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Stingers men’s hockey team finds roster transformed since the U Sports pause

Bradley Lalonde, Concordia Stingers defenceman, 2021. Kyran Thicke / Concordia Stingers

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team is looking very different now compared to before the winter break

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team has lost eight players since U Sports, the national governing body of university sport in Canada, was forced to pause in December, according to Marc-André Elément, the head coach for the Stingers men’s hockey team. Universities in Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritimes were affected by the shutdown.

Four players have signed professional contracts: two in the United States with the ECHL (East Coast Hockey League), and two overseas. The other four players who left the team decided to stop playing hockey.

Elément said pausing the season now after having a season-long shutdown last year has been difficult for his team.

“We only played eight games in two years, so that’s hard on the guys,” Elément said. “And they wanted to play games, they wanted to play hockey, and that’s what they chose.”

Bradley Lalonde is one of the players who decided to leave the Stingers to play professional hockey in the ECHL, along with Chase Harwell. Lalonde signed a contract with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in South Carolina until the end of this season.

Lalonde said he didn’t believe the Stingers would be able to play a full rest of the season, given the restrictions in Quebec.

“I needed to kind of build my hockey career,” he added. “And playing those eight games in two years was just not enough.”

“It was really a decision that I made based on where I wanted to go with my hockey career and what I wanted to do for the next few years,” said Lalonde.

This is Lalonde’s last semester at Concordia, majoring in political science with a minor in law and society. He has three classes remaining and was able to find fully remote courses, which played a big part in accepting Greenville’s offer.

The 24-year-old defenceman had a few opportunities to play throughout the ECHL and in Europe, but he thinks Greenville makes the most sense hockey-wise.

“And it is a little bit warmer here,” Lalonde said, calling from his new apartment in sunny Greenville. “So I wanted to enjoy seeing a different part of the world. I’ve never been to South Carolina or even anywhere this south in the United States, so I just kind of wanted to explore a different area a little bit.”

He added that staying in the same timezone works out well with his online classes, considering he has an evening class, which would be in the middle of the night or even early morning in Europe. So Greenville was the simplest option for him.

Bradley Lalonde, Greenville Swamp Rabbits, 2022. Photograph by Emily Lipshetz

Lalonde got to Greenville on Jan. 17. He passed a physical exam with the doctor, and was on the ice practicing the same day. He was supposed to make his debut on Jan. 21, in Norfolk, Virginia. But according to Lalonde, the Zamboni wasn’t working, so there were problems with the ice, and that game, along with the other weekend games, ended up being rescheduled. That pushed his debut to Jan. 26. He has played in five games since then.

Tyler Hylland, an alternate captain for the Stingers, said he had opportunities to sign with different places during the pause, but wanted to stay with his team.

“For me, personally, I felt like I wanted to honour my commitment to my team that I’m on now, and I want to finish my school and I have some stuff going on here, and my family,” Hylland said. “So for me, I felt it was important to stay, and especially seeing a lot of guys on our own team leave […] I didn’t want to leave the program in a tough spot if the season were to restart.”

He added that at the end of the day, they’re all just trying to get through this pause and hope to be able to play again soon.

Elément said the team took on more players in case they found themselves in a situation where some of them left the team. They also added some players from their Division II program, which is another hockey program at Concordia where the players only practice, and now some were given the chance to join the team and play once the season restarts.

Elément said the team is “more than ready” to play again once they’re allowed to and that they’ve been waiting for a long time.

Lalonde said that leaving the Stingers wasn’t the way he wanted to end his time and career at Concordia.

“I would have loved to lead them to a championship, or win our division, win our league, and end up at Nationals,” he said. “It’s just that this was the thing that I needed to do to advance my hockey career.”

“The opportunity presented itself for me to pursue a professional hockey career and graduate at the same time, and that opportunity was just kind of too good to pass up,” Lalonde said.

 

Photograph by Kyran Thicke

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The Buzz: Stingers weekend recap

Stingers men's hockey team took the win with a score of 4-2 against McGill last weekend. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

Concordia’s basketball teams struggle with their offence, men’s hockey improve to 2-0 against McGill for the season

Concordia vs. Laval Women’s Basketball game on November 20th, 2021. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

Women’s Basketball: Concordia 67-70 Laval

The women’s basketball team went into the weekend sitting comfortably at 2-0 for the regular season, and looked to add to their impressive start with a win over the defending RSEQ champion Laval Rouge et Or. The Stingers couldn’t get the job done however, despite a strong fourth quarter showing that nearly stole them the game where they outscored Laval 17-9. 

The Stingers offence shot poorly all afternoon, going 23-75 from the field and 4-20 from three-point range. Considering they barely made 30 per cent of their shots, the fact Concordia nearly won is a testament to the team’s defensive effort. In particular, the pressure they were able to generate resulted in 12 Rouge et Or turnovers, compared to the Stingers’ six. 

