The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team beat the Carleton Ravens 4-2 on Oct. 6. in the home-opener at the Ed Meagher arena.
The Stingers lost their season-opening game 2-1 against the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Paladins on Oct. 4. Head coach Marc-André Élement said the win is a big confidence-booster for his team. “We just have to build on that now,” Élement said.
The Stingers got on the scoreboard under a minute into the game. Captain Philippe Hudon fed forward Philippe Sanche with a pass for his first goal of the season.
“[It was a] big win for us today, that’s what we needed,” Sanche said. “It was nice to have a lot of ice time out there tonight and find the net.”
Two early penalties plagued the Stingers following Sanche’s opening goal. Carleton capitalized on their undisciplined play with a power-play goal. Alexandre Boivin scored the Ravens’s first goal of the game, midway through first. Two minutes later, Sanche added his second of the game and helped the Stingers retake the lead.
Carleton’s Jacob Smith tied the game back up just over a minute into the second period. The period went by quickly, without many whistles, as both teams kept a high tempo. That was until first-year Stingers forward Chase Harwell scored his first goal of the season, bringing the Stingers up to 3-2.
“Feels great to get the win on opening night at home,” Harwell said. “It had been tough for me to find the net this year so far. We needed to bounce back, and we did.”
The hard-charging and physical Ravens could not score any goals in the third period; penalties were not a factor either. Midway through the period, however, Stingers defenceman Philippe Charbonneau received a game misconduct for a hit to the head on a Ravens player. Later, Charles-Éric Légaré scored an empty-net goal to seal the win for Concordia.
“If you want them to have confidence in their ability, we need them to play,” said Élement about his young team and new players getting ice time. “These kinds of games are games that get us ready for the playoffs.”
The Stingers men’s hockey team improved their record to 1-1-0 on the season and will play their next game at home on Saturday, Oct. 13, against the Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes.
The men’s hockey teams aims to build on its bronze-medal success from last season. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.
Head coach Marc-André Élement excited by some rookies at training camp
The puck drops on the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey season on Oct. 4. Head coach Marc-André Élement might be facing some challenges with all the changes from last year’s team.
This will be Philippe Hudon’s second season as captain, and last with the team. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.
Élement appeared on CJLO Sports on Sept. 17 and spoke about how his team will need to adjust without his offensive stars. He said the team defencemen will need to join in on the attack.
“We need more offence from everyone,” Élement sad. “We’re changing stuff in our game to have the defencemen join the rush a little bit more. It’s going to be something we’re going to be working on.”
A few other veterans from the team also graduated at the end of last season. Forwards Raphaël Lafontaine, Scott Oke, Antoine Masson, Dominic Beauchemin and goalie Antoine Dagenais aren’t on this year’s team. Élement always spoke highly of Lafontaine, who was an assistant captain last season.
“Lafontaine was giving his 110 per cent every game; you know he was there every game” Élement said. “That’s what you want from every other player, so Lafontaine’s intensity and work ethic will be missed for sure.”
Defenceman Carl Neill will be an assistant captain in his second season with the Stingers. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.
Part of having so many players leave is new players coming in. According to Canadian University Sports Network (CUSN), the Stingers recruited 12 new players, which includes eight forwards, three defencemen and a goalie. One of the first recruits the Stingers announced in April, centre Hugo Roy, is the player Élement is most excited about. Roy is one of four recruits from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QJMHL). He played for the Sherbrooke Phoenix and scored 107 points in 132 games in the past two seasons.
“He’s a guy that will play both ways and he will be our number-one centre,” Élement said. “He’s going to bring a lot of offence, and defensively, he plays really well. He’s a complete player.”
Élement was also surprised by another Roy during training camp. He said rookie defenceman Charlie Roy is doing all the right things in the team’s exhibition games.
“He’s a low-profile defenceman,” Élement added. “He plays well defensively; he’s hard to beat one-on-one. He’s a low-key guy that you’re not going to notice in practice or games but he’s doing well.”
After a season with injuries, forward Philippe Sanche is back as an assistant captain. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.
The Stingers started training camp earlier this year because Élement wanted all his players, new and old, to bond with each other. They had a beach volleyball tournament and other team-bonding activities during training camp. The head coach said he likes what he’s seen from his leadership group, composed of captain Philippe Hudon and assistant captains Carl Neill, Philippe Sanche and Alexandre Gosselin.
