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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Concordia-McGill rivalry renewed in playoffs

concordia-mcgill
Guard Caroline Task (#7) helped the Stingers eliminate the Martlets in the semi-finals. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Women’s basketball, hockey teams faced Martlets in postseason action

The Concordia-McGill rivalry is one of the best in university sports, but it takes on another level when the two schools meet in the playoffs. That was exactly the case this season for both the women’s hockey and basketball teams in their respective Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) semi-finals.

The Stingers only won two of seven games versus McGill in women’s hockey this season. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The Stingers women’s hockey team hadn’t beaten McGill in five previous playoff series. Their bad results against their cross-town rivals continued this year, losing in two games. McGill is now 12-0 against Concordia in the playoffs since the Stingers won the 2005 final in three games.

The women’s basketball team has had the same misfortune against the Martlets. Before this year’s playoff match-up, they hadn’t beaten McGill in the playoffs since 2002, losing in 2016 and 2017. This year’s team turned history around and beat the Martlets in the RSEQ semi-final, 62-55, at the Concordia Gym on Feb. 27. They also ended McGill’s seven-year run as provincial champions.

“All of us just wanted to dethrone them, as bad as that sounds,” said third-year guard Caroline Task after the game. “It was time for someone else to take the lead, so I think we went into this knowing this is what we wanted to do.”

It was a tightly-contested game, typical of the Concordia-McGill rivalry in any sport, with a loud and energetic crowd. The Stingers had a 10-point lead in the second quarter, and the Martlets responded well, leading by eight points in the fourth. That’s when the Stingers crowd got behind their team as Concordia scored 19 points in the last five minutes.

“Obviously there are a bit of butterflies in your stomach when you’re down with the time going down,” Task said. “Not for a second I didn’t think we wouldn’t pick it up.”

The rivalry takes on a whole new level each year at the Corey Cup. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Missed opportunity

On the men’s side of basketball and hockey, there were no Concordia-McGill playoff meetings this year. McGill’s men’s basketball team lost in their semi-final, which would have set up a final against Concordia. In hockey, the Stingers met the Queen’s Gaels in the first round of the playoffs, but should have played McGill.

According to U Sports hockey insider Victor Findlay, the Gaels dressed an ineligible player in their final game of the season. The Ontario University Athletics Association only sanctioned them after their series against Concordia started, deducting them a point. Originally, the Gaels finished third, and McGill in fourth, but because of the loss of points, McGill jumped into the third seed. They would have played the sixth-placed Stingers if the issue had been dealt with earlier.

This could have set up a fantastic series between the schools. “It’s fun to play,” said rookie defenceman Bradley Lalonde after the Corey Cup on Feb. 2. “[The Ed Meagher arena] is kind of smaller, so when you get a lot of people, there’s a lot of noise.”

Stingers captain Philippe Hudon has seen it all from the rivalry during his five years at Concordia. “It’s an old rivalry, and these kind of games speak for themselves,” he said after the Corey Cup. “There should be more exposure to this kind of game, it’s fun hockey and the rivalry is tremendous.”

Fans will get another taste of the Concordia-McGill rivalry when the football season kicks off in September.

With files from Simon Prud’homme. Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Colour commentary: Ego gets in the way in sports

Sports Editor Nicholas Di Giovanni gives his take on his latest in sports with his weekly Colour Commentary

Kepa Arrizabalaga just another example of player-first mentality

Sports fans around the world witnessed one of the most outrageous incidents in a soccer game on Feb. 24. In the Carabao Cup final—one of England’s cup tournaments—between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri wanted to substitute his goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, for back-up Willy Caballero.

The game was tied 0-0 in the 120th minute and set to go to penalties. Sarri saw Kepa cramping up, and wanted to take him off before the penalty shootout. Instead, when the coach signalled to his goalie to change, Kepa, who signed for a world-record fee of over US$75 million last summer, simply refused. The keeper told Sarri he would stay on the pitch.

This is Sarri’s first season managing the club, and earlier that week, he was already unsure about his future with Chelsea. Once the goalie refused to change, Sarri lost his temper, started yelling at his staff and players on the bench, and walked towards the door, as if he was lquitting his job, but ultimately returned to the bench.

Kepa won the argument with the manager to stay on, but then his team lost in penalties, 4-3.