For Laval, Léa Dominique led the team in total points (17), total rebounds (9), and blocks (3). In her 27 minutes played, she was an efficient 7-10 on field goal attempts and carried the team both offensively and defensively. Every Stingers starter played over 33 minutes, but Coralie Dumont’s play was exceptional. She finished the game with 23 total points, nine rebounds, and three steals. 

Concordia vs. Laval Men’s Basketball game on November 20 2021. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

Men’s Basketball: Concordia 71-78 Laval

Concordia were coming off a dominant 72-46 win over Bishop’s on Thursday before they faced the Rouge et Or at home on Saturday. But the Stingers defence never found its footing against Laval, who made 50 per cent of their shots for the game. 

The Stingers went 24-67 from the floor, and struggled with shot quality as opposed to Laval who generated open looks at the basket on most of their possessions. Much like the women’s team did before them, Concordia defensive pressure created 16 Laval turnovers, but the Stingers never made the visiting team pay for their mistakes.

Olivier Simon played 36 minutes for the Stingers and ended the game with 22 total points and 10 rebounds for a double-double, while Sami Jahan contributed 21 points off the bench. On the other hand, Laval had three efficient double-figure scorers: Steeve Joseph (24), Sidney Tremblay-Lacombe (20), and Marc-André Fortin (14) all contributed to Laval’s balanced and lethal attack. 

Concordia vs. McGill Men’s Hockey game on November 21 2021. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

Men’s Hockey: Concordia 4-2 McGill

The Stingers faced the Redbirds on Sunday for the second time in three nights and took care of business at home once again. McGill scored the game’s opening goal at the midway point of the first period, but Concordia would score four unanswered goals and went into the second intermission up by three. Alexander Katerinakis led the Stingers with a goal and an assist on consecutive Concordia power play opportunities to start the second period. 

The Stingers generated 36 shots on goal, compared to the Redbirds’ 28. Both teams struggled with discipline, as 33 total penalties were issued by the time the final whistle blew. A Redbirds breakaway goal on the penalty kill late in the third period by Phil Gilmour made no difference in the final outcome. 

The Stingers’ next matchup will be against the UQTR Patriotes on Wednesday, Dec. 1 at Concordia Stadium.

 

Photographs by Catherine Reynolds

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The Buzz: Stingers weekend recap

Football, rugby, and soccer wrap up their respective postseasons, and regular season hockey is underway

Stingers men’s rugby wins fourth consecutive RSEQ title

Stingers defeated McGill 33-0 at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Jean-Christophe Vinette led the Stingers with two tries, and Luca Milne earned MVP honours in a game in which the Redbirds never took off. 

McGill and Concordia finished the regular season at 5-1 apiece, but the Redbirds went into the postseason as the first seed. The Stingers’ dominant showing was another feather on the cap for Concordia’s rugby dynasty. 

RSEQ football semifinals versus Laval ends Stingers season early 

Also on Saturday, the Stingers football team travelled to TELUS Stadium to face the Laval Rouge et Or, where Concordia ultimately lost 30-10. 

The Stingers offence led the RSEQ in many major aspects, but was essentially shut down by Laval. Stingers quarterback Olivier Roy threw for 283 passing yards but couldn’t score a touchdown and was sacked four times. 

The Stingers ended the 2021 RSEQ regular season at 4-4, an improvement from their performance in 2019, where they finished the season at 2-6.  

Concordia men’s soccer lose in RSEQ semifinal to Montreal

Concordia faced the first-placed Carabins in the playoffs on Friday at CEPSUM, where the Stingers lost 2-0. 

Stingers midfielder Anthony Phelps was the team’s MVP of the match, while Carabins’ Quentin Paumier earned the honour for Montreal by securing the game-winning goal in the opening minutes of the match. 

Concordia finished the regular season with a 5-4-3 record, and Stingers fourth-year midfielder Mohammad Reza Nafar led the RSEQ regular season in goals (7) and points (11).

Stingers men’s and women’s hockey seasons start strong

As sports gradually make the transition to indoor activity with winter around the corner, both the men’s and women’s hockey teams took to the ice over the weekend. 

Looking to bounce back from the loss in their home opener versus McGill on Nov. 3, the men’s team did just that in their 3-0 victory over the UQTR Patriotes on Friday. Stingers rookie Maxim Trépanier scored the game-winning goal in the first minute of the second period on the power-play.

The women’s team went into the weekend with a disappointing 0-2 record, but returned to form on Saturday with a 4-0 victory over Bishop’s at home in the Ed Meagher Arena, followed by a convincing 2-0 win on the road against Montreal on Sunday afternoon.

 

Graphic by James Fay

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Fantasy hockey: last-minute cheat sheet for sleeper picks

With the return of hockey in our lives, it’s never too late to draft a fantasy squad

As a sports fan, fantasy leagues are one of the most exciting ways to consume your favorite sport. Living the full general manager fantasy by meeting up with your friends and drafting your teams one by one, then facing off on a weekly basis against other rosters to assert your dominance over them is pure bliss.