“They’re doing an amazing job in the locker room,” Élement added. “I think all those guys are well-respected and it’s going really well.”
Expect defenceman Alexandre Gosselin to play be a key player for this team. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.
“Our expectations are always the same, we always want to go all the way,” Élement said. “With the young group we have, we see that they’re really intense so we want to have that in our game […] We want to put on a good show and have our guys compete every night.”
The Stingers visit the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Paladins for the season-opener on Oct. 4, but have their home-opener on Oct. 6 against the Carleton Ravens.
Roberto Mormina (left) and Derek Watt (right) before playing in the alumni game on Sept. 15.
Former players invited for an alumni hockey game
Concordia Stingers men’s hockey head coach Marc-André Élement invited former players for a weekend of festivities. Élement united the current men’s hockey team with alumni players in a golf tournament on Sept. 14, and organized an alumni hockey game at the Ed Meagher Arena on Sept. 15.
Élement himself is a former player, having been with the Stingers from 2007-11. His assistant coach, Kiefer Orsini, played from 2010-12. He joined CJLO Sports on Sept. 17 to talk about the importance of bringing former players back to Concordia for these events.
“I want [the former players] to be proud of where they come from,” Élement said. “I want them to come back and talk to the players. For me, the team is a big family and I want them to be involved.”
The head coach wants to organize more alumni events with the team. “My philosophy for having success, it’s not just with the players on the ice. It’s all around, like having the alumni engage with our program,” he added.
Photo editor Mackenzie Lad was at the alumni game to capture some of the happier moments.
After the alumni game, the 2018-19 Stingers men’s hockey team opened their pre-season on Sept. 15 with a 4-1 win against the Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes.To listen to the full interview with Élement, click here.
Anthony Beauregard played his first game with the Laval Rocket since signing an amateur tryout contract on March 20. This deal comes after the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey forward won the Most Outstanding Player award in U Sports this season, recording 60 points in 28 games. The Stingers season came to end earlier this month following an 8-1 loss to the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds at nationals.
After spending the week practising with the team, Beauregard stepped on the ice for the Rocket on their fourth line, centering Nikita Korostelev and Jeremiah Addison. All three were playing in their first game with the Rocket, facing off against the Charlotte Checkers.
Beauregard said he got nervous jitters out of the way early. “After my first two shifts, I was confident. We had a good line out there [with Korostelev and Addison],” Beauregard said after the game. “The stress was there maybe the first five minutes, but after that I think I just played my game and that’s it.”
The Rocket jumped to a 1-0 lead off a goal from Adam Cracknell. In the second period, Beauregard’s line doubled the Rocket’s lead. Addison found the puck in the high slot before ripping a shot past Checkers goalie Alex Nedeljkovic. Despite not getting a point on the play, the goal seemed to give Beauregard, as well as his line, some confidence for the rest of the game.
Laval blows a 2-0 lead and lose to Charlotte 3-2 in OT. Beauregard was kept to limited minutes. @theconcordian
“I’m just trying to prove to the organization that I belong at this level.” – Beauregard
Rocket head coach Sylvain Lefebvre was happy with the line of newcomers, saying they brought energy to the game.
“They made good plays, plays that were thought out, and they weren’t taking too many risks,” Lefebvre said after the game. “In the offensive zone, they had some time and they made some good decisions with the puck. They got some scoring chances as well.”
Lefebvre said he doesn’t know Beauregard well, but he’s curious to see what the new signing could bring to the game. “I wanted to see his hockey sense. I really liked the way that he was composed out there. He won some face-offs, had some good [offensive] zone time, and even defensively, he made some really nice plays to protect the puck and defend. I really liked his game.”
Despite playing little throughout the game, Beauregard showed signs of confidence, setting up two nice scoring opportunities on his first shift. While he didn’t produce anything exceptional, the forward looked comfortable and focused on his positioning.
“I want to prove that I can play in this league. I just want to be in the lineup everyday. I just want to prove to the organization that I can play at this level,” Beauregard said. “The game is just faster. These guys are big, they’re strong. I think I did well today, but I need to bring that every game.”
Anthony Beauregard thought he had his first AHL assist, but it was later changed. Photo by Matthew Coyte.
Beauregard and Lefebvre both talked about areas that need to improve in order for Beauregard to stick with the team. For Beauregard, he said he wanted to focus on “little details,” like face-offs, defensive zone play and on-ice awareness. Lefebvre is looking for Beauregard to continue to work on more technical areas.
