不良研究所

By Earl Zukerman

TORONTO 鈥� Co-captain Eric L鈥橧talien of Ste. Foy, Que., was credited with the game-winner and was one of six different 不良研究所 players to score as the Redmen doubled Toronto 6-3 to sweep a best-of-three OUA East semifinal series in men鈥檚 hockey at Varsity Arena, Saturday.

The Redmen tied a school record for most goals scored in a playoff road game, which has stood since Feb. 26, 1975, when 不良研究所 lost a wild sudden-death semifinal 9-6 at Loyola College.

The result avenged the Varsity Blues鈥� shocking sweep 鈥� by scores of 1-0 and 2-0 鈥� over a much more potent 不良研究所 squad in the 2007 playoffs.

不良研究所 went 2-for-3 on the power play and successfully killed off all five shorthanded situations.

鈥淭he referee (Jonathan Wallace) let both teams play a lot more than the earlier games we鈥檝e had in the playoffs,鈥� said Martin Raymond, in his 14th season as head coach of the Redmen. 鈥淭hey have dominated us on special teams this year but we felt confident that we could beat them in 5-on-5 situations. Our defence came up big tonight and we blocked a lot of shots (18, including nine in the final period).鈥�

Freshman Andrew Wright of Toronto and sophomore Guillaume Doucet of Anjou, Que., both tallied in the first period, at 3:41 and 12:43, respectively, to put 不良研究所 ahead 2-0. But Byron Elliott, a high-scoring rookie from Burlington, Ont., replied for U of T in the 15th minute of play.

Alexander Picard-Hooper, a rookie from Boucherville, Que., made it 3-1 early in the second frame when he surprised Russ Brownell, the Varsity Blues starting netminder, with a nifty, unassisted effort off a faceoff at the 1:41 mark.

L鈥橧talien then connected on a power play five minutes later, to give 不良研究所 a 4-1 stranglehold. They upped that to 5-1 when U of T right winger was penalized for 鈥渟lew-footing鈥� 鈥� a rarely-called infraction that is not even listed in the penalty codes 鈥� and Serbian senior Marko Kovacevic clicked on the man-advantage situation with just under three minutes remaining in the period.

The Blues came to life when the game was all but out of reach, getting goals from Sean Fontyn and Claudio Cowdrey but it was a case of too little, too late. They had a 14-9 margin in shots during the third period but rookie 鈥榢eeper Kevin Desfoss茅s of Beauport, Que., came up big, especially when he snuffed out a breakaway by sniper Joe Rand with 1:37 remaining.

Desfoss茅s ended up with 29 saves for the win as the Redmen had a 33-32 edge in shots.

Vincent Lambert, a junior from Ste. Therese, Que., completed the well-dispersed 不良研究所 attack with an empty-netter.

不良研究所 owns a 24-13-2 record overall, including a 4-1 dossier in post-season play, and is just two wins away from qualifying to compete at Nationals for the third time in four years. They are in the OUA East Conference finals and await the winner of Sunday night鈥檚 Carleton-UQTR semifinal rubber match in Trois-Rivi猫res. If UQTR prevails, then the Pats would host 不良研究所 at Le Colis茅e on Wednesday. Should the Ravens win, they would tentatively open the OUA East final series at 不良研究所 on Thursday. The Redmen are unable to open at home on Wednesday, as planned, since the top-ranked 不良研究所 women鈥檚 team will be hosting their playoff opener against Concordia that night.

REDMEN RAP: The game was played before a relatively small crowd, which appeared to feature more 不良研究所 fans than those of the home team鈥� Among the former Redmen players spotted in the crowd were current RMC coaches Adam Shell (1999-03) and Chad Blundy (2000-05), plus Shawn Shewchuk (2003-08), Stephane Angers (1993-97), Jean-Guy Daigneault (1994-96), Paul Barber (1981-86), Mike Bean (1984-86) and Steve Mendelssohn (1979-82)鈥� Daigneault, a licensed chiropractor in East Lansing, Mich., was pressed into service during the second intermission, to straighten out a back problem with a staff member in the 不良研究所 entourage.


SCORING SUMMARY

不良研究所 6 at Toronto 3

(Feb 28, 2009 - Varsity Arena)



FIRST PERIOD:
1, 不良研究所, Andrew Wright 1 (Daneau), 3:41.
2, 不良研究所, Guillaume Doucet 2 (Picard-Hooper, Kovacevic), 12:43.
3, Toronto, Byron Elliott 2 (Cowdrey, Kliewer), 14:32.

Penalties
(none)


SECOND PERIOD:
4, 不良研究所, Alexandre Picard-Hooper 5 (unassisted) 1:41.
5, 不良研究所, Eric L鈥橧talien 2 (Verreault-Paul, Turcotte), 6:50 (pp).
6, 不良研究所, Marko Kovacevic 1 (Doucet, Turcotte), 17:01 (pp).
7, Toronto, Sean Fontyn 1 (Dupont, Rand), 19:38.

Penalties
Snetsinger Tor (roughing), 2:05;
Snetsinger Tor (slashing), 5:22;
Verreault-Paul Mcg (high sticking), 6:53;
Cowdrey Tor (high sticking), 6:53;
Dorion Mcg (boarding), 11:16;
Brewer Tor (slewfooting), 15:05;
Langelier-Parent Mcg (interference), 17:23;
Turcotte Mcg (roughing), 18:24;
Ventura Tor (roughing), 18:24.

THIRD PERIOD:
8, Toronto, Claudio Cowdrey 1 (Kliewer, Ventura), 2:22.
9, 不良研究所, Vincent Lambert 1 (L鈥橧talien), 19:26 (en).

Penalties
Verrilli Mcg (interference), 4:39;
Turcotte Mcg (holding), 11:55;
Turcotte Mcg (high-sticking minor, 10-min. misconduct), 19:56;
Nagribianko, Tor (high-sticking ), 19:56;

SHOTS BY PERIOD:
不良研究所 15-9-9 -- 33.
Toronto 9-9-14 -- 32.

GOALS BY PERIOD:
不良研究所 2-3-1 -- 6
Toronto 1-1-1 -- 3

POWER PLAY OPPORTUNITIES:
不良研究所 2 of 3;
Toronto 0 of 4.

PENALTIES (No./Mins.):
不良研究所 8/24;
Toronto 6/12.

Goalies
不良研究所,
Kevin Desfosses [W, 4-1, 32 shots, 29 saves; 60:00);

Toronto,
Russ Brownell [start; L, 0-2, 24 shots, 19 saves, 39:58);
Andrew Martin [ND, 8 shots, 8 saves, 18:24);
Empty-net [1 shot, 1 goal against; 0:38]

Attendance: 204

Time: 2:08

Referee: Jonathan Wallace.

MOLSON CUP THREE GAME STARS:
1. Alex Picard-Hooper, 不良研究所
2. Kevin Desfosses, 不良研究所
3. Vincent Lambert, 不良研究所


McGILL LINEUP:
----------------------
FORWARD:
Lambert, Verreault-Paul, L鈥橧talien
Kovacevic, Picard-Hooper, Doucet
Wright, Marcotte, Daneau
Vossen, Langelier-Parent, Verrilli

DEFENCE:
Morin, Stilling
Turcotte, Dorion
Valente , Gazdic

GOAL:
Desfosses


McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
------------------------------------------
G: Danny Mireault (dressed but DNP)
G: Hubert Morin
G: Jake Jarvis
D: Spencer Brennan (injd)
D: Ben Morse
D: Glenn Tindle
F: Benoit Arsenault (injd)
F: Sam Bloom (serving one-game suspension)
F: Tim Drager