Fantasy sports websites like to rank players based on their statistics. Most of the time, it accurately reflects players’ performances, but occasionally, players are left higher or lower than their real-life value. For hockey, the NHL website itself has a fantasy section, where they recently released their “Fantasy hockey top 250 player rankings”.

This list cumulates players’ projected statistics in a panoply of different categories for head-to-head leagues, but not for points leagues. With that said, here are five underrated players you should watch out for in your last-minute fantasy league draft.

Taylor Hall, LW, Boston Bruins

Projected ranking: 133

At 29 years old, the first overall pick in 2010 is coming off an abysmal season with the joke of an organization that is the Buffalo Sabres. With a poor two goals and 17 assists with a -21 plus/minus in 37 games compared to his standards, Hall picked it up when he got traded to the Boston Bruins with a hopeful 14 points in 16 games to end the season. After re-signing with Boston over the summer at a very reasonable price, (four years, $24 million), this contract will most likely be looking like a bargain at the end of this season. The 2017-18 Hart trophy winner is going to bounce back this year by bringing some second line scoring to a stacked Bruins’ offence and you can definitely expect Hall to outperform his projected ranking by quite a lot.

Darnell Nurse, D, Edmonton Oilers

Projected ranking: 83

With Oscar Klefbom’s injury last year, Nurse really seized his opportunity to become Edmonton’s most reliable defender by having an incredible season. In 56 games, the 26-year old put up an impressive 36 points — including 16 goals, the second-most for a defenseman last year. Fantasy-wise, Nurse had an even better season by averaging 25:38 minutes of ice-time per game, having a +27 plus/minus differential and by being in the top 20 for defensemen in shots, hits, and blocked shots. While Klefbom is still out this season, Nurse is looking to repeat what he achieved, and with Edmonton having a weaker defensive core than last year, the Ontarian could very well surpass these astonishing numbers by filling in an even bigger role this year.

Tyler Seguin, C, Dallas Stars

Projected ranking: 112

Having only played three games last year due to a hip injury, it’s hard to guess how well Seguin will perform this year as he will be entering his 12th season in the league. One thing is certain, Seguin has always been an impactful player and a pure offensive beast when healthy as he has put up more than 70 points in six separate seasons. Seguin should also benefit from the emergence of young talents in Dallas with players like Roope Hintz and last year’s Calder Trophy runner-up Jason Robertson. The second overall pick in 2010 will remind people of how good he was before his injury and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Seguin add another 70 point season to his already imposing resume.

Neal Pionk, D, Winnipeg Jets

Projected ranking: 131

From being a defensive liability to becoming one of the most underrated young blue-liners in the league since joining the Jets during the summer of 2019, Pionk has completely shut down critics and was able to become a quiet force in Winnipeg. Pionk is not a flashy player, so he is severely overlooked by poolers. Last year, he registered 32 points in 54 games, 10 of which were scored on the first powerplay unit. He also finished 10th in hits and with a +6 plus/minus differential. Ranked at 131, Neal could very much look like a steal early on in the season.

Linus Ullmark, G, Boston Bruins

Projected ranking: 79

Ullmark has never had a real chance to show off what he really is capable of, simply because the Sabres were atrocious during his time with the team . He has gone under the radar for quite some time now but last year he quietly put up a 0.917 save percentage and a 2.63 goal against average in 20 games on a Sabres team that ended the year with a 15-34-7 record, the worst record in the league. He was able to steal games all by himself last year. After signing with the Bruins over the summer, Ullmark is going to have his shot at being a number one goalie to a consistent playoff team and people are finally going to see his true value. If he falls in the draft, grab him if you can, you won’t regret it.

 

Graphic by Madeline Schmidt

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McGill 2, Concordia 1: Stingers ready to face do-or-die pressure after loss

The Stingers found themselves in a hole at the end of Thursday night.

It wasn’t an insurmountably deep hole and they’d faced plenty of pressure like this throughout the season—but the hole remains nonetheless.

“It’s not one game that’s going to bury us. We’re going to be fine. We just have to go back to the basics […] and work our balls off,” said Stingers captain Philippe Sanche after the team’s loss in game one of the OUA East playoffs.

A 2-1 loss certainly wasn’t the result that they were searching for against cross-town rival McGill, but if they want to find a different result in their do-or-die matchup on Saturday night at home, they’ll need a different start.

While the game started with the back and forth pace that comes with matchups between Concordia and McGill, the Stingers spent much of the first half of the game looking flat and lacking energy.

McGill controlled play heavily through the first period and it took Stingers goalie Kyle Jessiman making a collection of show stopping saves to keep the team together.

Carl Neill dekes around McGill’s Taylor Ford

The normally speedy, physical team looked to be missing some of the keys to what made them such a dangerous force this season.

