Category: Sports

Categories
Sports

Why do teams tank?

Graphic by Carleen Loney/ @shloneys

Tanking is helpful… until it’s not

Tanking happens when a team is losing games on purpose, or has a losing record in a season, in order to get higher draft picks in the following draft. This is generally done by a general manager and not the players or coaches.

While the NFL’s draft order is based solely on the previous season’s rankings — meaning the lowest-ranked team gets to draft first — the NBA, NHL, and very recently, the MLB, have a lottery that decides the order between certain ranks and their corresponding picks. But the lower a team finishes in the standings, the greater the chances are to pick higher in the following draft.

Some draft years are stronger than others, with projected top picks that are almost certain to become superstars. An example of this is the 2023 NHL draft, which is a particularly strong year with Connor Bedard as the projected first-overall pick, who will most likely be a generational player.

While tanking used to be frowned upon, it seems to have generally become more and more accepted.

But there are different levels to it.

Teams can tank simply by keeping a mid coach and play with half their roster sidelined due to injury. An example of this is last season’s Montreal Canadiens. Although they changed coaches before the end of the season, the culmination of all listed above resulted in the Canadiens finishing the season last in the standings.

Or, if a team really wants to take it to another level, a possibility is selling every player who’s decent enough to get acquired by another team, and get worse players in return to make sure they really tank and finish last in the league. But with a lottery, things don’t always go well.

The best-case scenario? That team gets the first overall pick and makes it work eventually.

But the worst-case scenario? The team doesn’t get that pick and gets a good player, but not nearly as good as they’d hoped.

An example of this is the 2014-15 Buffalo Sabres. They got rid of any good player who helped them win games in order to improve their lottery odds to draft Connor McDavid. However, they ended up getting the second pick, which they used to select Jack Eichel. The Sabres still aren’t nearly as competitive as they would’ve been had they drafted McDavid.

Tanking doesn’t always work, and taking it to the extreme can do more harm than good for a team in the long run as it makes rebuilding a longer and more difficult process.

But sometimes it works. An example of a successful tank is the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers, who traded good players away and ended up drafting Joel Embiid third overall in the 2014 draft. Since then, they have made the playoffs five times, and the conference semifinals four times.

At the end of the day, just like everything else in sports, tanking either ends in a W or an L.

Anything done the extreme way is very tricky. So low-risk high-reward should be the way to go when it comes to tanking. You can lose to increase your chances, but don’t trade away everyone so you don’t have to rebuild for too long.

But we can agree to disagree.

Categories
Sports

Pressure, academia and competition: why people quit organized sports

Former dancer Kim Maurer in a dance studio. Catherine Reynolds/ The Concordian

Concordia students share their experiences in organized sports

As a four-year-old kid in the UK in 2007, Kim Maurer, a current English Literature student at Concordia, was first drawn to sports when she wanted to follow in her older brother’s footsteps.

She enrolled in a wide array of sports like field hockey and football, but her true loves were dance, swimming and rounders (an English sport that resembles baseball). At 14, however, she would stop all those sports, joining an ever-growing trend of kids leaving organized sports in their teens.

“I was definitely a really happy kid because of how many sports I played. But I think, as you get older, it begins to negatively affect you,” said Maurer, recalling the pressure of competition she felt going into secondary school.

“I was always pushed academically,” she added. “So, if I was good at school, I had to be good at sports, I had to be good at music, I had to be good at every single thing I dipped my toes into.”

Sports that once served Maurer as a distraction from school were soon overpowered by academic pressure.

“When I was doing sports, I was there physically, but not mentally, because I’d be focusing on what I have tomorrow, what kind of exams, what do I have to prepare for. It wasn’t fun anymore,” she said.

Kim Maurer holds sports awards she won when she was younger. Catherine Reynolds/ The Concordian

But Maurer’s not alone. More often than not, it’s the lack of fun in organized sports that makes kids quit.

“The stakes are much higher and people compare you to everyone else,” continued Maurer. “That’s one of the reasons why I quit [dance], it became too toxic.” 

The decision to quit swimming and rounders — one of Maurer’s favourite sports — was even harder.

Charlotte Weissler, a journalism student at Concordia, recounts a similar story. She, too, came from a sports-oriented family and started gymnastics at four years old in France. She recalled having a love/hate relationship with the sport.

“It was a really hard sport, it hurt physically, you fall a lot, and I got injured a lot,” she said, also mentioning the mental challenges that came with putting a lot of effort into the sport. Nonetheless, she felt at home in the gym.

