After a collection of tight games and surprising many with a wild run to the OUA East finals, the Stingers fell in a 7-2 blowout to the now division champions, the Ottawa Gee Gee’s.
There was no time to sit and sulk though. There is still work to be done.
“It’s a tough loss but we’re not done, that’s what’s fun,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement.
After a playoff run that included a victory over their most bitter rival, a sweep of the league’s top team, a triple overtime win, and eventually being swept themselves, the Stingers have one last challenge to face on their way to pushing for a berth at the national championship in Halifax.
They will be one of two teams vying for the bronze medal of the OUA and the final spot at nationals. They take on the loser of the OUA West final in a winner takes all, one game elimination battle later this week.
“It’s a game seven right away. So we have to be on our toes and play Stingers hockey,” said captain Philippe Sanche.
Because of new rules, regardless of the opponent and prior seeding, any Quebec team is not eligible to host such a game, so they’ll be traveling down to Ontario for the matchup.
The Stingers will need to work to get back to the team that toppled both Carleton and McGill as opposed to the one that showed up against Ottawa. The Gee Gee’s got them to lose their composure, taking penalties that simply hadn’t been a problem before this series. The vicious forecheck of the visitors left the Stingers scrambling and giving up turnovers in game two.
The Stingers’ offensive creativity that had gotten them so far seemed to dry up in the game after an intense first period in which both teams scored twice, including a late shorthanded goal by rookie Tyler Hylland.
The Stingers have liked playing with their backs against the wall this season and situations like that have provided some of their best hockey this year. It’s that exact scenario that they find themselves in now: Win and you’re in.
The team is refocusing themselves already and setting their eyes on where they can still get to.
“Obviously it’s hard because you want to win the league but you still have a chance to go to nationals,” said Sanche who went to nationals two season ago. “In my experience, even if we lost [at nationals two years ago], it was a great experience.”
There may be some doubting that they can get there now. They were a low seeded team heading into the playoffs, are now coming off of a blowout loss, and have to travel into enemy territory in Ontario.
That kind of adversity and underdog mentality is what the team has thrived on all season though. Whether it was injuries, suspensions, officiating trouble, the players reminded themselves that they had something to push back against.
“It’s been kind of our story the whole year,” said Stingers defenceman Carl Neill. “We didn’t play to our best capabilities throughout the season, so coming into the playoffs we ranked a bit lower. It might be the case next week now. It’s familiar territory for us. I’m sure the boys will be ready.”
They’re back to embracing that idea and certainly aren’t feeling scared of the new challenges this last chance game is going to bring them.
“It’ll be good for us to go down there and just work,” said Sanche. “We don’t have pressure. We’re just gonna play hockey and get a win.”
Some players have been in this exact spot before. Neill, Sanche, defender Alexandre Gosselin, and centre Jean-Philippe Beaulieu were all on the Stingers team that fell to McGill in the playoffs two years ago before beating the York Lions and earning a spot at nationals.
These players and their coach are reminding the young team that, regardless of the loss, their goal is right there for taking because they’ve seen it before. That’s certainly rubbed off on the rest of the Stingers.
We’ve been going through adversity all year, this is just another stepping stone,” said Hylland. “We’re going to take the sting of this loss with us and we’re going to carry it into the next game [as motivation].”
Hylland and his team feel they can make some noise and upset the country’s best. Now they just need to earn the chance to do so with one more win.
The Concordia Stingers, who had just 31 points and 13 wins in the regular season, have swept the OUA’s top team, the Carleton Ravens.
These are the Ravens that shutout the Stingers in the first game of the year, finished the season with 49 points and just four losses, and were ranked as the third best team in Canada.
Not one word of that mattered when the Stingers took the ice Saturday night.
“The good guys came out on top,” said Stingers defenceman Carl Neill.
In an arena with a crowd that spent the night cheering and chanting (a few creative ones got thrown Carleton’s way, particularly by the Stingers football players in attendance), the Stingers’ play was as electric as the atmosphere that threatened to blow the roof off the Ed Meagher Arena.
Like last week against McGill, the Stingers were a model of efficiency.
They generated chances from different areas to keep the Ravens defense guessing, the controlled play with simple, smartly executed rushes, and they shut down almost every chance that came their way.
It wasn’t always pretty. It was always smothering, fast, and effective.
The team was roaring at every level of play. Their forwards were pushing the Ravens into their own end and forcing them to scramble. The D broke up play after play while joining the rush and goalie Kyle Jessiman showed up big (more on him later).