“[Beauregard] will be the first to tell you that his skating needs to improve, his strength on the puck as well, but he’s a smart hockey player. He knows what to do with the puck no matter where he is on the ice, defensively or offensively,” Lefebvre said. “He’s aware of what’s going on and making plays for him is second nature.”
The Rocket lost the game 3-2 in overtime. Beauregard finished the game with a +1 rating.
“I felt great. It was a great experience.The result was bad, but at the end of the day, it was good for me and was a great first game,” Beauregard said. “I want to play at this level. I want to play for Laval. We don’t know what’s going to happen at the end of the season, so I just want to do my best and play well.”
Lefebvre said it’s too early to tell if Beauregard will be offered a full contract at the end of the season. Beauregard also played in the following game on Saturday, but was kept off the stat sheet once again.
The Stingers were eliminated by the defending champions, UNB Varsity Reds, in the U Sports national championship. Photo by Caroline Mercier, The Brunswickan.
Defending champions UNB too much for Concordia to handle
The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team’s season finished Thursday night after a lopsided 8-1 loss to the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Varsity Reds in the U Sports nationals championship quarter-final.
With the disappointing loss in the books, Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement chose to look at the plus side after his program’s first appearance at nationals in over three decades.
“There’s a lot of positives for us,” Élement said after the game. “It took us 34 years, first time here. It’s huge for the program and it’s not going to take 34 years for us to come back, I can tell you [that].”
The quarter-final capped off day one of the eight-team tournament in Fredericton, N.B. UNB fed off the energy of a raucous crowd at the Aitken University Centre—their home arena—scoring early and often while limiting the Stingers to a total of just 17 shots on goal.
Head coach Marc-André Élement said the Stingers hockey program is being developed the right way. Photo by Caroline Mercier, The Brunswickan.
Varsity Reds forward Chris Clapperton kicked off the scoring nine minutes into the opening period, with assists going to forward Mark Simpson and defenceman Matt Murphy.
Simpson increased the lead to 2-0 for the home side less than three minutes later, netting an unassisted goal off an impressive solo effort.
He would find himself on the scoreboard once again before the end of the first period, getting the primary assist on a goal by defenceman Randy Gazzola with 30 seconds remaining before the intermission. U Sports rookie of the year Kris Bennett picked up the second assist on the goal, his first of three points on the night.
UNB’s dominant play continued in the second period. However, Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte’s impressive play kept his team in the game, making several highlight reel saves while facing 18 shots. He finished the game with 30 saves.
Unfortunately for the Stingers, Turcotte was forced to leave the game after the second period. He took a puck off the mask late in the second period. Rookie back-up goalie Antoine Dagenais replaced him. Dagenais made 14 saves on 19 shots.
The Varsity Reds quickly took advantage of the goalie change. Bennett, and forwards Stephen Anderson and Matt Boudens each added power play goals within the first six minutes of the final period after Concordia took a string of penalties which resulted in two five-on-three opportunities for UNB.
After being contained by UNB’s tight defensive play for the majority of the game, U Sports regular-season scoring leader, and MVP, Anthony Beauregard managed to get his team on the board five minutes into the third, bringing the score to 6-1.
However, it was too little, too late for the Stingers. UNB picked up an additional pair of late goals to complete the rout with a final score of 8-1.
UNB’s Simpson and Concordia’s rookie forward Massimo Carozza picked up player of the game honours for their respective teams.
Élement also noted that he feels the team is actually ahead of schedule in their development.
“I’m really, really proud of our guys. Our program is headed in the right direction.”
Beauregard, the Stingers’s lone scorer on the night, also expressed pride in the team’s play of the team despite the loss.
“It was hard but at the end of the day I think my linemates did a good job today and all year,” Beauregard said. “We have a special group right there.”
Head coach Marc-André Élement said he wants the Stingers to cause a surprise at nationals. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Head coach says trip to nationals has been a long time coming for the Stingers
For the first time since 1984, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team is going to the U Sports national championship.
“I haven’t been this far in playoffs in a very long time, so this is quite special for me,” said captain Philippe Hudon. “What are we now? One of the top eight teams in the nation right now […] It’s huge for the program, and it’s huge for all of us.”
