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Olivia Atkinson trades in her Martlet uniform for the Maroon and Gold

It’s not everyday a player goes from one team to their greatest rival. Names that come to mind are Carlos Tevez, Mark Recchi and Terrell Owens. Now, Olivia Atkinson joins that list along with her teammate Erica Starnino.

The fourth year player began her U-Sports career with the McGill Martlets in the 2015-16 season. She transferred to Concordia last year but was unable to play because of U-Sports eligibility rules. The season did not go to waste by any means for Atkinson, playing 17 games for Les Canadiennes de Montreal.

“It was a learning experience,” Atkinson said. “The pace of the game is much faster. Decisions need to be quicker. The physicality was the thing that showed me what my play lacked, I tried to focus on [improving] that aspect of my game.”

Atkinson joins a talented Stingers team with expectations sky high. She says to be a better, more impactful player for the team, she’s been focusing on her defensive play.

“Offensive [play] was something that I focused a lot on in the past,” said Atkinson. “Coming here with the knowledge of the coaches, I want to learn how to be a better defensive player.”

Nobody can dispute Atkinson’s offensive abilities, having been a top scoring RSEQ player during her time with McGill. Head coach Julie Chu had nothing but high praise for Atkinson when talking about her willingness to improve.

“She works hard all the time, wants to learn and wants to get better,” said Chu. “Even as someone who coached against her for three years, I saw that on the ice through her intensity and compete level.”

Atkinson, enrolled in psychology, says that she made the switch from McGill to Concordia because Concordia offered more specialized courses of behavioural neuroscience that she’s interested in.

It also helps that the Stingers women’s hockey program is year after year regarded as one of the top in the country.

It can be tough coming on to a new team, especially when playing for that team’s greatest rival. However Atkinson says that her new teammates have been nothing short of spectacular in helping her adjust to life with a new team and school.

“In the first couple of games, she had to get back into the swing of playing at the U-Sports level,” Chu said. “The truth is when you’re playing for Les Canadiennes, [Atkinson] probably wasn’t given the same amount of ice time and opportunities that she’s been getting at our level. From day one she’s been such a hard worker and teammate. It’s been great to watch.”

Chu was excited when Atkinson approached her about joining the team but she says she didn’t make any promises to her when it came to her role on the team.

“We don’t talk about roles, it’s about our culture,” said Chu. “What we promise here is that you’ll be loved and supported. You’ll get every resource possible to be successful on and off the ice. We don’t promise anyone a certain role or position on our team. That’s not who we are and it’s not reality of life. We promise opportunities if you work hard and execute.”

Offensive execution is what Atkinson is known for. As a second year player in 2016-17, Atkinson was second in goal scoring and in points, lighting the lamp 12 times that season and finishing with 25 points. In her last year of university hockey in the 2017-18 season, before making the jump to the CWHL, she finished eighth in the RSEQ in points with 16 on the season.

Adding Atkinson and a number of other recruits, along with the team’s returning players makes this squad an incredibly talented one. They started the season ranked as the fourth best team in the country, and after going undefeated in the opening weekend of the season, have shot up to the top ranked team in the country.

“Polls are always a funny thing. It’s so early on in the season and no one really knows how they stack up [against other teams],” said Chu. “It’s a nice compliment, we know we’ve been playing great hockey but we also know that where we stand at the end of the season is what really counts.”

Atkinson shares the same sentiment when it comes to the ranking and says that the teams approach along with her own hasn’t changed.

“Every day we’re coming to the rink and putting in the work,” Atkinson said. “We haven’t been taking our success [for granted]. We’re in a really competitive league and anyone of the teams can win on any given night. We have a target on our back and we need to be prepared for every game that way.”

Atkinson and the Stingers will take on the second nationally ranked Carabins on November 1 at 7 p.m. at the CEPSUM

 

Feature Photo by Laurence B-D

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Sports

Colour Commentary: Winning is a universal language

It seems like we have this conversation every couple of months, and I’m sick and tired of it. But since seeing the signs some people decided to put up all around the streets surrounding the Bell Centre, I’ve been really pissed off.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, there are a bunch of signs hung up on lampposts in the design of a Habs jersey that read “Minimum 10 Québécois.” The signs were paid for and authorized by Stefan Allinger of La Fondation Équipe-Québec.

Really? We’re doing this again?

Before I rant on this subject, let’s think about this logistically for a second. Including goalies, there are 38 active players in the NHL that are born in Quebec, two of which play for the Canadiens. Some of these players have played most of their careers with the same team; Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Huberdeau and Kristopher Letang. Yes, the Canadiens had the chance to draft two of those players, but they didn’t, and 29 other teams passed on them as well.

Traditionally the Canadiens have always had a French-speaking coach; this has apparently turned into a prerequisite for the job as they need to be able to address the French media in the city. Even with that reasoning, I don’t understand the need for it.

The Montreal Canadiens are the only team in the world that limit themselves to hiring a coach and general manager from a single region of the – one that isn’t the most highly populated. Now some people are calling for a minimum amount of Quebec-born players.

In 2013, Gareth Bale, who could have been argued as one of the top footballers on the face of the planet at that time, signed with Real Madrid in Spain. He did not speak a lick of Spanish, so what did the club do? They hired a translator for him to answer questions because they have millions of dollars at their disposal.

There are countless other examples of teams signing foreign coaches and players. It’s okay with fans because they are proven winners. Winning is a universal language that everyone understands.

I couldn’t care less where a coach or player is from – if they bring a team success, they’re good enough for mine. Let’s stop this debate right now, because frankly I’m not alone in being absolutely sick of it.

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Sports

China and the NBA: Lebron enters the fold

In light of the events leading to a frigid disconnect between the NBA and its connections with China, Lebron James was once again the one left to speak up for the players.

James publicly reprimanded the timing of Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey, who on Oct. 4, tweeted “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.” The problem with Morey’s tweet is not that he was supporting freedom for a foreign country under a communist government, but rather that he did so while two teams, the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers, were in the thick of that very regime in China; where they were to play two exhibition games.