“[The physicality] was ok. I wanted the guys to be a little bit more physical on them. That’s what we addressed between the second and the third,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. “If we do that we’ll have more success. We have to limit their time and space.”

The sleepy start mixed with some unfortunate and questionable calls by the referees left the Stingers chasing the game; a dangerous place to be in a best-of-three playoff series where every second matters so much.

“It’s always a little bit nerve-wracking to start the playoffs. You got that little bit of anxiety, it takes you a while to settle in. Especially if it’s your first year in the league,” said Stingers forward Tyler Hylland.

The team’s youth and inexperience started to show as they took the time to get used to the hard, fast, tight game that comes with postseason hockey.

Of the nineteen players that saw the ice for the Stingers, nine were in their first U Sports playoff game. Another six had only ever played two playoff games in the league. Only Sanche, centre Jean-Philippe Beaulieu, defencemen Carl Neill and Alexandre Gosselin had more experience than that heading into game one against McGill.

Those nerves did get pushed off eventually.

Tyler Hylland lines up for a faceoff

“We’re a young team, [after the first] guys were feeling more confident and in the game. We kept our game simple,” said Élement.

Midway through the second, the team started to find itself and its style a bit more. Hylland scored his first U Sports playoff goal and the play began to shift the Stingers’ way.

They dominated possession in the third period, missing chances by inches. The closest they came to evening a game in which they had trailed 2-0 came as Neill ripped a heavy shot just off the post in the game’s final minute.

Though they failed to find an equaliser in their late-game push, the control that the Stingers played with in the third felt like something they could carry over.

“If we play like we did in the third, we’ll be right back in that series Saturday,” said Élement.

It’s pressure time now though. The team will need to win at home in game two in order to keep their season alive and force a decisive game three back at McGill on Sunday.

The Stingers are now faced with two words they’ve become accustomed to this season: pressure and adversity.

They’ve been injured (missing up to eight players at times), dealt with suspensions, a young class not having a full lineup to play with, and more. It’s been a rocky season with plenty of obstacles. That’s exactly why the team feels ready for this moment.

“It’s never a good thing to have a perfect season. It helps build a team’s character to go through adversity during the year,” said Hylland. “If you face adversity as a team and you’re used to it, you know how to handle it and respond. We’re facing adversity again, it’s nothing new to us, we know how to respond.”

He pointed to the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the St. Louis Blues. The blues were last in the league standings at point and were continuously counted out before eventually winning the cup.

The Stingers have no options. It’s time to take any lessons learned this year and put them to good use with everything on the line. They should be laser focused and ready to play Saturday night.

“It’s the biggest game of the year. There’s not a nervous feeling in the room,” said Hylland.

 

Photos by Kyran Thicke

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Stingers roll right on into the playoffs

The Stingers certainly ended the regular season with a bang. Their matchup against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks was one of their most dominant showings of the season.

From the first drop of the puck, the Stingers came to play in a game with major playoff seeding implications. They went up 2-0 in the first, outshooting their opponents 12-4 through the first frame. They kept the Ridgebacks under 20 shots throughout the game, even doubling them 24-12 midway through the third.

It was a fast-paced style of play for the stingers. Their quick transitions from smothering play in the defensive zone to speedy breakouts, turning into offensive chances, had them controlling the play for much of the game.

Even the rare shifts when the Stingers were being outplayed showed off the team’s talents. When the Ridgebacks came with an extended push in the Stingers end that lasted several minutes, it only resulted in a single shot. The bits of pressure didn’t bother the Stingers or throw them off.

“You’ve just gotta weather the storm,” said forward Jake Fletcher. “We’re gonna get that puck out. We’ve got guys that are gonna block that shot on every line. They’re gonna lie down and block that shot. That’s huge, especially to go deep in the playoffs.”

There’s that keyword: playoffs. It’s every player’s favourite time of the year now.

“You think about the playoffs, not the regular season,” said Stingers star rookie Tyler Hylland. “When you go to bed thinking about hockey, you want to win in the playoffs.”

Hylland and his teammates are coming into the playoffs as hot as any team could want. They had a rough first half of the season with a collection of injuries and consistency issues but have looked like a different team since the winter break.

They’ve won seven games, lost three in regulation, and two in overtime since then. That’s points in nine out of 12 games—despite a schedule filled with some of the division’s top teams.

Leading the charge, and perhaps serving as the best symbol of the team’s season is captain Philippe Sanche. The winger missed almost all of the first semester’s games with a wrist injury. Since returning, he hasn’t just been producing, he has been a force of nature.

Philippe Sanche finished the regular season with 12 goals in 17 games

He has scored 11 goals in his last 12 games, along with a strong defensive presence and that pestering of opponents he’s known for around the league.

“He’s probably one of the best players in the league,” said coach Marc-André Élement. “We missed him in the first half.”

The team has also found consistently strong goaltending from Kyle Jessiman, the rookie goalie who had to come in and replaced not only the starting goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte but the original backup Anthony Dumont-Bouchard, after both went down with injuries.