At seven, Weissler began competing.

“I really liked it because I was better when I was young, I was winning all my competitions and I enjoyed it obviously. But it was also stressful, and I hated that,” she said.

Going to high school at 16 changed everything for Weissler, and the pressure to have good grades was an added source of stress.

“I didn’t think I could handle four training sessions a week and do my assignments. It just wasn’t possible,” she said. She was stuck in an all-or-nothing situation and her gym wouldn’t accommodate for fewer than four sessions per week.

However, some friends that Weissler met while doing gymnastics are now completing master’s degrees, all while keeping up with gymnastics. She believes the difference between her and them is passion.

“It was [a hard decision], but also, after 12 years, all the pressure became so strong that at one point I thought I wasn’t passionate enough to want that pressure anymore,” Weissler said.

Both Maurer and Weissler noted that many of their peers quit sports at the same time as them.

But juggling academia and sports is possible. Concordia Stingers’ Alice Philbert, goaltender for the women’s hockey team for six years, shows just that.

She started goaltending at 13 in the RSEQ — after playing defence for five years — and has dedicated her life to playing hockey and studying since then.

“I started my graduate diploma in business administration to continue playing hockey [with the Stingers],” she said. “If it wasn’t for hockey, I wouldn’t have undertaken it.”

Philbert’s coaches at Dawson and Concordia taught her valuable lessons through sports, like putting her team first and that everything is earned.

“When I go to the arena, I know I’m going to have fun,” she said. “It’s not stressful and I know people are there to help me.”

And that’s what sports should be for young people: a stress-free environment where they can have fun and make new friends.

Categories
Sports

LUG Sports: “the most professional, unprofessional sports league”

Photo courtesy: LUG Sports

What is LUG Sports?

LUG Sports is a recreational sports league that offers sports services to college and university students and alumni in over 30 cities across North America.

It was founded about 10 years ago when two students from Western University and Queen’s University in Ontario wanted to keep playing sports at a competitive level, but not varsity.

Ryan Fitzgerald, LUG Sports’ marketing manager, said LUG likes to “keep the dream alive” for students who still want to play but don’t have the aspirations to play at a D1 level.

As opposed to intramural sports, which are organized by universities or colleges for their students and alumni, LUG Sports allows students and alumni from different universities to play together on the same team. Its focus is more on a city or community level than it is on school.

LUG Sports also has “black out days,” when no games are played: holidays, reading weeks, spring break, and the Super Bowl are a few examples.

LUG mainly offers sports that generally aren’t offered by the city’s universities’ and colleges’ intramural leagues. The sports offered in Montreal are softball, flag football, beach volleyball and hockey.

LUG is available in 28 Canadian cities, including Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, and Victoria. Seventeen locations are in Ontarian cities.

According to Fitzgerald, LUG Sports was able to expand to so many cities because of how many students were interested and reached out, asking them to come to their school.

The funding comes from registration fees when people join, which cover operating costs, jerseys, and sometimes accessories depending on the sport.

LUG also has many sponsors, some of which are local to specific locations. Red Bull and Harvey’s are some bigger ones, but Bodyarmor SuperDrink is one of LUG’s sponsors in the US, as well as Deek’s Pizza, specific to its North Dakota location.

LUG Sports’ most popular campuses remain Western and Queen’s to this day, the places where it all began.

Categories
Sports

Hiking is a women’s sport

Photo Courtesy: Christel Bourque

Hikers are taking it upon themselves to create representation for women in the sport

Hiking the 4,265-kilometer-long Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is no easy feat, but for Christel Bourque, a Montreal-based hiker, photographer, and visual artist, it was how she got into hiking in 2019. Four years later, she recalls how her first experience on the famous through-hiking trail made her realize women in the sport are underrepresented.

“The first thing I realized is that there are not a lot of women who do the PCT alone,” Bourque said.

To prepare for the hike, Bourque, whose experience was limited to Mont-Saint-Hilaire, turned to YouTube for information on the PCT. This is when she noticed a lack of French-Canadian hiking content tailored for women.

Due to heavy snowfall conditions (and a personal emergency that arose later), Bourque had to quit her hike after having covered roughly 1,600 kilometres of the PCT in three months. Nonetheless, she returned to the PCT in 2022, documenting her experience on her YouTube channel La Petite Marcheuse, thereby filling a void for underrepresented Quebec women in hiking.

