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Stingers drop overtime thriller against Redmen

Overtime thriller
In back-to-back games between the McGill Redmen and Concordia Stingers, 31 penalties were given for 73 total penalty minutes. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

McGill wins both games in home-and-home series against Concordia

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team lost an overtime thriller, 3-2, against the McGill Redmen on Nov. 18 at the Ed Meagher Arena. This was the Stingers’ second loss in two nights against the Redmen, after McGill won 2-1 on Nov. 17 at the McConnell Arena.

“It’s the Montreal rivalry. Every time we play McGill, it’s [intense],” said Stingers defenceman Alexandre Gosselin. “Those two games could have gone either way. It’s unfortunate we got one point out of four against them.”

The game at McGill on Friday night had 47 penalty minutes on 18 infractions split between the two teams. Concordia and McGill didn’t forget their dislike for each other Saturday night. Two minutes into the game, Redmen defenceman Redgie Bois cross-checked Stingers forward Francis Brunelle across the face. When the referee blew the whistle to give Bois a high-sticking penalty, Bois rubbed his glove in Brunelle’s face out of frustration, and the referee gave him another penalty for roughing. The Stingers failed to score on the four-minute power play.

This game finished with 26 penalty minutes on 13 infractions between the teams, but the Stingers did not score on seven power-play opportunities. Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement said the penalty-killing units on both teams played well.

“[McGill] wanted to pay the price by blocking shots, and even our guys on the penalty kill were blocking a lot of shots,” Élement said. “It’s like that when two good teams play against each other—it’s tight, and it’s all about the details.”

Forward Charles-Eric Legare scored the Stingers’s first goal of the game. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

The Stingers opened the scoring with less than three minutes left in the first period. Forward Charles-Eric Legare scored on a rebound from a shot by forward Philippe Hudon. The Redmen tied the game midway through the second period on a power-play goal by forward Alexandre Sills. Over halfway through the third period, the Redmen took a 2-1 lead when forward Guillaume Gauthier capitalized on a bounce in front of Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte.

“After we got scored on [the second time], a lot of the guys on the bench were bogged down because we kept fighting and grinding throughout the game,” Hudon said. “We didn’t feel like [the goal] was a good bounce that we needed.”  

With less than two minutes left in the game, before Élement was able to pull Turcotte for an extra attacker, forward Philippe Sanche tied the game at 2-2.

“We beared down and kept pushing and pushing, and got our bounce,” Hudon said. “It allowed us to have that extra point heading into overtime. It’s really nice to see late in the game we didn’t let ourselves down, and we just kept pushing.”

In the final minute of three-on-three overtime, after Stingers forward Anthony Beauregard missed a shot, the Redmen quickly moved the puck up the ice. Forward Michael Cramarossa used his speed to get past Sanche, and he had a partial breakaway against Turcotte. He snuck the puck into the net, just passed Turcotte’s right pad, to give McGill the win.

“I’m not happy about not getting the win, but I’m happy about getting the huge point that will help us at the end of the season,” Élement said. He added that a defensive breakdown led to the overtime goal.

With the loss, the Stingers now have a 8-2-2 record, and sit in third place in the east division of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference. The Stingers travel to southern Ontario next weekend to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks on Nov. 24, and the Waterloo Warriors on Nov. 25.

Main photo by Kirubel Mehari.

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Playing for your school is special: Babcock

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Main photo courtesy of Josh Blatt, McGill Athletics

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Concordia Stingers dismantle the McGill Redmen in homecoming game

Quarterback Trenton Miller sets school record with six touchdown passes in 68-16 win

There’s a good chance the McGill Redmen football team will be having nightmares about their recent game against the Concordia Stingers.

In their first meeting of the season on Sept. 16, the Concordia Stingers, wearing their classic maroon and gold uniforms, beat the McGill Redmen, in their vintage white and red jerseys, by a score of 68-16. Concordia scored 30 points in the first quarter.

On the opening drive, Trenton Miller, the fifth-year quarterback, found receiver Jarryd Taylor downfield for a 56-yard pass that put the Stingers at McGill’s one-yard line. On the next play, running back Jean-Guy Rimpel gave the Stingers the lead, scoring his first of two touchdowns in the game. Rimpel also finished the game with 78 yards rushing.

The early offensive burst brought fans to their feet, and the rest of the game kept giving them reasons to cheer.

It was a lead that would go unchallenged by McGill, as the Stingers continued to make play after play, both on offence and defence. The defensive line, led by six-foot-five Wade Leeroy Cyr, swarmed McGill quarterback Frédéric Paquette-Perreault. The Stingers defence disrupted plays all game, with two sacks and two interceptions. Meanwhile, the McGill offence only generated 377 total yards on 63 plays, versus Concordia’s 589 yards on 64 plays.