Ever since James spoke publicly about Morey’s terrible timing, he’s been under fire for being a supporter of censorship. People are saying his comments are financially motivated, as he doesn’t want to lose all the endorsement money that Nike makes him in China. Fox News paints him as “unamerican” in his position against Morey, who is simply speaking freely, and supporting freedom, as Americans do. HURRAH. This is so typical in more ways than one… Leave it to the USA to impose their constitution on countries halfway across the world, and to dumb down the issue at hand, using ideology as an excuse.

Let’s take a step back and look at this in a rational, practical way.

James doesn’t hate free speech – all of his actions say otherwise. The man founded and funded a public elementary school in his home town of Akron, Ohio, and promises free college tuition to every graduate. He is constantly a voice for the disenfranchised, a philanthropist to those in need, and is openly liberal. What James hates is loose-lipped executives sitting in their ivory towers far, far away, who stir the pot while he’s sitting in it. Despite the tweet only existing for several minutes before being deleted, it sparked a controversy in a country with a population of over 1.3 billion people.

The controversy caused outrage, and hostility. Lebron and his team, as well as the Nets, were simply there to play basketball, and grow the game on an international level. All of a sudden, they’re on the front lines of an international conflict and media storm, where they could have potentially been in political, or even physical danger. What if the Chinese government wouldn’t let them leave? What if Chinese loyalists became violent?

Now, thankfully, those things didn’t happen, but they very well could have. Instead, they experienced a different kind of backlash: The wrath of corporate China. The Chinese broadcast of the two games on their network, CCTV, was cancelled. Tickets became hard to come by.  All corporate logos were taken off the hardwood. Community events involving the players were cancelled. Chinese apparel brands suspended their relations with the NBA. The Chinese Basketball Association, run by Rockets legend Yao Ming, severed all ties with the Rockets. Chinese streaming service Tencent banned Houston from their service. The team’s official apparel is no longer available in China. China has basically censored the hell out of the NBA.

Like many NBA superstars, Lebron James has been visiting China in the offseason for over 10 years on behalf of Nike, who carries his signature shoe and apparel lines. Of course it benefits him financially, why shouldn’t it? Would you spend weeks in China doing promotion for free? I didn’t think so. I assure you the league doesn’t mind either, because it popularizes their sport in a massive market.

More important than money, James is the most impactful ambassador for the sport since Michael Jordan made the NBA an international phenomenon. He cares more about the state of the game than he does his bank account, which is doing fine, I promise. The complete destruction of all the inroads the NBA has built into China is more likely what doesn’t sit well with him. All that time spent globalizing the game, and instilling its values in parts of the world that need them, evaporated in a moment’s notice with a seven word tweet.

But wait, here’s the cherry on top: In an attempt to either limit the damage, or save face with China, the NBA has censored the game in their own way. Fans holding up “Free Tokyo” signs in Philadelphia and Washington have had their posters taken from them by stadium officials. Reporters have been silenced in asking questions about the controversy in Houston. Hypocrisy at its best, right? How is James the one being criticized for being an advocate of conciliatory speech, when the league is clearly guilty of that very thing?

This is why sports and politics should never intersect. Sports bring people together, politics have a tendency to be divisive. James wants Morey to let the game speak for itself, and so do I.

 

Graphic by Salomé Blain

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Sports

Concordia 17 McGill 23: Despite loss, Stingers still manage to squeak into the playoffs

Down by a score with less than a minute left.

We’ve seen this situation before. The Concordia Stingers managed this type of exciting last-minute victory against Sherbrooke a couple weeks ago.

Alas, no resurrection this time.

The Stingers dropped their last regular-season game to McGill 23-17, finishing the year 2-6. But after the Sherbrooke Vert et Or lost to Laval Rouge et Or earlier in the afternoon, the Stingers still claimed the fourth and final playoff spot. They’ll play against defending U Sports champs Laval on Nov. 2.

As for this game, well, the Stingers haven’t made it easy on themselves all season, so why would this game be any different.

Turnovers. Check.

Injuries. Check.

Missed opportunities. Check.

The Concordia-McGill rivalry runs deep, and we saw it out there today. Post-whistle scrums, hard hits, chirping, and lots and lots of penalties.

Head coach Brad Collinson was clearly unhappy with his team’s performance after the game. When asked how he keeps the team grounded, he said all they had to do was “look at the score.”

Yikes.

If you just looked at the offensive stats, you saw some familiar trends to close out the season. James Tyrrell, who despite taking a nasty hit in the first quarter, managed four catches for 75 yards, finishing an incredibly impressive regular season. Rookie phenom Jeremy Murphy led all receivers with six receptions for 100 yards and two touchdown catches.

“I mean, I played a great game,” said Murphy. “But at the end of the day, we didn’t win so I don’t care.”

Finally, the individual performance of quarterback Adam Vance, who went 24/42 for 334 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and two fumbles. With that, the American quarterback has surpassed 2,000 passing yards on the season.

The offence struggled to gather momentum until the final minutes of play. A good run? Next play was a fumble. A nice completion? Sike, penalty flag. Luckily for the Stingers offence, its defence was there to bail them out, time and time again.

They held McGill quarterback Dimitrios Sinodinos to 9/22 for 69 yards in the air. Considering how strong Sinodinos has been throughout this season, that’s an impressive feat.

“Defence was the only reason we were in this game,” said Vance. “You gotta tip your cap to them because that’s a good football team. I know it’s discouraging to have to go out and play defence every five minutes, so you gotta respect it.”

Linebacker Sam Brodrique led the way for the Stingers with 7.5 tackles, who along with the nine other seniors, played in his final game at the Stingers Stadium. After playing in last year’s East-West Bowl, Brodrique is one of the top draft-eligible players on this team.

“It’s been great. I’ve had a lot of coaches, a lot of changes,” said Brodrique. “I hope this last change was for the best and I hope the team builds from there. Even though we lost a lot of games this year, we’re a better as a team honestly. I hope they build from that.”

This was a slugfest from start to finish. A long, drawn out affair that didn’t make for great entertainment. Then the fourth quarter. With McGill up by six points, the Stingers began their march downfield. Vance evaded sacks, made great reads, found his receivers, and even made the runs himself. This put his team with a 1st-and-10 on McGill’s 11-yard line with three attempts to win the game. First down, an Adam Vance run for six yards. Second down, an incomplete pass to Tristan Mancini. Third and final down, with only 20 seconds left on the clock, a corner pass to Tyrrell that was knocked out of the air by the McGill corner. Turnover on downs.