The second period against the Ravens may have been their best of the season. Three goals, over 20 shots, few chances against, and a sense of dominance.
“It looked like the ice was tilted in their end. The puck wasn’t getting out and we had a bunch of chances. When they did get a few chances, [Jessiman] stood on his head,” said Neill.
While the game was a good example of every player rolling, Jessiman and a few others shined. The rookie goalie shut down everything, earning chants of “MVP” from the crowd, particularly after two late saves in the second that both looked like sure goals.
The team’s second line was also unstoppable. Jean-Philippe Beaulieu played the game of his life, scoring two goals and stymieing Carleton chances all night. He, along with Chase Harwell and Felix Lauzon shut down Carleton while creating chance after chance offensively.
“I wouldn’t even say it’s the second line. I’d say it’s a 1a/1b situation. That’s huge for us. That depth is what you need in the playoffs,” said rookie Tyler Hylland.
Now the Stingers find themselves in the OUA East finals. Two wins from a spot at nationals. It’s been a bumpy road, but one that they feel has made them stronger.
They battled for their position in the standings all season, finishing fifth in the division.
The Stingers were plagued with injuries, losing both starting goaltenders, their top veteran forward for half the year, one of their top rookie recruits, and up to eight players on a given night.
They also dealt with several suspensions, including one to one of their top players in Neill. Adversity has been a frequently used word around the team.
“We were frustrated by bad luck. Injuries, suspensions. It felt like we could never get our full team out there,” said Hylland.
The team believed in itself though. One thing kept being repeated: “when we’re at our best we can compete with anyone in the country.”
It may have sounded off early in the year, but when they caught fire after Christmas, when the team was finally healthy and added Jessiman in net and Lauzon on the wing, it began to look more and more true.
They were competing with, and beating, top teams. All of a sudden the offense was potent and they were allowing fewer and fewer goals.
“[We’re] starting to play like the team that we are,” said Neill.
Now, they’ve solidified themselves as true contenders. They’ve beaten rival McGill in a close series and swept one of the best teams in the country. They’re riding the high of underdog wins against teams that they certainly don’t like.
The mood is great for the Stingers.
“This is one of the best years in my entire career,” said Sanche. “The guys are having fun and it shows on the ice. We’ve been having fun since after Christmas. Even when we lost four in a row. Then we just started rolling. The boys got onto the bus and they’re playing simple, great hockey.”
The Stingers will take on the Ottawa Gee Gees in the OUA East Final, a team they had a 2-1-0 record against in the regular season.
While they may not have entered the playoffs at the top of the standings, they came into the postseason winning four games in a row and six of their last seven. Back then, Hylland said that regardless of their position in the standings, teams knew they didn’t want to play Concordia.
Two playoff series and another four game win streak later, and the Stingers have certainly proven that they’re not a team anyone should look forward to facing.
The Stingers came into game one of the RSEQ playoffs having been ranked as the number one team in the nation for effectively the entire season.
But matched up against the Université de Montréal Carabins, that ranking didn’t mean they weren’t going into a tight, closely matched, dangerous series. Every game between the two this year (outside of a 4-0 Concordia win) came down to a single goal, including a shootout finish in one game and a double overtime in another.
This game managed to top just how close this year’s matchups were, coming down to the wire in triple overtime as the Stingers fell to their cross-town rivals.
For head coach Julie Chu, the mentality that will get them through is the same mentality that got them into first place: not worrying about anything that’s behind them.
“All season long, the biggest thing we’ve always talked about is that we’re just focused on one game. Whatever rankings were before that doesn’t matter,” said Chu. “[The first place ranking] feels nice, awesome […] [but] we just focus on whatever’s in front of us, and that’s the next game. For us the biggest thing is what are we gonna do the next game. From now, get a good night’s rest, wake up, take a deep breath and be excited it’s a three-game series and we have the opportunity to fight back again.”
While it may not be the result the team wanted, they certainly won’t have any complaints about their effort or the way they played. They came at the Carabins like the top team in the league.
Through five complete periods of play and a few minutes of a sixth, the Stingers dominated. The game was without goals until the third as both team’s goalies stood strong, but regardless of the score, the play was almost entirely under the control of the Stingers.
They heavily outshot Montreal, killed them in puck possession and generally looked more dangerous all night. When Montreal would break out with the puck, the Stingers would crush the hopes of any oncoming rushes with calm preciseness and turn the attack the other way.
A collection of posts was one issue that their production faced but, more importantly, some controversial no-goal calls hit them. The Stingers looked to have scored go-ahead or game-winning goals at least three times, including two such non-markers by captain Claudia Dubois.