Just 1,000 kilometres shy of the end, Bourque’s second attempt also ended abruptly due to complications associated with an insect bite that forced her to return to Canada. 

A third attempt at the PCT lingers in her mind, as she continues hiking in Quebec.

Bourque noted that compared to shorter Quebec trails, the long-distance PCT comes with extra hardships, especially for women.

For one, menstrual pain doesn’t magically go away on hikes and tampons add weight to the backpack.

“I used to be the DivaCup girl, but that was impossible,” Bourque said. “I went back to tampons in 2019 and carried the used ones in those opaque dog waste bags.”

For her second attempt, the hiker took the birth control pill to handle her menstrual cycle — but not without it taking a toll on her body.

Another prevalent challenge for women hikers is hitchhiking to go to faraway towns to resupply, which Bourque did alongside other women.

“If one of us didn’t like the vibe of the person offering us a ride, it was an immediate no,” said Bourque. “We were two women and we didn’t want to get in danger.” She recalled the times when men insisted on giving them a ride or proposed shady exchanges of services. 

Nonetheless, hiking is one of the sports in which discrepancies in performance between men and women are negligible.

“More and more evidence has come out that women’s bodies are better equipped for endurance activities,” said Liz Thomas, hiker and co-founder of Treeline Review, a company that specializes in reviewing women’s outdoor gear. The performance gap between the sexes in ultra-endurance activities (defined as lasting more than six hours) is merely four per cent.

Thomas, whose passion for hiking developed through her alma mater’s outdoor club, achieved the Triple Crown of Hiking after completing the PCT, the Appalachian Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. She’s been dubbed the “Queen of Urban Hiking,” a title first given by Outside Magazine.

As a tip for beginner hikers, Thomas suggests hiking with friends as it allows for more time to slow down and catch up. It also makes it harder to quit.

“Go on trails in town, you don’t have to go somewhere really remote. Just get out there and walk,” she said.

Conveniently, Montreal might just be the place to do so. “I would love to urban-hike Montreal,” beamed Thomas.

Categories
Sports

The art of goalie gear

Stingers' Jonathan Lemieux and Jordan Naylor after practice on Nov. 30, 2022. Maria Bouabdo/ The Concordian

Concordia Stingers’ goaltenders talk about their gear and the inspiration and meaning behind it

Everybody knows how agile and smart hockey goaltenders have to be. But they also have the most creative and artistic position when it comes to gear in team sports.

Goalies have the freedom to design their own equipment, including their masks and pad sets.

While everybody notices how aesthetically pleasing these masks are, what they don’t always realize is the meaning and inspiration behind certain designs.

The Concordia Stingers’ goalies — from the women’s and men’s hockey teams — explained the designs on their gear.

Alice Philbert wearing her white mask.

The veteran goaltender in her matching white pads, glove, and blocker. She’s a big fan of white gear as it’s discreet and allows her to blend in with the background.

Woody from Toy Story on the back of Philbert’s mask has a special meaning for her.
“My best friend’s nickname is Woody,” Philbert said. “She was on the team and she didn’t play much so I wanted something to represent her so she can be on the ice, in the net with me during every game.”

Jonathan Lemieux in his old mask from his time with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL.

Lemieux with his mask on top of his head.

Lemieux’s mask mostly has designs representing his old team, banners from their championships, Garfield, and scratches on the back. He also included “prove people wrong” and a four-leaf clover for good luck.

Lemieux in his white set and his teammate Gabriel Proulx in the back. The 6’1 goaltender said he likes to wear white equipment because it makes him look bigger.

Teammates Jordan Naylor (left) and Lemieux (right) on the ice during practice on Jan. 11, 2023.

Madison Oakes in their gradient white-to-maroon mask.

There are four stars on Oakes’s mask with encouraging messages they have received from people close to them. They said they wanted to have them on their mask as reminders. The message “I will always be there” is from their teammate Philbert.

Oakes in their full gear. They wanted a more colourful setup and liked the idea of a gradient.

Jordan Naylor in his grey-base mask with maroon and gold designs.

The Stingers’ #34 with his mask on top of his head.

On the back of Naylor’s mask, he decided to have designs that remind him of his home in Aldergrove, B.C. Designs include the skyline and “The Shack,” which is what his parents call their house.

Naylor in his full equipment set.

Lemieux and Naylor after practice on Nov. 30, 2022.

