Author: Nicholas Di Giovanni

Sports editor Nicholas Di Giovanni is a third-year Journalism student at Concordia, and has been with The Concordian since 2016-17. He's passionate about covering all of the Concordia Stingers teams.

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Playing for your school is special: Babcock

Mike Babcock

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach said he believes university hockey leads to bigger things

Mike Babcock, head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, said he believes university hockey is a platform to bigger things in life.

“It develops more doctors, more lawyers and more businesspeople than it does hockey players,” Babcock said. “But that’s the reality of the situation—not all of us can play in the National Hockey League.”

Babcock played university hockey for the McGill Redmen from 1983 to 1987, but never played in the NHL. Instead, he pursued a coaching career that has brought him from the major junior level to the NHL. He’s known for his coaching abilities rather than his playing abilities, and he prefers it to stay that way.

“When you coach in the NHL, unless you played in the NHL, you didn’t play hockey,” he said. “So I don’t spend a whole lot of time talking about my hockey career.”

Babcock attended the Redmen’s game against the Concordia Stingers on Oct. 13 at McGill’s McConnell Arena as part of an alumni event. The Stingers won the game 3-2.

McGill and Concordia’s crosstown rivalry was evident during the men’s hockey game, as there were 30 combined penalty minutes between the two teams. But Babcock doesn’t remember much of the McGill-Concordia rivalry during his playing days.

“I don’t remember a ton,” he said. “I remember it being a big deal at the time, and you obviously wanted to have success in a big rivalry, and it was a lot of fun.”

Before the game, Babcock performed a ceremonial puck drop between McGill captain Nathan Chiarlitti and Concordia captain Philippe Hudon. Hudon and Babcock both have a connection to the Detroit Red Wings—Babcock used to coach the Red Wings, the same team that drafted Hudon in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. But Babcock might not remember who Hudon is.

“I always say to the young guys, if they’re real good players, I won’t even know who they are until they get to my league. Then I’ll know their name,” Babcock said.

Babcock began his NHL coaching career with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 2002. He took them to the Stanley Cup final in 2003 only to lose to the New Jersey Devils. He then began coaching the Red Wings in 2005, and would stay behind the bench until he left to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015. The Red Wings won a Stanley Cup in 2008, and lost in the final to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.

Babcock also coached the men’s Team Canada to a gold medal in the World Ice Hockey Championships in 2004 and to two Olympic golds in 2010 and 2014. But after so many years of coaching at the professional level, he hasn’t watched much university hockey.

“The longer you’re in the NHL, the less you know about the other leagues,” he said. “I’m not a scout, so I don’t see other leagues. I watch the NHL.”

Regardless of whether he follows U Sports hockey or not, Babcock said he believes university athletics are valuable to a student’s life.

“[University] is a platform to give you confidence in yourself academically, athletically, emotionally and relationship-wise,” he said. “So to me, that’s the platform that’s going to send you out into the world knowing that you could conquer whatever you put your mind to.”

Babcock added that playing university hockey opened a lot of doors for his coaching career. “To be an athlete and compete for your school, it’s something very special and leads to more things in your life. I looked at it very fondly.”

Main photo courtesy of Josh Blatt, McGill Athletics

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A triumphant road to recovery

After missing the 2016 season with an injury, Moritz Wittmann returned to Stingers ready to lead

One year ago, Moritz Wittmann was playing in an exhibition rugby match for the Concordia Stingers when his right knee buckled. He partially tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee, but the injury didn’t require surgery at the time.

“Two months later, I was sort of good to run again, and I did the same thing. [The knee] buckled, and [the ACL] completely tore,” said Wittmann, who plays as a fly half. He had surgery on his knee in February after missing the Stingers’ entire 2016 season.

Without Wittmann and several other players who also had knee injuries, the Stingers suffered with a 1-6 record during the regular season. For Wittmann, not being able to join his teammates on the field was heartbreaking.

“You watch the guys out there, and you want to be in there, and you want to play,” Wittmann said. “At times, you can’t even watch. It’s hard. Especially with rugby, it’s such a physical sport, if you’re not taking part in the pain, you feel like you’re not part of the team.”

However, head coach Craig Beemer saw a positive side to Wittmann’s injury. He said Wittmann never missed a practice, and he helped out the team however he could.

Moritz Wittmann, with his taped knee, makes a pass during the 2017 season. Photo by Brianna Thicke.

“I have seen a lot of players ‘disappear’ for the year after something as devastating as that, but in this case I saw the exact opposite,” Beemer said in an email to The Concordian. “He never let his frustrations show even though you knew, deep down, not being able to step on the field was killing him.”

After Wittmann’s surgery in February, he recovered in time for the 2017 season. But his road to recovery wasn’t a smooth ride. The biggest bump along his journey was having to give up day-to-day activities for the first two months post-surgery.