No one was happy about the way this game, or this season ended. But at the end of the day, the Stingers are still in the postseason. Speaking of which…

We talking ‘bout playoffs???

The Stingers will take on the Laval Rouge et Or on Nov. 2 in Quebec City. Last time these met, things didn’t go well for the Stingers. The team is hoping for a different result this time around with an RSEQ finals berth on the line.

“Back to the drawing board,” said Vance post-game. “We still have another game, we gotta go back to Quebec City and play a good football game. We’ll sob about this one tonight and get into the film room tomorrow. We got to game plan against them, we’ll probably see something similar because obviously it worked.”

“One of our goals was to make the playoffs,” said Collinson. “Now we just need to go out there and compete.”

“I think today we only played one half,” said Brodrique. “Next game, we gotta focus up and play two halves. Last time we went there, it wasn’t really great. We have to bounce back from that. For the team, having a good game against Laval would be good to follow up and this season. They have a good running game, so we gotta have a great gameplan.”

“We can’t afford to just play one half,” said Murphy. “That’s it. We gotta play better than the last time we played them that’s for sure, we can’t get stomped again.”

Notes:

  • A scary situation with James Tyrrell not being taken out of the game after a clear head-to-head hit. I don’t understand why no one on the sidelines made that call.
  • This year’s senior class included a number of key players, the list is Vance, Tyrrell, Sam Nadon, Zamaad Gambari, Jordan Hurley, Jersey Henry, Sam Brodrique, Gordi Lang, Joel Slavik, Thiery Taillon and Michael Asibuo.

Feature photo by Arianna Randjbar

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Sports

Stingers rugby teams remain unknown by students despite success

It’s already been a year since I started covering Concordia Stingers games for The Concordian. I’ve always dreamed of being a sports journalist, and being in an environment where you enjoy your job so much that the word ‘work’ doesn’t exist for you.

To get the chance to cover sports games, interview people, and gain experience every day while having fun doing it is amazing. To be able to do so constantly during my studies is a privilege.

I remember one of my first assignments for the paper; to cover a rugby game. When I talk about the pleasures of gaining experience while having fun, that’s exactly it.

A few years ago, I started watching rugby games on television. I was interested, but mostly intrigued by this sport which, in my mind, had many similarities with American football. I was pretty excited the day I was covering the game, but I didn’t know all the rules and had to do a bit of research beforehand.

I’ve covered a couple of rugby games since, and each time it seems like my love for the sport just keeps growing.

That being said, when I cover those games as a journalist, there’s one thing I never forget, and it’s the reader. I am not writing a sport game recap for myself, but for the people reading it. Sometimes, it happens that you know your subject so well that you could talk about it forever. However, that doesn’t mean the person in front of you can do the same. Last week, someone put exactly what I mean into words.

Rugby doesn’t seem to be well-known by the Concordia community. That’s what I realized when someone asked me to repeat the word ‘rugby’ three times because she never heard it before.

More popular in other continents like Europe and Oceania, rugby was born more than 2,000 years ago. In what was first considered a game of football, the sport started to present unique rules that then differentiated it from other sports.

Rugby developed and became popular in many schools and regions in Europe, which can explain the popularity of the game there today, especially in England. The country’s currently ranked third in the men’s rankings of World Rugby, the most prestigious international league. A Rugby World Cup is played every four years, opposing the top international teams.

The last World Rugby Cup, in 2015, was won by the New Zealand All Blacks team. It was the first time a team won back-to-back World Rugby Cups. The All Blacks are considered by many as the best. In fact, they are on top of the league’s rankings.

However, what people most often talk about with regards to the All Blacks is their unique choreography before games, called ‘haka,’a traditional dance form of the Māori people of New Zealand.

Rules of today’s rugby aren’t the same as the ones used in the game’s early stages, neither are the terms and equipment. Main elements differing rugby from other sports include backward passes of the ball, mauls, scrums, and even tries scored by teams.

In rugby, a team scoring a try, which is five points plus an extra two with a successful conversion after, can only do so by placing the ball behind the opponent’s dead ball area. In football, such a try is called a touchdown and may also be scored with a passing play.

That is one of many differences between rugby and other sports. I could write a thousand words about the rules of rugby, but that would make this a boring piece.

Instead, let’s focus on the rugby played at Concordia with the two Stingers rugby teams.

In fact, the teams can’t do any better right now. The men’s team, back-to-back Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) champions, is currently on a 22-game winning streak and haven’t lost a game in the league since 2016. The team has even participated to the previous and first two editions of the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship with their RSEQ titles of 2017 and 2018.

Concordia will host the Championship this year, marking a third appearance at the tournament in as many years for the Stingers. The event will be held at Concordia Stadium from Nov. 20-24.

On the women’s side, the team has bounced back from a 2-7 season last year to a perfect 6-0 record this season. Despite their RSEQ semi-final loss against the Université Laval Rouge et Or, the team has been impressive all season long.

Fourth-year player on the men’s team Lucas Hotton said it’s understandable that people aren’t familiar with the sport. He said that rugby grew up from what we now call American football, but people grew up following the evolved North American version of the game.

“If you go elsewhere than North America, rugby is likely the leading contact sport,” Hotton said. “It has a low barrier to entry, great core values, and is a sport accepting everyone. To grow the game’s popularity is really difficult with football’s market already in place, but I believe you can work with high schools and clubs to improve participation at junior levels, and hopefully keep the kids in the sport as they grow older into senior level. It’s a tough task, but one that really needs to be addressed on this continent, in the country and in this province.”

To have Concordia’s sports facilities at Loyola’s campus instead of near downtown’s campus might explain in part why most students aren’t connected to Stingers rugby. That’s at least what Hotton suggested, saying there is a lack of connections between them and the teams.