Each was waved off. One in particular, Dubois’ second called-off snipe, this time in overtime instead of the last minute of the third, looked to have beaten the Carabins netminder clean and players and fans alike celebrated until the referee called for a faceoff.
The team wasn’t ready to go off on the referees for this, but took a ‘play through it’ mentality and took the hand they were dealt without complaint.
“There’s a lot of possibilities of what could have been a goal but we can only control what’s in front of us,” said Chu. “What’s in front of us is ‘okay the goal’s not called, okay let’s line up and be great the next shift.’”
Despite the lack of scoring—until Emmy Fecteau scored on the powerplay in the third and Montreal tied it with under four minutes to play—both teams kept their energy high and seemed to be taking the game positively. As tight at the game was, no frustration got through visibly when it came to not finding the back of the net.
“The energy on the bench was awesome. They were positive, focused and ready to go,” said Chu of her players.
Now the Stingers are in a position to regroup, as Chu said. It’s not so much a matter of major adjustments as coming back with a good mentality and positivity despite the loss. A win in game two on Saturday afternoon would force a winner-take-all game three at Concordia. The Stingers played the far better game of the two teams and if they bring the same level of play next game, they’ll be putting themselves in a great position to come out on top this time.
“We played great hockey tonight,” said Chu. “Sometimes it doesn’t always equate in a win. We know our players have a lot of fight in them, they have a lot of character in that room. They’ll reset, refocus and be ready to go on Saturday.”
It’s not unusual for Carl Neill to spend plenty of time handling the puck—he’s the Stingers’ top defenceman.
Even for a defenceman, in the first period against the Nipissing Lakers, his teammates were making sure to feed him the puck as much as they could.
Finally, near the end of the period, the puck went from Neill’s stick to the back of the net. It was a powerplay goal, like many he’d scored before. But this time, the celebration by his teammates was something special.
“I’m really, really proud of him, we all are,” said Neill’s coach, Marc-André Élement.
Neill’s goal was his 84th point as a member of the Concordia Stingers. He had just moved into first place, as the highest scoring defenceman in Stingers history.
“It’s a great honour,” said Neill, who sits just one short of the team’s all-time assist record as well. When he learned he was approaching both records after just three seasons with the team, the stingers alternate captain was shocked.
Carl Neill reflects on his three years as a Concordia Stingers
“I know Concordia’s been around forever,” said Neill. “I imagined there’s some guys a couple hundred years back that must have got a few points so I never really thought of that.”
Maybe he was surprised, but anyone that’s watched him over the last three seasons shouldn’t be. He’s dominated the university game since day one. He’s been one of the country’s best blueliners and made his mark in the Stingers’ history books.
In his three years Neill has collected awards on and off the ice, all-star nominations, and a collection of impressive stats that any player would be proud of.
He has played overseas representing his country, gone to the national university hockey championships, and done it all with the flare to his game that’s allowed him to be one of the top players in the league.
Neill joined the Stingers with a shining resume in junior hockey. He was captain of the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the QMJHL, where he set records just like he’s started to do with the Stingers.
His 178 points rank fourth all-time in Phoenix history while his 139 assists are second overall. Among defencemen though, he is the sole leader in both, along with goals (39).
Sherbrooke was also where he would end up meeting his best friend, future roommate and Stingers teammate Chase Harwell.
The two played three seasons together with the Phoenix and joined forces again a few years later at Concordia. Harwell’s face lights up with a big smile whenever the topic of his teammate and former captain comes up.
“He’s my best friend,” said Harwell. “We grew up together. He’s a great guy, I’m just so happy to see him have that success. He deserves it.”
Chase Harwell and Neill have played together as teammates for six seasons at the junior and university levels combined
His impressive junior career was enough to get him drafted into the NHL. In the fifth round of the NHL entry draft, the Vancouver Canucks chose Neill. He went on to play in several professional training camps before deciding to take the U Sports route and earn a degree before trying to head to the pro leagues when things didn’t work out in terms of the NHL.
Looking back, there’s no doubt in his mind that he made the right choice by going down the U Sports path.
“I made the right decision coming here,” said Neill. “Coming out of junior, not knowing much of what U Sports is Marc told me it was a good program here. I had faith in him and he had faith in me. It coupled well. I’m really happy about my decision. I’m happy I didn’t go to McGill [instead].”
