Tag: men’s hockey

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Stingers sweep Ridgebacks in best-of-three series

Stingers sweep
Stingers captain Philippe Hudon scored the overtime winner to eliminate the UOIT Ridgebacks. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Captain Philippe Hudon’s overtime goal sends team to second round for the second year in a row

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team eliminated the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks from the first round of the playoffs for a second year in a row. After winning game one, 4-1, on Wednesday night in Oshawa, the Stingers swept the Ridgebacks with a 3-2 overtime win in front of a near-sold-out home crowd at the Ed Meagher Arena.

At the end of the first period, the Stingers were up 1-0 after forward Raphaël Lafontaine buried a rebound off defenceman Philippe Charbonneau’s shot from the point.

A little bit more than four minutes into the second period, Stingers rookie defenceman Carl Neill scored his first goal of the playoffs on a pass from defenceman Matthieu Desautels to put the Stingers up 2-0.

“I saw it developing a bit,” Neill said about the play that led to his goal. “I saw a hole, and I know [Desautels] has got really good hockey sense. I figured I may as well try it out.”

As time passed in the period, the game became more and more physical. With the Ridgebacks facing elimination, tensions began to rise.

Just a few minutes after Neill scored, Stingers forward and U Sports leader in points Anthony Beauregard was taken down in the corner by Ridgebacks defenceman Kyle Locke. Locke threw a few punches at the Stingers star player.

Since Locke never dropped his gloves, he remained in the game, and both he and Beauregard received roughing penalties. This drew some negative reactions from the crowd, but as head coach Marc-André Élement put it, it’s all part of the game.

“It’s hockey,” Élement said. “It’s playoffs, and he’s the top scorer in the league so for sure they’re going to have an eye on him, but it’s part of the game.”

As the second period was winding down, it seemed like the Stingers would be heading into the third with a 2-0 lead. With a little over a minute remaining in the period, Ridgebacks forward Mike Robinson scored a power-play goal to cut the lead in half.

The Stingers started the third period down a man for four minutes after Beauregard got called for spearing at the end of the second period. Concordia’s penalty kill gave UOIT few chances and helped maintain the team’s lead.

The period continued with a lot of back and forth, fast-paced and physical hockey. As the clock was winding down, the Stingers played conservatively to keep their lead. With a little under three minutes left in the game, Ridgebacks forward Jack Patterson scored to tie 2-2, sending it into overtime.

As the overtime period began, the Stingers came out with a new energy after the Ridgebacks dominated the third period. Just a few minutes into the period, Stingers forward Francis Brunelle managed to draw a hooking penalty to give his team a one-man advantage.

Stingers forward Francis Brunelle drew a penalty in overtime that led to the winning goal. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

With this power-play opportunity five minutes into the overtime period, Stingers captain Philippe Hudon scored on a backhand shot for the unassisted overtime game-winner, causing the Ed Meagher Arena to erupt into a thunderous applause.

“Honestly, I couldn’t hear anything,” Hudon joked following the game, “I was just so happy. I think I had more energy at the end when I scored than I did at the beginning of the game.”

The Stingers have won their last five games and are heading into the second round of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs against the Queen’s Gaels next week. The Stingers lost to the Gaels in the second round of the playoffs last year.

Main photo by Alex Hutchins. Video by Kenneth Gibson, reported by Nicholas Di Giovanni.

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Stingers notch a 4-2 win over Ravens in physical game

Forward Alexis Pepin scored two goals in the win against the Ravens. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Both captains injured in a game with 68 total penalty minutes

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team beat the Carleton Ravens 4-2 on Feb. 10 at the Ed Meagher Arena in their last game of the regular season. Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced to help lead the Stingers to victory, while back-up goalie Antoine Dagenais played the final three minutes and allowed a goal. The win put the Stingers in third place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division.

With the Stingers trailing Carleton in the standings by only one point before the game, this game was a fast-paced and physical ordeal from the opening face-off. In just under eight minutes, the Ravens took their first minor penalty. Twenty seconds later, they took another, starting a trend that would carry throughout the game.

Stingers forward Alexis Pepin seized this powerplay opportunity as he tipped in a shot from defenceman Matthieu Desautels, giving the Stingers to a 1-0 lead. The goal was the first of two for Pepin, who head coach Marc-André Élement said really stood out this game.

“Pepin made key goals, and he has a big presence. His physicality is really important for us,” Élement said.