It’s understandable why Sarri lost his temper like that. The coach is the head of the team, and no player should ever make, or refuse, a coach’s decision. Of course Kepa wants to help his team win in penalties, and with the money they paid for him, why wouldn’t he? But he has to help his team win by sitting on the bench.

Ego is often too involved in sports now, and some of these athletes forget about the bigger picture: it’s a team sport. I guess these players were never told “no” growing up either.

Kepa also demonstrated that he doesn’t care about his team, his coach, or even his fans. He made an embarrassing decision, which cost his team the game. Luckily for him, Sarri didn’t throw him under the bus in the post-game press conference. Sarri called it a misunderstanding, but responded properly by benching Kepa the next game.

Athletes are role models for kids, and if they see their favourite player disobeying their coach, it’s a toxic influence. These kids will start ignoring their parent’s orders, then their teacher’s, then their boss’s, until we have a world of egomaniacs refusing all rules.

Team sports are all about working with others, and respecting those around you, to achieve a greater goal. If Kepa, or any athlete, refuses to play nice with anyone around him, he should probably play darts.

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Stingers win RSEQ title in men’s basketball

This was the Stingers’s first title since 2012. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Concordia beats UQAM Citadins 73-69 at home

The Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team won the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) title Saturday night at the Concordia Gym. They beat the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins in the final, 73-69.

“Being a champion is the best feeling in the world,” said Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic. “I’m so proud of our guys.”

Guard Ricardo Monge accepts the trophy from a RSEQ representative. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The Stingers finished first in the RSEQ during the regular season with an 11-5 record, and earned the right to host the game. They beat the Bishop’s Gaiters last Wednesday in the semi-final, while UQAM beat McGill in the other semi-final.

The Stingers opened the game strong, getting the home crowd behind them. They had a 13-11 advantage after the first quarter, and dominated the second to hold a 27-21 lead at halftime. They started the third quarter strong, but the Citadins battled back and kept the score close.

The Stingers celebrate with their trophy. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

A Citadins bucket cut the Stingers’s lead to two points in the final minute of the third quarter. Then, fifth-year guard Ricardo Monge hit a three-point shot to give Concordia a 48-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“That shot was big and it gave us confidence,” Popovic said. “They hung around, but then we made some monster plays down the stretch. Sam [Ghandour] had a huge three with two seconds left on the shot clock, Olivier [Simon] had a big tip-in with a backwards shot, I don’t know how that went in.”

“When I play, I just think about the play and just make reads, I couldn’t tell you what was going through my mind,” Monge said. “There’s nothing too special where I think ‘I need to make threes now.’”

Every time the Citadins cut the Stingers’ lead, Concordia scored timely baskets in the fourth quarter. Even though Simon’s behind-the-back shot looked like a lucky bounce, guard Adrian Armstrong said it shows how hard the team has worked through the years.

“He caught the ball, saw the shot clock and he knew he had to get it to the rim,” Armstrong said. “In his rookie year, I don’t know if he would have made that play.”

Simon finished the game with a double-double, collecting 18 points and 10 rebounds. Monge led the Stingers with 19 points, while Sami Ghandour had 17. The Stingers will now play at nationals in Halifax from March 7 to 10.

Women lose final

The Stingers women’s basketball team were also playing in the RSEQ final Saturday night. They lost to the Université de Laval Rouge et Or 75-55 in Quebec City.

More to come.  Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Carl Neill is a leader in all aspects

The Stingers season ended last Friday, but Neill wants to stay at Concordia until he finishes school. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Second-year Stinger uses past as a forward to help him as defenceman

When Carl Neill played hockey as a kid, his dad wanted to make sure Neill didn’t become a goalie, because he was one himself. “He encouraged me to not do that part of the sport, so I’m very grateful for that,” Neill said.

Neill’s dad probably made the right decision because his son used his talents as a defenceman to lead the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team in points this season, with 33. Neill joined the Stingers last year after the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL team that drafted him in the fifth round in 2015, didn’t sign him to a contract. He was named to the U SPORTS all-rookie team last season after earning 31 points, the most by a defenceman in the country.

Neill was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 2015, but wasn’t signed to a contract. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Neill added that throughout his hockey career, his dad was always his biggest influence. “I’m an only child, so I spent a lot of time with my dad growing up,” said Neill, who’s from Lachute, Que. “Just the way he is as a guy, with his judgement and character, he was a big role model.”

