Author: Alexander Cole

Stingers goalie Miguel Sullivan sets high goals for himself

When the Concordia Stingers hockey team took on the McGill Redmen in the 29th annual Corey Cup at Ed Meagher Arena on Feb. 12, the Stingers were perceived as the underdogs. The Redmen came into the game ranked second in the East Division while the Stingers were ranked seventh. However, the Stingers came away with a 4-2 victory, which brought the Concordia crowd to their feet.

The first-star in that game was rookie goaltender Miguel Sullivan, who stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced against a high-power McGill squad. For Sullivan, this victory was a major step for him when it came to starting in the playoffs.

“That last game against McGill was obviously a huge confidence boost,” Sullivan said. “Going into the playoffs playing them—I knew as a team we could beat them.”

While Sullivan did end up getting the start over goaltender Robin Billingham, Sullivan knew the job could have gone to anyone.

“[Billingham’s] a very good goalie,” Sullivan said. “It was up in the air [who would start] but it just happened that I had played a good game right before playoffs so I ended up with the start.”

In their playoff series against the Redmen, the Stingers lost 9-2 in game one, with Sullivan being pulled after the seventh goal. However, Stingers coach Marc-André Element stuck with Sullivan in game two, where the Stingers eventually lost in game two during overtime, 4-3. In Sullivan’s eyes, being able to play in game two despite the rough loss in game one was great for his confidence. Getting the chance to play in the playoffs was an experience that Sullivan wasn’t expecting.

“I’m one of the younger goalies in the CIS and my experience is definitely more than what I was hoping for,” Sullivan said. “I came into training camp last minute and they barely knew who I was. Being able to play a lot of games and even the playoffs is obviously a huge boost for me and is helping me grow as a player and as a person.”

Before joining the Stingers this season, Sullivan played for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Sullivan, who comes from the small fishing town of Petit-de-Grat, N.S., said that he enjoyed being able to play so close to his hometown.

Prior to joining the Screaming Eagles for the 2014-2015 season, Sullivan played for the Acadie-Bathurst Titans, but was traded to Cape Breton in the off-season.

For Sullivan, transitioning from small town junior hockey to university-level hockey has had its ups and downs, especially when it came to his education.

“Hockey wise, there is obviously a jump but I didn’t find it too dramatic,” Sullivan said. “When you start having to look at putting school on the same level as hockey, for a lot of people that is a struggle. School used to come second even though it shouldn’t have.”

“Having to come into the CIS, the biggest impact on a player’s life is trying to perform well on both the ice and in the classroom,” said Sullivan.

Sullivan has not yet declared a major and is currently taking science classes. The Stingers goaltender said that he would like to do a major in biology. Although, as someone who had concentrated much of his teen years on performing well on the ice, Sullivan admitted that he hasn’t had much time to figure out what he wants to do as a career.

During the off-season, Sullivan plans to go back home and make some money lobster fishing. After working for a few months, Sullivan will be coming back to Montreal at the beginning of August to start training camp with the Stingers.

As of right now, it is uncertain whether or not coach Element will be coming back to the team which could have an effect on who the starter will be next year. Regardless of who the coach is, Sullivan knows that he is going to have to work hard to become the starter.

“Whether [coach Element] is here or not, my role doesn’t change,” Sullivan said. “I still have to come in and prove myself in training camp next year. Whether it’s Billingham or someone else, they’re going to be knocking at the door trying to take the job.”

Moving forward, the Stingers will be without captain Olivier Hinse and assistant captain Jessyko Bernard, who combined for 28 goals during the season. The team, which is mainly comprised of first and second-year players which according to Sullivan, is nice because the team will have the chance to to grow together over the next four years.

“When guys play together for [four years], you create a pretty strong bond,” Sullivan said. “Some guys are going to have to take bigger leadership roles but the leaders are in the room so I’m not worried.”

Before graduating from Concordia and moving on from the Stingers, Sullivan’s main goal is to win a national title.

“Right now I have my sights set on winning at least one nation title, if not more,” said Sullivan.

As a teenager, Sullivan’s goal was to be able to make a living out of hockey and to go pro. However, in recent year’s his priorities have shifted to getting an education out of hockey. While education is currently on his mind, Sullivan admitted that he would still like to go pro one day and live out his childhood dream.

“Hopefully I will get the chance to play pro at some point, whether it’s in North America or Europe or wherever,” said Sullivan. “To be able to play hockey for a living when you think about it, it’s not a job, it’s something that I love doing. If I could get the chance to play hockey every day, I’ll take it.”