Stingers forward Scott Oke scored his first goal in 10 games. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

As the game continued, the Ravens aggressive style of play took over. This didn’t faze the Stingers though, as they fought back with physical plays of their own. One Stinger whose physical presence was absolutely dominant throughout the game was forward Francis Brunelle, who had a major impact on the game.

“The guys on the bench are really pumped when he’s on the ice,” said Élement about Brunelle. “He motivates them, and he’s working hard.”

Brunelle was able to use his intimidating physical presence to create some good offence, and performed very well on the defensive end as well. Even with the Ravens playing an extremely aggressive style of hockey and amassing a staggering 56 penalty minutes, Brunelle’s physical play never ceased.

“Carleton is a team that plays hard, and I don’t like to be rolled over,” Brunelle said. He added that this type of physical play is his style of hockey. “It’s fun for me.”

It wasn’t all fun though.

Early in the second period, with the game tied 1-1, Stingers defencemen Philippe Charbonneau delivered a massive hit on Ravens captain Brett Welychka, forcing him to leave the game injured. As a result of the hit, the game’s aggressive and physical play got ugly, and fast.

A few minutes after Charbonneau left the ice, Stingers captain Philippe Hudon was subject to a vicious check against the boards by Brett Gustavsen, which left him sprawled on the ice with a bloody nose. Gustavsen did not get a penalty for the hit, but finished the game with 36 penalty minutes from other infractions.

Though a stretcher was brought onto the ice, Hudon gathered the strength to get back on his feet and skated to the bench with the help of his teammates. Hudon did not return to the game, but coach Élement said he will recover in time for the Stingers’ first playoff game, which should be this week.

The period finished with the Stingers up 2-1, after a late period goal from Stingers forward Philippe Sanche.

The third period was a mess from the first whistle. Carleton collected the majority of their penalty minutes in this period, receiving their first minor penalty less than two minutes in.

This continued until the end of the game, with Gustaven receiving a penalty for game misconduct at the final whistle.

Pepin and forward Scott Oke scored in the third period to give the Stingers a 4-1 lead.  A late-period power-play goal from the Ravens brought the game to a final score of 4-2.

The win marks the third in a row for the Stingers, who have built up momentum heading into the playoffs.

The Stingers will face the sixth place University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks in the first round of the playoffs. The schedule is not released yet.

Main photo by Alex Hutchins.

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Stingers mount late comeback to win Corey Cup

A year after losing the Corey Cup in overtime, the Stingers beat the Redmen in a shootout. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Anthony Beauregard collects 60th point of the season and scores shootout winner

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team beat the McGill Redmen 4-3 in a shootout to win the 31st annual Corey Cup on Feb. 9. Goals from Anthony Beauregard, Charles-Eric Legare and Philippe Hudon, along with the shootout winner from Beauregard sealed the win for the Stingers at the Ed Meagher Arena.

It wasn’t an easy win though. Like any game against McGill, it was physical and explosive. Adding to that energy was a near-sold-out Ed Meagher Arena at Concordia’s Loyola campus. Hudon said he had never heard the arena that loud in his four years at Concordia.

With 14 minutes left in the third period, the Redmen held a 3-1 lead with goals from Jerome Verrier, Keanu Yamamoto and Nikolas Brouillard. They played a fast, hard-hitting game, and were able to keep the Stingers on their heels for most of the game. A goal from Legare off a blocked shot midway through the third period cut the lead down to one.

“I told the guys straight up, ‘There is no one who is going to quit in here,’” said head coach Marc-André Élement. “We’re going to get it.”

Élement told the players before the game that their success would rely on their ability to take control of special team situations. But special teams almost cost the Stingers the game. The Redmen scored all three of their goals on the powerplay, and the Stingers only scored one. Each team had eight power plays.

With five minutes left in the third and the Stingers down one, McGill got called for too many men on the ice. As soon as the play started, Hudon parked himself right in the crease, waiting for a tip. The first shot sent his way hit him in the shoulder.

“I thought I was going to lose some chiclets,” Hudon said. The play reset, and a long wrist shot from the blue line from Beauregard was heading high, but Hudon managed to tip the puck down and through the legs of a still-standing Redmen goalie Louis-Philippe Guindon. Despite protests of a high stick from the Redmen players, the goal stood.

“I love playoffs; I love to play for something,” Hudon said about the post-season starting next week. “I’ve stepped it up. I had a mediocre first half. I worked on a few things in practice. My game is surging.”

His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. Élement praised how Hudon has bounced back after a rocky start to the year.

“I don’t know what happened, but since his suspension [in November], every night he’s one of our best players,” Élement said. “He plays the game intense and physical.” The head coach added he could see Hudon playing professional hockey soon.