While it’s been gaining traction and notoriety, U Sports isn’t a league that every player knows about coming out of junior. Neill was entering a completely new world and system of hockey. He’s become a major advocate for the league now, but three years ago, it was a leap of faith.
From the moment Neill walked into the Ed Meagher arena, the expectations were sky-high for him. He was the marquee rookie of a strong class of first years. His coach expected him to come in and become a number one defenceman early on.
“He’s going to be the guy who leads the power play, he’s going to be the quarterback,” said Élement just before Neill’s rookie season in 2017. “I’m pretty sure he’s going to be one of the top defencemen in the league.”
Despite any internal or external pressure to come in and be a top player in a new league, Neill played like a veteran from his very first game.
A cerebral player, he was a key contributor in what would be an explosive offense that season. He showed the vision and ability to rush the puck up ice that earned him NHL attention and became an instant player that opposing teams had to gameplan for.
“He certainly lived up to the expectations,” said former stingers captain Philippe Hudon. “He never second-guessed his decision to play U Sports hockey, and coupled with his desire to become a better hockey player, he was an immediate impact to our team and has done wonders since then.”
Neill would end up leading the entire country in scoring by a defenceman with 31 points in 28 games. His team was one of the top eight in the league, earning a trip to the national championship for the first time in over 30 years for Concordia.
Neill has been the back bone of the Stingers’ defensive group since he joined the team back in 2017
While Neill and the Stingers ended up losing, the defender was rewarded for his impressive rookie season. He was named to the OUA East first all-star team as well as the U Sports all-rookie team.
Off the ice, he was presented with the Guy Lafleur award for his combination of success in the game as well as in the classroom. All in all, a good start to his university career.
His second season, the team lost their top two scorers, including league MVP Anthony Beauregard. Instead of an offensive step back, or sophomore slump, Neill kicked it up a notch. Despite a less productive team, he upped his season totals to 33 points, good enough for second in the country among defencemen. He was named to the OUA East all-star team and earned OUA defenceman of the year honours.
On top of that, he was selected to the FISU games to represent Canada in Russia once his season ended. He was among the team of top university players that won bronze at the tournament.
At the start of the year though, another of Neill’s talents was recognized. He was named an assistant captain for the team and his leadership became a major part of his role on the team. The message constantly repeated by teammates is that Neill takes care of people.
As much as his sarcastic prodding and joking are a part of him, he is someone who truly cares for the wellbeing of his teammates.
He helped recruit former teammates like Harwell and Hugo Roy and made sure they and their fellow rookies were brought into the fold immediately and never had to feel like outsiders.
“Obviously he’s an amazing hockey player but on the other side he’s just a great dude,” said Harwell. “If a guy needs a ride, he picks them up. If a guy is having trouble at home or with his girlfriend, he’s there for you. He’s the guy you want on your team.”
Neill’s goal was always to make the guys comfortable, to show them the ropes and have his teammates enjoy an environment where they felt supported and relaxed.
“It’s important to have that on a team,” said Neill, listing past teammates like Hudon who helped him as a rookie. “I came here my first year, not really knowing what was going on. It’s good to pass the torch and help the boys along.”
He’s the kind of player that teammates light up when asked to talk about him. The respect for Neill in the Stingers locker room is evident.
While this past season may not have been as statistically dominant as the last two (20 points in 25 games), Neill had plenty to celebrate.
He played a preseason game as a member of a Quebec U Sports all-star team against the top prospects of the Montreal Canadiens and etched his name across the Stingers record books.
“All the credit goes to him and his work ethic,” said Élement.
Neill now sits 12th all-time in scoring in Stingers history in addition to sitting second all-time in assists and leading among defencemen.
And for the first time, his Stingers future is uncertain. Neill has turned down pro offers every season. He has focused on finishing his degree before turning to the professional world.
Where he’ll be next year, whether it’s at Concordia or on a new team in the pro sphere, is unclear.
If he is wearing a non-Concordia jersey next season, those around him think he’ll be just as successful in that league as he has been in U sports.
“I certainly think he can bring that same impact at the pro level,” said Hudon. “He has tremendous hockey sense. [He’s] capable of effectively fending off attackers as much as anchoring the blue line. Not to mention his high skill level and smooth skating abilities.”
If it’s Neill’s last run with the Stingers, there would be no better way to cap it off than another run to nationals. Despite an up and down year for the team that has been plagued by injuries, the Stingers are red hot heading into the postseason.
Neill called the mood in the room similar to the excitement of his first year where they made their run to nationals.
He definitely has his mind set on getting back there and his teammates can tell.