Philippe Hudon will be the first Stingers captain to bring his team to nationals since 1984. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
The Stingers qualified for nationals after beating the York Lions 3-2 in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) bronze-medal game on March 9 at the Ed Meagher Arena. The University of New Brunswick (UNB) hosts the tournament in Fredericton from March 15 to 18, which features three teams from the OUA, three from Atlantic University Sport (AUS) and two from the Canada West conference.
Head coach Marc-André Élement said he has been waiting to qualify for nationals ever since he played for the Stingers from 2007 to 2011.
“I’m really happy and really excited,” Élement said. “We have a good culture and a good base, and you can say we’re one of the top teams in the country.”
The Stingers pose for a team picture following their bronze-medal win. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Throughout the season, and more recently during the playoffs, both Hudon and Élement have talked about how well the whole team gets along on and off the ice.
“At the beginning of 2018, I stood up in the [locker] room, which is something I normally don’t do, and said, ‘We have a special group of guys,’” Hudon told reporters after game one of the OUA East final against the McGill Redmen. “I’m very fortunate to be a part of this group. With all of the people we have, we just have to put everything in the same basket and just keep pushing. ”
Even though the Stingers eventually lost that OUA East final against the Redmen in three games and settled for bronze, Hudon hasn’t changed his thoughts about his team. After the bronze-medal win, he said he and his teammates will give their full effort at nationals because they are proud to be Stingers.
“I’m going on an adventure with 20-odd of my brothers, so it’s going to be a hell of a ride,” Hudon said. “It’s the last few games of the season, so if we’re not giving our all, that trip won’t mean anything.”
The Stingers have been building towards this since Élement took over as head coach prior to the 2015-16 season. He has recruited top players, including second-year forward Anthony Beauregard, who scored 60 points this season. The Stingers are a young team, with 14 players in their first or second year, and four players in the fourth year. Élement credits the team’s veteran leadership for their success, and said Hudon has been an amazing leader.
The team celebrates their 3-2 win against the York Lions on March 9. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
“I have to give him the credit,” Élement said. “He’s doing a great job as a leader of the team, and he’s well-respected. This is why we’re having success.”
Rookie forward Jean-Philippe Beaulieu said the team learns from leaders like Hudon, who has scored 12 points in nine playoff games.
“We’ve been together since August, and we’ve built something as a group and as a team,” Beaulieu said.
The Stingers are ranked as the eighth seed, and will play the UNB Varsity Reds on March 15 in the quarter-final of the national championship.
“We’re going there to cause a surprise,” Élement added. “I just want my guys to battle every night.”
The Concordia Stingers celebrate their qualification into nationals. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Captain Philippe Hudon continues playoff scoring streak with two goals
With a 3-2 win over the York Lions in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) bronze-medal game on March 9, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team is going to its first U Sports nationals since 1984. Captain Philippe Hudon’s two goals, along with another from forward Scott Oke, will send the Stingers to Fredericton, N.B., for the national tournament from March 15 to 18.
“I wanted to go to nationals, and we’re going,” Hudon said after the win at the Ed Meagher Arena. “This team deserves to be [at nationals] more than anything else. We battled, and we got there somehow.”
The bronze-medal game featured the two teams that lost in the OUA division finals. The second-place Lions lost the West final to the fifth-place Brock Badgers in three games, while the McGill Redmen eliminated the Stingers in three games.
This bronze-medal game started with the kind of actionless hockey you would expect from two teams who just got eliminated from the playoffs a week ago. But Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement reminded his players just how fortunate they were to be in this situation.
“They were lucky to play hockey tonight,” Élement said. “There are other teams that are not playing. I also told [them] to just have fun.”
The Stingers and Lions haven’t played each other since November 2016, and it seemed like both teams were trying to figure each other out at the start. When Oke opened the scoring 12 minutes into the first period, it gave the game a boost of energy.
Concordia kept firing shots on Lions goalie Mack Shields, but York tied the game with five minutes left in the first, scoring on only their third shot. The second period didn’t feature much action either. During the second intermission, Hudon told his teammates a loss would spell the end of their season, and they had to win in order to keep playing.
“This may be our last period [of the season], and it was our last game [at home],” Hudon said. “We had an opportunity to rewrite history.”
Captain Philippe Hudon scored two goals in the game. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Hudon took it upon himself to write that history. He beat Shields with a powerful slapshot just nine seconds into the period. He scored the Stingers’s insurance goal midway through the third period, which virtually sealed their spot at nationals. In nine playoff games this season, Hudon has eight goals for 12 points—which is one point less than his regular-season total.