With Hudon’s tying goal, the game headed into three-on-three overtime. The Redmen managed to get some of their momentum back, with several scoring chances from Brouillard. After a lot of back and forth, the game headed to a shootout.

The Ed Meagher Arena was nearly sold out for the Corey Cup. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Beauregard was the third shooter up for Concordia. None of the previous shooters from either team had been able to solve the goalies. Beauregard wound up and carried the puck in on Guindon. At the top of the faceoff circles, he did a quick stutter step, switched his weight from one foot to another, froze Guindon and ripped a wrist shot top shelf.

Beauregard said the only thought going through his mind during his attempt was to score. Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte bolted from his crease and was the first player to celebrate with Beauregard, before the bench cleared to join in at centre ice.

Before this game, Concordia lost three of their last four. Both teams already clinched their spot in the playoffs, but the Stingers were battling for position in the standing. Like any game against McGill, though, it was about pride.

“It doesn’t feel like a regular win,” Hudon said. “We’re playing our cross-town rivals, and it means that much more because it’s the Corey Cup game […] This was a character win. It’s going to turn things around for us.”

Every game this season between the Stingers and the Redmen has been decided by one goal, with two needing extra time. With this win, the Stingers sit in fourth place in the division, clinching home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They wrap up their season hosting the third-placed Carleton Ravens on Feb. 10.

Main photo by Kirubel Mehari.

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Stingers drop third-straight game with loss against Gee-Gees

Stingers forward Scott Oke takes a shot on Gee-Gees goalie Graham Hunt. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

A late shorthanded Ottawa goal gave the visitors a 3-2 win

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team lost 3-2 against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Feb. 2 at the Ed Meagher Arena. A late shorthanded goal by Gee-Gees forward Quinn O’Brien handed the Stingers their third-straight loss.

The Stingers were without head coach Marc-André Élement, who was serving the first game of a two-game suspension. Assistant coach and Élement’s doppelganger, Kiefer Orsini, took over the head coaching duties for the game. He said miscommunication led to the Gee-Gees’s winning goal, which came with two minutes left.

“I think, earlier in the game, if we give up a goal like that, we have time to get it back,” Orsini said. “Unfortunately, it happened late, and we didn’t have enough [time] left to work with.”

The Stingers opened the scoring early in the game, with forward Massimo Carozza finding the back of the net off a pass from forward Anthony Beauregard. That was Beauregard’s 56th point of the season, the most in the country, and it extended his point streak to 14 games.

Forward Raphaël Lafontaine doubled the Stingers advantage late in the period, scoring on a rebound of a shot from Carl Neill.

The Gee-Gees started climbing their way back into the game with a strong second-period performance. They outshot the Stingers 12-8 in the second, and Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte made some key saves to keep his team’s two-goal lead. He couldn’t hold the fort forever though, and an Ottawa forward finally solved Turcotte with a late powerplay goal to cut Concordia’s lead in half.

Stingers forward Anthony Beauregard extended his nation-leading points total to 56 points. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

“First period, we were fine. We had the momentum pretty much the entire period,” said Stingers captain Philippe Hudon. “Then, we came out flat in the second and flatter in the third. We felt like there wasn’t much emotion on the bench.”

Ottawa tied the game early in the third period, with forward Connor Sills redirecting a pass from Mathieu Newcomb past Turcotte. The third period was rather mundane, with neither team generating much offence. The Stingers took six shots in the third, while the Gee-Gees took three. Hudon said the Stingers didn’t stick to their gameplan after the first period.

“Unfortunately, we get scored on, then our heads go down,” Hudon said. “It shouldn’t happen, because it wasn’t happening earlier in the season.”

Coming off three-straight losses, including four in their last five, the Stingers head on the road to face the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Paladins on Feb. 3. The Paladins are tied with the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes for the eighth and final playoff spot, while the Stingers sit in fourth place, two points behind the third-placed Carleton Ravens. Both the Stingers and Paladins have three games remaining.

“We don’t have [time] to sit down and feel sorry for ourselves or try to figure it out,” Orsini said. “We have to get on the bus tomorrow and get two points, because the standings are very close.”

Main photo by Alex Hutchins.

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Coaching team to play with purpose

Marc-André Élement (centre) has a 44-23-11 record since taking over as head coach of the Stingers men’s hockey team. Photo by Brianna Thicke.

How Marc-André Élement has made the Stingers a destination for elite talent

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team added another rookie to their lineup to start the second half of their season.