“I’m used to just walking around, being active, running and doing any kind of sport,” Wittmann said. “So when you’re in bed for two months, you feel [bad]. You feel like you have less agency over your body; you don’t have control over it.”

Step-by-step, Wittmann went through the rehabilitation process to heal and strengthen his knee. During the recovery, his goal was to play in the Stingers’ first game of the 2017 season against the McGill Redmen. He played in that game, scored two tries, and the Stingers won 38-10.

“[The game] was great. It was unreal, it was so much fun,” Wittmann said while shaking his head with a smirk only seen on people who have finally accomplished their personal goals. He was also named Male Athlete of the Week for the Stingers after that performance.

Following the victory against McGill, the Stingers haven’t stopped winning. They have a 6-0 record and are in first place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ). Wittmann has played in all six games and is fifth on the Stingers for most tries with two. Wittmann said winning games this year is a lot of fun for the whole team, but especially for the players who returned from injuries.

“At the moment, we’re just grateful to be winning a few games,” Wittmann said. “Last year was depressing, especially for most of the guys on the sideline. We would lose by 40 points, and this year we’re just dominating teams. It’s fun.”

Wittmann is in his third year with the Stingers, and even though he has had an adventurous career with the team, he said he never expected to play rugby at Concordia. Wittmann grew up in Zurich, Switzerland, and first heard about Montreal in an in-flight magazine. After high school, Wittmann wanted a new challenge, so he thought Concordia University would be the place to go. He came to study English literature—rugby wasn’t his priority.

“I wasn’t expecting to play here. That wasn’t why I came here,” he said. “I heard they had a rugby team, and I showed up after training camp, and asked, ‘Can I play with you guys?’”

Wittmann started playing rugby at eight years old while he was living in the United Kingdom because he saw his older brother play and was jealous. Even though he has played the sport all over Europe and in Canada, he said rugby culture between countries isn’t that different.

“The culture is the same, everyone is pretty friendly,” he said. “It’s sort of a known thing around the rugby community to be friendly, opening and welcoming to people.”

In coach Beemer’s opinion, Wittmann exemplifies this friendly behaviour.

“He wins over his teammates with his incredible attitude and his ability to make everyone feel important and included,” Beemer said. “What you don’t see [behind the scenes] is him staying to support the developing players during scrimmages, cleaning up the training field post-practice and [taking on] the role of water boy just to be a part of what we are doing.”

While Wittmann continues helping out his teammates both on and off the pitch, all he wants to do is keep winning. “I think we can win [the championship]. I’m pretty confident. That’s the goal.”

Main photo by Kirubel Mehari.

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Only hard work will take Stingers back to nationals

Head coach Julie Chu expects players to give their best effort all season

A season after playing at the national championships, the head coach of the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team, Julie Chu, knows only one thing can get them back there.

“We know the only reason we got [to nationals] was from hard work,” Chu said. “Nothing changes this year in our preparation. We’re going to expect our players to come in and give effort to be the best everyday.”

Last year, the Stingers finished in third place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) with a 10-9-1 record during the regular season. They upset second-place Université de Montréal Carabins in the semi-final, which qualified them for the national championship. In the RSEQ final, the Stingers lost to the first-place McGill Martlets.

At nationals in March, the Stingers made it all the way to the bronze-medal game where they lost to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, with a score of 2-0. The Stingers finished the season as the fourth-best team in U Sports.

On Oct. 11, U Sports listed the Stingers fourth in their pre-season rankings. But for Chu, until Concordia steps onto the ice, they haven’t proven anything.

The Concordia Stingers celebrate a playoff series win against the UdeM Carabins during the 2016-17 season. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.

“It’s always nice to be ranked and be considered a top team, but we haven’t played a regular season game yet, so for me in all honesty, it doesn’t mean a lot,” Chu said.

The Stingers have been preparing for the start of their regular season since training camp began in August. The Stingers started their pre-season in September, with three wins in three home games against the Brock Badgers, the York Lions and the Queen’s Gaels.

“It’s always great to contribute offensively, but what was fun for [those three games] was that there were a lot of different people who contributed,” Chu said. “It wasn’t two or three people who were scoring the majority of the goals. It was spread out amongst the players.”

Rookie forward Vyckie Gélinas was one of the players who scored, with a goal against Queen’s. Chu said Gélinas is part of a group of first-year players on the team ready to contribute goals and offensive production. First-year forward Lidia Fillion also picked up an assist in that game, and she is a player Chu expects will make an impact both offensively and defensively with the Stingers this season.

“Fillion is doing a good job of shifting into playing at [the university] level, and she’ll continue to adjust to the speed of the game,” Chu said. “But she’s a tremendously smart player, so she knows how to play with and without the puck.”

Regardless of who the captain and assistant captains are, Chu said she wants all her players to be leaders. She also doesn’t want leadership to be limited to her forwards and defencemen.

“Even though Katherine Purchase is a goaltender for us, she has a big voice on our team. She has a great presence and will be a tremendous leader as well,” Chu said.