Categories
Sports

The Concordia Stingers’ strong third period leads to an 8-2 win against the Ottawa Gee-Gees

Concordia Stingers' men's hockey vs. Ottawa Gee-Gees, Dec. 4, 2022. MARIA BOUABDO/ The Concordian

The Stingers’ men’s hockey team scores six unanswered goals in the third period leading to a big victory to end the semester

The Concordia Stingers’ men’s hockey team ended the semester on a high note as they defeated the Ottawa Gee-Gees 8-2 with six unanswered goals in the third period at the Ed Meagher Arena on Dec. 4.

The Stingers find themselves in the U Sports top 10 for a fifth consecutive week following their win on Sunday and a 5-1 win against the Carleton Ravens on Dec. 3.

The game started off with a few quick goals by the Stingers. Forward Nicholas Girouard opened the scoring around the halfway mark of the first period, from a pass by right-winger Charles Tremblay in the corner. It only took two minutes for Stingers’ right-winger Charles-Antoine Paiement to double his team’s lead.

However, four minutes later, Gee-Gees’ forward Bradley Chenier brought them closer to tying the game. They eventually tied it early in the middle frame, with a shorthanded goal from forward Charles-Antoine Roy.

After being held scoreless in the second period, the Stingers attacked early in the third, scoring three goals in three minutes.

Stingers’ head coach Marc-André Elément said he regrouped his players in the middle of the room during the second intermission.

“I told them we had to learn from the first two periods and then we had success, we started scoring goals,” he said, adding that the team responded well.

Stingers’ defenceman Kyle Havlena broke the tie five minutes into the final frame with a snipe. About a minute later, it was Stingers’ forward Mathieu Bizier’s turn to score after a Gee-Gees turnover behind their net.

“Trépanier was able to make the pass to the front [of the net] and I had all the time I wanted to put it in the net, so that was really easy,” Bizier said.

After another minute had passed, Stingers’ left-winger Isiah Campbell scored on the rebound after an initial shot by defenceman Samuel Desgroseilliers.

After a 5-2 lead for Concordia, things seemed to calm down as Ottawa switched goaltenders. But the Stingers weren’t close to being done. They kept pressuring the Gee-Gees and scored three more goals in the last six minutes.

Left-winger Maxim Trépanier scored from the front of the net, after a pass from defenceman Nathan Lavoie from behind the net. Bizier got his second goal of the game from a pass by Girouard. The eighth and final goal was scored by left-winger Émile Hegarty-Aubin, after an effort by defenceman Simon Dubois to lead the Ottawa goaltender to the right side, leaving Hegarty-Aubin in front of an open net.

The team was happy to end the year with a significant 8-2 victory.

“It’s a lot of fun, we were really happy to get a big win, I think we really deserved it,” Bizier said.

Elément added that it feels good to end the year with such a win, especially considering how close the standings are this season.

“We’ll get the injured guys back [during the break] and we’re going to regroup and get ready for the other half of the season,” the coach said.

The Stingers will be back on Jan. 7, 2023, hosting the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.

Categories
Sports

Recruitment is well underway for the Concordia Stingers’ men’s soccer team

Concordia Stingers' men's soccer vs. University of Montreal Carabins. EVAN BUHLER/ Concordia Athletics

With many veteran players leaving, this recruitment season is busier than usual

After a season that ended too quickly on Oct. 23, the Concordia Stingers’ men’s soccer team has started its recruitment process with many empty spots to fill.

“It’s going to be a little bit of a challenge,” said Stingers’ head coach Greg Sutton. “Roughly nine to 10 players are graduating, so we have a bigger class than normal coming in and graduating. It adds to more recruiting and more work, to be fair.”

Among those graduating are several core players who were starters on the team. Centre defender and captain Sean Holmes is leaving the team after five years with the Stingers, something that is “surely going to affect the group,” according to goalkeeper Jordy Kerlegrand.

“It’s going to be hard to replace them,” Kerlegrand added, also mentioning midfielder John Cevik as a player he’ll miss. “Cevik is probably one of the best players I’ve ever been on the same team with. It’s going to hurt because when he was on the field we won and when he wasn’t, his absence was felt.”

Both Cevik and Holmes were named to the RSEQ’s second all-star team.

Although core players are leaving the team in high numbers, the recruitment has been going well so far. The Stingers’ men’s soccer team will be holding open tryouts on Jan. 10.

Sutton said that social media has been making the recruitment process easier than it was in the past. He also finds new players through current team members.