William Gignac, a five-foot-seven forward from Repentigny, joined the team after the new year. He is one of nine other first-years, including defenceman Carl Neill and forwards Massimo Carozza and Alexis Pépin. Gignac spent four years jumping around the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), as well as playing for the Terrebonne Cobras last season in the Quebec Junior Hockey League (QJAAAHL). Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement saw him play last season and described him as “probably the best player in the [QJAAAHL].”

Forward William Gignac joined the Stingers men’s hockey team in January 2018. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

“In the end, [Concordia] was close to home. That was my first criteria,” Gignac said on Jan. 12 following a 4-2 loss at home to the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes. “It was a good opportunity for me to come here for school.”

Gignac currently has two goals and an assist in six games with the Stingers.

 

Head coach the reason for talented rookies joining Stingers

Since becoming head coach of the men’s team just before the 2015-16 season, Élement has established a new mentality for the team. Head scout Justin Shemie described how Élement has a “relentless work ethic,” and that’s partly why the Stingers have had so much success recruiting players. According to Shemie, the team is always looking for new talent. “We’re never good enough,” he added.

Stingers communications officer Catherine Grace described how Élement has taken this team and molded it in his image.

“[The team] really reflects Marc-André and who he is, in the way of how classy the kids are, how hardworking they are, how much heart they put in,” Grace said. That new image is part of the reason why players like Gignac, Neill, Carozza and Pépin are choosing Concordia.

According to Stingers captain Philippe Hudon, Élement came in with a mentality of believing in the team’s abilities and pushing for a greater goal.

“A lot of the guys believe that when you go play Canadian university hockey, it’s your last four, five years of competitive hockey,” Hudon said. “It’s hard to push every day because now you’re going to university, you’re taking classes, you’re focusing on that, but you also want to be competitive at hockey.”

Hudon credited Élement with changing that mindset. “He’s done a good job at coming in here and giving us a sense of purpose,” the captain said.

Rookie forward Massimo Carozza is second on the Stingers with 25 points in 21 games. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Élement really began rebuilding the program prior to his second season in 2016-17, when he brought in 13 new players. The Stingers currently have 16 players who Élement recruited in the past two seasons, meaning half the team still has up to three more years of eligibility. Grace talked about how Élement has taken a professional approach to the way he runs his team.

“He wants everything at the highest level,” Grace said. “He wants his players to perform at the highest level, but he also wants to treat them the absolute best. I think when you’re treated well and you get a lot of respect, as a player, you think ‘this is a program I want to be a part of.’”

In Élement’s first season, in 2015-16, the Stingers went 10-12-6, finishing seventh in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East Division. In 2016-17, the team finished second in the division with a 19-7-2 record. This year, they currently sit in second in the division with a 15-4-3 record.

“It’s a big step from the past few years and where it was headed,” Hudon said. “With Marc-André coming in, he’s done a tremendous job at selling this program, selling the school and selling the direction towards which it’s going. You’ve got these players who dominated in the QMJHL, or any other league, who are now coming here because they see the potential of this program to be great.”

Main photo by Brianna Thicke.

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Philippe Hudon leads charge to end stigma

Stingers captain Philippe Hudon is Concordia University’s spokesperson for the Bell Let’s Talk campaign. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Concordia Stingers men’s team hosted the Bell Let’s Talk game ahead of campaign

For a second year in a row, Philippe Hudon, captain of the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team, is leading a cause close to his heart.

Hudon is Concordia’s representative for the Bell Let’s Talk campaign to raise awareness about mental health and to end the stigma surrounding it. Hudon himself was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in 2010.

The Stingers hosted their Bell Let’s Talk game on Jan. 12 at the Ed Meagher Arena in a 4-2 loss against the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes.

“Unfortunately we didn’t come out on top today,” Hudon said following the game. “I think a lot of guys worked hard, not just for myself but for the cause itself. I think they realized it’s something that’s important for me.”

At the game, representatives from Bell were handing out noisemakers, hats and temporary tattoos for fans. There was also a ceremonial puck drop before the game between Hudon and the Patriotes’ captain, Pierre-Maxime Poudrier.

After the Stingers first hosted the Bell Let’s Talk game last year, Hudon spoke about his mental illness with CTV News and The Concordian. Since then, head coach Marc-André Élement said Hudon has been involved around the Stingers athletic complex to help out any other athlete who wants to talk.

“Last year, we had a lot of response from student-athletes who contacted him,” Élement said. “The fact that he’s really involved, it shows his leadership for that cause.”