“Most students study and have based themselves downtown,” Hotton said. “Loyola is quite foreign and far to them. Even the shuttle bus doesn’t operate most game days, which are during weekends. I don’t think we’ll see any field appear downtown, but if there’s a way to bring the [games] to downtown’s campus, I’m sure the connection would be made.”

Hotton played other sports before discovering rugby at CEGEP. A friend invited him to try out for the school’s team and his love for the game started to grow. He explained that like in many sports, rugby brings fundamental values. However, he thought this was even more true with rugby.

“I’ve had the privilege of playing many sports, and there’s not one like rugby,” Hotton said. “[You’re playing your game, might hurt someone], but at the end you’re still hanging out and buying that person a beer after the game. Most of the time it’s someone you’ve never met before.”

Both Stingers rugby teams play in the RSEQ. But there are slight differences. With seven teams in the RSEQ men’s rugby, each team faces each other once during the regular season for a total of six games. There is only one division, or in other words pool, with all seven teams together.

However, the RSEQ women’s rugby presents eight teams, which divides teams into two groups of four. The Stingers are playing in Section B and are facing each teams of their division twice in the season, for a total of six games. They can’t play teams of Section A except in the RSEQ playoffs.

While the women’s team’s season is officially over after their loss to the Rouge et Or, the men’s team will play its next and final game of the regular season on Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. against the Bishop’s University Gaiters. With a current 5-0 record, the team will look to conclude its regular season undefeated for a third straight year.

 

Feature photo by Laurence B.D.

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Stingers women’s hockey team wins home opener in dramatic fashion

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team defeated the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 5-4 in dramatic fashion Sunday afternoon at the Ed Meagher Arena.

The Stingers had a slow start, which led to the Gee-Gees’s first two goals of the game. Stingers head coach Julie Chu said the team didn’t have a good first period.

“We’ve had a good first five minutes, and then got a little bit sloppy,” Chu said. “The second and third periods were much better. Obviously, we have to work on our puck tracking. The Gee-Gees did a good job at executing and creating space for themselves on opportunities, but ultimately we need to find a way to not give up so many opportunities.”

The Stingers found their rhythm in the second period after having some serious scoring chances on the power play. Chu said despite not scoring, she liked chances produced by her team’s power play this weekend.

“We started with McGill yesterday where we had some pretty good looks,” Chu said. “I thought today, we were moving the puck and getting some opportunities. Obviously, we need to continue finding our lanes and getting great screens, as well as putting pucks away.”

When everybody thought overtime was coming after Stingers’s forward Marie-Pascale Bernier scored her second goal of the game to tied it at 4-4, forward Audrey-Ann Rodrigue scored the game-winning goal with just 40 seconds left. Rodrigue used her speed to cut the defender and drive to the net and score. She said she will remember that goal for along time.

“I followed my intuition and shot it on net, thinking I had nothing to lose,” Rodrigue said. “It was close to the end of regulation, so all shots were big. My parents were there, so I was really happy. I come from far away, so they’re not coming often.”

First-year player Léonie Philbert scored her first career U SPORTS goal in the third period. For Chu, to have contributions from the younger players is huge.

“They’re great players. They’re playing in all situations, and I think that’s really critical for us. We have the veteran presence that has a lot of experience and is able to do a great job,” Chu said. “Yet, we’re also able to put in some of our younger players to gain some experience. I think this is a good test for our team. If people push and work hard in practice, then opportunities will come.”

The Stingers play their next game against the Carleton University Ravens on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Ice House in Ottawa.

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Concordia 2 McGill 1 (SO): Stingers win season-opener in marathon match

Sometimes three periods of hockey isn’t enough, and you have to go to overtime.

Then double overtime.

Then a shootout.

That’s what it took for the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team, as they beat the McGill Martlets 2-1 at McConnell Arena in a shootout in what was a season-opener to remember.

“That was an awesome hockey game,” said head coach Julie Chu after the marathon match. “The whole team played really well. Both teams played really well, both had moments of momentum and moments to take advantage. It was a good hard fought game and we’re really happy for the first one of the season.”

McGill jumped ahead to a 1-0 lead in the second period on a goal from Jade Downie-Landry. The goal came after the Stingers were unable to convert on a pair of back-to-back power plays.

A minute later, the Stingers responded.

On another powerplay, Concordia kept the puck moving, inching forward before defender Brigitte Lagagniére found Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, who fired a wrister past McGill goalie Tricia Deguire. Deguire would make 41 saves throughout the five periods of play.

That would be the only goal on the power play for the Stingers despite getting seven opportunities with the extra attacker, including a four-minute power play that ended with the Stingers spending more time in their end than the Martlet’s.

“Our third period power plays, we needed better energy,” said Chu. “Especially the four minute one. That’s our opportunity to really take advantage of that moment. Because we had that struggle in the first two minutes of the four, we let it affect us. When you’re on the power play, technically, you fail more than you succeed.”

Across the ice, Stingers goalie Alice Philbert was forced to stand on her head a couple of times. Most notably during a botched Stingers power play breakout that led to a breakaway, Philbert stretched her pad and denied the attempt. Philbert ended the game with 32 saves.

“I thought [Philbert] was great,” said Chu of the third-year tendy. “She’s developed into a tremendous level at the university level. Her first year, she came in as a young person who needed to gain some strength and experience. I thought she was really solid today, was calm, made some big saves for us and obviously in the shootout she was really good.”

The Stingers 5-on-5 played well. Veterans like Audrey Belzile used her speed and power to generate more than a few scoring chances. Former Martlet Olivia Atkinson showed flashes of her CWHL-level skill. Rookie Emmy Fecteau was able to dangle through waves of Martlets at times. While there were more than a few solid individual efforts, rookie Léonie Philbert was one to really stand out. Playing both defence and forward at different points of the game, Philbert battled hard along the boards, managed to get a breakaway opportunity and was a general pain in the ass of the Martlets.

After regulation, the game headed to overtime. Both teams went back and forth, and both teams had chances to put the game away, but the goalies said otherwise. So off to a shootout we go.

Fecteau and Atkinson both were unable to score in the shootout. Philbert denied first two shooters as well. It was Bégin-Cyr who finally managed to put the Stingers ahead, snapping a shot five-hole as the third shooter. McGill’s Kellyanne Lecours was than calmly stopped by Philbert, giving the Stingers their first win of the season and putting an end to a low-scoring slugfest of a game.

