutes of action.

The Hawks last home game of the semester is on Saturday, December 4 against York. The game begins at 7:30 p.m.

Source: Laurier Sports Info