Hudon said it’s great that almost the entire month of January is dedicated to opening up about mental health and trying to end the stigma around it. But the fourth-year finance student said he’s open to talk year-round.

“For me, being a survivor of OCD, I’m still trying to work out the finer details of it, but I’ve struggled, and I’m happy to say I’ve come out on top,” Hudon said. “Now, I’m someone who could lend an ear. I could just listen to people who are living it. I like to be there for those people. I’ve gone through the struggle; it’s really not easy, let alone talking about it.”

Head coach Marc-André Élement said he will make sure the Stingers support Hudon (pictured) for the cause. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

However, Hudon said everyone needs to keep the conversation going even after January. “It’s something that’s with you the entire year. It’s not something that you can notice for one month then just let it go.”

Last year, Bell said they had 53 universities and over 20,000 student-athletes involved in the campaign. According to CTV, the 2017 Bell Let’s Talk campaign, which donated money based on texts, phone calls and social media interactions on Jan. 25, raised over $6.5 million for mental health programs. This year, the campaign will take place on Jan. 31.

Since the Bell Let’s Talk campaign started in 2010, Hudon said he has seen the cause grow tremendously.

“The workplace, now, is being more proactive and creating these seminars and being there at all times for people who need the support,” he said.

While Hudon aims to end the stigma surrounding mental health, his head coach and the rest of the team will be by his side.

“It’s fun to be part of such a great cause, and we’re happy to support him,” Élement said.

Concordia students looking for someone to talk to can visit the mental health services at the downtown campus in room GM-200, or at the Loyola campus in room AD-131.

Main photo by Alex Hutchins

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Stingers open floodgates in 9-4 win against Laurentian

Stingers forward Scott Oke impressed head coach Marc-André Élement, scoring two goals. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Men’s hockey team heads into winter break with 12-2-2 record

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team beat the Laurentian Voyageurs 9-4 on Dec. 2 at the Ed Meagher Arena. The Stingers head into the winter break with a 12-2-2 record.

“I’m really proud of my guys the way they played the first half of the season,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. “It’s going to be a good break.”

The Voyageurs came out strong with a quick 2-1 lead, and the Stingers seemed caught off guard by their aggressive forecheck. Halfway through the first period, Laurentian’s pressure resulted in Voyageurs forward Danny Lepage creating a turnover at the Stingers’ blue line before ripping a shot past goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte to extend the Voyageurs’ lead to 3-1. The Stingers looked tired at this point; they weren’t making clean passes, and had difficulty controlling play along the boards in the offensive zone to set up.

“I told the guys to stay positive and to keep pushing the pace,” Élement said.

The Stingers responded by scoring five answered goals to close out the first period with a 6-3 lead.

Stingers defenceman Carl Neill skates the puck into the zone against the Laurentian Voyageurs on Dec. 2. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Stingers forward Scott Oke forced his way onto the stats sheet in the game with two goals and two assists. After being a healthy scratch against the Waterloo Warriors on Nov. 25, Oke’s four points were the most he had in a game this season.

“The past couple games, we weren’t producing. It clicked today,” Oke said. “That’s why we were able to jump back into it.”

Élement was pleased with Oke’s performance in this game and in the 6-4 win against the Nipissing Lakers on Dec. 1. The forward had struggled offensively, with only three points in the eight games before the weekend. Élement made the decision to sit Oke against Waterloo.

“It’s tough to scratch a fourth-year guy, but I had to do it because he needed a little spark. I think it did the job, and he had a really good weekend,” Élement said.

Oke said it felt good to be able to return to the lineup and contribute offensively.

“[After being scratched], I looked back on what I needed to work on,” Oke said. “I needed to protect the puck, be confident with the puck. It felt like I was probably throwing the puck away a little fast.”

Élėment said the team didn’t get the start they were looking for, but he was happy with how they rebounded and with the Stingers’ special teams play. A day after Concordia took 10 minor penalties and allowed four power-play goals against the Nipissing Lakers, they only took three minor penalties against Laurentian. The Stingers also made the Voyageurs pay for taking 10 infractions, converting on six of those opportunities.

“Tonight, discipline was really good. We let them take penalties, and that’s something we need to do next semester because we’re going to play against good teams,” Élement said.

Another player who struggled to get on the scoresheet over the last stretch of games was Alexis Pépin. Before this game, he had no points in his last five games. Yet, he exploded for four points against the Voyageurs, including two goals. His first of the night came off a slapshot from the blue line that beat the Voyageurs goalie. His second goal came from a series of dekes that put him alone in front of the net, and he flipped the puck over the blocker of the goalie.