Additionally, for several years now the team has been hosting their ID night, an event that reunites the top potential recruits. It’s a chance for Sutton to assess the more specific details of rookies’ abilities and see whether they’d be a good fit. This year, their ID night has been especially positive.

Sutton began signing players a while ago. One of them, 21-year-old defender Zackiel Brault — who formerly played with the Montreal Impact Academy and FC Laval — was recruited last winter.

“The Stingers are creating a really good team and they’re getting big players,” Brault said in response to why he chose Concordia. He also said that he wanted to experience varsity soccer and was attracted by the league, the players, and the level of play.

Kerlegrand emphasized the team’s need for a good defensive line and Brault hopes he can bring value to the team with his 16 years of play.

“He’s just a complete defender, very difficult to beat,” said Sutton. “Offensively, he’s good on the ball and is able to keep possession for us in the back.”

Sutton also said that with so many players leaving, the team’s needs are “across the board.”

“We’re losing forwards, midfielders, defenders,” he explained. “One of the things we do when we recruit is we focus on the areas of need, but frankly, when you lose ten players, your needs are pretty much throughout the field.”

However, he said that attacking play is the main area they will practice once they get back on the field in the winter.

Nonetheless, both Kerlegrand and Sutton are very optimistic about next season.

“We’re excited, it’s a new era starting this upcoming fall,” Kerlegrand said. “We’re losing a few veteran players, so we’re in the unknown. However, that’s what excites us so much.”

He’s also certain the rookies will acclimate well to the team.

“We love having rookies,” he added. “Last year, we made the rookies feel comfortable right at the start and they integrated themselves really well.”

“I think that we have a good group of guys that are returning,” said Sutton. “We’re hopeful that they’re going to continue to grow and get better. Then, it’s just the transition of our new players that are coming in, to try and best prepare them with the time we have.”

Categories
Sports

Football is more than just a sport for Dwanté Morgan

Stingers' running back Dwanté Morgan at the Concordia Stadium, 2022. KAITLYNN RODNEY/ The Concordian

Brothers, a career and fun are what Morgan sees in football

Dwanté Morgan still remembers the moment he realized he loved football and wanted to play competitively. He was in his second year playing U15 with the Chateauguay Raiders.

Morgan remembers winning his first championship that year with the Raiders, cementing his love for the game of football. 

“It was my first championship in my life, I was so excited and so happy,” said the now 22-year-old running back. “I was with my friends and I was just like ‘I love football.’”

“That’s something I always loved. Because before my stepsiblings, I was an only child. So it’s like, I didn’t really have brothers or anything like that. So the camaraderie in football, the brother aspect, I loved it. To this day, I love it,” Morgan continued.

Knowing a lot of people grow up not having brothers or close bonds with friends, Morgan tries to be that person with new teammates, even though he doesn’t think he’s the most social guy. It’s how he meets people, or brothers — through football.

Stingers’ slotback Jaylan Greaves has played alongside Morgan on multiple occasions throughout civil football in Chateauguay.

“We were opposites,” Greaves said, thinking back to when they first met. “He was always quiet and I was always outgoing. But when he would step on the football field, his game always did the talking.”

Dwanté Morgan and teammate Jaylan Greaves. KAITLYNN RODNEY/ The Concordian

“It’s always a blessing to play with your brothers and close friends but being able to reunite at the university level is definitely a special feeling,” Greaves added.

Now in his second year at Concordia, Morgan has been adjusting to the busy life of a student-athlete in Canada. As the Bronx native noted, it’s more challenging here than it is in the United States.

Between school, work, practice, meetings, and games, the culmination of it all adds up to a lot. Morgan also pointed out that the added responsibilities for students living on their own force them to become adults.

“I still live at home and I have siblings, so I gotta be a big brother,” he said. “Being a student-athlete grows you up.”

Morgan at Concordia’s Athletics Complex, 2022. KAITLYNN RODNEY/ The Concordian

Morgan hasn’t had the easiest path either, battling injuries going back to his time at Vanier College and most recently this season at Concordia. But he looks forward to the rest of his time with the Stingers, and to the future beyond that.

“I play football because I have fun, but I don’t play for fun,” said Morgan. “That’s what I told [everybody] when I got here, ‘coming here I’m trying to get to the NFL.’ It’s a hard path, but it’s already been a hard path to get here. So why can’t I?”