The coach added that the team’s ultimate goal this season is to win a national championship. But Chu said players have to focus on the small things first, like being great student-athletes and working hard for the team.

“We have to be willing to work hard everyday, set the tone and execute when it counts the most.”

The Stingers opened their season away against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Oct. 15 with a 3-1 loss. Their next game is Oct. 21 at home against the McGill Martlets.

Main photo by Kirubel Mehari.

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EA Sports misses the mark on gameplay in FIFA 18

The Concordian gives FIFA 18 a yellow card for its bad gameplay. Screenshot.

Bad ball control actually makes this year’s soccer video game worse than last year’s edition

FIFA 18 gets a yellow card for bad gameplay this year, and it’s almost a straight red. EA Sports’s newest edition of the soccer video game is, surprisingly, worse than FIFA 17.

The most frustrating part of this year’s gameplay is the player’s ball control. Bad ball control, or as soccer fans like to call it, bad touches, was a problem in FIFA 16. Although EA fixed this in last year’s edition, it’s back. Every player seems to be bad at controlling the ball in the game, including Juventus superstar Paulo Dybala, who is one of the best dribblers in the world.

Ball control is at its worst when a player receives a strong pass in the midfield—the ball bounces off his feet and goes flying in front of him, which leaves the ball open for your opponent to take. Yet even when your opponent takes the ball, they can’t control it and lose it right away. It’s a never-ending cycle that has teams alternating possession in the midfield, making gameplay terrible.

The game’s realism is one of its rare bright spots. Screenshot.

To avoid playing a sloppy game in the midfield, playing out wide with wingers and fullbacks is the best option. Crossing is a lot better this year. EA added three new crossing styles to the game: a driven cross, a high cross and a scoop cross. All three are effective at finding an open man in the box to blast a sweet volley or a powerful header past the keeper.

Tackling and physical play is also different in FIFA 18 compared to FIFA 17. In last year’s game, EA integrated a physical gameplay that benefitted stronger players who were able to easily out-muscle weaker opponents both on and off the ball. In FIFA 18, all players are weak and go down easily. It’s stereotypical for soccer players to go down with the slightest of touches, but this is a video game, and seeing your player drop to the ground when you’re trying to score with him is infuriating.

Presentation is probably the best it has ever been in the FIFA franchise. The FIFA 18 website promotes new, immersive stadium atmospheres, which feature fan-made signs all over the stadium, team-specific chants, pre-game traditions and new player-fan interactions during goal celebrations. It’s probably the best part of the game, but the good-looking presentation only masks the bad gameplay.

Fans of the franchise can only hope EA will update the 2018 edition through downloadable patches to improve the gameplay.

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Previewing the 2017-18 Montreal Canadiens season

Even with a number-one centre in Jonathan Drouin, Habs still face plenty of problems

After a disappointing first-round loss in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens fans are hoping the team will redeem itself this season. The Habs start the 2017-18 season on Oct. 5 against the Buffalo Sabres. The Concordian previews the good, the bad and the unknown of the Montreal Canadiens 2017-18 season.

The Good: Jonathan Drouin. The Canadiens acquired the 22-year-old centre from the Tampa Bay Lightning in a trade in June. General manager Marc Bergevin acquired Drouin to have a number-one centre and to add strong offensive scoring, two of the team’s weaknesses from last season. Drouin scored 53 points last season, and will add offensive firepower to the Canadiens as the first-line centre.

Drouin will almost certainly become a fan-favourite in Montreal. The Ste-Agathe, Que., native has said it was always his dream to wear the bleu-blanc-rouge. His agent, Allan Walsh, tweeted a picture of a Canadiens cap on which Drouin wrote: “There’s no place like home.”

The Bad: The Canadiens defence. In the off-season, the Canadiens lost Andrei Markov and Alexei Emelin, two of their best defencemen from the past few seasons. They replaced Emelin with Karl Alzner, but Montreal still hasn’t found a replacement for Markov to play alongside Shea Weber.

The Canadiens will have a hard time replacing Markov’s crisp vision and accurate passing. In the preseason, 19-year-old Victor Mete played with Weber. Although Mete’s strong skating and smart passing is much like Markov’s, should the teenager make the team, he won’t be able to fill Markov’s skates. Even though Mete impressed coaches and fans with his play in the preseason, Mete just lacks the intelligence and experience the 38-year-old Markov had. Having no seasoned top-pairing defenceman to play with Weber will hurt the Canadiens this season.

The Unknown: Depth scoring. The Canadiens’ lack of scoring is what put the final nail in their coffin last year. They just couldn’t score in the playoffs—when it mattered most. Even with Drouin, the Canadiens still have very little offensive firepower.