“It’s been a long time without an offensive [scoring] touch,” Pépin said. “The first goal felt really great. I’ve been missing a lot of chances lately, and the points were there tonight. [On the second goal], honestly, I wasn’t aiming for the shot. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if it was all planned like that, but it went well.”

Stingers forward Anthony Beauregard continued his five-game points streak, with a goal and four assists. He pushed his season’s point total to 39 in just 16 games, leading U Sports in points.

The Stingers men’s hockey team’s will return from the break on the road on Jan. 5 against the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes.

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Stingers survive scare with 6-4 win

Defenceman Carl Neill will be an assistant captain in his second season with the Stingers. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.

Beauregard, Neill with four assists each against Nipissing

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team improved to a 11-2-2 record on the season with a 6-4 win against the Nipissing University Lakers on Dec. 1 at the Ed Meagher Arena. Despite the Lakers scoring four power-play goals, Stingers forwards Philippe Sanche and Massimo Carozza each scored twice to help propel Concordia to the win.

Stingers forward Anthony Beauregard continued producing points on the top line with Carozza and Sanche. He had four assists in the win, extending his U Sports-leading point total on the season to 34 points. Head coach Marc-André Élement had high praise for the trio of Sanche, Beauregard and Carozza.

“They’re really good,” Élement said with a laugh. “They’re performing, they’re battling and they’re working hard. This is how we’re going to have success, when they’re doing all the little details to have success.”

Carozza opened the scoring just 36 seconds into the game, scoring in the slot off a pass from Beauregard. Sanche doubled the Stingers lead on the power play seven minutes later, when his attempted pass from the corner took a bounce off a Lakers defenceman and went past goalie Domenic Graham. Sanche, who started the season injured, was playing in his 10th game this season, and scored his sixth and seventh goals of the year.

Stingers defenceman Alexandre Gosselin skates by a Lakers forward during their game on Dec. 1. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

“It’s huge,” Élement said about having Sanche back in the lineup. “He’s one of the top players in the country […] He’s the smallest player in the league, but he plays the hardest. He blocks shots, and he’s just a great leader.”

The Lakers scored a power-play goal late in the first period to cut the Stingers’ lead down to 2-1 after the opening frame. Sanche added his second of the game early in the second period to restore the two-goal lead. The Lakers capitalized on some undisciplined Concordia play in the second period to score two power-play goals and tie the game at 3-3 heading into the third period.

In total, the Stingers had 12 penalties resulting in 40 minutes, including 10-minute misconduct penalties on defenceman Philippe Charbonneau in the first period, and forward Alexis Pépin in the second period. The Stingers had to kill off 10 penalties, and all four of the Lakers goals were scored on the power play.

“Sometimes we put ourselves in situations where we’re prone to getting penalties, so we have to learn to kind of avoid those situations so we don’t put ourselves in a tough spot,” said captain Philippe Hudon. “It sucks, but we have to learn from it.”

In a two-minute span in the middle of the third period, the Stingers scored three goals to put the game out of reach for Nipissing. Carozza scored off a pass from Beauregard, before forward Antoine Masson took advantage of a bad line change by the Lakers to score on a breakaway. Forward Charles-Eric Legare capped off the sequence by capitalizing on a rebound off a shot from forward Jean-Philippe Beaulieu.

“It was a big sequence for us,” said defenceman Carl Neill, who also finished the game with four assists, two of which came from the first two of the three quick goals. “After the second, it was 3-3 and they were still in the game. We wanted to turn things our way, and we were lucky we got a few lucky bounces so things turned out the right way.”

The Stingers’ next game is on Dec. 2 against the Laurentian Voyageurs. It will be their last game before the winter break.

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Stingers grow a mo for a bro

Concordia hockey players talk about the moustaches they grew this month for Movember

Every November, men around the world grow moustaches to raise awareness for men’s health. Last year, over 300,000 people worldwide raised $80 million—including $15.5 million in Canada—for men’s health programs ranging from suicide prevention to early detection of prostate and testicular cancer, according to the Movember Foundation.
This year, a few players on the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team grew moustaches in support of the cause, commonly referred to as Movember. The Concordian spoke with forwards Raphaël Lafontaine and Dominic Beauchemin, defencemen Carl Neill and Alexandre Gosselin, and assistant coach Jim Corsi about their moustaches.

Stingers defenceman Carl Neill. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Carl Neill

Neill is a rookie with the team this season. He said even though the team didn’t raise any money for Movember this year, he still grew his moustache to support the cause.