Neill amassed 84 points in 81 games as a member of the Concordia Stingers
“He wants it bad, he’s pushing even harder,” said Harwell. “It motivates the guys to go even harder as well.”
Looking back to the end of Neill’s first season, when asked if he felt like he was a number one defenceman as his coach had suggested, the rookie said not yet, but maybe next year.
Since then he’s become a franchise leader for defensive scoring, collected all-star nominations, academic awards, represented his country, and made his mark on the team.
When asked the same question at the end of this season, he had a similar answer.
“I don’t know, there’s a lot of number one defencemen in our league. I guess it depends on the night,” said Neill.
After all of this, it is probably safe to say that Neill can call himself not only a number one defenceman, but one of Concordia’s all-time greats.
The Concordia Stingers are moving on after winning the battle of Montreal. With a game three win against McGill, they’ve made their way into the OUA East semifinals.
After a barnburning comeback victory the night before, another high flying, flashy shootout of a game wouldn’t have been out of the question.
Instead, the Stingers provided a tight, smothering, efficient game of fundamental hockey that would be any coach’s dream.
Two powerplay goals in the second period and a complete shutdown of their cross-town rivals in the third was a recipe for success.
“It was the way both teams had the game plans set up, like a chess match,” said Stingers defenceman Carl Neill. “There weren’t many goals going, not many chances. But when we got our chances we put them in, luckily, so for us it was about keeping their chances to a minimum.”
They certainly did that. McGill’s potent offence was stymied as Neill and the rest of the defence smothered McGill’s forwards, cutting down shooting lanes and moving the puck out of their end with composure.
That, combined with some key saves from rookie goaltender Kyle Jessiman and a strong puck management game from their forwards showed another side of Concordia that McGill just wasn’t ready for.
It may not provide a collection of highlight reel goals but the Stingers game plan and execution were textbook examples of how to win when it comes to tight, low scoring playoff hockey.
The fact that they could roll four lines and three defensive pairings that could handle this made it that much easier to do this throughout the series.
“Everyone chipped in,” said Stingers forward Tyler Hylland, who had three goals in the series. “We had guys up and down the lineup step up all series long. It wasn’t just one guy or one line. The two games we won, all the lines were going, everyone was playing well. That’s what you need in the playoffs.”
What’s interesting is that the Stingers started the series on the other side of a 2-1 loss at McGill. However, it was in the late stages of that game that they started to figure out what exactly they needed to do to win this series.
Stingers winger Chase Harwell noted that the team spent much of game one focusing on McGill and their game. They were playing a game based on McGill’s style of play, rather than focusing on what had brought them success in the past: their game.
From that point on, it was Concordia’s series. They controlled the play completely in the third period of the first game, outshot McGill by double in the second game, and fully stifled their rivals’ offence in the third. All by playing their game.
“We’ve been sticking to our game, focusing on ourselves and what we can do to beat them. We stuck to our thing and they couldn’t handle it,” said Harwell.
McGill couldn’t get under their skin in game three, but Concordia forced their opponents to take some penalties out of frustration.
The tight, efficient, in-your-face style of game that may not always be pretty was exemplified by Harwell who scored the game-winning goal off of a tough rebound.
Harwell was all over McGill both offensively and defensively. He found success on the powerplay and penalty kill, drew penalties, and threw a collection of hits that kept McGill players looking over their shoulders.
“He battled the whole series,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. “He’s a playoff guy, he blocked shots. I found he was the best player on the ice tonight. He was in their face, playing the right way. I’ve gotta give him credit.”
With this win, Harwell and his teammates found out that they can win big games whether they’re high scoring battles or defensive showdowns; a major confidence boost for them as they move further into the playoffs.
“We’re a young team still. Having both [experienced both high and low scoring wins] just adds to our experience, knowing that we can play in any [type of] game,” said Hylland.
They’ll need that confidence as they get set to take on the Carleton Ravens, the top seeded team in the division. It’s sure to be a difficult matchup with plenty of animosity. If there’s a team that rivals the bitterness of the Concordia/McGill matchup, it’s Carleton.
But the team is feeling confident heading in, and, for a few hours after the game at least, they’re soaking things in.
“It doesn’t get much better than this,” said Neill.
Plenty of coaches and teams love to preach character and attitude, to the point where it becomes a cliché.
Then games like game two between Concordia and McGill happen and the definition becomes clearer.
In one of the most intense, exciting Stingers games in recent memory, Concordia mounted a comeback to force a decisive game three in this opening round of the playoffs.