As much as the Stingers can be proud of the stats and performances players like Jessiman and Sanche have established throughout the season, none of them are focusing on that. Especially not rookie superstar Hylland.

“We want to win,” said Hylland. “That’s why we’re here. I’m not here to win rookie scoring [titles]. We want to win the Queen’s Cup.”

A trip to the cup will depend in great part on a combination of the team’s ability to keep this momentum they’ve built, particularly over the four-game win streak that they have put together recently, and some continued health luck.

At some points in the season, the Stingers were missing up to eight players at a time. They’ve brought that down to two starting players, one of which, Félix Lauzon, is practicing with the team already.

“We battled some injuries and suspensions [in the first half of the season]. I think we came back strong after Christmas,” said Sanche. “We [always found] a way to win.”

The return to a mostly-full lineup at this time of year is a huge change for the team and the differences have been stark. The depth on offence, in particular, has been key to the recent success.

Players like Fletcher and Colin Grannary (who scored twice against the Ridgebacks) contributing like they have been the last few matches is a gamechanger for the Stingers. When healthy, the Stingers lineup has its stars but can produce offence from any line.

All of these factors are lining up at the right time to make the Stingers one of the most interesting and dangerous teams heading into the playoffs.

The Stingers will open the playoffs Thursday night against their crosstown rivals, McGill who are a nationally ranked top 10- team.

“We’ve had hard games, we’ve come back in games, we’ve battled against great teams,” said Hylland. “We showed we’re a team you don’t want to play in the playoffs. Maybe we’re in the middle of the standings but I don’t think any of the top teams want to play us. We won’t be favourites but we like that.”

 

Photos by Cecilia Piga

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Weekend Recap: Men’s hockey team dominates Lakers, women’s bounce back against Carabins

Women’s hockey:

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team went into this weekend having to face two of the top five teams in the country. I don’t care what the U Sports rankings say,  Concordia, UDEM and McGill are all giants in Canadian university sports.

“It’s a long season and we’re in a tremendous league,” said head coach Julie Chu. “We know that we’re going to be in tight, hard-fought games and we gotta make sure that we continue doing the little things right and staying positive is the number one thing. We have an opportunity tomorrow to go and have a great game too.”

The Stingers first game came against McGill. The Martlets came out flying and worked well to pressure the Stingers into making costly mistakes. After two periods of play, the Martlets were up 3-1. The Stingers then managed to come back to tie the game thanks to the efforts of captain Claudia Dubois, Audrey Belzile and Rosalie Bégin-Cyr who combined to force Concordia’s next two goals. Despite the comeback, the Stingers couldn’t get any momentum through the first overtime, and in the second overtime period, the Martlets capitalized and took the dub. This was the first time all season that the Stingers dropped back-to-back games.

The next day against the UDEM Carabins, the Stingers made sure to not make that mistake again. In what would be a tight, hard-fought and physical battle against Montreal, Concordia managed to outlast their opponent to take the shootout win. Back-up goalie Madison Oakes got the start against the Carabins to play in her third ever U Sports match, and she did not disappoint. Oakes was calm in the crease, only allowing one goal, including blanking all three Carabins shootout attempts.

“It’s kind of like your first shift back after not playing for a while,” said Chu. “But I think she settled in really well as the game went on. She’s a gamer. I think anytime our goaltenders are able to make big saves, that gives us a boost of energy.”

Bégin-Cyr continued her torrid scoring pace with a three-goal weekend, moving into a tie for sixth place in U Sports scoring.

– Matthew Coyte, Managing Editor

 

Men’s hockey:

The Stingers men’s hockey team put on a show for their fans on Saturday night. Going into their game with Nipissing, Stingers were on a four-game losing streak with their most recent loss coming on Jan. 15 against UQTR, losing by a score of 3-1. The Stingers had their chances in that game but again, it was their lack of ability to put the puck in the back of the net that got the best of them. Special teams were also an issue against the Patriotes as they were 0/5 with the man advantage.

Then came Saturday.

Only two points separated the Stingers and the Nipissing Lakers heading into the game. Having lost four in a row and facing a team trailing them in the standings, this game was critical for the Stingers. Head coach Marc-André Élement said the message going into the game was “leaders lead the way,” and boy, did they ever.

Fourth year player and team captain Philippe Sanche netted a hat-trick while assistant captain Carl Neill added three assists to his point total on the season. The team has shown flashes of brilliance in the past this season but haven’t been able to string together consecutive wins since Nov. 1. Things only get harder for the Stingers as they only have one more home game left on their schedule between now and the end of the regular season.

On top of all that, the special teams units really stepped up in a big way. The Stingers went 2/8 on the powerplay—which included goals from Jeff de Wit and Alexander Katerinakis. Meanwhile their penalty killing unit did a great job for the most part of neutralizing the Lakers’ powerplay, only holding them to a singular goal on eight attempts. On top of that, one of Philippe Sanche’s goals was a short handed marker.