“Usually, in the past, my teams raised money with a thing called MoBro [a part of the Movember Foundation],” Neill said. “It’s fun to contribute any way you can. It’s not the same platform as famous celebrities, but if you could do it locally and people catch on, then it might spread awareness.”

Neill has the second-most points on the team this season, with four goals and 12 assists in 14 games. Both he and his defence partner, Gosselin, grew moustaches, making them look like a 70s police duo when they patrol the blue line. However, Neill said his ‘stache doesn’t compare to Gosselin’s. “I’ve had mine for a month, so I think he wins in that department,” Neill said.

All-time favourite moustache: Former Toronto Maple Leafs’ forward Lanny McDonald or Ron Burgundy, played by Will Ferrell in Anchorman.

Stingers defenceman Alexandre Gosselin. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Alexandre Gosselin

Gosselin also grew a partial goatee under his chin, so his moustache doesn’t stand out the way Neill’s does. However, when asked about a moustache-growing competition with his defence partner, Gosselin did not hold back.

“I’m sure I’m winning on that part. He’s a good hockey player, but I have a better moustache,” he said.

Like his other teammates, Gosselin said he was not raising money on his own time, but rather “doing it for the fun.”

All-time favourite moustache: Gosselin said he doesn’t know who his favourite all-time moustache is, but added that Raphaël Lafontaine has the best one on the team.

Stingers forward Dominic Beauchemin. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Dominic Beauchemin

Standing at six-foot-two and weighing 215 pounds, Beauchemin is an intimidating forward who has been growing a beard since training camp in August. He shaved the beard and kept the moustache for Movember, starting off the month with a handlebar moustache. However, he later traded that in for a standard ‘stache.

“I just got tired of [the handlebars], so I shaved it,” Beauchemin said, adding that it made him look like an ex-convict.

Beauchemin said it would be a great idea for the men’s hockey team to collectively raise money next November. Like Gosselin, he was honest in his assessment of who has the best moustache on the team.

“I would say, after me, I don’t know, Lafontaine has a good one too if he shaved [the rest of his beard],” Beauchemin said.

All-time favourite moustache: Concordia Stingers assistant coach Jim Corsi.

Stingers forward Raphaël Lafontaine. Photo by Brianna Thicke.

Raphaël Lafontaine

Lafontaine normally has a full beard, which suits his playing style. He plays a rugged, blue-collar game by constantly winning key face-offs, blocking shots and working hard in the defensive zone. He shaved his beard for Movember, but by the end of the month, the rest of his facial hair caught up to his moustache, so it doesn’t stand out as much as those of his teammates.

In an interview with CJLO Sports on Nov. 20, Lafontaine was humbled when the host told him that both Beauchemin and Gosselin said he had the best moustache on the team.

“Mine is not that bad,” Lafontaine said, adding that his pick on the team would be Beauchemin’s. Lafontaine said that, while he didn’t have time to raise money this year, he would like to do so next year.

All-time favourite moustache: One of the referees during the Stingers’ game against Laurentian University on Nov. 11. “I don’t know who he is, but his [moustache] was so special,” Lafontaine said. “It had a twist in it. It was very nice.”

Men’s hockey assistant coach Jim Corsi. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Jim Corsi

The assistant coach didn’t grow his moustache just for Movember—he has it all the time. Corsi even has a moustache in his professional hockey pictures from the 80s.

Corsi was the goalie coach of the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1999 to 2014. During that time, he invented a statistic to measure how many shots are directed at the goalie during a game. In an interview with The Concordian on Nov. 16, Corsi said his moustache helped name the modern Corsi statistic, which measures how many shots a player takes.

When former Sabres general manager Darcy Regier started talking about Corsi’s statistic on the radio, “some guy in Edmonton, [Vic Ferrari], heard about it and said, ‘Wow that’s phenomenal. I wonder if I could apply it to players,’” Corsi explained. “The Corsi number that has gone out there as a stat is an evolution of what my numbers were.”

According to Corsi, when it came time to name the stat, Ferrari, who devised the modern Corsi number, “flipped through the Buffalo Sabres media guide, saw my picture and said, ‘I love that moustache. Corsi stat—it has a great ring.’”

Main photo by Alex Hutchins.

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Concordia grad Jim Corsi returns to his roots

Jim Corsi played for the Concordia Stingers from 1973 to 1976, and has returned to the team as an assistant coach. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Former NHL goalie coach and inventor of famous hockey statistic joins Stingers staff

Concordia University graduate Jim Corsi has returned to his roots, joining the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team as an assistant coach this season. He studied at Concordia University from 1972 to 1976, playing on the hockey team as a goalie, and on the soccer team as an attacker.