With nine goals and 55 assists in 56 regular-season games with the Stingers, Neill is the prototypical offensive defenceman. He tries to model his game after Washington Capitals defenceman John Carlson, who had 68 points and won the Stanley Cup last season. “He’s good all-around,” said Neill. “He picks up points, he’s good defensively, and he’s the type of player you need whether you’re up a goal or down a goal.”

Neill started playing hockey as a forward, and says that’s what helps make him so dangerous offensively. He switched positions in pee-wee, and developed his defensive game while playing for the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QJMHL). “Once I got older, I knew when to jump in the play and make the right decisions,” he said.

The defenceman spent four-and-a-half seasons with the Phoenix, first playing with them at 16 years old in 2012-13. He became team captain in 2015-16, and halfway through the following season, they traded him to the Charlottetown Islanders for two draft picks. Neill said it was emotional to leave Sherbrooke, but understands they had to make the trade to build the team for the future.

“Playing junior hockey at 16 was really special, and it was my first time away from home, so the city really took me in with open arms,” Neill said about his time in Sherbrooke. “A lot of teams in junior are run like a business, but [it] felt like a family. A lot of the staff, coaches, and players I’m still in contact with today.”

Two of Neill’s former teammates in Sherbrooke during the 2014-15 season, Raphaël Lafontaine and Charles-Éric Légaré, helped influence him to join the Stingers in 2017. In turn, Neill influenced forward Hugo Roy to join the team this season. Roy played three seasons with the Phoenix, and was team captain after Neill left.

“Recruiting comes a lot from players who know each other,” Neill said. “Especially schools around [Montreal]. They pretty much have all the same things to offer, especially hockey-wise […]. Knowing Legaré and Lafontaine, I got a good sense of what the program was like.”

As was the case with Sherbrooke, Neill quickly established himself as a leader for the Stingers. In just his second season, he was chosen as assistant captain, alongside forward Philippe Sanche and defenceman Alexandre Gosselin. As a leader, Neill said he wants to be held accountable.

“I’m not going to start yelling at guys about plays I didn’t do myself,” Neill said. “I try to stay pretty calm and lead by example on the ice.”

The Stingers had a star-studded rookie class last year that included Neill and forward Massimo Carozza. Both were named to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) all-rookie team last year. Most of those players left to pursue other opportunities, such as Carozza, who went to play professional hockey in Italy.

Neill and forward Jean-Philippe Beaulieu were the only two rookies from last season to stay with the team this year. Neill, who studies human relations, wants to graduate from university before thinking about a professional career.  

“With Vancouver not working out, I had a few pro options [in the minor leagues], but they were all a one-year deal,” Neill said. “I felt more comfortable going to school and getting a degree first […]. For me, it was tough; you see guys whose careers don’t pan out and they have nothing left.”

Neill said he chose to study human relations because it suits his personality. He applies things he’s learned in the classroom to the locker room, such as conflict resolution and working with different types of people, which has helped him be a better leader. Once he graduates from Concordia, he plans to continue pursuing his dream of playing professional hockey.

“I need to round off my game,” Neill said about what he needs to improve. “Offence has always been a key part of my game, but a better understanding defensively would get me to the next level.”

The Stingers season ended in the first round of the playoffs against the Queen’s Gaels last week.

Main photo by Hannah Ewen.

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Stinger donates his hair at Pink in the Rink game

Before the haircut.

Jérome Bédard Guillemette wants to continue funding research for breast cancer

Before the haircut.

When Jérome Bédard Guillemette first joined the Concordia Stingers football team in 2015, he knew he wanted to raise money for some sort of cause. When his best friend’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, he finally knew what that cause would be.

“That shook me to the point where I started thinking about my mother, my sister, my girlfriend, and my girlfriend’s mother,” Bédard Guillemette said. “I said, ‘I don’t want anybody to lose a woman they love to breast cancer.’”

His friend’s mother beat the cancer and is currently in remission. On Feb. 9, the fourth-year defensive lineman donated his hair to Locks of Love in hopes of raising at least $1,500 for the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. The Stingers women’s hockey team were hosting their first-ever Pink in the Rink event, and Bédard Guillemette cut his hair after the team beat the Montréal Carabins 3-1 at the Ed Meagher Arena.