They lost right winger Alex Radulov, who had 54 points last year, and replaced him with veteran Ales Hemsky, who had seven points in 15 games last season. Wingers Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk had 29 and 44 points respectively, and will need to increase their point totals this year. Who will provide the depth scoring? We will have to wait and see.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

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Representing Canada with pride

From Concordia to the national rugby team, Frédérique Rajotte and Alex Tessier share their experience

When Frédérique Rajotte saw Canadian fans cheering for her following a Women’s Rugby World Cup match in Dublin, Ireland, she started crying.

“I thought, ‘Wow this is so special,’” Rajotte said. “My parents were there with my sister and her husband. So [my family and the fans being there] was really special, and you just felt the pride.”

Rajotte, a fifth-year centre with the Concordia Stingers, played for Canada in the Women’s Rugby World Cup this summer. Alex Tessier, another fifth-year centre with the Stingers, joined Rajotte on the journey to represent their country.

“It’s always such an honour [to represent Canada],” said Tessier, who has played for Team Canada before at various levels. “It’s always so special to play at the highest level. It’s hard to describe.”

Tessier and Rajotte traded in their standard Stingers maroon and gold for the Canadian red and white for almost the entire month of August. The two Concordia students are roommates in Montreal and were roommates in Ireland. They agreed it was a special experience to have each other there.

“Our connection is strong on the field and off the field,” Tessier said. “It’s always good having confidence in someone.”

“Having Alex [there], there’s kind of a sense of home,” Rajotte said.

Frédérique Rajotte carries the ball against the Carleton Ravens at Concordia Stadium on Sept. 17. Photo by Alex Hutchins

Twelve teams participated in the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which is played once every three years. Even though the two Stingers were surrounded by players from all around the world, they said they kept to themselves.

“You always think [the World Cup] is going to be a lot of socializing,” Rajotte said. “But we didn’t interact with other teams. Not saying we were anti-social or rude about it, but we were very focused on ourselves, and we had a team-first mentality.”

“I’m not the most outgoing person,” Tessier added, “so I didn’t meet players from other teams. But it was cool to be all together and see other cultures—like the New Zealand culture is something different.”

Before each game, New Zealand rugby teams—known as the All Blacks for their all-black uniforms—perform the traditional Haka dance, which is unique in the world of rugby. According to Tourism New Zealand, the Haka originates from the Maori people, who are indigenous to New Zealand. The Maori performed the Haka in preparation of war, to symbolize the tribe’s pride, strength and unity.

The Haka tradition was passed down from armies to New Zealand’s rugby teams, who try to intimidate their opponents with the dance before each match. The Canadian team had to face the Haka before their match against New Zealand on Aug. 17.

“It’s impressive at first, but you just have to focus on your game,” Tessier said. “It doesn’t affect you, it can’t affect you.”

Rajotte added that while Team Canada respected the dance because of its history, they just wanted to get to the game. “Seeing that, I think that it’s a challenge or an invitation to go to war, but you get used to it,” she said.

Canada lost that game against New Zealand 48-5, which was their final pool game. Before that, Canada beat Hong Kong 98-0 in their first match, where Tessier scored a try. They also beat Wales, 15-0, in the second match.

The two wins weren’t enough for Canada, as their loss against New Zealand disqualified them from the semi-final. The All Blacks eventually won the tournament, while Rajotte, Tessier and the rest of Team Canada were relegated into the fifth-place playoffs.

Alex Tessier kicks the ball during a match versus the Carleton Ravens on Sept. 17. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

In a battle for pride in the playoffs, Canada beat Wales 52-0, then Australia 43-12, to finish in fifth place at the Rugby World Cup. Before the tournament, Canada was ranked as the fourth-best team in the world. For the two Stingers, their failure to earn a spot on the podium was disappointing.

“We didn’t have the result we wanted. We were supposed to get the medals,” Tessier said. “It pissed us off that we lost that game [against New Zealand]. So the two last games we played for fifth place were amazing games that I will never forget, because they were really well fought.”

Rajotte added that Canada could compete with the stronger teams like New Zealand and England, the other team that made it to the final. She said the Canadian women’s national team has a lot of potential.

“There’s a lot of hope, and there were a lot of veterans on the team who are retiring, so now it’s up to the younger girls to take over,” she said. “[The veterans] did a great job of sharing their knowledge and their past experiences.”

Tessier and Rajotte both said they learned a lot about discipline and professionalism with the Canadian team. “Discipline, we call it being pro, like being on time and being efficient,” Tessier said. “We try to focus on quality over quantity. That’s one thing I took away, is discipline and staying focused.”

The Stingers veterans aim to bring that professionalism back to the Stingers in their final year with the team. The soft-spoken Tessier said the team needs to have a one-game-at-a-time mentality in order win the championship, while the outgoing Rajotte was more direct about what she thought the team could accomplish.

“We are going to win the RSEQ championship, and we are going to go to Nationals in Alberta.”