Looking like underdogs early in the game and facing elimination with a loss, the team never slowed down or looked to have quit throughout the game, regardless of their cross-town rivals’ advantages at different points in the game.
“No one doubted us in the room. There was good vibes in the room and good vibes on the bench too,” said Stingers defenceman Carl Neill.
Neill and his team trailed 2-0, 3-1, and 4-2 throughout the game and climbed right back into things each time. Neill said they embraced their “us against the world” mentality and just pushed through a number of roadblocks in the game.
The Stingers battled a slow start and some self-inflicted damage caused by penalties leading to McGill goals in the first period. They dug themselves a hole that got deepened by factors that would be hard to lay at their door.
For example, captain Philippe Sanche was hauled down at the opposing net but somehow earned a penalty himself for that. Then there was the penalty shot.
Philippe Sanche was mixing it up physically all night
McGill was awarded a penalty shot late in the second period, leading 3-2. After the shot, a no-goal call was made, only for the referee to change his mind seconds later and call it a McGill goal—something coaches and players had never seen before. There are no goal reviews in U Sports so reversing calls is not something that usually happens.
The puck looked to have stopped on the line or against the post but once the no-goal call was overturned, McGill’s Michael Cramarossa skated over to Concordia’s bench for an extravagant celebration right in the Stingers’ faces, earning himself a ten minute misconduct penalty.
Several stingers players called this the true turning point of the game. Concordia was already outshooting McGill and controlling much of the play in the second. But suddenly, down 2 goals and headed into the third, they had some extra motivation right in their face.
“I don’t want to say it’s childish, but at a certain point, you’re in the playoffs,” said Neill. “I believe in the hockey gods and karma, so I wouldn’t be doing anything like that. If that’s your thing go for it. But I’ve never seen that turn things in your favour.”
The Stingers of the third period were something else. The team began to use its speed to push McGill, breaking through the neutral zone and creating strong rushes on the fly. McGill was suddenly getting beat back more and more and by the end of the game, the Stingers nearly doubled the visitors shot count with 50.
“We’ve been working for two weeks on our neutral zone regroups and I think we applied that really well tonight,” said the Stingers’ hero of the game, Anthony Beauchamp who made an impressive play to set up the Stingers third goal before tying the game at four with a goal of his own midway through the third.
Jake Fletcher battles for the puck against McGill’s Nikolas Brouillard
The Stingers never-say-die attitude carried them through the third and much of the second. Smiles could be seen across their faces and there was no doubt that the teams matched each other physically in a heavy hitting matchup like this. When Stingers winger Chase Harwell spent some time berating and challenging McGill’s entire bench, it didn’t seem out of place thanks to the Stingers maintaining what Neill calls their swagger.
“I’m proud of the guys,” said Sanche. “If you want to be successful, especially in the playoffs, you have to be in their face. You can’t go down, it’s do or die. That happened tonight.”
As the Stingers dominated the third and forced overtime, everyone appreciated the team effort, but Beauchamp was the clear focus of the win.
One of the Stingers’ fastest players, he has consistently been referred to by teammates as one of their hardest workers as well. When he was on the ice, McGill often found themselves scrambling to keep up with his speedy breakouts and forceful rushes.
“He started on the bottom line and climbed his way up [the lineup tonight], so I’m really proud of him,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement.
So who better to finish this underdog comeback? On a rush into McGill’s zone in overtime, a McGill player ended up on his knees as defenceman Gabriel Bilodeau skated in with Beauchamp suddenly unguarded.
As the pass slipped over to him, Beauchamp closed his eyes and ripped a shot with everything he had. His teammates knew it was the game winner before it had the time to even bounce back out of the net. The Ed Meagher arena exploded in cheers as coaches jumped up and down and the bench emptied of players on their way to swarm their teammate.
“That’s why we play hockey. Everyone in the room got goosebumps after that,” said Beauchamp with a smile.
The Stingers found themselves in a hole at the end of Thursday night.
It wasn’t an insurmountably deep hole and they’d faced plenty of pressure like this throughout the season—but the hole remains nonetheless.
“It’s not one game that’s going to bury us. We’re going to be fine. We just have to go back to the basics […] and work our balls off,” said Stingers captain Philippe Sanche after the team’s loss in game one of the OUA East playoffs.
A 2-1 loss certainly wasn’t the result that they were searching for against cross-town rival McGill, but if they want to find a different result in their do-or-die matchup on Saturday night at home, they’ll need a different start.
While the game started with the back and forth pace that comes with matchups between Concordia and McGill, the Stingers spent much of the first half of the game looking flat and lacking energy.