A 3-0 loss to the Université de Montreal has eliminated Concordia from the playoffs.

After almost defeating the Carabins in double overtime in game one of their best of three playoff series, the Stingers lost at home on Feb. 27 by a score of 3-0 which knocks them out of the playoffs and ends their season.

“[The team] gave everything they could,” said assistant coach Mike McGrath. “There’s a reason why the Carabins have won National championships the last couple of years. Our girls put up a fantastic effort and a great season so we’re very proud of them.”

For Stingers captain Erica Porter, the loss was an emotional one as it marked the end of her career at Concordia.

“I don’t know what my life is without hockey,” Porter said. “Without these girls it is going to be completely different. I honestly wish them the best of luck next year and I’m still going to try and be a part of the team.”

When asked on whether or not she would pursue professional hockey, Porter had a definitive answer.

“I honestly think that this was the end of my career,” Porter said. “I’m going to focus on school and getting the job that I want.”

The game did not start well for the Stingers, as just 73 seconds in, the Carabins offense put pressure on the Stingers which led to a broken play where Stingers goaltender Briar Bache was unable to freeze the puck. Carabins forward Alexandra Labelle was then able to find the loose puck under Bache’s pad and shovelled it in.

For the rest of the period, both teams exchanged shots on net but were unable to generate any big scoring chances. This changed near the end of the period when the Stingers were called for a penalty. With 27 seconds left in the period, Carabins forward Ariane Barker took a wrist shot that went blocker-side on Bache. After the first period, it was 2-0 in favour of the Carabins.

The second period went by quickly with neither team scoring. Carabins goaltender Marie-Pier Chabot was able to keep her team’s lead at two, and finished the game with 15 saves for the shutout.

To start the third period, the Carabins put the game away after Carabins forward Casandra Dupuis capitalized on a loose puck in front of the Stingers net which made the game 3-0 with little time left for the Stingers to come back.

The Stingers ran into penalty trouble at the end of the game and were unable to generate any offense in order to make the comeback. When the final buzzer rang, it signalled the end of the Stingers season.

Coach Julie Chu decided to start Bache in nets during the playoffs over regular season starter Katherine Purchase. For Bache, winning the net was a nice vote of confidence.

“It was a good feeling. It’s always good to know that you have your team’s and your coaches’ confidence,” said Bache. “I have a year of eligibility left so I’m going to come back and we’ll all build on what we did this year.”

At the end of the game, the team came together at centre ice and saluted the crowd with their sticks in the air to commemorate the end of the season.

A rant on why it’s dissapointing that the student body dismisses varsity teams

As a student sports journalist who covers the CIS teams here at Concordia, I hear a lot of people tell me that they simply don’t care about the teams here.

The reasons people give me for their overall apathy towards the Stingers and any other campus sports team usually boils down to three factors. The first factor being, “Well they always lose so what is there to care about,” the second being, “Who cares about the CIS, it’s not the NCAA,” and the third is, “it’s boring.”

Let me just start off by saying that if you believe any of that to be true, you are truly ignorant about CIS sports and how entertaining they really are. I’ll be honest, at first I was skeptical of how good CIS sports could be. In the media, they barely get any exposure when compared to their U.S. counterpart, the NCAA. Even TSN shows more NCAA highlights than they do CIS. While there are a few reasons for that, such as the lack of televised events, one could still get the wrong impression.

My attitude completely changed when I covered my first Stingers football game. The Stingers were playing the Carabins from Université de Montreal, who just came off of a Vanier Cup victory. The Stingers lost 41-29, but it was one of the most entertaining football matches I had seen in my life. The pace was quick. Touchdowns were being scored consistently and the level of play was extraordinary.

Writers and other people I have talked to who have actually gone to see the Stingers play, no matter the sport, have told me how surprised they were by how high the level of play was.

Yet those who haven’t taken in a game still remain cynical.

This is especially true when it comes to fellow sports journalists who don’t want to cover games because they don’t care enough about the Stingers. They see it as a waste of their time when, in reality, covering the CIS is a wonderful opportunity that can open up so many doors for you.

It is baffling to me that in an institution such as a university, where everyone is an adult, people still have childish views when it comes to their sports teams. CIS athletes work just as hard as any. They have to take the same amount of classes as the rest of us. They have to do all the same assignments as us. Except, they also have to go to practice, play games and deal with the pressures of competing.