“It was a really good team win, regardless of it ending up in a shootout,” said Chu.

NOTES

Two things:

  1.  I’m tracking shots and shot location for this upcoming Stingers whky season. It’s not going to be perfect, but should be interesting.
  2. Please inject this type of hockey directly into my veins.

 

Photos by Mackenzie Lad

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Stingers football eyeing playoff spot

The Stingers missed the playoffs for the first time in five years. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

With just two games remaining in their regular season, and at risk of missing the playoffs for the second straight season, the Stingers need to bring some much-needed intensity, solid individual play, and good play-calling against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or and McGill to do so.

We decided to ask head coach Brad Collinson and offensive coordinator Alex Suprenant on their thoughts about their upcoming pursuit of that elusive final playoff spot.

Brad Collinson: “We gotta fight and take it one game at a time. We have a big game this weekend. If we win, we’re in. We had an off game against Laval, and that was…unfortunate. All we want is to continue progressing and I think we have the team and the offence to compete with anybody. Our defence practices with good intensity, they fly around. They need to run around the ball and get some turnovers.”

Alex Suprenant: “We just need to execute. We did against Sherbrooke at home, we did well against Montreal the week after, we had a bad one against Laval. We need to focus on what we need to do on the field, and if we do that we should be good. [Adam Vance] is our leader, he’s one of our best players, I’m pretty sure he’ll bounce back from the game he had against Laval. We expect that James Tyrrell, Jeremy Murphy, Jacob Salvail, maybe Vince Alessandrini will have big games. Our running backs are young, but they did some good things the past games. We’re going to make sure everyone can touch the ball and spread it out as much as possible.”

Here are what our sports editors (and myself) think of the season so far and how the Stingers can take their last two games.

 

Matthew Ohayon – Sports Editor: “Quarterbacks and running backs are only as good as their offensive line. Vance has done really well when given the proper protection to use his arm but the running game has struggled. If the offence wants to find sustainable success to make a playoff push, the running game needs to get going so that Vance and Surprenant can keep defenses guessing. Musangu, Foster and Mather have the talent to be an amazing backfield, but the offensive line needs to give them some help in creating holes to explode through.”

“Another offensive note; this team needs to finish off their drives with six points. These few games remaining are absolutely crucial and this team cannot be leaving points on the table. Turnovers on third down and field goals will not cut it — they need to put up touchdowns. It sounds obvious, but it’s been a major problem with the team this season. They put together methodical, time-killing drives but get stalled and have to settle for field goals. I know at a certain point, you are what your record says what you are, but this team is a lot more capable of what the stat-lines show.”

“On the defensive side of the ball, it’s quite simple. The Stingers only have seven sacks on the season — they need more pressure from their defensive line. Opposing QBs have way too much time to find open receivers and running backs have way too big of gaps to run through. If they are able to tighten that part of their defence up, it will make life so much easier against Sherbrooke and McGill.”

Alec Brideau – Assistant Sports Editor: “While there are surely things to fix on defence after a 74-0 loss, the other side of me’s thinking it’s the third time of the season the Stingers score six points or less in a game. Not many expect the Stingers to limit their opponent to a touchdown or two, but the reality is that you rarely win a game without scoring. With two games left, the Stingers will need to limit their offensive errors and make sure they’re the ones on offence most of the time. Simple plays and great runs could be the keys for those games.”

Matthew Coyte – Managing Editor: “Despite some really positive progressions this season on offence from players like Vance, Murphy and Tyrrell, the reality is that the run game needs to be better. Teams like Laval and Montreal are so good because they can burn you on the ground and in the air, and that combination is what puts defences on their heels. I would love to see Kevin Foster and Glody Musangu get more reps in the next two weeks and see what they can do.”

“The other key is on defence. The team’s struggled to stop drives and is the last place in most statistical categories, despite having some of the division’s best players. There’s a lot that could go better, but I’ll say that if the Stingers can stifle the run against Sherbrooke and McGill, they’ll give themselves a good chance to pick up some wins.For the Stingers to make the playoffs, it’s just going to take the offensive, defensive and special teams aspects of their game showing up and coming together at the same time.”

“The division’s been in a blender all year. McGill blows out Concordia, the Stingers almost beat Montreal twice, Sherbrooke actually DOES beat Montreal (the mad lads), Montreal smokes McGill. Nothing makes sense, the world is chaos, and not a single spot in the standings is determined yet. We haven’t seen the RSEQ this exciting in a long time.”

 

Photo by Mackenzie Lad

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Sports

Stingers women’s hockey team welcomes new recruits

The Stingers have gone 8-1-1 in 2019. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

As the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team prepares to kick off their 2019-20 season against their crosstown rivals the McGill Martlets, there’s a sense that there’s some unfinished business after the Stingers were knocked out of the playoffs last year by McGill.

Veterans like Claudia Dubois, Audrey Belzile, Alexandra Nikolidakis, Marie-Pascale Bernier and Stéphanie Lalancette among others are all primed to build on last season where the team lost in the RSEQ division semi-finals.

“Over the summer, all of our returning players wanted to make a commitment at getting better, and making sure that by the start of this season, they were in a much better position [than last year],” head coach Julie Chu said back in mid-September. “Because of that, we’re in a much different spot and we’re able to compete at a higher level [since the beginning of our exhibition games].”

Joining the veterans are a handful of notable recruits and new players. We asked Chu to give us a bit of insight into what we can expect from the five newest members of this Stingers roster.

Léonie Philbert
Last Team: Dawson College
Position: Forward
2018-19 Stats: 24GP-10G-11A-21Pts

Philbert played on Team Quebec in 2015 and 2016, winning silver at the U18 national championship in 2016. Last season with the Dawson Blues, she was named team MVP.

Chu: “I think Léonie’s one of the most versatile players in the game right now at the university level. We’ve been able to use her in the pre-season as a forward and as a defenceman. It’s not easy to make that shift, especially as a first year player. The speed of the game, the decision-making and everything that comes into it, there’s often an adjustment period coming out of CEGEP or high school, but Léonie’s been able to do that really well, and I think a big part of that is that she works hard everyday and is a really smart player. Her ability to process the game quickly allows her to execute at a high level.”