Main photo by Alex Hutchin

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Stingers honour Erica Cadieux in draw versus UQTR

The Stingers women’s soccer team hands gifts to the family of Erica Cadieux for donation. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Concordia collected donations, gifts for Children’s Hospital in memory of former student-athlete

The Concordia Stingers women’s soccer team tied 2-2 against the Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes in the Erica Cadieux Memorial Game on Sept. 22.

For a 12th year in a row, the Stingers held a game in memory of Cadieux, a former Stingers soccer player. She played for Concordia from 1992 to 1994, while double-majoring in political science and Spanish.

Cadieux was killed after being hit by a car while walking with her 18-month-old daughter, who survived, in Beaconsfield on Jan. 27, 2006. Every year since, her family and friends gather at Concordia Stadium to remember her.

“We can’t express enough our gratitude to the university for this honour,” said Yolanda Cadieux, Erica’s mother. “It’s just been wonderful for our family.”

Yolanda said that after Erica’s death, some of her former Stingers teammates wanted to come up with a way to honour their friend.

“We wanted this to be a meaningful thing, something she would be proud of,” Yolanda said. “We decided the Montreal Children’s Hospital would be our focus, and we would try and raise money [for the hospital].” While Erica was a student at Concordia, she volunteered in the neurological wing of the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

The Stingers women’s soccer team accepted donations and gifts for kids at the game, which they send to the Children’s Hospital. This year, the Stingers said they received over $500 in donations, plus multiple children’s toys and games.

This year’s game featured a different way to honour Erica—her family, her former teammates and Stingers alumni gathered for a reception before the game.

“We had former players here from the late 1980s,” said head coach Jorge Sanchez. “We told [the current players], ‘Some of you weren’t even born when they played here, but you all have something that unites you together.’” Current and former players shared their connection with soccer and the Stingers, two things Erica loved most.

“[The Stingers were] everything for Erica,” Yolanda said. “It was what made Concordia great for her, because I think there’s something about the friendship you have in a sports setting that transcends the school.”

Every year, Erica’s widowed husband, Carlo Spadafora, would bring their daughters, Bianca, 13, and Olivia, 12, to the game. But this year, Spadafora and the two girls were unable to make the trip to Montreal from Sault Ste-Marie, Ont. Yolanda said she was disappointed her granddaughters, who play soccer like their mom did, couldn’t go.

“I think when my granddaughters called me and told me they weren’t coming, I said, ‘You have to realize that this is a tremendous honour for the university to hold a special game in memory of your mom,’” Yolanda said.

However, the rest of Erica’s family, including her parents, sisters, nieces and nephews, were present. It gave the game a fun, family atmosphere, something rarely seen at Stingers soccer games.

Midfielder Laura Lamontagne passes the ball against the UQTR Patriotes on Sept. 22. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Concordia got off to a weak start when defender Kate Evoy made a bad pass to the keeper, Olivia Desgroseilliers. UQTR’s Valerie Noel intercepted the ball, got past Desgroseilliers and ran in to score just 10 minutes into the game.

Evoy redeemed herself in the 27th minute when she sent forward Sarah Humes on a breakaway with a long pass. Humes made no mistake, blasting the ball past the helpless UQTR keeper.

Just two minutes later, midfielder Chama Sedki scored from a free kick 35 yards away from the net. The Stingers carried the lead into halftime, but the Patriotes tied the game at 2-2 in the 55th minute when Magali Gravel scored off a corner kick.

“I thought we had our chances just like they did, and it could have gone either way,” Sanchez said. “It was one of those games where teams were risky to try and get the win, and we ended up with the tie, so we shared the pain.”

Before the memorial game, the Concordia men’s soccer team lost 3-1 to UQTR. On Sept. 24, the women won 1-0 against the McGill Martlets, while the men lost 3-0 to McGill. Both teams will have an away game against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or on Sept. 29.

Main photo by Alex Hutchins

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Stingers create search committee to hire new athletics director

Concordia has been without an athletics director for almost a year. Photo by Nicholas Di Giovanni.

Deputy provost Lisa Ostiguy leads the charge to find Patrick Boivin’s replacement

Concordia University has set up a search committee to find a new director for the recreation and athletics department.

The search committee will be chaired by deputy provost Lisa Ostiguy, according to Mary-Jo Barr, the university spokesperson, “and also includes a student service director, a vice-president and two athletes named by the coaches from two different sports.”

Although the former athletics director, Patrick Boivin, stepped down from his position in December 2016, the school has yet to hire his permanent replacement. Boivin, who was with the university for three years and headed the Concordia Stingers rebrand in September 2015, left the recreation and athletics department to become the president and CEO of the Montreal Alouettes.

After Boivin left, Concordia fired former assistant director John Bower in January 2017, according to The Link. Bower has since become the athletics director at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, Alta.

D’Arcy Ryan, Concordia’s director of residence administration, has been the interim athletics director for nearly 10 months. Concordia University President Alan Shepard previously told The Concordian that having this many changes in an organization is normal, and the Stingers are in a renewal period.