The idea that our teams always lose is simply a myth. The men’s basketball team went on a seven-game winning streak recently. Our hockey teams are going to be in the playoffs. The football team has made the playoffs the last two seasons now and the women’s rugby team made it to Nationals. This idea that we always lose, is completely unfounded.

 

I think that people forget sometimes that student athletes aren’t just machines that are a part of some brand. They are students and people just like the rest of us.

You don’t have to show up to every game or buy all of the merchandise but at least have a little pride in your school. These athletes bust their ass to represent Concordia and it’s discouraging when you hear so many people be dismissive of the Stingers and the CIS in general.

Dominic Labelle is the tennis coach for one Concordia’s little known teams

When people think of students who are involved in university sports, most would assume that the student is a player or trainer for one of the teams. Dominic Labelle, however, has taken on one of the most important roles a team could offer.

Labelle is a third-year exercise science student and is the coach of the Concordia University tennis team. According to Labelle, the tennis team was founded in March of 2011 by a couple of students who wanted to play tennis at the university level. By September of that year, Labelle made the team as a player but in February of 2012, the coach at the time had to give up the position, which left a spot for Labelle.

“At one point I decided to quit because I couldn’t continue to play,” Labelle said. “I was already coaching tennis during the summer and during the season so I decided to take [the old coach’s] place.”

As Labelle described, it’s not rare for a student to coach the tennis team because the club does not yet have an affiliation with the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). Instead, the league is organized by Tennis Quebec, meaning that the club is not a varsity team, and is not under the Stingers brand. Labelle is not paid for his work and hiring a paid coach would make the season more expensive for players. The team’s lack of an affiliation requires Labelle to be more than just the coach.

“Right now I’m running the budget for the team,” Labelle said. “This means that it’s up to me to buy the balls and the t-shirts. I also have to reserve the courts. But my goal though is for the team to become a varsity team.”

For Labelle, being a student and managing the team becomes even more difficult when it comes to the travel aspect. The tennis season is from January to March and in the 15 weeks that the season runs for, the team travels to places such as Laval, Boucherville, Vaudreuil and Longueuil. This means that every weekend can take up a large chunk of Labelle’s studying time.

On weekends when the tennis team plays, Labelle is responsible for making his lineups and ranking his players. As Labelle described, tournaments can become hectic for him as he has to watch over six games at once.

“For sure sometimes I would like some help and have another coach,” Labelle said. “But at the same time, I find that I am more dedicated to the team, which I like. What’s nice is that I can get some of my extra players to help out on the courts when I’m on another court.”

Labelle added that tournaments can sometimes run for five to six hours, with tournaments usually starting at 4 p.m., which means finishing up at 10 p.m.

Since joining the team, as a player first and then as a coach, Labelle has seen the team and the league they play in improve immensely. According to Labelle, last season was a rough year for the men’s team as they had a hard time winning games. This caused some players to give up and not put in as much effort. But that has changed.

“Both the men and the women’s team have really done better,” Labelle said. “Especially with the guys, they are extremely competitive now. When the team loses, they get mad and want to do better. Even though we aren’t associated with the Stingers, everyone wants to represent Concordia.”

“The competitiveness is great because I’m challenged as a coach when it comes to training and keeping up with my team,” Labelle said.

For Labelle, being a student as well as a coach can be challenging when engaging the players, as some see him as more of a friend, than they do a coach.

“I find that the guys are more open with me when it comes to training and taking advice,” Labelle said. “With the girls I find that I am more of a friend. They realize that I’m the same age [as them] so it’s more of a friendly atmosphere.”

Labelle added that some of the players on the team have played at the NCAA level which means they have more experience than he has. This means that Labelle’s role as a coach is more about making sure everyone does their exercises and learns from their mistakes after each game.

“I’m not here to change their whole game,” Labelle said. “At this level, it’s more about thinking up new drills and bringing something new to the table.”

Labelle hopes that in the future the team will become affiliated with the CIS, as it would help legitimize tennis in Canadian universities. In Western Canada and Ontario, some tennis teams are considered as varsity teams but many still want the backing of the CIS. However, with the rise of a tennis league in Atlantic Canada, Labelle is hopeful that tennis will soon become a CIS sport.

“Representatives from the CIS will be at the Nationals this year,” Labelle said. “The level of play is getting close to what NCAA division two is like. I think in three years we could see tennis becoming a part of the CIS.”