Julianna Classen
Last Team: John Abbott College
Position: Forward
2018-19 Stats: 24GP-8G-10A-18Pts

Chu: “Julianna is a great person. She’s a great student-athlete, she’s in the exercise science program. She has a lot of potential to come in at this level and have a great season. I think that for her, she’s a smart player, especially from the tops of the circles down, that’s where she’s the most threatening. We’ll be able to see her use her size to her advantage, take pucks to the net, and kinda play that ‘dirty game’ net front. As she gets used to the speed of this level, that 200 foot game will develop as well.”

Emmy Fecteau
Last Team: Cégep Limoilou
Position: Forward
2018-19 Stats: 24GP-13G – 25A – 38Pts

One of the more high-profile recruits, Emmy Fecteau has already started to make a name for herself nationally. The 20-year-old won the RSEQ collegiate title three years straight with Cégep Limoilou in 2017, 2018 and 2019 before making the jump to university. Last season she finished third in the scoring race at the CEGEP level with 38 points in 24 games. Oh, she was also named to Canada’s National Women’s Development Team for a three-game series against the United States this summer.

Chu: “She’s been incredible from day one. We’ve seen her growth, I’ve known her since she was 16-years-old, maybe younger, going to Caroline Ouellete’s camps before we were even coaching at university. We’ve seen her growth and development throughout the years, from her first year at Limoilou and coming onto a really talented team and learning how to develop into that position. She’s been tremendous since day one. Similar to Léonie, she just wants to get better and wants to push and wants to work. That’s the type of student-athlete you want to work with, not one you have to motivate, but wants to go out there and find ways to get better.”

Caroline Gosling
Last Team: Edge Prep, Calgary
Position: Goalie
2018-19 Stats: 14GP-2.29 GAA-.911 SVP

Gosling played on Team Alberta during the 2019 Canada Winter Games, where she helped the team win gold. She was also named to the 2016 Mac’s Midget Tournament All-Star team. Chu discovered Gosling during the goalie’s time on Team Alberta at the Canada Winter Games.

Chu: “What I’ve really enjoyed about Caroline is that she just goes out and battles for every puck. She’s not a big goalie, that’s the reality, but she has a way of playing aggressive that allows her to be bigger in goal and be able to make great saves. I think that’s going to be a huge asset for her and for the team. In practice, every time our players want to score a goal, they need to know that they’re going to have to battle hard because she’s not just going to allow the rebound to be tapped in.”

Olivia Atkinson
Last Team: McGill Martlets
Position: Forward
2017-18 Stats: 20GP – 8G – 8A – 16Pts

Atkinson isn’t a rookie, but she will be playing her first game for the Stingers on the Saturday season opener – against her old team. The fourth year forward last played on the McGill Martlets in 2017-18 before switching to the Stingers last season. While not eligible to play U Sports, Atkinson played with the CWHL’s Canadiennes de Montreal, registering 3 points in 17 games with the pro team. While on the Martlets, Atkinson was one of the team’s most effective players, registering 16 points in 20 games, tied for the team lead. Due to U Sports eligibility rules, she had to sit out last year. Now, she’s ready to join the team.

Chu: “Liv always gives a full effort. That’s something on our team we don’t have to coach. I think for us is that we’re really excited to have a great player back in the lineup. She had three tremendous years at McGill when she was playing. She can put the puck away, utilize her speed and create offensive opportunities. We’re looking for her to use her speed, take pucks to the net and use that incredible release that she had. She’s a talented player and it’s nice to have her back in our lineup.”

This year’s crop of rookie’s join a strong class of sophomores that include RSEQ All-Star Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, who netted 15 points in 20 games as a rookie.

The Stingers women’s hockey season kicks off at McGill on Saturday, Oct. 19. The team’s home opener will be on Sunday, Oct. 20 at the Ed Meagher Arena.

The team’s full schedule can be found here.

 

Photo by Mackenzie Lad

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Sports

A year after legalization, weed still on U Sports banned substance list

It’s been one year since Canada legalized cannabis nationwide in a landmark decision. So why is cannabis still banned for U Sports athletes in-season?

But before we answer that question, let’s take a quick look at the major sports leagues across North America and how they approach cannabis.

The NFL has been notoriously hard-lined when it comes to cannabis use (i.e. Josh Gordon), handing out long-term and season-long suspensions for repeated offences. The NBA is more lenient, with punishments ranging from a US$25,000 fine, to a five game suspension. The MLB still prohibits cannabis, but only tests if they feel like they have reasonable cause. The NHL doesn’t punish players who test positive for cannabis.

According to an ESPN report, 101 of the 123 sports teams in the four major leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) play in places where cannabis is legalized. The CFL, while not one of the big four leagues, is the only major pro league based entirely in Canada and doesn’t test for cannabis.

In terms of university sports, the NCAA also has cannabis on its banned substance list. Violations can result in a suspension, according to the organization’s drug policies.

U Sports’ cannabis ban is a little different than those other leagues. Unlike the NHL, NBA or even the NCAA, U Sports doesn’t choose its own doping policies or sanctions.

Who makes the rules?

U Sports is a signatory on the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP), which is administered by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports (CCES). The CCES is Canada’s anti-doping agency.

“The CCES and U SPORTS work together to protect the integrity of sport and the health of Canadian student-athletes,” said Paul Melia, CCES President and CEO, in an email to The Concordian. “This partnership delivers anti-doping education and a robust testing plan for U SPORTS student-athletes across Canada through the implementation of the Canadian Anti-Doping Program, which is fully compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code and all its International Standards and Guidelines.”

U Sports abides by the CADP, and all sanctions regarding doping violations are based off of that program. In its “Cannabis in Sports Education Kit” the CCES wrote that “In the face of mounting complexity, it is important to remember that in the world of anti-doping, the debate is not complicated. In sport, cannabis is prohibited.”

The CCES chooses which athletes are tested through a variety of factors including an athlete’s history of doping, the physiological demands of the sport or discipline, performance-enhancing substances and their effects on specific sports, and the potential financial incentives of success, such as a pro contract.