“The playoffs waken something in me that somehow is not present during the regular season,” Hudon said.
The Stingers head coach had high praise for his captain.
“He’s a playoff guy,” Élement said. “He’s a beast. He wants to be the best, and he is the best right now.”
Captain Phil Hudon on heading to Nationals: "I'm going on an adventure with 20 of my brothers"
Before the game, Stingers forward Anthony Beauregard was honoured for being named the OUA East Most Valuable Player on Thursday. Beauregard was also named an OUA East first-team all-star, along with defenceman Carl Neill. Neill also made the OUA East all-rookie team, joined by forward Massimo Carozza. The trio finished as the top three point-scorers on the Stingers this season and combined for 123 points.
“All three of them deserve their credits,” Hudon said about Beauregard, Neill and Carozza. “They distinguished themselves, and I’m very proud of them. These guys came in this year and they stepped up. They saw something bigger than just their own record, and they played for something big.”
The Concordia Stingers huddle around goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte after being eliminated from the playoffs. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
McGill dominated after Pépin was tossed from game
The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team were overwhelmed by the McGill Redmen Sunday night at the McConnell Arena, losing 6-2. The Redmen won the best-of-three Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East final, advancing to the Queen’s Cup next weekend against the Brock Badgers.
“It was like a game seven,” said Stingers forward Anthony Beauregard. “For sure we were a bit stressed, but we just tried to push hard. Obviously, it wasn’t the result we wanted.”
The Stingers got off to the start they wanted, with captain Philippe Hudon scoring just 31 seconds into the game. However, less than two minutes later, Stingers forward Alexis Pépin was ejected from the game for a hit to Quinn Syrydiuk’s head.
Captain Phil Hudon opens scoring for #Stingers just 31 seconds in. Silences the McGill crowd!
“We had a good start, but that was a hit that [deserved] five minutes [major penalty],” said head coach Marc-André Élement. “It’s a good call, and we have to live with it […] I don’t want to blame Pépin because he’s a physical guy, and the other guy was in a vulnerable position, but that’s hockey.”
Players on both teams didn’t forget about their rivalry in game three. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
The penalty gave the Redmen a five-minute power play that would continue if they scored. And they capitalized twice. Defenceman Nikolas Brouillard and forward Jerome Verrier—the game two overtime hero—both beat Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte on the blocker side. These goals got over 1,000 people at the arena fired up, and put the Stingers on their heels.
The Stingers shot chart. By Matthew Coyte
Despite Stingers defenceman Philippe Charbonneau tying the game midway through the first period, the Redmen regained the lead a minute later with a goal by Jan Kaminsky. That goal was all the Redmen needed, as they scored one more in the second and two more in the third, to beat their cross-town rivals.
The Stingers just couldn’t capitalize on their scoring chances. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
In the second period, the Stingers continued to get penalized when defenceman Alexandre Gosselin received a 10-minute major for hitting from behind. Élement said his players were undisciplined.
“Sometimes, in a game like that of high-intensity, the emotions are really high,” Élement added.
The Redmen are a team full of veterans, while the Stingers have many players still in their first and second years of eligibility. McGill’s composure in this series showed, considering they were a shot away from losing in overtime in game two, and climbed back to win.
“Our playoff run was huge for our program,” Élement said. “I’ve got to give them credit, they have a really good team. You know what, I hope they win the Queen’s Cup. I know it’s always a rivalry between us and them, but I hope a Quebec team wins.”
A standing-room only crowd at the McConnell Arena. Big improvement from Wednesday night. pic.twitter.com/3IdG2Oog3Q
While the Redmen travel to Brock University to play the Badgers in the Queen’s Cup, the Stingers will host the York Lions
While the Redmen travel to Brock University to play the Badgers in the Queen’s Cup, the Stingers will host the York Lions on Friday, March 9 at the Ed Meagher Arena, in a bronze-medal match. The winner of that game will join the Redmen and the Badgers at nationals.
“We’re going to be ready for Friday,” Élement said. “We just hope we get the chance to win it on Friday and play [the Redmen] at nationals.”
Stingers captain Philippe Hudon scored a goal in game two, but it wasn’t enough for the win. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
OUA East final now heading to a deciding game three
Jerome Verrier’s overtime goal gave the McGill Redmen a 3-2 win over the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team Friday night at the Ed Meagher Arena. The best-of-three Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East final is now tied, with the series going to a deciding game three.