A game like the one against Nipissing can turn into a critical one for the Stingers down the final stretch of the season. Beating a team that is jockeying for playoff position with the Stingers is no small feat. It can boost the confidence of the team which at this point is much needed. It is one thing to say that they can compete with any team in the country, as many of the players have said before. It’s another thing to do it.

That theory will be put to the test this weekend when the team heads to Ottawa to face off against the Ravens and the Gee Gees.

– Matthew Ohayon, Sports Editor

 

Photos by Britanny Clarke and Cecilia Piga

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Stingers 7, Lakers 2: “Leaders lead the way”

The Stingers headed into their Saturday night clash with the Nipissing Lakers having lost four games in a row — all to top ranked opponents in McGill, Carleton and twice to UQTR.

This turned into an important game as the Stingers were only two points ahead of the Lakers going into this game.

“The guys know that every game is an important one, especially in our league,” said head coach Marc-André Élement. “They were two points behind us, we needed that win and we got it.”

It was apparent early on that this game would be a barn burner as both teams combined for five goals in the first period, with Concordia coming out on top — leading 3-2 after the first frame.

“The team is really happy [with the way they played],” said Élement. “I just didn’t like the first period to be honest. We had a three goal lead and took some stupid penalties [so it got away from us].”

Philippe Sanche recorded a hattrick in the game and Carl Neill added three assists to his season point totals as well. Élement said that he needed his veterans to step up in this game, considering the gravity of its significance with regards to the playoff picture.

Our message before the game was ‘leaders lead the way,’” said Élement. “They really needed to step up and that’s [exactly] what they did.”

Sanche credits his performance from last night to his linemates. He, along with Alexander Katerinakis and Tyler Hylland, dominated the game whenever they were on the ice. The three players combined for four goals and two assists.

“You wanna score every game,” said Sanche. “Our overall work in the offensive zone was great. It was a great game offensively for us.”

The Stingers are back in action tonight. They’ll take on the Queen’s University Gaels who beat them back on Oct. 11 by a score of 5-0.

 

Feature photo by Cecilia Piga

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Ravens 4, Stingers 3 OT: Stingers battle back but fall short in OT for second game in a row

Last week the Stingers beat the Ottawa Gee Gees 8-7 in overtime.

The Stingers looked to have turned a corner but in the three games following that win, they have gone winless, with a 0-1-2 record in that stretch.

“It’s two big points. It’s not an easy weekend,” said head coach Marc-André Élément. “It’s not an easy weekend, we gotta work on some things but overall I’m happy about the way we played this weekend.”

Whenever Concordia faces Carleton, things get chippy — fast. Last night’s game was no exception to that rule.

Everyone knows about the rivalry with McGill which comes naturally as they are the Stingers’ crosstown rival. Those games always make for high intensity, fast paced hockey.

The one with Carleton is just different. These games always contain some form of controversy. In this edition, the controversy came in the third period when Chase Harwell made a seemingly clean hit but was given a five minute penalty and an ejection for a slew-foot.

On the ensuing powerplay, Carleton took full advantage and notched a goal off the stick of Alexandre Boivin. Exactly six seconds after the penalty was over, Boivin scored again

About two minutes after that, the Ravens’ Cody Caron took a double minor for high sticking. Right off the faceoff win by Félix Lauzon, Bradley Lalonde one timed a puck past Mark Grametbauer, the netminder for the Ravens. A minute and 50 seconds later, Liam Murphy streaked down the right wing side and fired home the tying goal.

Before their match with Carleton, the Stingers’ hadn’t scored a powerplay goal since they played RMC on Nov. 23. They scored all three of their goals last night with the man advantage. Captain Philippe Sanche scored the first goal of the game — his first goal since Oct. 12.

“I think that was my hardest shot ever,” Sanche laughed. “I was so angry at myself for not scoring goals on so many chances in the last few games. It was a great play from all five guys on the ice.”  The players were in a light mood after, not dwelling on their losing streak. But the fact remains that they will need to start winning games if they want to be taken seriously in the playoff conversation.

“We gotta score more goals. When we have the chance we have to put it in,” said Élément. “We have to be hungrier around the net.”

The Stingers will resume play on Jan. 18 when they take on the Nippissing Lakers, a team they have yet to face this season, at home. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Ed Meagher Arena.

 

Feature photo by Cecilia Piga

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A look into the first half of the Stingers men’s hockey team’s season

Ah yes, December – a month seen by many as the best month of the year.

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa. It’s a beautiful time of the year when families get together, people reflect on the year that was, and make new year’s resolutions that they will inevitably break. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

For the Concordia Stingers’ men’s hockey team, December really could not have come fast enough. The 2019-20 season hasn’t been kind to them so far, to say the least. The Stingers currently hold a 6-7-3 record, sitting in sixth place in the OUA East division.