McGill controlled play heavily through the first period and it took Stingers goalie Kyle Jessiman making a collection of show stopping saves to keep the team together.
Carl Neill dekes around McGill’s Taylor Ford
The normally speedy, physical team looked to be missing some of the keys to what made them such a dangerous force this season.
“[The physicality] was ok. I wanted the guys to be a little bit more physical on them. That’s what we addressed between the second and the third,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. “If we do that we’ll have more success. We have to limit their time and space.”
The sleepy start mixed with some unfortunate and questionable calls by the referees left the Stingers chasing the game; a dangerous place to be in a best-of-three playoff series where every second matters so much.
“It’s always a little bit nerve-wracking to start the playoffs. You got that little bit of anxiety, it takes you a while to settle in. Especially if it’s your first year in the league,” said Stingers forward Tyler Hylland.
The team’s youth and inexperience started to show as they took the time to get used to the hard, fast, tight game that comes with postseason hockey.
Of the nineteen players that saw the ice for the Stingers, nine were in their first U Sports playoff game. Another six had only ever played two playoff games in the league. Only Sanche, centre Jean-Philippe Beaulieu, defencemen Carl Neill and Alexandre Gosselin had more experience than that heading into game one against McGill.
Those nerves did get pushed off eventually.
Tyler Hylland lines up for a faceoff
“We’re a young team, [after the first] guys were feeling more confident and in the game. We kept our game simple,” said Élement.
Midway through the second, the team started to find itself and its style a bit more. Hylland scored his first U Sports playoff goal and the play began to shift the Stingers’ way.
They dominated possession in the third period, missing chances by inches. The closest they came to evening a game in which they had trailed 2-0 came as Neill ripped a heavy shot just off the post in the game’s final minute.
Though they failed to find an equaliser in their late-game push, the control that the Stingers played with in the third felt like something they could carry over.
“If we play like we did in the third, we’ll be right back in that series Saturday,” said Élement.
It’s pressure time now though. The team will need to win at home in game two in order to keep their season alive and force a decisive game three back at McGill on Sunday.
The Stingers are now faced with two words they’ve become accustomed to this season: pressure and adversity.
They’ve been injured (missing up to eight players at times), dealt with suspensions, a young class not having a full lineup to play with, and more. It’s been a rocky season with plenty of obstacles. That’s exactly why the team feels ready for this moment.
“It’s never a good thing to have a perfect season. It helps build a team’s character to go through adversity during the year,” said Hylland. “If you face adversity as a team and you’re used to it, you know how to handle it and respond. We’re facing adversity again, it’s nothing new to us, we know how to respond.”
He pointed to the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the St. Louis Blues. The blues were last in the league standings at point and were continuously counted out before eventually winning the cup.
The Stingers have no options. It’s time to take any lessons learned this year and put them to good use with everything on the line. They should be laser focused and ready to play Saturday night.
“It’s the biggest game of the year. There’s not a nervous feeling in the room,” said Hylland.
The Stingers certainly ended the regular season with a bang. Their matchup against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks was one of their most dominant showings of the season.
From the first drop of the puck, the Stingers came to play in a game with major playoff seeding implications. They went up 2-0 in the first, outshooting their opponents 12-4 through the first frame. They kept the Ridgebacks under 20 shots throughout the game, even doubling them 24-12 midway through the third.
It was a fast-paced style of play for the stingers. Their quick transitions from smothering play in the defensive zone to speedy breakouts, turning into offensive chances, had them controlling the play for much of the game.
Even the rare shifts when the Stingers were being outplayed showed off the team’s talents. When the Ridgebacks came with an extended push in the Stingers end that lasted several minutes, it only resulted in a single shot. The bits of pressure didn’t bother the Stingers or throw them off.
“You’ve just gotta weather the storm,” said forward Jake Fletcher. “We’re gonna get that puck out. We’ve got guys that are gonna block that shot on every line. They’re gonna lie down and block that shot. That’s huge, especially to go deep in the playoffs.”
There’s that keyword: playoffs. It’s every player’s favourite time of the year now.
“You think about the playoffs, not the regular season,” said Stingers star rookie Tyler Hylland. “When you go to bed thinking about hockey, you want to win in the playoffs.”
Hylland and his teammates are coming into the playoffs as hot as any team could want. They had a rough first half of the season with a collection of injuries and consistency issues but have looked like a different team since the winter break.