The Ed Meagher Arena, which has a capacity of about 800 people, sold out for the game. For the fans who showed up a bit later, they had to stand along the boards, in the rows or sit on stairs. The crowd was full of energy for the whole game.
“We’re sorry we didn’t end up winning for [the fans],” said Stingers captain Philippe Hudon about the packed arena.
The Ed Meagher Arena was standing room only on Friday night. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Hudon opened the scoring five minutes into the game with a power-play goal, and the pro-Concordia crowd erupted into a frenzy. Hudon described the atmosphere as “unbelievable.”
“It gives you that constant drive even though we played nearly four whole periods,” he said.
The Redmen responded a minute after Hudon’s goal, with Guillaume Gauthier beating Marc-Antoine Turcotte with a high shot. The Stingers were undisciplined in the first period, with forward Alexis Pépin taking two penalties, and forward Massimo Carozza had another. The Redmen went 0/4 on their power-play opportunities all game.
#Stingers captain Phil Hudon opens the scoring on PP… Jerome Verrier ties it up for #Redmen two minutes later. 1-1.
Turcotte, who was the game-one star with 43 saves in the win, was not the better of the two goalies in game two. Although he had a fantastic game, making 44 saves, McGill’s Louis-Philip Guindon won the goaltending duel, with 50 saves. He made several important saves in overtime too.
The Concordia Stingers shot tracker on Louis-Philip Guindon. Bolded are the goals. Tracked by Matthew Coyte.
“He was strong, but we have to take advantage of his weaknesses,” Hudon said about Guindon. “He really played an unbelievable game, just as much as Turcotte did, but we just have to keep firing away. We know we could beat this guy, but it’s just a question of being in his face at all times.”
The Redmen took their first lead of the series in the second period, when Michael Cramarossa scored seven minutes in. With five minutes left in the second, Cramarossa took an interference penalty, and the Stingers took advantage when Carozza scored a goal from the high slot to tie the game.
Both of the Stingers’s goals in the game came from a power play. Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement said he isn’t worried his team couldn’t score on five-on-five.
“We just have to put more pucks on net,” Élement said. “We’re going to watch video and analyze our game, but I think putting more pucks on net [during] five-on-five will be the key.”
After winning game one on the road at McGill’s McConnell Arena, the Stingers will have to go back there to close off the series. This is not a situation they’re unfamiliar with, as they had to do it in the last series against the Queen’s Gaels. The Stingers won both games on the road, including game three in overtime. In the playoffs, Concordia is undefeated on the road.
“It’s a positive thing that we didn’t lose any away games, and I’m confident we’re going to bounce back from this tough one,” Élement said. “They have a good team, and it’s not easy to win two games [in a row] against those guys.”
#Stingers head coach Marc-Andre Element on home crowd: "It's fantastic hockey, there's no reason why it shouldn't be like this every game."
The Stingers opened their regular season in October away against the Redmen, and won 3-2. Now, they don’t want their season to end where it started: on enemy territory.
Game three is on Sunday, March 4 at 7 p.m. at the McConnell Arena.
Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 43 saves in the win. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 43 saves against Redmen
After an overtime win in game three of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East semi-final on the road against the Queen’s Gaels on Feb. 25, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team stole a road game from the McGill Redmen three days later. The Stingers’s 3-1 win gives them a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three OUA East final.
“The first game is the most important game, so we’re looking forward to [game two] and trying to finish it off there, but it won’t be easy,” said Stingers defenceman Matthieu Desautels following the win at McGill’s McConnell Arena on Feb. 28.
The Stingers started slow in the first period, allowing the Redmen to take a 16-3 lead in shots by the first intermission. But Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte made key saves to keep the game scoreless until Stingers forward Raphaël Lafontaine scored with two minutes left in the first period to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
“For sure our guys were nervous, it’s our first final,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. The last time Concordia made it this far in the playoffs was in 1984, while the Redmen lost in the OUA East final a year ago to the Gaels. “[The Redmen] came out really strong, and we were kind of on our heels a little bit.”
However, Stingers captain Philippe Hudon saw his teammates react calmly in the first period. “Honestly, it [wasn’t] different from any other playoff game that we’ve played so far,” Hudon said. “I think we’re just more excited about being able to play McGill in the playoffs, and we just want to stick it to them.”
The Redmen continued dominating in the first half of the second period, but Turcotte continued to make key saves. After every big stop, the McGill crowd gasped, thinking their team had just scored. When they realized Turcotte had stopped the puck from crossing the goal line, they seemed dejected.