Looking at how they performed in the month of November, it would be easy to say, winning just two of their eight games, that it’s been a cruel month for the Stingers. But the reality is that the season as a whole, so far, has been one to forget.

The story of the season for Concordia has been the team’s lack of goal scoring, a direct causation of the multiple injuries that the team saw in the opening half of the season. Two of their best offensive players, Philippe Sanche and Alexander Katerinakis, have been out for the majority of the season with injuries, playing just five games each. Other regulars such as Jeff de Wit, Zachary Zorn, Colin Grannary, Ryan Vandervlis,have missed some time due to injuries as well.Sprinkle in a couple of suspensions to Carl Neill and Liam Murphy to that equation as well, and we have a Stingers team that haven’t iced a full, healthy, lineup all season.

You get the point. It’s been rough.

After Saturday’s game against Ottawa, you could sense the frustration in the room. Head coach Marc-André Élement reflected on the first half of the season and everything that’s gone wrong for the Stingers.

“I’m not a guy who makes excuses, but it’s been a hard first half,” said Élement. “It’s not just little injuries. It’s [big ones] to our top guys.”

Regardless of the injuries, Élement says that there are a lot of areas that his team will need to improve on in the new year if they want to make a long playoff run and qualify for nationals.

“We’re going to have to better defensively. We’re gonna need to play better as a [cohesive] unit,” Élement said. “Special teams needs to improve as well, [all around] we just need to be better.”

Let’s unpack that statement.

Forward Chase Harwell battles for the puck against two Ottawa Gee Gees players.

Regardless of the injuries they’ve dealt with, the Stingers still need to improve on a couple of areas, like Element said. One of the biggest issues the Stingers have been faced with this season is their lack of finishing. The Stingers are averaging just over 3 goals a game, which on the surface is a nice number to be at, but U Sports is a completely different ball (puck?) game than the NHL. To find sustained success, teams need to be hovering around 3.5 goals per game.

Special teams is a massive part of the U Sports game and right now the Stingers’ power play is running at 18.5 per cent efficiency. It’s not the worst number, but with the lack of talent there has been on the ice in recent games, it’s understandable how it dropped off from the 31.4 per cent it was working at, at one point in the season.

The penalty kill is the one there is no excuse for. It’s no secret that the Stingers take a lot of penalties. They rank fifth in the entire OUA conference in times short-handed. Their penalty kill is not far behind at 76.3 per cent, good for 17th in the conference. That is simply just not good enough, injuries or not. The Stingers get too flustered in their own end shorthanded and need to be more aggressive when it comes to their kill – and they have the speed to do so. The main issue with their penalty kill is that teams cycle for too long on them, tiring out the penalty kill unit which often results in a goal or another penalty.

Alright, enough negativity. Let’s end the year on some positives.

One of the things the Stingers could take a lot of pride in, despite their record, is that they’ve battled and had a chance in every game this season. Forward Chase Harwell says that when staring right in the face of adversity, the Stingers never back down.

“I’m pretty happy, the boys work,” said Harwell after losing against Ottawa. “It sucks that we didn’t get the win before the break, but the boys battled. I really like the attitude in the room.”

Another one of the bright spots of the Stingers’ season has been Tyler Hylland’s rookie season. The rookie forward’s arrival at Concordia was overshadowed by the news of the recruitment of Katerinakis and of Sanche being named captain. But Hylland has quickly made a name for himself among Stingers fans, collecting nine goals and nine assists in 16 games this season, all while having a revolving door of linemates.

Despite the first half of the season not going according to plan, Hylland is still very confident in his team’s ability to bounce back in the second half and make a strong push towards the playoffs.

“We need to work on the little details like finishing our checks and getting sticks on the pucks quicker,” said Hylland. “If we can work on those little details I think it’ll make a big difference for us because when our guys get back [from injury] and we have our full lineup, talent-wise, we’re right up there with anyone in the league.”

 

Photos by Alex Hutchins

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Ottawa 5, Stingers 3: Stingers fall in Ottawa to close out 2019

OTTAWA – Down the 417, the Stingers lost their Saturday afternoon matchup to the University of Ottawa Gee Gees by a score of 5-3.

The Stingers were vastly outplayed for the majority of the game and it showed on the stat sheet, being outshot by Ottawa 52-26. It’s a good thing that game footage exists because Sebastien Lefebvre, who made his fifth start of the season, played a very solid game despite letting in 5 goals.

Defenceman Carl Neill, who scored a highlight reel goal in the third period, praised the Stingers netminder for another performance that kept them in the game.

“You wanna play well for anyone who’s in net but especially for [Sebastien Lefebvre],” said Neill. “He hasn’t played many games in this league and he’s been doing his best.”

The Stingers made some crucial mistakes that ultimately cost them the game, most of which came in the first period, said head coach Marc-André Élement.

“It’s the little details. Little mistakes really cost us,” said Élement. “You have to give [Ottawa] credit though. They played a really good game.”

