Mens Squad Return in Flying Form

The Concordia men’s hockey team returned from Christmas break in great shape, overpowering their opponents and winning their two weekend games.
“It was a great way to start off the new year,” said head coach Kevin Figsby.
The first period of Friday’s 6-3 win against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks was lacklustre – both teams’ had heavy legs from the long break.
The Ridgebacks took control early and potted a weak goal just four minutes into the period.
The Stingers looked confused at times and weren’t communicating well on the ice, which led to a second goal 11:27 into the first. Ridgeback defenceman Mike Noyes was left wide open in the high slot and whistled the puck past Stingers netminder Maxime Joyal.
Rookie forward Corey Garland didn’t quit on the play after his shot was blocked. He circled the net with the puck, whacked at it again, and put the Stingers on the board. The score was 2-1 for the Ridgebacks at the end of the first.
After a few delays caused by game penalties to the Ridgebacks in the second, Concordia tied the game on a great rush from winger Nicolas D’Aoust. He chipped the puck from his own zone past a looming Ridgeback defender, then chased down his own pass, and gained speed along the right wing, out-skating his opponent. He quickly cut to centre and fired a shot that went five-hole.
“I was just thinking defensively. I thought the guy would catch me, but he didn’t,” D’Aoust said.
The Ridgebacks took the lead again with 4:39 remaining in the second on a powerplay. It would be their last goal.
The Stingers came out flying in the third, putting the game at 3-3 two minutes into the final period.
Veteran defenceman Jesse Goodsell scored the winning goal with a wrist-shot 7:45 minutes in on the period.
“I looked up and saw about a hundred guys in front of the net,” Goodsell said. “I hesitated, I didn’t know if I should shoot it. I never take wrist shots.”
D’Aoust scored his second goal with under four minutes left in the game, and got the empty-net goal completing his hat trick in the last two minutes.
“[D’Aoust] is going to be the top scorer in the country at some point in his university career,” Figsby said.
The game against the York Lions on Saturday afternoon proved to be just as thrilling, with Joyal earning his fifth shut out of the season when he blanked the Lions 5-0.
The first period was littered with penalties and proved to be lacklustre once again, but the Stingers made up for it with 40 minutes of solid play in the second and third.
D’Aoust was once again a big factor, when he opened scoring on a powerplay goal at 1:37 of the second period. Four minutes later, new Stingers forward Cory McGillis put his team up 2-0.
There was a clear rivalry between the two teams, as scuffles and fights broke out on the ice halfway through the second period.
Renaud Des Alliers, a hard-hitting forward, scored at 3:13 of the third to give the Stingers a 3-0 lead.
Lions’ defenceman Matt Thomson fell and fumbled the puck, while Des Alliers quickly took it and fired a shot on net that was blocked. Collecting his own rebound, he quickly released the puck again and it slid over the line. It was soon 4-0, when Des Alliers scored again after Lions’ goaltender David Davenport misplayed the puck.
Des Alliers was also a factor in the fifth and final goal for the Stingers. He delivered a crushing open ice hit jarring the Lions’ puck carrier, who was skating with his head down across the neutral zone.
The hit also allowed Stingers captain Simon-Pierre Sauve to gain control of the puck. He glided to the right wing and fired the puck to centre, where McGillis finished the job for his second goal.
“We wanted to start the second half of the season with a few good wins,” Figsby said. “We did that this weekend.”
“We’re putting pucks in the net again. I’m happy we scored 11 goals, and I’m happy we only let in three.”
Figsby also praised his goaltender’s performance.
“Joyal is playing with an extraordinary amount of confidence. He is afraid to let the guys down, and the guys are afraid to let him down,” Figsby said.
The Stingers are on the road to face cross-town rivals the McGill Redmen Wednesday, Jan. 14. They spend the weekend playing the Guelph Gryphons and the Brock Badgers, before returning home to play McGill again on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 8:00 p.m.