“I’m really proud of our girls and what they did for Pink in the Rink,” said head coach Julie Chu. The players had a bake sale the day before during a men’s game. “Every one of us has someone [affected by cancer]; unfortunately that’s how it is. But we want to find the cure and hopefully little things like this help us.”

After the haircut.

Bédard Guillemette grew his hair and beard throughout his four years at Concordia, only trimming to keep it maintained. He doesn’t know if he will grow his hair out as long as it was again.

“It takes a lot of time and dedication to grow [hair] and keep it clean to donate,” Bédard Guillemette said. “For sure I’m going to donate money again, but it’s something we have to keep on doing because we’re never going to stop research.”

Having seen what his friend’s mother went through with breast cancer, Bédard Guillemette wants to let others know they’re not alone.

“People are trying to do their best to raise money for research,” he said. “You have to keep on fighting because it’s a hard and long fight.”

Photos by Mackenzie Lad.

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Thompson trio proud of lacrosse heritage

Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

The three brothers highlight the importance of Indigenous origins of the game

Growing up as part of the Onondaga Nation, just outside of Syracuse, New York, Jeremy Thompson knew he had different talents than everyone else, especially when it came to lacrosse. The Haudenosaunee people believe lacrosse originated from a game between land and air animals, with each animal using its own strength to its advantage.

“The different animals brought a different perspective [to the game],” Thompson said. “For me, it was important to spend time with the elders in my community to learn the history [of lacrosse] and understand how these gifts came into me.”

Jeremy, 32 years old, was in Montreal with two of his younger brothers, Jerome, 30, and Miles, 28, for a talk as part of First Voices Week at Concordia on Feb. 7. All three play lacrosse professionally, as well as their youngest brother, Lyle, 26, who was not able to attend the event. Lacrosse is a huge part of their community today, and every year, people gather to play a ceremonial game.

“In the spring, to protect lacrosse players, there’s a medicine game between hundreds of people, from kids to elders,” Jeremy said. “It brings the community together, and we get out there to make sure all the lacrosse players have a safe season.”

From left to right: Jerome, Miles, and Jeremy Thompson. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

The Thompson brothers were educated in an all-Mohawk elementary school and went to public school in the fifth grade. They didn’t speak English, so Jerome felt out of place when he and Jeremy needed to be taught the language separately from all the other kids. The two played lacrosse right through high school and into university. Jeremy played at Syracuse University, while Miles and Lyle played at the University of Albany. Jerome is the only brother who did not attend university, but he still played while studying at the Onondaga Community College.

“My dad sat all of us down and asked what we all wanted to be when we got older,” Jerome said. “We wanted to be professional lacrosse players. But he wanted us to be educated lacrosse players. He really wanted us to use lacrosse as a vehicle to an education.”

Jerome, Miles and Lyle play together for the Georgia Swarm of the National Lacrosse League (NLL), while Jeremy plays for the Saskatchewan Rush. While playing, they don’t forget about their community.

“When I’m playing and the national anthem is going off, it’s not my song, so I make my own,” Jeremy said. “I think about all the things that have come before me, and that will come after me.”

Miles represents his heritage both in the way he wears his hair in a braid, and in his style of play. “I respect my opponent and the ref, and I’m not going out there to chirp the ref or the other team,” he said.

When each brother turned 18, their father gave them the option of cutting their hair short. All of them chose to keep it in a braid, but Lyle’s was the subject of racism last month. In an away game against the Philadelphia Wings on Jan. 12, the in-arena announcer, Shawny Hill, said “Let’s snip the ponytail.”

“Things like that, I just try to forget about,” Jerome said about the incident. “Deep down, he has no idea what our hair means to us.”

Jeremy, who said his hair has been purposely pulled twice during his NLL career, hopes the incident turns into an opportunity to educate others. Hill was fired from his job, while Lyle released a statement in an effort to teach people that Indigenous people have their “own languages, music, culture and traditions.”

https://twitter.com/lyle4thompson/status/1084278560913797121

“The league is trying to educate our opponents,” Miles added. “They’re trying to push more media about where the game came from.”

Main photo by Gabe Chevalier.