Receiver Yanic Lessard carries the ball against the McGill Redmen on Sept. 16. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

The Stingers played in front of 4,813 fans at Concordia Stadium as part of their homecoming event. It was the perfect day for the homecoming game, with the unmistakable energy of one of the oldest university rivalries in the country.

“This rivalry has been going on for so long. It’s always a battle,” said Stingers defensive end Lukas Redguard. He added that the atmosphere of the game had an impact on how the game was played. “It’s great. We need this every game. It was awesome, the turnout was awesome, the fans are great. They got loud when we needed them to get loud. It was a good day.”

Last season, the Redmen beat the Stingers 21-8 when they played at Concordia. Stingers head coach Mickey Donovan said that loss stayed with him all year.

“This week, I properly prepared these guys the hardest I’ve done all year,” Donovan said. “We rode them this week. This win shows me that we have a group that is willing to listen, and that can perform.”

While the offence was putting up points like they had discovered a glitch in the latest Madden video game, the stands were electric. The homecoming didn’t disappoint fans and alumni.

Brent Bodkin, the Stingers announcer and a former player, talked about the heated rivalry between the cross-town universities.

“This is the biggest rivalry in university football in Canada,” Bodkin said. “It doesn’t matter what the records are, what the rosters are—when it’s Concordia versus McGill, whether it’s here or at Percival Molson Stadium [McGill’s home stadium], the intensity always gets picked up.”

Concordia University also honoured the 1967 Loyola College Warriors and Sir George Williams Georgians football teams as part of the homecoming game. The former members of the Concordia athletic family proudly walked onto the field after the game and saluted the current roster.

Former Concordia football player and business graduate, Bob Jones, commented on how the game has changed since his time as a player, and talked about the team’s performance.

“The quality of football now is a lot better than when we played,” Jones said. “The team is a lot better than our group of guys.”

Jones added: “It was a super game. They brought us in for a reunion, and they put on a performance that we’re very appreciative of.”

The lopsided score left McGill fans obviously disappointed, but they continued to cheer their team on.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” said McGill fan Sylvain Dethier. “Both sides are cheering for their team, and I think that’s fair.”

Stingers defensive linemen face the McGill Redmen on Sept. 16. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Miller made Stingers history at Saturday’s game, breaking the school’s previous record for most passing touchdowns in a game. The record was previously set by Sean Hoas in 1998. With six passing touchdowns, Miller was just one touchdown pass short of matching the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec’s (RSEQ) record of seven passing touchdowns in a single game.

“It’s sweet. But while my name might be in the record book, unfortunately, the names of our offensive line won’t be in there,” Miller said. “They were giving me all day to throw, and our receivers were making plays.”

The Stingers offence was efficient against a McGill defence that seemed confused at times and completely unable to defend against passing plays. Miller found receivers down the field almost unopposed, with McGill’s defensive backs and defensive line unable to put enough pressure on the quarterback. He threw for 472 yards and passed his six touchdown passes to four different receivers. Taylor, Vince Alessandrini and Kyle Greenbaum each caught a touchdown pass, while Sam Nadon had three touchdowns.

However, it seems Miller and the Stingers are already looking forward to the next matchup against the McGill Redmen on Oct. 14 at Percival Molson Stadium.

“Anytime we can beat our rival McGill, it’s one of those games you’re circling [on] your calendar,” Miller said. “Hats off to them, they played well. I know they’ll come back strong next game so we can’t take anything for granted.”

The Concordia Stingers next game is away on Sept. 24 against the Laval Rouge et Or.

Main photo by Alex Hutchins

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Stingers baseball team loses 3-1 to the McGill Redmen

Concordia Stingers pitcher Jackson Morgan throws a pitch versus the McGill Redmen on Sept. 13. Photo by Ben Fraser.

Concordia remains winless in four games this season

The Concordia Stingers baseball team remained winless after a 3-1 loss to the McGill Redmen on Sept. 13. On a night when offence was at a premium, Concordia centerfielder Jimi Audain was the shining star.

Audain hit first in Concordia’s lineup, otherwise known as the lead-off hitter. At the plate, Audain

had a hit, two walks, two steals and a run. Unfortunately, his great game didn’t translate into a

win, largely due to the Stingers’ inability to hit with runners in scoring position. Audain stressed that this issue is something the team has noticed and is trying to improve.

“It’s all about having good at-bats,” Audain said. “We definitely need some [practice] in that area. [Hitting with runners in scoring position is] a big key to our team.”