In the spring, Labelle will be graduating from exercise science and is then off to the University of Ottawa for graduate school where he will be in the university’s sports psychology graduate degree. While attending the University of Ottawa, Labelle plans to continue working with Tennis Canada and Tennis Quebec as a coach. He even sees himself back with Concordia one day.

“If the league can become affiliated with the CIS and become more official, I would love to have a full time job with team,” said Labelle.

 

A look at eSports and their place among mainstream athletics

Since the 1970s, video games have been a huge source of entertainment for people all around the world.

Whether it be through Atari, the very first Nintendo or even newer consoles like the Xbox One and Playstation 4, there are people who have experienced hundreds of hours of entertainment because of video gaming.

The invention of multiplayer games began a new era in video gaming—an era where competitiveness and beating your friends was what video games were all about. Games like Super Smash Brothers and Quake were just the beginning when it came to this new video game genre. When the next generation of consoles came out and multiplayer services such as Steam and Xbox Live hit the market, competitive gaming exploded.

Today, leagues like the Halo World Championship and Electronic Sports League are home to competitive gaming, or eSports. According to Sitting Eagle, an eSports gaming clan, the most popular eSports video games are League of Legends, DOTA 2 and Counterstrike: Global Offensive.

In a report published on eurogamer.net, it was revealed that in 2014 there were 89 million eSports enthusiasts around the world. These numbers are significant when considering that across the globe, there are 94 million people who watch hockey. According to the same study, by 2017, it is projected that there will be 145 million people who watch eSports, which is just 6 million shy of those who watch American football. Between 2012 and 2014, the popularity of eSports almost doubled.

This past year, eSports gained even more mainstream attention as RDS dedicated a whole week in December to League of Legends and Starcraft 2 matches. Also, in the month of January, ESPN launched a dedicated eSports section on its website that features highlights and news from the world of competitive gaming.

Students at Concordia University have embraced the culture of eSports, with the formation of the Concordia eSports Association (CESA). The group currently has over 1,000 likes on Facebook and was formed during the Fall semester of 2012. Its members compete regularly against schools in the United States such as New York University, California Tech and the University of Georgia. The group plays games such as Counterstrike, League of Legends and Hearthstone.

Vice president of finance for CESA Dimitri Kontogiannos said the group has become quite popular among students.

“The Concordia eSports Association gets a lot of interest from students who have a general passion for games,” Kontogiannos said. “While there are varying degrees of competitiveness and different fan bases for different games, it gives a lot of students the opportunity to exchange ideas, discuss and play with others who share their interests.”

Those who compete on eSports teams are treated and considered as athletes. According to a report by Sports Illustrated, Robert Morris University Illinois has their own League of Legends team that offers partial athletic scholarships. The same report by Sports Illustrated revealed that some eSports athletes retire due to chronic wrist and hand pain. Furthermore, teams even work with physical trainers in order to maintain good posture during matches.

It takes many hours of practice to get really good at these games, according to Kontagiannos.

“It’s quite frequent for an average League of Legends player to log over 2,000 hours a year playing [League of Legends] on top of their already charged practice schedule and competitive matches,” said Kontagiannos.

Kontagiannos said some gamers like to frequent the gym in order to strengthen their minds for repetitive tasks, ultimately furthering the notion of athleticism amongst gamers.

While many who participate in the sport consider and treat themselves as athletes, some people aren’t convinced that video gaming can be considered as a real sport.

“They’re not real sports, they are games,” Concordia journalism student Theo Kyres said. “There is no physical activity involved except for moving your fingers. I think there is no denying the competition aspect. So many people watch it but I can’t call it a sport.”

In an interview with redbull.com, former NFL punter Chris Kluwe came out as an advocate for eSports and its competitors.

“I think [eSports are] just as much a sport as football and baseball,” Kluwe said. “You have to dedicate a large portion of your life to becoming good at it. You need to have reflexes, you need to have hand-eye coordination. You have to be able to react quickly to a changing situation.”

Despite being a part of the culture, Kontagiannos isn’t convinced that eSports and sports are of the same breed.

“Competitive games have a similar structure and infrastructure to sports but are a sort of a genre [in themselves],” said Kontagiannos. “While elite players spend thousands of hours practicing, they do not require the physical prowess of an athlete.”

However, Kontagiannos said competitive gamers still have to demonstrate athletic ability such as quick reaction time and quick decision making in order to be successful.

On Feb. 20, CESA will be hosting a tournament that will feature schools such as McGill University and Université de Montréal. Any Concordia student is allowed to compete or just come watch and experience what eSports are all about.