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Recovered and ready for a title

Katherine Purchase was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, but moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia at 9 years old. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Goalie Katherine Purchase kept positive during concussion recovery

Concordia Stingers women’s hockey goalie Katherine Purchase earned a shutout in her first start this regular season on Jan. 13 against the Carleton Ravens. Purchase missed the first half of the season due to a concussion, and felt relieved when she was able to play hockey again.

“It’s pretty frustrating [to recover from a concussion], especially when it’s your first one,” Purchase said. “There are a lot of ups and downs, and it’s not really a steady comeback […]. Some days, I would feel really good and the next, terrible, so it would be discouraging. I just had to keep believing I was going to get better.”

The fifth-year goalie suffered the concussion while at a training camp with the Canadian national team in Dawson Creek, B.C. in September. In an exhibition game against a men’s Junior B team, an opposing player collided with her, with his leg hitting her head.

While Purchase was recovering from the head injury, she was also diagnosed with mononucleosis, but ultimately the concussion was what kept her out of action for so long. “The toughest thing was to not be around the team at all, and I went a whole month without seeing them,” Purchase said. “Especially with all the rookies this year, I wanted to get to know those new girls.”

Purchase won her first RSEQ championship last season and is aiming for a second. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

The accounting student also had to stay away from school for a while, but returned in November and passed her classes last semester. When she returned to the ice, Purchase said she couldn’t put the emotions she felt into words. “It felt like I had to relearn how to play hockey, because I hadn’t been on in so long,” she said.

Purchase hadn’t played for the Stingers since winning bronze at nationals last March, and returned to action at the Theresa Humes Tournament in December. After allowing six goals in a losing effort to the Syracuse Orange on Dec. 30, Purchase said it helped shake the dust off and get back to her usual skill level.

In the team’s first regular-season game of 2019 against the McGill Martlets, Purchase replaced Alice Philbert, who allowed five goals in the third period, and she’s played every game since. With Purchase as the starter, the Stingers have a 5-0-1 record, while she has a 1.28 goals-against average and .948 save percentage. She’s helped the Stingers climb into second place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), and the fifth-year just wants to keep winning.

“Knowing that I’ve missed a lot of time and that our team is trying to get some momentum going into the playoffs, I don’t think there’s time to think about anything else,” Purchase said. “Everytime you step onto the ice, you’re trying to go for a win and nothing else matters. [Playing] has kind of helped block out all the noise that creeps into your head.”

Purchase and the Stingers are focused on one thing, and that’s to defend their RSEQ championship and have success at nationals. “We still have a very talented team and we have the ability to win a national championship, so that’s always the expectation in this program,” she said, adding that she’s well-rested after missing the first few months of the season.

For a second consecutive year, Purchase was voted co-captain, along with Devon Thompson, by her teammates. Goalies can’t wear the ‘C’ on their jersey but, despite this, head coach Julie Chu praises Purchase for her vocal leadership on and off the ice.

“We’re always emphasizing communication as much as we can, and it’s not just our forwards with the forwards, the defencemen with the other defencemen, but everyone involved, including the goalies,” Chu told The Concordian in an interview in October. “Katherine is really understanding that role.”

Thompson, the only one to have played alongside Purchase for five seasons, also told The Concordian in November that her goalie is a big leader. “People think that because she’s a goalie, she sticks to herself, but she’s always had a really big voice in the locker room,” Thompson said.

This is Purchase’s last season with the Stingers, and she said it feels surreal that her journey at Concordia is coming to an end. She will be moving to Toronto in May to complete her Chartered Professional Accountant courses, and has a job lined up for September. Toronto has two teams in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, the Markham Thunder and Toronto Furies. At the moment, Purchase isn’t sure if she will be able to play professionally while working a full-time job.

The goalie said she’s enjoyed the family culture the Stingers have developed, and how she’s gotten along well with her teammates throughout the years.

“I’m going to miss Julie and Mike [McGrath, an assistant coach] so, so, so much, and just that feeling of coming to practice in an environment where everyone supports you and wants the best for you,” Purchase said.

“I really can’t complain about my time here,” she added. “If someone gave me the chance to redo everything over again, I wouldn’t take it because I would be scared to mess up. I wouldn’t want to be at any other school in Canada or the U.S., I can’t believe how lucky I am that I ended up here.”