The reason cannabis remains on the list of banned substances for U Sports athletes is because the CCES doesn’t determine which substances are or aren’t on its anti-doping list. The organization is a signatory on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)’s Prohibited List. The same list is used for Olympic competition.

Despite Canada’s legalization of cannabis, the CCES abides by international anti-doping standards.

After the legalization of cannabis in Canada, U Sports stated in a press release that, “As a banned substance on the World Anti-Doping Association Prohibited List (which is the same list followed by the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP),) there will be no change to cannabis’ usability for U SPORTS student-athletes.”

For a substance to end up on the WADA’s Prohibited List, regardless of its legality, it has to fulfill two of the three criteria in the eyes of the WADA.

  1. It has the potential to enhance sport performance
  2. It represents a health risk to the athletes
  3. It violates the spirit of sport.

The WADA stated in an email to The Concordian that it does not make public the reasons for which it adds substances to the list.

In the “Cannabis in Sports Education Kit” from the CCES, the organization states that “While the CCES does not view cannabis as particularly performance enhancing, we do have anecdotal accounts of athletes using it therapeutically with the intent to improve performance or recovery by managing pain, stress, or anxiety.” It adds that habitual use of cannabis presents “the potential for harm.”

Sanctions, suspensions, and substances

Before we go any further, It’s important to note that U Sports’ cannabis rules are far more relaxed than most of its athletic counterparts. First of all, cannabis is only banned for U Sports athletes during the season, meaning athletes don’t receive a sanction for a positive cannabis test result during the off-season. Also, any U Sports athlete that faces a suspension can appeal the decision to a third party arbitrator.

However, any in-season test sample that contains more than 150 nanogram per millilitre (ng/mL) of cannabis metabolite Carboxy-THC would be flagged and might land a U Sports athlete a suspension. That threshold, while not a shield for athletes, is extremely high compared to other athletic and legal thresholds. For comparison, the MLB’s cannabis testing threshold is 50ng/mL and the NFL’s is 35ng/mL.

Since raising the cannabis testing threshold to 150ng/mL in 2013, only five U Sports athletes have been suspended  for cannabis violations.

Cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, is not on the WADA banned substance list, however the WADA warns that “there are no guarantees that the product they are using does not contain trace amounts of THC.”

While athletes have faced suspensions for cannabis testing, the WADA requires that labs not report and that anti-doping organizations not pursue any sanctions against an athlete who was found to have low concentrations of cannabis in their sample.

According to the WADA, “athletes using the substance in-competition will be detected, while the chances of detecting (non-prohibited) out-of-competition use are substantially reduced.”

While the WADA’s cannabis ban, and U Sports testing, is relaxed compared to other athletic leagues, cannabis is still a suspendable violation. All CADP violations are publicly listed on the CCES’ website.

Under the CCES’ anti-doping sanctions, a first violation for presence, use or possession of a banned substance can result in either a two or four year sanction. A non-intentional presence of a banned substance results in a two year sanction.

The CCES releases annual reports that details all anti-doping violations. Between 2003 (the first annual report available online) and 2012, 23 athletes tested positive for cannabis. Out of those 23, the only athletes to receive suspensions were those who tested positive for multiple substances.

What the players think

We asked past, current, male and female U Sports athletes from different sports for their thoughts on the league’s cannabis ban. Athletes spoke anonymously, some saying they were worried that if they spoke about cannabis publicly, they would be singled-out for testing. Here’s what they said.

  • U Sports football player: “I believe [cannabis should be unbanned]. Since cannabis isn’t [an illegal] substance anymore and doesn’t enhance performance, I believe that many athletes could benefit from its calming effects. I believe they would benefit athletes stress-wise as well as pain-wise and would limit painkillers. If it’s legal in society and does not enhance performance, there is no reason why it should be banned for athletes, as long as they are not using during games.”
  • U Sports field hockey player: “Athletes could definitely benefit from having cannabis unbanned because there are many beneficial uses beyond recreational. Many people in my life use cannabis to relieve pain, anxiety and in order to sleep better. In general, athletes are busy people and are prone to stress, so cannabis could help be a big help. Cannabis is safe to use and is now very regulated just like alcohol which is legal in U Sports.”
  • Former U Sports football player: “Do I think there should be a ban? Absolutely not. But at the same time I can understand why the U Sports won’t lift the ban. They would be the first western civilization sports organization to do so, and I don’t think they’re a big enough entity to handle the down sides of lifting the ban. They won’t pull the trigger unless the NCAA is successful with it.”
  • U Sports soccer player: “It’s interesting, I find it very similar to alcohol and you’re allowed to drink during the season. From an athlete’s perspective, the act of smoking while you’re competing is kind of dumb. Unless you’re in an individual sport, you’re screwing over your team. If you’re taking it through other forms, edibles aren’t legal yet. I know a lot of athletes that drink and go out with their teams, but I know that smoking during the season is very stigmatized. And for good measure, if you get tested, you’re out.”
  • U Sports football player: “I definitely believe cannabis should be banned during the season, but if an athlete wants to consume some in [their] off season I believe that it shouldn’t be a problem and players should be allowed to do so. The only way I could see a player benefiting from cannabis being unbanned is during an injury period and the cannabis manages to eliminate some of the pain felt by the player. I think some players would love to see the ban lifted and have the opportunity to consume cannabis like other consumers in Canada without fearing the consequences of the suspensions athletes receive if they get caught.”
  • U Sports rugby player: “I don’t know why it’s banned for U Sports athletes. They have us do an online substance use training [before the season], even after that I’m still not sure why athletes can’t consume weed in particular. It has benefits, it helps with anxiety and sleep. I find it unfair to take away that potential benefit to athletes.”

Graphic by @sundaeghost

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Sports

“He’s not much of a friend, he’s like family.” Jeff de Wit and Ryan Vandervlis reunite as members of the Stingers

When you think of best friends that have played together on a hockey team, Jeff de Wit and Ryan Vandervlis probably wouldn’t be the first duo to come to mind.

“We work together, we spend almost every day in the summer together,” said de Wit. “We know each other really well. He’s not much of a friend, he’s like family.”