Stingers’ head coach Brad Collinson said that, while recruiting him, the team was impressed with how versatile Morgan was: his running play as well as his contribution on special teams. Other than his skillsets on the field, Morgan’s energy also doesn’t go unnoticed by his teammates.

“Dwanté is a huge spark, leader, and vet to the team,” Greaves said. “A lot of people including myself admire his game and what he brings to our team.”

Collinson added that Morgan has developed a higher level of maturity during his tenure in Concordia’s football program.

“I think that he’s maturing, he takes coaching very well,” Collinson explained. “He wants to get better, he wants to be the best. He understands it’s a process. But we’re really happy with the way he’s matured throughout his two years here. We’re looking forward to the future as well, and he can only get better.”

Morgan was named RSEQ offensive player of the week after having 148 all-purpose yards and scoring a touchdown in the homecoming game against McGill. He was also one of the Stingers’ athletes of the week for that same period.

Running back Dwanté Morgan during the homecoming game against the McGill Redbirds on Sept. 17, 2022. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

The Stingers’ #21 wears this number for a couple of reasons: his birthday, Jul. 3 (7×3) and the jersey number of his favourite player growing up — long-time San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

As much as he loves football, Morgan’s first love was actually basketball.

“But I’m 5’11 so I really didn’t have a choice,” he joked. “And I was nowhere near as good as I was at football so it was an obvious choice.”

Morgan first started playing football when he was seven years old, as an offensive tackle. It was only once he was nine that he started primarily playing running back, with a touch of defence.

He remembers watching his stepbrother — wide receiver Jahquan Bloomfield now at Prairie View A&M University in Texas — on TV initiating a trick play and scoring a touchdown. He recalls just how ecstatic his mother and stepfather were.

“I was like, ‘yo I want to be able to make them happy too,’” Morgan said. “I started going on jogs — what I would see in football movies, not even knowing any better — doing push-ups, doing squats. And then eventually I came back. I was nine. I was taller than everyone, I was bigger than everyone, I was faster than everyone.”

Morgan scored a touchdown on his first-ever play as a running back. And he has stuck with it since.

Categories
Sports

How is Stingers’ basketball doing so far?

Stingers’ forward Serena Tchida in a game vs. McGill, 2022. KYRAN THICKE/ Concordia Athletics

Both Stingers basketball teams are facing strong competitions this year

As the holiday break approaches, the first half of the season has proven challenging for Concordia’s women’s and men’s basketball teams.

The women’s basketball team currently ranks fourth out of the five teams in the RSEQ, just ahead of crosstown rivals McGill. Although the start of the season has been rough, the Stingers are confident that they are improving with every game.

“We’ve gotten better across the board, and at some point the results will show in the win column,” said women’s head coach Tenicha Gittens. “Right now, we’re picking up Ls, but we still see we’re getting better.”

Gittens said that the elements they practice still have a hard time translating over to the game. They’ve especially been working on their defence, but are still lacking the “toughness, grit, and discipline” needed to win games.

The women’s basketball team is working with a lot of rookies this year. The Stingers experienced a similar situation back in 2018-19. Although a young team had once been advantageous back then, it is now currently plaguing them.

“It’s taking a little bit more time for them to get it,” said Gittens. “With a young team, it takes some time to figure it out and to trust themselves, their teammates, and the coaches.”

But Gittens also sees improvement in the team’s morale. “It was down, but it’s better and steadily climbing.” she said.“Right now, the morale is good but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to equate to a W. For us, it’s a good thing that we’re feeling good.”

Although players like forward Serena Tchida and guard Areej Burgonio have been scoring some desperately needed points for their team, Gittens wants to make sure everybody is putting in the effort so they can be as unified as possible.

Men’s basketball is shining bright

Concordia Stingers’ guard Sami Jahan in a game this season. KYRAN THICKE/ Concordia Athletics

The men’s basketball team on the other hand, has done great so far starting the season with a five-game winning streak presenting a close-to-perfect track record leading on top in the RSEQ. However, gaining the edge over the four other teams hasn’t been easy.

“Every game in our league is very hard, so a lot of credit goes to our guys for finding ways to win games,” said men’s head coach Rastko Popovic.

The five victories recorded by the Stingers have been challenging. Their latest three wins finished in close calls including a 75-74 win against Bishop’s, 83-79 against Laval and 58-57 against McGill.

According to Popovic, the team’s ability to turn up the defence in the second half of the game has helped them secure wins against Bishop’s and Laval. To Popovic, defence is one of his team’s greatest strengths.