Main photo by Hannah Ewen

Colour commentary: NHL needs more division games

Sports Editor Nicholas Di Giovanni gives his take on his latest in sports with his weekly Colour Commentary

The NHL needs to restructure its regular season schedule if it wants to have more appeal late in the season. Currently, most teams play their division opponents four times each, with three games against teams in the opposing division in the same conference. Each team also plays every team from the opposite conference twice: once on the road and once at home.

The league changed its divisions and season structure in 2013 and wanted to make sure each NHL team plays in every arena. That way, fans in every city have the chance to see all teams, whereas before, Eastern teams would only play a team from the West once a year, with the host rotating each year.

It’s a great structure for fans, especially if you support a team outside of your hometown. A San Jose Sharks fan in Montreal gets the opportunity to see their team play every season. Although good for ticket sales, this format is not good for the standings.

The NHL uses a division-based playoff system, with the top-three teams in each division making the playoffs—two extra teams from each conference qualify through wild card spots. So teams are in a tight battle with their division rivals all season long, but only get to play them four times.

This season, the Montreal Canadiens are in a close playoff race with their two main rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. They already played the Bruins four times, with their last game on Jan. 14. It’s an injustice that these two teams won’t meet again this season. The Canadiens didn’t play the Leafs from opening night on Oct. 3 until last Saturday—that’s a four-month break.

It just doesn’t make sense that fans see these great rivalries only two more times than a game against a team from the opposite conference. In reality, interconference games are useless for the standings, and there should be more intradivision games.

In 2005, the NHL had teams playing their own division eight times, which led to some crazy games between the Habs and Leafs. We need to see more of that now.

When Seattle joins the NHL in 2021 and evens out the divisions to eight teams each, the league should adapt a new schedule. In an 82-game season, it would make sense to play your division six times each (42 games total), opposing division three times each (24 games) and once against opposite-conference teams (16 games).

It’s also much easier to market Montreal-Boston six times a season for TV ratings than Montreal-Arizona for two games.

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Full team effort gives women’s hockey team six-game win streak

Lidia Fillion’s two second-period goals helped the Stingers beat the Carabins. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Stingers beat the Carabins 3-1 at home in final meeting between rivals

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team continued their winning streak Saturday afternoon. They beat the Université de Montréal (UdeM) Carabins 3-1 at the Ed Meagher Arena for their six-straight win. Head coach Julie Chu credits a full team effort for the win streak.

“With our culture, even players that aren’t dressed, they bring great team energy in practices and in the stands, and that makes a huge difference,” Chu said following the win. “We’re happy with how our whole team is playing.”

It was the fifth and final meeting between the Stingers and Carabins this season. UdeM got the better of Concordia in three of the four previous meetings, winning all three games by one goal, including two in overtime. The Stingers’s only win against the Carabins before this game was a 2-1 victory on Nov. 2, 2018. The two teams, placed first and second in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), were separated by three points in the standings.

“We know every game is big at this point because our league is so tight,” said Chu when asked if the Stingers needed extra motivation heading in. “We just had to bare down and play good hockey. For sure [we’re thinking] about the playoffs, but we had to think about today and they played great.”

Goalie Alice Philbert allowed one goal in her last two starts. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Alice Philbert got her second-straight start in the Stingers’s net in place of Katherine Purchase. She missed Thursday’s 6-0 in Ottawa and this game for unknown reasons. Chu said the Stingers are lucky to have three strong goalies who she can rely on when called upon.

Montréal’s Aube Racine had to make 12 saves in the first period, and kept the scored tied 0-0 at the first intermission. The Stingers finally beat her five minutes into the second with a good shot from forward Lidia Fillion.

“Anytime we could put goals away against them, it’s a good thing [because] their goaltender is really strong,” Chu said. “For sure, it’s something we talked about between the first and second with our opportunities to make sure we capitalize [on scoring chances].”

The Carabins tied it 1-1 with a goal from Annie Germain 10 minutes later, but the even score didn’t last long. Less than two minutes later, Fillion scored her second of the game, which turned out to be the game-winning goal.

“She had some injuries early on the year, but now she’s playing really good hockey,” said the head coach about Fillion, who has seven goals this season. “She’s steady and solid, and we’re happy with the way she’s playing.”