“He was the best player on the ice,” Élement said about Turcotte, who made 43 saves in the game. “He’s been amazing all year. We talked a lot about [Anthony] Beauregard being the MVP, but [Turcotte] is right there. He kept us in games all year, and now he deserves all the credit.”
Eventually, Turcotte’s big saves sucked the energy out of the building, and didn’t give the Redmen much of a home-ice advantage. In the third period, the loudest cheers came when two fans—sitting two seats away from each other—caught two pucks that flew into the crowd almost a minute apart.
Forward Charles-Eric Legare scored the Stingers second goal, late in the second period. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
“We wouldn’t be here without [Turcotte], and we’re lucky to have him.” Desautels said. “Hopefully he plays that well too next game.”
The Stingers started creating more scoring chances in the second half of the second period. With the help of some crisp passing, the Stingers had a stretch of a few minutes when they kept the puck in the Redmen zone, but couldn’t beat goalie Louis-Philip Guindon.
Eventually, with just over three minutes left in the second period, Stingers forward Charles-Éric Légaré deked around a defenceman and fooled Guindon with a backhand to give Concordia a 2-0 lead. The Redmen cut the lead to 2-1 in the final minute of the game, but Hudon scored his third empty-net goal of the playoffs to seal the win.
The Stingers also took game one on the road against Queen’s in the last series, but lost game two at home. Hudon said they need to avoid that home loss so they don’t have to return to McGill on Sunday for game three.
“Against Queen’s, we backed off a bit. We got a little bit scared and had a little bit of nerves,” Hudon said. “It’s just going to be a question of sticking to our gameplan.”
Élement added: “The toughest thing is to win the second game.”
Game two will be on Friday, March 2 at the Ed Meagher Arena at 7:30 p.m.
Stingers forward Anthony Beauregard led the nation with 60 points this season. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Anthony Beauregard and Massimo Carozza’s point production gave team a chance to win
It was a regular season to remember for forwards Anthony Beauregard and Massimo Carozza on the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team. Beauregard led all of U Sports in points with 60 (19 goals and 41 assists), while Carozza’s 35 points (15 goals and 20 assists) were the most among rookies in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference.
The two players on the Stingers’s top line benefitted from each other’s success for most of the season. However, at the beginning of the season, both were playing centre on different lines. Beauregard, who joined the Stingers midway through last season and scored 17 goals in 11 games, had four goals and four assists in the first five games of this season. He played with a few different wingers, including Philippe Hudon, Alexis Pépin and Scott Oke.
Graphic by Zeze Le lin.
Carozza played his first five games centering Antoine Masson and Charles-Éric Légaré. He started his season well for a rookie, scoring two goals and two assists.
However, in the Stingers’s sixth game of the season, on Oct. 28 away against the Queen’s Gaels, head coach Marc-André Élement decided to mix his lines up. He put Beauregard and Carozza on a line together for the first time.
“Carozza was a centre, and we just decided to put him on the wing. He has a lot of speed,” Élement said. “Those two click together and they [had] success, and I’m really happy about their season.”
In that game against Queen’s, Carozza and Beauregard assisted on three goals together. Two of them were to Dominic Beauchemin, and the third was on the overtime-winning goal to defenceman Carl Neill. Their next game, on Nov. 3 at home against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks, the Stingers won 6-2. Beauregard had two goals and four assists, while Carozza scored three goals, all of which were assisted by Beauregard.
The way they played told the rest of the league they were a threat offensively, and they haven’t been separated since. They have played 23 games together, with Beauregard scoring 15 goals and 37 assists for 52 points, and Carozza scoring 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points. Between the two of them, they have either scored or assisted on 57 of the Stingers’s 91 goals since they were put together, with both players getting points on 26 of those goals (Figure 1).
Click image to enlarge. Graphic by Zeze Le Lin.
“He’s such a good player,” Beauregard said about Carozza. “He has good speed and good hands, and we try to keep the momentum [going] every game.”
According to Carozza, it didn’t take much time to get used to playing with Beauregard once they were put together. They already knew each other from training over the summer, and Carozza said he developed chemistry with Beauregard after only a few practices.
“We’re really good friends. We like to joke around a lot, we’re both jokers, and we clicked right away,” Carozza said. “On the ice, we try to take it serious.”