“We took [Boivin’s departure] as an opportunity to do a full review of the program,” Shepard said, adding that academic programs typically get reviewed every five to seven years. “It’s been about nine or 10 years since we’ve done a review [of the athletics department].”

The review of the department began in January and was completed this summer. Barr said the review process involved meeting with members of the recreation and athletics staff, student-athletes, representatives from student services and Concordia Stingers alumni.

The Concordian has also learned that Jennifer Brenning, athletics director at Carleton University, was asked to assist in the department’s review.

“There was a survey sent to all members [of the recreation and athletics department] for their input,” Barr said in an email to The Concordian. “All internal feedback was summarized and reviewed with the recreation and athletics department for their further input.”

According to Shepard, Concordia funds more money into athletics compared to other universities, but he didn’t specify which universities they were compared to. He did not elaborate on what the department review meant for the search for a new athletics director.

Although the recreation and athletics department has been without a director for nearly a year, Barr said “the goal is to fill the position as soon as possible.”

Feature photo by Nicholas Di Giovanni

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Men’s rugby team heads into season full of hope

Head coach Craig Beemer had a full off-season to recruit and prepare for the 2017 season. Photo by Kirubel Mehar

Returning head coach Craig Beemer says his group is developing good chemistry

The 2016 season was a difficult one for the Concordia Stingers men’s rugby team.

They finished the season with just one win and seven losses. Craig Beemer had been hired as the head coach just weeks before the start of last season and faced a lot of challenges in his first year.

“We had a lot of injuries, a few guys tore their knees,” Beemer said. “I think in the first game of the season, we had 12 guys starting.”

Heading into the 2017 season, which started with a 34-10 away win against the McGill Redmen on Sept. 10, the head coach said his team has learned from their previous season.

“When you have a tough year record-wise, it shows your character and really makes you reflect,” he said.

Last year, Beemer had no time to recruit or prepare for the season. Although he was a head coach at McGill for eight seasons and an assistant coach with the Stingers for two seasons, he had never been thrown into the fire so fast.

“I was here as an assistant coach, but it’s a totally different atmosphere,” he said. “I wasn’t charged with handling day-to-day activities. Then having that on my plate, dealing with injuries and trying to challenge guys who probably weren’t ready to do a task, it definitely took its toll and allowed me to reflect at the end of the season.”

The Concordia Stingers engage in a scrum in a regular-season game during the 2016 season. Archive photo by Brianna Thicke.

In the off-season, Beemer had a lot of time to reflect on the 2016 season and prepare for the upcoming season. He also added three new recruits to his roster: fly-halfs Sam Montminy and Jean-Christophe Vinette and second row player Adreano Alacchi.

Montminy is the highlight of the trio. Beemer said he was a starter for St-Anne’s Rugby Football Club when they won the Quebec Rugby championship—the highest-ranking rugby competition in the province—in 2016.

Vinette has only been playing rugby for two years and made the team during tryouts.

Alacchi, who started playing rugby at Loyola High School, played with the Quebec U18 team in 2015 and 2016. Beemer had high praise for Alacchi, who measures in at six-foot-five.

“He may not be a superstar now, but he will be in the future,” Beemer said.

The rookies will complement a team with many players who were in their shoes a year ago. The Stingers had 13 rookies on the 30-man roster last season, but the head coach said having his group grow together will only make the team stronger.

“People came back relaxed, comfortable and knew what they were getting themselves into,” Beemer said. “As opposed to last year, when some wide-eyed rookies didn’t know what was about to occur.”

“A lot of the rookies from last year played rugby this summer, got into the gym, and they look like completely different players, in a good way,” Beemer added.

Another crucial aspect of the Stingers development is the return of four key players. Fourth-year fly-half Moritz Wittmann and second-year winger Daniel Pelletier-Ragguette are returning from knee injuries, while third-year centre Charles Debove also returns from an injury. Flanker Lucas Hotton, who was a rookie on the team during the 2014 season but didn’t play in 2015 and 2016, is rejoining the Stingers this season.

Beemer expects the returning veterans to add to his team’s strength, which is what he calls “rugby experience.”

“We have some really high-level rugby players who played at the Canadian Rugby Championship,” he said. “From a rugby experience level, with those four guys coming back and the new recruits coming in, we’re a much more seasoned team.”

After a long off-season of recruiting and training, Beemer said he sees a bright future ahead of his team.

“We’re going to be a lot more competitive this year,” he said. “The guys are excited to get back onto the pitch.”

Main photo by Kirubel Mehari

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Two Stingers proudly represented Concordia at Hockey Canada development camp

Claudia Dubois lines up for a face-off in regular-season action during the 2016-17 season. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins

Claudia Dubois and Caroll-Ann Gagné aim to reach new heights with women’s hockey team

Two Stingers on the women’s hockey team recently got to hone their talents with Canada’s national women’s development team. Defenceman Caroll-Ann Gagné and forward Claudia Dubois represented Concordia at Hockey Canada’s national team summer showcase in Calgary, Alta. from Aug. 5 to 13.