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Stingers soccer teams play winter seasons with different mindsets

The men’s team want to maintain more possession with their new formation. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Women’s team looks for consistency while men’s team tries new formation

The Concordia Stingers soccer teams have different objectives for the winter season. Head coach Greg Sutton wants to use the time as a way to prepare for next year and try new formations with his men’s team, while maintaining consistency on the women’s side.

Women’s team

The women’s team finished the fall season sixth in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), with a 4-9-1 record. For this winter season, due to injuries and players graduating, they don’t have much depth.

“It’s going to be a challenge, so these girls just have to do the right thing and pass the right message along,” Sutton said. “Even though we might me a bit short-handed, it doesn’t mean they could take a day off.”

The soccer teams each play seven games during the winter season. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Sutton was named head coach of the women’s team last July, so this is his first full year of recruiting. He said there are players that will be joining the team in the fall, but aren’t playing with them this winter.

“We have to look at how we’re going to plan with those that are here currently and see how we’re going to integrate those coming in,” Sutton said. “We don’t have all the commitments quite yet, so it’s hard to tell [what] personnel we’re going to have in the fall.”

For the players, these games aren’t about getting results. “For us, our main focus is to just stay fit and keep playing,” said midfielder Alessia Di Sabato on CJLO Sports on Jan. 28. “I think it’s important for us to stick together as a team and keep working out and practising.”

On Jan. 27, the Stingers played the national champion Ottawa Gee-Gees, who don’t compete in their conference in the regular season. They lost 3-0 but Sutton was happy with how the team played. “I thought we managed the game the right way, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that in the first half,” Sutton said. “But it caught up to us in the sense that our depth is not nearly as close to theirs.”

Di Sabato said it’s a challenge to play teams from other conferences because they don’t know what to expect. “All we had heard were that they were national champions,” Di Sabato said. “It’s also cool [to play other teams] because you get to see a different style of play.”

Men’s team

After a one-win season, Sutton knew heading into next year, changes had to be made. “We’re a young team right now, but I think it’s something that will pay off,” Sutton said. “We have a group of good character guys, so it’s about developing some of the younger guys in the leadership roles they need to take forth.”

On the men’s side, a change of formation is a major priority for Sutton. They played with a four-man backline throughout the season, either in a 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 set-up, but this winter, he wants to try something different, with a 3-5-2 formation. It has become more popular in the soccer world after Antonio Conte used it when he was the manager with Juventus and Italy. By taking one defender away, it requires the centre backs to communicate well.

“We have some quality defenders where we could play three in the back,” Sutton added. “We’ve applied pressure up the field and it takes away a little bit of pressure off our back three. It’s a learning curve too in this formation.”

Sutton said he wanted to try the 3-5-2 because it allows his team to control possession and play with an extra attacker. In three games so far this winter season, the Stingers have two shutouts.

Main photo Hannah Ewen.

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Colour commentary: Coyne Schofield another trailblazer for women’s hockey

Sports Editor Nicholas Di Giovanni gives his take on his latest in sports with his weekly Colour Commentary

American gold medalist’s skate inspired young girls to play hockey

Kendall Coyne Schofield became a trailblazer for women’s hockey with her skate at the NHL Skills Competition on Jan. 25 in San Jose. She replaced Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon in the fastest skater competition because he was out with a foot injury, becoming the first woman to officially compete in the skills competition.

With a time of 14.346 seconds, Coyne Schofield finished seventh out of eight skaters, ahead of the Arizona Coyotes’s Clayton Keller. She finished a second behind Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, who’s won the event three years in a row.

The most impressive part of her skate was how she kept her feet moving all the way around the rink, and didn’t glide at all. Coyne Schofield is 5’2”, so she doesn’t have the same stride length that the 6’1” McDavid has. Any youth hockey coach should show their players Coyne Schofield’s skate to demonstrate what the perfect skating form looks like.

What Coyne Schofield did was more than just compete in a skating competition. She pushed the growth of women’s professional hockey a step further. The women’s hockey Olympic final is one of the most-watched hockey games in a calendar year—over 3.7 million Americans watched last year’s final, more than most NHL playoff games in 2017. Yet, the sport is almost forgotten in the years between Olympics.