It takes a company of three to make a line, and they’ve played with Philippe Sanche for most of the season. He scored 15 goals in the regular season, with 14 of his goals assisted by either Beauregard or Carozza, including six from both his linemates (Figure 2). Sanche missed a few games near the beginning and end of the season. When he was out, captain Hudon played on the top line.
“With both Phils—Hudon and Sanche, whoever comes on our line—we produce,” Carozza said. “It’s been easy for me. We work well together, and it shows on the ice.”
Click image to enlarge. Graphic by Zeze Le Lin.
The Stingers had success when their top line scored. When Beauregard scored a goal, the Stingers went 12-2-1. Considering their total record of 18-7-3, when he didn’t score, they went 6-5-2. As for when Carozza scored a goal, Concordia had a 8-2-1 record (Figure 3).
With so many wins attributed to the pair’s scoring, head coach Élement knows how valuable they are to the team. He said, ideally, both Carozza and Beauregard will remain with the Stingers next season, but he knows each of them could leave the team to play professionally.
Beauregard said he doesn’t know what his Concordia future holds.
“I’m just concentrated on this year,” the second-year forward said. “You never know what’s going to happen in two months or next year. I just try to be focused here.”
Carozza, on the other hand, said he wants to get his degree first. He’s currently in independent studies. He added that he has an Italian passport and would consider playing in Europe.
“I want to continue playing hockey,” he said. “Just because I didn’t get a pro contract this year doesn’t mean I can’t get it in two, three or four years.”
The Stingers play the McGill Redmen in the OUA East final, starting Feb. 28.
Just like last season, the Stingers and Gaels will play a game three in the second round of the playoffs. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Concordia faces elimination in game three for second year in a row
Queen’s Gaels goalie Kevin Bailie secured a 3-0 win against the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team on Friday night at the Ed Meagher Arena. He stopped all 45 shots he faced, forcing a game three in the best-of-three series in the second round of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs.
Stingers captain Philippe Hudon said he liked his team’s level of competitiveness throughout the game and fully understands they were up against a hot goaltender.
“He was outstanding,” Hudon said. “We aren’t going to cut corners on that one.” After winning game one on the road, he knew the Stingers would be facing a better Queen’s team this time around. “We certainly wanted to finish it tonight. They came out very strong and as hungry as we expected.”
The Stingers came out flying to start the game, outshooting the Gaels 14-3 in the first period. The Gaels did not get a shot in the first 15 minutes of the game. The Stingers’s aggressive play in the first caused a number of turnovers for the Gaels, but Concordia still couldn’t find a way to beat Bailie. Stingers goaltender Marc-Antoine Turcotte kept his team in it with a big save in the dying moments of the period.
The start of the second period saw a rejuvenated Gaels team.
“They collectively played as a five-man unit,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. Gaels forward Duncan Campbell opened up the scoring two minutes into the second period off an odd-man rush. The period had quality scoring chances on both ends.
The Gaels doubled their lead late in the period with a goal by Ryan Bloom off a nice passing play. The Stingers had two power plays in the period but failed to execute due to Queen’s aggressive penalty kill.
“I guess we got a little comfortable with the game, and that didn’t help us,” said Stingers defenceman Matthieu Desautels.
After a four-goal game one, the Stingers were shutout in game two. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
The Stingers were in for a scare late in the second period when Turcotte was forced to leave the game with an apparent injury after a scrum in front of his net.
“It’s never fun to see somebody go down, but he’s going to be alright,” Élement said. His status remains day-to-day. Stingers rookie back-up goalie Antoine Dagenais made his playoff debut replacing the injured Turcotte. “He gave us a chance to come back in the game,” Élement added.
Despite several chances, the Stingers just couldn’t find the back of the net. Queen’s defensive game was strong, as they limited their opposition’s scoring chances by blocking a number of shots throughout the game.
Gaels forward Darcy Greenaway scored a late power-play goal in the third to finish off a commanding victory for Queen’s.
“We’re going to have to get back to basics,” said Hudon about game three. “Nothing more complicated than that.” The Stingers played two games on the road against the Gaels this season and won both.
Élement said he is nothing but confident going into the final game of the series. “They finished above us,” he said. “They have the pressure.”
The Stingers find themselves facing elimination against the Gaels for a second-straight year. “If we don’t have fire going into Sunday, something’s wrong,” Hudon said.
The Stingers will play game three against the Queen’s Gaels on Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m. in Kingston, Ont.