Nearly 70 players from U Sports, the NCAA and the under-18 level took part in the development camp. Dubois and Gagné participated in on-ice training sessions, intrasquad games and various off-ice classroom sessions.

“I think we learned a lot of things off the ice because we had meetings about nutrition, and we had some meetings with sports psychologists,” Gagné said.

The camp started off with physical tests, including the bench press and the beep test. Dubois said they then learned about properly warming up before games and cooling down after games.

After the first few days of demanding fitness training, the development camp moved to the ice. Although the players came from different schools and won’t be playing together this season, they practiced as a team and focused on developing teamwork.

“It wasn’t a lot about the skills and the [individual] player,” Dubois said.

Caroll-Ann Gagné, centre, makes a pass between two opponents in a game versus the McGill Martlets during the 2016-17 season. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins

Last season, the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team finished second in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), which allowed them to play at the National Championships in Napanee, Ont. Having played at Nationals allowed Dubois and Gagné to attend the development camp with some of the players they battled against at the tournament.

“It was nice to meet some girls from across Canada from different universities,” Dubois said.

When Gagné met players from the various schools, she said she made sure they knew where she was from. “I was proud to say I was from Concordia,” she said.

During the development camp, the two Stingers tried to meet as many players as possible and even befriended some of them. When asked if their friendships would last should Dubois and Gagné compete against their new friends this season, Dubois gave a swift response.

“We are friends,” she said. “But not on the ice.”

One friendship that will remain strong during the 2017-18 season is that of Dubois and Gagné. Dubois, the younger of the two, said having Gagné with her relieved a lot of stress on the way to the camp.

“It was nice to have Caroll-Ann with me and just be with her on the plane,” Dubois said. “We were both in the same situation.”

When asked about sharing the experience with her teammate, Gagné said, “She’s a third-year and I’m a fifth-year so I got to know her a bit better, but I already knew her well enough. But it was great to be part of this with her.”

For the Concordia women’s hockey program, having two Stingers invited to the development camp was a reward for the team’s continuous improvement over the past few seasons.

“For me, it rewarded all the hard work from my years at Concordia,” Gagné said.

In Gagné’s first season in 2013-14, the Stingers finished 5-15-0. Despite a bump in the road in 2015-16, they continued improving and achieved a 10-9-1 record last season. They lost to the McGill Martlets in the RSEQ Final, and went to Nationals only to lose to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the bronze-medal game.

“Since my first year, we went through a lot, and I think we worked hard to get to Nationals,” Gagné said. “This invitation was a gift for us to go there and to prove what we learned last year, and to prove that Concordia is a good team.”

Gagné finished last season as the Stingers top-scoring defenceman with one goal and 12 assists. She said the knowledge they’re bringing back from the development camp will help her and Dubois make the Stingers better.

“I think that this was a great experience, and everything we learned will help us learn to play together as a team and work towards Nationals,” Gagné said.

Dubois finished second in team scoring behind forward Audrey Belzile with 11 goals and six assists last season. She has big goals for the Stingers ahead of the 2017-18 season.

“We want to make Nationals again but also to get a medal,” she said. “I know we could win the championship of our league. We’re going to have to work hard for sure, but we can do it.”

Gagné, who will be playing her last season at Concordia this year before pursuing a career in human resources, has a bit of a different goal.

“[I want to] just to play to have fun,” she said with a laugh.

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It’s like playing hockey, but without skates

A ball hockey team celebrates winning a championship. Photo courtesy of Sean Guerriero.

Anybody can play ball hockey, and it’s making the sport grow across the country

Just imagine playing hockey without needing to learn how to skate. That’s ball hockey.

With the same level of intensity and excitement, ball hockey is a sport made to mirror Canada’s favourite winter pastime. Almost anyone can play, and it’s not just for kids in gym class or on the street, many adults also play.

Sean Guerriero, the vice-president of the Montreal Ball Hockey League (MBHL), said the sport is gaining popularity because it’s simple to play.

‘‘All you need to know is how to run and hold a stick,’’ he said. ‘‘If you like hockey, that’s the only prerequisite.’’

All you need to know is how to run and hold a stick. – Sean Guerriero

Many of the rules in ice and ball hockey are the same, but the games are played differently. In ice hockey, players can easily glide on their skates if they’re tired or a bit lazy. That’s not the case in ball hockey. The pace of the game relies on players keeping their feet moving without the luxury of an icy surface to propel them forward.

‘‘It’s a big workout,’’ Guerriero said. ‘‘If you’re not backchecking on [the play], you’re called out on it.’’

For university students looking to release stress, Guerriero said ball hockey is a fantastic sport. “It’s a great endorphin-releaser because of the toll it takes on your body to run 200 feet,” he said.

A ball hockey player carries the ball along the boards during a game. Photo courtesy of Sean Guerriero.