Now, hopefully that will change. People are finally talking about women’s hockey outside the Olympics. Coyne Schofield’s skate also inspired girls watching, including one five-year-old who told her dad she wanted to do that.

Having role models to look up to is so important for the growth of women’s hockey. We just don’t hear enough about these hockey players, so when a girl sees one on TV and becomes inspired, it can make a world of difference.

There’s a lot more that needs to be done to expand women’s professional hockey to its full potential, such as merging the National Women’s Hockey League and Canadian Women’s Hockey League. Big TV companies also need to start broadcasting more games, or at least showing highlights on the morning sports shows, and there’s always the need to have more fans at games. NBC also had Coyne Schofield as an analyst during a broadcast on Jan. 30, which in itself could do wonders.

Women’s hockey still needs to get the recognition it deserves, but this is a start.

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Corey Cup lives up to its hype in tight affair

The Stingers have won three out of four games against McGill this season. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Concordia took advantage of home crowd for 4-3 win over McGill

In front of a packed house at the Ed Meagher Arena, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team won the 32nd annual Corey Cup against the McGill Redmen. This victory makes it the Stingers’s second-straight Corey Cup win, having won 4-3 both this year and last.

“The guys were excited,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement about the Concordia-McGill rivalry. “It means a lot. With the stands packed like that it’s good for university hockey and it’s good for the city.”

The officials were quick to break up Zachary Zorn’s fight with Nicolas Poulin. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

This game had all the elements expected from a rivalry. The two teams combined for 18 penalty minutes, 14 coming in the second period. Midway through the second, McGill’s Nicolas Poulin went after Stingers forward Zachary Zorn after he delivered a huge hit. The players dropped their gloves for a fight, but were only given two minutes for roughing.

“It was cool [to see] and it kind of gets the boys going on the bench,” said rookie defenceman Bradley Lalonde. “We were proud of [Zorn] because he stood up for himself.”

Indiscipline also played a factor in this game. McGill’s opening goal late in the first period was scored on a power play, and gave them a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. After forward Charles-Éric Legaré tied the game early in the second, McGill retook the lead with another power-play goal after Zorn’s penalty.

Third-year forward Philippe Sanche scored his 12th of the season to tie the game 2-2 with eight seconds left in the second period, also on the power play. “[Sanche] has been playing amazing,” Élement said. “He’s a huge leader and that was an amazing goal.”

Charles-Éric Legaré scored at the beginning of the second and third periods. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Legaré scored his second of the game, and 11th of the season, early in the third period to give the Stingers a 3-2 lead. In eight regular-season games against McGill these past two years, Legaré has five goals and an assist, including a goal in last year’s Corey Cup. Élement said Legaré plays his best hockey against McGill because he enjoys the large crowds.

Stingers Captain Philippe Hudon played in his fifth and final Corey Cup, and it’s the third time he’s won it. He said he’s proud he’s been able to win the trophy in front of the home crowd two years in a row.

“It’s something that kind of rivals the Montreal [Canadiens]-Boston [Bruins] rivalry,” Hudon said. “Throughout the years, I’ve grown to not like McGill and really stick it to them every single game […] I’m happy a lot of people are coming because there should be more exposure to this kind of hockey.”

Midway through the third period, with the game tied 3-3, Hudon skated wide into McGill’s zone and dropped a pass for Hugo Roy. Roy blasted the puck past Louis-Philippe Guindon, igniting the crowd with the eventual game-winning goal. Hudon said he didn’t see the puck go in but heard the crowd’s roar, and celebrated like he scored a goal.

“It was a relief because it was such a back-and-forth hockey game,” Hudon said. “We were able to get the one-goal lead near the end, then bare down for the rest of the game.”

With the game tied three times, Lalonde said it helped to have the crowd behind them the whole game. “It’s a rivalry, so we know we’re never going to get behind no matter what happens, especially with the crowd into it,” Lalonde said.

With the win, the Stingers improve to 15-9-2 on the season and are in fifth place in the Ontario University Association (OUA) East with 32 points and two games left. McGill sits in fourth with 36 points, so the two teams could meet in the first round of the playoffs. McGill beat them in the OUA East final last year.

“This is what I live for; take ‘em on,” Hudon said. “If we play them this year, I’m giving it all I have.”

Main photo by Hannah Ewen.

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