“You can’t guarantee that you’re going to make shots, but what you can guarantee is having a great defensive effort every time you play,” Popovic said. “We have a very detailed defensive system that we spend a lot of time working on. It’s hard for younger players to grasp, but some of our guys have done a great job.”

The men’s basketball team is also working with a young squad this year, only having three players who are in their third year or higher. However, the preseason games have helped develop and flourish team chemistry.

“I purposely scheduled these games because I want our players to play against the best competition,” Popovic said. “Even though results weren’t great, it’s not all about wins and losses in preseason, it’s all about getting better. It definitely prepared us for league play.”

Going into the break, Popovic knows that his players aren’t getting too cocky about their success.“I remind them every day that we haven’t won anything or accomplished anything,” he said. “While it’s nice to win some of these games, it’s not like we won a championship or a playoff game.”

Unfortunately, after the Stingers’ game against UQAM on Nov. 26, their five-game winning streak came to an end after an 83-59 loss. The Stingers will be back at home on Jan. 14.

Categories
Sports

Young Canadiens’ core energizes team, shows hope for the future

Graphic by Dylan Nazareth.

Strong early performances from captain Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and other young players show a promising future for the Montreal Canadiens

It’s a new era in Montreal. After finishing last in the league last year, the Montreal Canadiens are faring better than many had anticipated so far this season. While they’re currently in the bottom half of the league in points, there is still a lot about this team that has been impressive, like the performance of the team’s young core.

After a mediocre season turned into an unexpected run to the Stanley Cup Finals two years ago, the Canadiens failed to generate much of anything last year. With goaltender Carey Price out for nearly the whole season — owing to a knee injury and mental health issues related to substance use — as well as several other players being plagued by their own injuries, the team lacked morale and direction.

Amidst this, team owner Geoff Molson fired both general manager Marc Bergevin and head coach Dominique Ducharme, replacing them with former player agent Kent Hughes and former NHL player Martin St. Louis, respectively. The new pair wasted no time shifting focus to the team’s young talents, in particular 23-year-old Nick Suzuki and 21-year-old Cole Caufield.

The team immediately saw improvements, especially in Caufield, who improved from one goal scored in 30 games under Ducharme to 22 goals in 37 games under St. Louis.

Now, this year has been a new story for the Montreal Canadiens. The offseason saw the key additions of 2019 third-overall pick Kirby Dach (21) from the Blackhawks, and the first overall selection of Slovakian winger Juraj Slavkovský. Suzuki also became the youngest team captain in Canadiens’ history this summer.

This young group has managed to defy expectations this season, winning a number of key games, and showing real teamwork and fighting spirit even in defeat.

Montreal’s top offensive line currently consists of three players 23 years old and under — Suzuki, Caufield, and Dach — having scored 45 per cent of all the goals this season. While it’s still early, at this rate it would not be surprising to see one or both of them reach 40+ goals this season, which no Canadien has done since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94. 

While Slafkovský is quite a young player with a lot of room to grow, he has still performed impressively, netting three goals so far and becoming the only draft from 2022 to have scored in the NHL at all. The Habs also have a number of promising offensive prospects developing in major junior leagues, notably centre Owen Beck who is netting nearly a goal per game for the Mississauga Steelheads in the Ontario Hockey League.

Defensively, rookies Kaiden Guhle (20), Arber Xhekaj (21), Jordan Harris (22), and Johnathan Kovacevic (25) have also exceeded early expectations. Drafted in the first round in 2020, Guhle already displays the confidence and ability of a more experienced player. Xhekaj has quickly become a fan favourite for his tough playstyle and strong work ethic, which are the very qualities that earned him a spot on the team after going undrafted (and working at Costco during the pandemic to support his hockey career). On the third defensive pairing, Harris and Kovacevic have become one of the strongest pillars of the team’s defence.

It may be a few years before this team can be seen as a serious contender, but under the management of Hughes and St. Louis, the leadership of Suzuki, and the impressive play of the team’s young core, they are headed in a very positive direction. No matter how the season ends, one thing is for sure: it’s truly an exciting time to be a Montreal Canadiens fan.

Categories
Sports

Why do men like sports?

Graphic by Carleen Loney/ @shloneys

People always like to ask women why they like sports, but why don’t we ask men the same question?

“Why do you like sports?”

“You only watch because the players are attractive.”

“Go watch women’s sports!”

“Name three players on the team or you’re not a real fan.”