They’ve won seven games, lost three in regulation, and two in overtime since then. That’s points in nine out of 12 games—despite a schedule filled with some of the division’s top teams.
Leading the charge, and perhaps serving as the best symbol of the team’s season is captain Philippe Sanche. The winger missed almost all of the first semester’s games with a wrist injury. Since returning, he hasn’t just been producing, he has been a force of nature.
Philippe Sanche finished the regular season with 12 goals in 17 games
He has scored 11 goals in his last 12 games, along with a strong defensive presence and that pestering of opponents he’s known for around the league.
“He’s probably one of the best players in the league,” said coach Marc-André Élement. “We missed him in the first half.”
The team has also found consistently strong goaltending from Kyle Jessiman, the rookie goalie who had to come in and replaced not only the starting goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte but the original backup Anthony Dumont-Bouchard, after both went down with injuries.
As much as the Stingers can be proud of the stats and performances players like Jessiman and Sanche have established throughout the season, none of them are focusing on that. Especially not rookie superstar Hylland.
“We want to win,” said Hylland. “That’s why we’re here. I’m not here to win rookie scoring [titles]. We want to win the Queen’s Cup.”
A trip to the cup will depend in great part on a combination of the team’s ability to keep this momentum they’ve built, particularly over the four-game win streak that they have put together recently, and some continued health luck.
At some points in the season, the Stingers were missing up to eight players at a time. They’ve brought that down to two starting players, one of which, Félix Lauzon, is practicing with the team already.
“We battled some injuries and suspensions [in the first half of the season]. I think we came back strong after Christmas,” said Sanche. “We [always found] a way to win.”
The return to a mostly-full lineup at this time of year is a huge change for the team and the differences have been stark. The depth on offence, in particular, has been key to the recent success.
Players like Fletcher and Colin Grannary (who scored twice against the Ridgebacks) contributing like they have been the last few matches is a gamechanger for the Stingers. When healthy, the Stingers lineup has its stars but can produce offence from any line.
All of these factors are lining up at the right time to make the Stingers one of the most interesting and dangerous teams heading into the playoffs.
The Stingers will open the playoffs Thursday night against their crosstown rivals, McGill who are a nationally ranked top 10- team.
“We’ve had hard games, we’ve come back in games, we’ve battled against great teams,” said Hylland. “We showed we’re a team you don’t want to play in the playoffs. Maybe we’re in the middle of the standings but I don’t think any of the top teams want to play us. We won’t be favourites but we like that.”
The Montreal Canadiens biggest free agent signing is better than you may think
When the Montreal Canadiens signed Alexander Radulov this summer, fans on Twitter immediately started to grumble about “the annual right-winger experiment.” Many Montrealers saw Radulov as just another Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau or Alexander Semin. They jumped to the conclusion that he will be a disappointment from the start. A more appropriate reaction to signing a superstar who has dominated his league for years, would be elation.
Right off the bat, Radulov blows every free agent signing the Canadiens have made over the last few years out of the water. He is an outstandingly skilled player who has proven himself in the NHL before with the Nashville Predators, and demonstrated an elite talent level overseas in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In terms of talent, the KHL is second only to the NHL. Just look at NHL stars like Artemi Panarin and Vladimir Tarasenko and you will see successful KHL alumni.
Radulov won the KHL’s MVP award four out of the eight times it has ever been awarded, according to CBS Sports. His statistical dominance has put him in the books as the KHL’s second all-time leading scorer and the player with the most assists in the league’s history. Had he not begun playing in the NHL, Radulov would likely have continued to dominate in the KHL record books.
Some seem content to simply argue that “the KHL is not the NHL.” While that is true, just because the KHL is not the same as the NHL, does not mean Radulov lacks value. There is a widely respected conversion system for point totals between the NHL and most other leagues in the world. It’s used to predict the success that players coming from Sweden or the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), for example, might experience in other leagues.
According to behindthenet.ca, this system is called the National Hockey League Equivalency (NHLE) and uses a player’s points-per-game rate to predict what rate they would score in the NHL. The rate for KHL to NHL is 0.8 or 80 per cent. If we were to use the NHLE, it shows that if Radulov were to play a full season, he would score 80 points. For context, only five players broke the 80 points mark in the NHL last year, according to nhl.com.
Looking at all of this, Radulov seems to be an elite talent with the potential to have a huge impact on the league this year. A combination of excellent vision, incredible hands and great hockey IQ makes Radulov a gifted passer. He has the ability to score goals at an incredible rate with his first class shot. Expect great things from Radulov for the 2016-2017 season—you will not be disappointed.