Other than a couple of mistakes made in the third period that led to the Gee Gees’ fourth and fifth goals, special teams was where the game was lost for the Stingers. The Stingers went 0/5 on the power play while letting in two goals on four opportunities on the penalty kill.

“We have to work on special units. They have to be better.” Élement said. “Our power play, our penalty kill. Everyone. They won the special teams battle and won the game.”

The Christmas break couldn’t come soon enough for the Stingers as they lost six out of their eight games in the month of November to close out 2019.

Despite their 6-7-3 record, brighter days are ahead for the Stingers. 2019 was not kind to the Stingers and was a year plagued with injuries to players like Philippe Sanche and Alexander Katerinakis, two of the team’s best and most important players. The two are expected to return for their first game back after the Christmas break.

The Stingers will cross the border to play the Boston University Terriers for an exhibition matchup on Dec. 29. They get back to league play on Jan. 4 when they will play host to these same Gee Gees for their second matchup of the season.

 

Photo by Alex Hutchins

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Stingers’ losing streak continues with a loss to Ridgebacks in OT

“We need to get back to basics.”

That is the message in the room after the Stingers lost their fifth game in a row on Saturday night. The Ontario Tech Ridgebacks, who blew a two goal lead in the final moments of the third period to McGill the night before, fought their way back to a scrappy 3-2 overtime victory over Concordia.

Head coach Marc-André Élement let out a big sigh of frustration before answering the first question from the media after the loss. He was not frustrated with his team, not with the officiating, and especially not with his goaltending, as Sébastien Lefebvre bailed his team out multiple times during the game.

It’s injuries.

On Saturday night, seven regulars were held out of the lineup due to injuries. Philippe Sanche, Alexander Katerinakis, Jeff de Wit, Jake Fletcher, Zachary Zorn, Mathieu Desautels and Anthony Dumont-Bouchard. That’s incredibly tough for any hockey team, let alone a university one that doesn’t have a farm team. Because of all the injuries, Élement was forced to ice seven defencemen and 11 forwards.

“[Fletcher and de Wit] got hurt after last night’s game,” said Élement. “We were waiting for the doctor’s report up until the game so we had to adjust the lineup. It’s not an excuse. Tonight we battled way harder than [Friday].”

If things weren’t bad enough, Chase Harwell had himself an injury scare on Saturday. Harwell blocked a shot in the second period and immediately went off favouring his right hand but the second year forward remained in the game and said it was nothing a little bit of ice couldn’t fix.

Injuries happen, it just sucks that we’ve had quite a few lately,” Harwell said. “We’ll be alright, it’s a little bit of an adjustment but it comes with [the game of hockey].”

Élement only tipped his hand towards a timeline on Sanche when asked, saying that he’s expected back sometime after Christmas. The captain of the Stingers last played on Oct. 18, when he broke his hand in the third period after blocking a shot.

The injuries kept piling on, and have caught up with the Stingers. Their last win came on Nov. 1 against UQTR. Since then they’ve lost five in a row while only scoring 11 times in those five games.

Even before the injuries started to accumulate, goal scoring wasn’t exactly a strength of this team. Through 14 games, the Stingers average under 3 goals a game, 2.69 to be exact, their lowest total ever.

Alexandre Gosselin, who scored his first goal of the season last night, was optimistic after last night’s defeat when asked about the team’s offensive output and its potential with a fully healthy lineup. Gosselin said he believes that they will be a much more dangerous team.

There were a lot of positives to pull from last night’s loss, despite falling further in the standings and the lack of goal scoring.

One of those positives was that the Stingers looked quite good on the powerplay despite only converting on one of their six opportunities, with most of the puck movement and opportunities being set up by the defence; something that Gosselin says is incredibly important for this team.

Photo by Cecilia Piga.

“We want to create more from the [defence],” Gosselin said. “We have the guys to do it. Neill, [Lalonde], Corbeil, Bilodeau. They are all offensive guys. If we use them more I think it’ll lead to more goals [which will] lead to more wins.”

Another bright spot is that the Stingers battled for a full 60 minutes. Consistent play has been an issue for this team and has no doubt made Élement’s head want to explode at times. Friday night’s performance against the last place Laurentian Voyageurs was an ugly one, to put it lightly. Players were coasting, perhaps with the mindset that it would be an automatic win. Well, it wasn’t and they had to come up with a rebound performance, if not for themselves, for the fans that come out every weekend to see them.

Saturday was a completely different story. Forwards were back-checking hard, defencemen were making smart decisions with and without the puck, and when mistakes were made, Sébastien Lefebvre was there to bail out his team.

“It was his third start of the season. He now has one win and two overtime losses, when he could easily have three wins,” said Gosselin. “It’s just a matter of details and not for him. For everybody.”

The Stingers have two regular season games left in 2019 so they will have ample time to get healthy and ice a full line up.

Concordia will head to Kingston next week for their second and final matchup of the season against RMC on Saturday night.

 

Photo by Cecilia Piga

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