Any woman who likes sports has most likely heard at least one of these sentences at one point or another.

Why is it so hard for people to understand that women, and non-binary people, enjoy sports for the same reasons as men?

There is no underlying reason: not the players’ looks (that are barely noticeable in football and hockey games anyway, might I add), not the fact that there have been fewer fights lately (in hockey), or any other ridiculous reason.

Sports are fun. It’s really that simple, folks.

We never ask men why they watch sports, so why ask women? Why do people feel the urge to gatekeep sports from women?

If there’s one positive thing social media has brought, it’s diverse ways of engaging with sports fans online. Whether you like sharing photos, making art, videos, or memes about sports, there is a place for everyone on social media.

A lot of women, especially younger women, feel more welcome sharing their passion for sports via Twitter or TikTok interactions than reading or watching mainstream coverage.

If you’re looking to understand why more women have watched hockey recently, take a look at the hockey community on Twitter or TikTok and you’ll see how fun sports discussions and content can be.

Also, women don’t owe anyone an explanation as to why they like sports. So just stop asking.

Let me also point out that women’s sports are just as fun as men’s sports, and that telling someone to “go watch women’s sports” isn’t the insult you think it is.

I mean, have you seen Marie-Philip Poulin and Christine Sinclair? Both women have set records in both the women’s and men’s sports categories. They’re the G.O.A.T.s, as they call it, of international hockey and soccer, respectively. So give women athletes the respect they deserve.

“Women’s sports” are also just “sports.” If we don’t specify that we’re watching men’s sports, we also don’t need to specify that we’re watching women’s.

At the end of the day, sports are supposed to bring people together, not divide them. So how about next time you see a woman enjoying sports, you leave her be?

Categories
Sports

Men’s hockey: Concordia, UQTR in U Sports top 10

Concordia Stingers men's hockey vs. UQTR Patriotes at the Ed Meagher Arena, Nov. 19, 2022. Credit: KYRAN THICKE/ Concordia Athletics

Concordia and UQTR are the only two Quebec universities in the U Sports top 10 rankings

After two weeks at number 10 in U Sports rankings, the Concordia Stingers’ men’s hockey team has climbed up two spots this week and is now ranked eighth (rankings updated as of Nov. 22).

The only other Quebec university in the U Sports top 10 is the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), ranked third.

Having won nine of their 14 games so far, the Stingers’ depth has allowed them to have a great first half of the season despite battling injuries.

“I think the fact that it’s not only one guy contributing, it’s the whole group, that makes it easier,” said Stingers’ head coach Marc-André Elément. “And [it’s] tougher for the other teams to play against us when a lot of the guys are contributing to the success.”

The Stingers’ goaltending depth was tested early on when their rookie starter Jonathan Lemieux got injured.

“Even when Jonathan was hurt, Jordan [Naylor] came in and he got a shutout last week,” Stingers’ captain Phélix Martineau said. “We’ve been pretty fortunate with what our goalies gave us so far.”

Lemieux, who has played 10 games so far, has a save percentage of .930, putting him fourth in the OUA, slightly ahead of the other Quebec university in the U Sports top 10.

The UQTR Patriotes’ starting goaltender Alexis Gravel’s .922 in eight games has him ranked sixth in the OUA.

Gravel has played in most of the Patriotes’ games, or dressed as the backup, except on three occasions — Nov. 4, 5, and 11.

“It was an internal decision in the hockey program,” said the UQTR Patriotes’ head coach Marc-Étienne Hubert on why his starter didn’t play on Nov. 4 and 5. Hubert declined to comment further on the situation.

Since his return against Concordia on Nov. 12, Gravel has started four of UQTR’s games, including two back-to-back games on Nov. 18 and 19, and backed up on Nov. 26. He continues a solid season with only one loss so far.

The Stingers’ statistic of 29 goals against allowed all season long doesn’t go unnoticed, as they are ranked second for this statistic. Only the University of New Brunswick has fewer goals against at 24.

“Everybody’s playing well,” Elément said about his team. “I think we’re probably one of the only teams that had three goalies playing in the regular season and we’ve been lucky that all the guys are contributing and playing well so that’s good for our program.”

He said that something the Stingers will look to improve on for the rest of the season is defensive-zone coverage and 5-on-5 offence.

Martineau also shared that it feels good to be rewarded by being in the top 10.

“We know we have a special group and I think that group can go far, so it’s just a matter of doing it now,” he concluded.

Exit mobile version