The biggest rule difference between ice hockey and ball hockey is the floating blue line rule. In ice hockey, the offensive zone ends at the opponent’s blue line. In ball hockey, the offensive zone goes all the way back to the red line, at centre ice. So the attacking team has half the ice to set up and make a play. It leaves a lot more space and creates a type of game that, according to Guerriero, relies on possession.

‘‘You gain the zone, you pass back to the point, you open up space,’’ he said. ‘‘The best players in the world don’t run that much.’’

However, ball hockey players still have the same passion for their sport as those on the ice, and it makes a great alternative for those who cannot play the winter version.

‘‘Across Montreal, hockey is a huge part of our culture, and it’s a great way to enter that culture and participate in it without having to learn how to skate,’’ Guerriero said.

In Montreal, ball hockey participation is growing fast. When Guerriero became VP of the MBHL in 2011, the league used hockey rinks in the summer, and didn’t have winter seasons. But a few months later, the Club West Island built an indoor ball hockey rink, open all year. So the MBHL started playing in the winter. Since then, Guerriero said the number of teams has grown from about 30 to around 120, and the MBHL operates year-round with over 3,000 players.

‘‘It’s caught on as more of a year-round sport than just a summer sport,” Guerriero said.

The MBHL took a major hit when the Club West Island closed in 2016, but they bounced back by moving their rink inside a golf dome in Kirkland. On top of that, Montreal’s first five-on-five ball hockey-specific arena, Le Rinque 2.0, opened in April. For Guerriero, having more places to play and grow the sport brings it closer to his dream.

‘‘Our ultimate goal as a sport is Olympic presence,’’ he said. ‘‘To see Team Canada play ball hockey at the Olympics would be a dream come true.’’

Main Photo courtesy of Sean Guerriero

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Stingers host six American schools in exhibition games

IMG_8962_AHutchins: Ricardo Mongue dribbles towards the basket in preseason action against the University of New Hampshire. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Head coach Rastko Popovic looks to evaluate young talent with preseason series

For the second year in a row, the Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team will host NCAA Division 1 teams in a series of exhibition games. The Stingers tip off their preseason with six games from Aug. 21 to Sept. 1.

For Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic, the exhibition series is an opportunity to prepare the team for their upcoming season, which starts in November.

“It gives us the chance to play some early games,” he said. “It gives us the chance to get some extra reps in, watch some extra video and give our young guys a chance to play a lot in games.”

New York’s Canisius Griffins, Hofstra Pride, St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers and Siena Saints, Boston’s Northeastern Huskies, and the New Hampshire Wildcats will make the trip to play at Concordia.

Like in every preseason, Popovic’s goal is to evaluate how some of his younger and newer players will integrate with the team. After last year’s five-game exhibition series against NCAA teams — which saw the Stingers win three games —  he noted some young players were able to contribute more offensively and defensively when the season started.

“If they get on the floor and they’re not nervous and they’re able to do things, it shows they are able to play under pressure early in a season,” he said.

Adrian Armstrong looks for a teammate in a preseason game against the University of New Hampshire. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Popovic, who is set to begin his third season as head coach, has four new players joining the team. Oge Nwoko, Michel Hakizimana and Mattis Gueret are first-year players, while Jonathan Koud becomes a Stinger after transferring from Northwest Junior College in Wyoming.

“It’s important for them to get some meaningful playing time so that they gain some valuable experience,” Popovic added.

While he is particularly focused on testing out the rookies, Popovic said it’s also important for the veterans to play in the exhibition series. He wants to see how his returning players improved over the summer, and how his team plays as a unit.

In addition, Popovic said the preseason games will allow him to scope out the Stingers’ strengths, particularly because they will be playing against strong teams.

“There’s a good chance the games will be competitive,” Popovic said, adding that Canadian university teams are finally able to play at the same level as some American teams. “There’s a good chance there are some games [the NCAA teams] won’t win.”

Popovic was a shooting guard during the 2005-06 season, when the Stingers were decimated 123-66 during an away game against the Duke Blue Devils — a top NCAA powerhouse. Over a decade later, though, his Stingers are now capable of beating other NCAA teams, as they proved with their three wins during the preseason series last year. This shows the growth of the men’s basketball program at Concordia and of the sport in Canada as a whole, since many teams now have the skill level to compete with American teams. The Carleton Ravens, for example, recently beat the Alabama Crimson Tide, a top American basketball team, 84-71.

“I think it’s good for U Sports basketball because it shows we can compete with these Division 1 teams,” Popovic said, adding that, “For people who want to see what our team will look like, it’s a good opportunity to come and watch some basketball.”

So far in the series, the Stingers have suffered three defeats: 82-69 against Canisius, 75-45 against Northeastern and 94-81 against New Hampshire.

They play against the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers on Aug. 29, against Siena on Aug. 31 and finish the preseason against Hofstra on Sept. 1.

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