Concordia Stingers baseball players watch from the dugout in a game versus the McGill Redmen on Sept. 13. Photo by Ben Fraser.

The starting pitching has been a bright spot for the team so far this season. Once again, starter Jackson Morgan gave the Stingers a chance to win. Morgan ran into some trouble in the fourth and fifth innings, but he still managed to pitch a decent game.

He went 4 ⅔ innings, allowing seven hits, three runs and three walks. All three runs came in the fourth inning, as he allowed a run batted in (RBI) single, and walked two batters with the bases loaded.

In an incident in the fourth inning, the home plate umpire had some words for Stingers catcher Juliano Leggio.

“Some umpires take their authoritarian stance more seriously than others,” Morgan said after the game. “He wanted to set the tone, and I understand, but I felt like he was being a little unreasonable.”

However, Morgan said he doesn’t blame the umpire for the incident: “Human error is a huge part of baseball, and it’s just something we have to deal with.”

In the top of the fifth, Jackson again ran into trouble, allowing two singles and a walk before being pulled in favour of relief pitcher Justin Benoit. Morgan said he had some issues with his strike zone.

“It seemed like the [umpire] was squeezing me a bit, and I had to find a way to adjust,” Morgan said.

Stingers manager Howie Schwartz gave great credit to Redmen pitcher Phil Saad, who threw a complete game with 13 strikeouts and only three hits.

“[Saad] is a bonafide pitcher,” Schwartz said. “When a pitcher throws 13 strikeouts in a game, you know he’s on.”

Although his team dropped to 0-4 on the season, Schwartz did see improvement.

“I really think our bats are starting to move,” he said. “They’re still striking out, but their swings are much better.”

The manager said he wasn’t concerned about the team’s struggles either: “We have 15 rookies on the team […] and when you look at our scores, 0-4 really should be 2-2.”

Looking to the weekend double-header against the Ottawa Gee-Gees, Schwartz is expecting his team’s hitters to wake up.

“I think our bats will be very strong against [Ottawa],” he said. “I don’t think they have a very

strong pitching staff.”

The Concordia Stingers next two games will be against the Ottawa Gee-Gees in a double-header on Sept. 16.

Main photo by Ben Fraser.

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Stingers fall at home to the Redmen

The Concordia Stingers lost to the McGill Redmen on Saturday by a score of 28-1. Photos by Alex Hutchins.

Concordia’s football team lost to their crosstown rivals on Saturday

During a cold rainy day at Concordia Stadium on Oct. 22, the Concordia Stingers football team came out flat and lost to their crosstown rivals, the McGill Redmen, by a score of 21-8.

“I’m not going to single anyone out, but overall the performance was not good,” Stingers head coach Mickey Donovan said. “I’m not going to take anything away from McGill, they played hard and won the game but at the end of the day, we didn’t execute.”

The game started off in McGill’s favour, as they managed to get a field goal just three and a half minutes in, on their first possession.

Down 3-0 from the Redmen’s field goal, Stingers quarterback Trenton Miller led his team down the field on their ensuing drive. Miller looked calm and was able to complete passes to receivers Derek Trinh and Justin Julien. The offence made it to McGill’s one-yard line, but weren’t able to run the ball in for a touchdown.

“You know we were down on the one-yard line and we need to be able to push our way into the endzone. There’s no excuses for that,” Donovan said. “It’s been a problem all year. The reason why we pass so much is because we’re not running the ball well at all.”

With the Stingers turning the ball over after the failed scoring attempt, the Redmen picked it up at their own one-yard line and marched all the way down the field for a touchdown. The touchdown was scored by Redmen quarterback Frédéric Paquette-Perrault at the beginning of the second quarter, making the score 10-0.

The rest of the half was dominated by the Redmen. They added two field goals and a safety to take an 18-0 lead at halftime.

The Stingers need to win their next game against Bishop’s if they want to make the playoffs.

In the third quarter, both teams struggled offensively and were unable to get any sustained pressure going, leaving each team trading possessions until the end of the game.

With under four minutes to play, the Redmen added a field goal to make the score 21-3. The Stingers, however, responded with their first touchdown of the game. The score was a 34-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Julien with just 34 seconds left in the match.

After the game, Donovan commented on his team’s inconsistent performance on defence throughout the match.

“The defence has been playing solid all year,” Donovan said. “If you saw the first half, there were a couple of mistakes and that hurts us. But in the second half, they came out and started playing.”

With the loss, the Stingers now have a record of 3-4 in the season, with one game left. The Stingers travel to Bishop’s University next week for a game on Oct. 29 against the Gaiters. If the Stingers win, they earn themselves a spot in the playoffs.

“It’s a must win game. It’s playoffs,” said Donovan.

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