The two Red Deer, Alberta natives haven’t played together since they were 14 years old, back in their hometown as members of the Red Deer Rebels Black Bantam AAA. Seven years later, and 3600 km away from home, they are once again reunited as members of the Concordia Stingers.

Both players were looking for a fresh start and wanted to experience life outside of Alberta, figuring a new city and new experience would be good for them.

“If [Vandervlis] wanted to go to another school, it would’ve been something we had to talk about,” de Wit said. “But I knew for a while that moving away from Alberta would be the right decision for me.”

“I think there were five or six different schools that have reached out, but this is where I wanted to be,” said Vandervlis. “It’s so different out here. There’s a lot more European, a lot more culture.”

Head coach Marc-André Élement is excited about what de Wit will bring to the table, giving the rookie a large offensive role right from the get-go.

“He has a really good game,” said Élement. “He’s a big body, he’ll bring a huge netfront presence for us on the power play.”

De Wit played five seasons in the Western Hockey League (WHL), mostly for the Red Deer Rebels. He played for three teams in his second-to-last season and struggled to find his game, putting up 20 points in 43 combined games. After moving back to the Rebels and making changes to his off-season regimen, de Wit put up a career high 27 goals and 44 points.

The Concordia Stingers are the only school in Quebec to have players from the province of Alberta. The WHL is by no means an untapped market when it comes to recruiting, with most of their players playing in the Canada-West division. But with only four Alberta teams in the division and a load of talent to choose from in the WHL, spots on rosters are limited, so Élement decided to pounce on the opportunity.

“A lot of the schools say the same things to you, so it’s a feel-out process,” said de Wit. “One thing that made it better was [Élement] took time out of his life to fly out to Alberta to see some alumni but still made time to see me and Ryan. It was super nice of him, really personal and it really aided the process.”

The players are excited to play on the same team again. Vandervlis made his debut last Saturday night versus McGill; it was his first time playing competitive, contact hockey in over a year. In June 2018, Vandervlis was involved in a campfire accident where he ended up having approximately 50 per cent of his body burnt.

After the Stingers lost to the Carleton Ravens 2-0 on opening night, Élement decided it was time for Vandervlis to get into the action.

“It was a lot of fun, it’s been a long time coming,” said Vandervlis. “To finally get back out there was awesome.”

Before his accident, Vandervlis played in the WHL as well as a member of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. After struggling in the 2016/17 regular season, Vandervlis broke out in the playoffs scoring eight goals and putting up 14 points in 17 games. The following season was cut short but he still managed to put up 11 goals and 19 points in 19 games.

Last year, after waking up from a medically-induced coma and spending 11 weeks in the hospital, Vandervlis found himself back on the ice playing in the Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL) as a member of the Red Deer Vipers. The 6’3, 212 pound centre was clearly one of the bigger talents in the league, putting up 21 points in nine regular season games, and 10 points in seven playoff games.

With stats like that, the Stingers may have very well found themselves a hidden gem. At first glance of his stats, its fairly evident that he is a big playoff performer. In his debut on Saturday night, Vandervlis looked like he did not skip a beat, slotting into the lineup on the second line and logging a good amount of ice-time.

“He’s an offensive guy so for sure he has to play on [a top] line,” said Élement. “He did a lot of the little things right. The game shape is gonna come, but [overall] he did really well.”

The two Albertans were not just brought in for their scoring abilities, though. De Wit said the best aspect of his game is that he’s a 200-foot player who has a nose for the net but can bring a physical presence when needed. Vandervlis says that his “Hockey IQ” is his greatest strength as it sets him up for success on both ends of the ice.

Vandervlis and de Wit were slotted together on the same line against McGill, but it remains unclear if they will be sticking together long term as they are both listed as centres. For now though, the two are enjoying playing together for the first time since their Bantam AAA day.

“In the summer time we talked about playing together [at Concordia] for a long time,” said de Wit. “It was super cool to see that come to life.”

 

Photos by Cecilia Piga

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Sports

Colour Commentary: The Rocky State of the NBA in China

Remember when the NBA’s biggest storylines during the off-season involved tampering, trade requests, and Lebron’s “Taco Tuesday” trademark denial? Now, America’s most progressive sports league faces its biggest challenge since the Donald Sterling scandals of 2014.

On Oct. 4, Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted an image in support of the protests taking place in Hong Kong that read, “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” Morey deleted the tweet shortly after but had failed in avoiding conflict with China.

The NBA’s initial statement acknowledged the tweet as offensive to Chinese friends and fans, but ultimately created more confusion as it failed in representing a definitive stance. On Oct. 8, NBA commissioner Adam Silver cleared the air when he specified the NBA would not regulate what its employees and owners say, supporting Morey’s right to freedom of expression.

In response, China Central Television, CCTV, showed immense dissatisfaction, saying “remarks that challenge national sovereignty and social stability are not within the scope of freedom of speech.” In addition, the company suspended all NBA broadcasting. Rights holder of the NBA in China, Tencent, blacklisted Daryl Morey and the Houston Rockets. Sponsors were forced to cut ties with the team and its players to avoid potential blowback.

The NBA-China rift is an ongoing process that is showing no signs of faltering. A single tweet derailed a Chinese partnership that generated millions in yearly revenue for the NBA, unequivocally one of its largest international markets.

The bottom line is prominent figures need to provide unsolicited content frequently to appease the public interests, often resulting in posts that are imprudent.  Morey’s tweet shows the volatility a post can possess and stresses the importance of taking precaution when sharing online in a society that encourages spontaneity, with consumers who are obsessed with immediate satisfaction.

This notion was emphasized in the backlash received by coach of the Golden State Warriors, Steve Kerr, when he was asked about the topic. Kerr has been outspoken to the media on American political issues in the past but admitted he did not have enough knowledge to formulate an opinion on Chinese politics.

Kerr was criticized by fans and was called out by President Donald Trump in a hearing on Oct 9, who labelled Kerr a hypocrite that “was like a scared little boy”. The Warriors’ coach effectively showed self-awareness in wanting to think before he speaks, which is unfortunately an ostracized attitude in 2019.

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