Corsi played professional hockey in North America and Europe from 1976 to 1991. He was the goalie coach for the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1998 to 2014, and with the St. Louis Blues from 2014 to 2017. The Concordian sat down with Corsi to talk about his career since he graduated from Concordia.

Q: What’s it like to be back at Concordia?

A: It’s great. I’ve been back from time to time. […] Over the last 20 years, since I’ve been in the NHL, it’s been really hard to be home. Being here is a lot of fun because it’s my old school, and there are still a lot of people who are still here from when I was here.

Q: What’s the difference between coaching a goalie at the university level and at the NHL level?

A: At the NHL level, they’re already a formed type of goaltender. There are a number of things that you might want to adjust technically or tweak […] At the university level, you’ll get a 22 or 23-year-old who has perhaps played junior, and hasn’t been exposed to certain levels of training, so you might have a little technical stuff to teach, but probably a lot of tactical stuff.

Jim Corsi, widely credited with invention of Corsi statistic, said he did not choose its name. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Q: Who was the most interesting goalie to coach in the NHL?

A: The most remarkable was Dominik Hasek, and the most demanding was Ryan Miller. Hasek, for me, was a guy who rewrote the book on goaltending. He added athleticism to goaltending. Miller had such a curiosity [for] the game, he had such a romance [for] the detail of the game. Miller was so curious about his job that, if you explained to him to put his hand [in a certain position], he would ask why.

Q: One of the advanced statistics in hockey is Corsi, which measures how many shots a player takes compared to everyone else on the ice. You helped create the Corsi stat as we know it. What’s the story behind it?

A: [In Buffalo], I was trying to figure out how much work a goalie does. I was adding up shots on goal, blocked and missed shots. […] Nobody knew about it until our general manager, Darcy Regier, started talking [on the radio] about a statistic we used to gage the goalie’s work. So some guy in Edmonton, [Vic Ferrari], hears about it and says, “Wow that’s phenomenal. I wonder if I could apply it to players. Let’s gage a player’s work by the number of shots he takes.” The Corsi number that has gone out there as a stat is an evolution of what my numbers were. So the guy who devised [the modern Corsi number], went through the [Buffalo Sabres media guide] and said, “Okay, I’ll call it the Darcy Regier stat. No that doesn’t sound good.” So he flipped through the guide, saw my picture, and said, “I love that moustache. Corsi stat—it has a great ring.” Unbenounced to him, I was the guy who started that stat.

Q: What’s it like to hear your name as a stat?

A: I tell my wife that my name has become generic, like, “What’s your Corsi?” What do you mean what’s my Corsi? That’s my name!

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Main photo by Kirubel Mehari.

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Stingers drop overtime thriller against Redmen

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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Stingers manage to hold on for 5-3 win against RMC

Stingers forward Dominic Beauchemin celebrates his first-period goal against the RMC Paladins on Nov. 4. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Concordia improves to a 6-1-1 record to start the season

“We were just trying to hold on,” said Concordia Stingers defenceman Carl Neill after their game against the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Paladins on Nov. 4. “It was really not a good third period.” The Stingers managed to stave off a late push from the Paladins for a 5-3 win.

With this win, the Stingers improve to a 6-1-1 record, leaving them tied with the Carleton Ravens in third place in the East division of the Ontario University Athletics conference (OUA). The Stingers were also without forwards Philippe Hudon and Philippe Sanche due to injuries, and forward Raphaёl Lafontaine due to a suspension.

“I’m really happy about our start [to the season], but we have a lot of stuff that we need to work on, especially our discipline,” said head coach Marc-André Élement after the game. “I just addressed the guys. I’m really not happy about what happened tonight.” The coach added that the team will be going through the tape of the game extensively later this week.

The Stingers took eight minor penalties, with leading scorer forward Anthony Beauregard finding himself in the box three times with minors. He also had a goal and two assists in the game. Beauregard now has 20 points in eight games so far this season, putting him at the top of the OUA scoring charts, seven points ahead of the next closest player.

“I feel good. It’s not just about me, it’s about the team,” Beauregard said. “We’re good on the penalty kill, we’re good on the powerplay. It’s fun, but at the end of the day, it’s another week next week. We just need to focus on that.”

Stingers rookie forward Massimo Carozza takes a face-off during a 5-3 against the RMC Paladins on Nov. 4. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

The Paladins, who have lost all nine of their games this season, were unable to convert on any of their eight power play chances. RMC also took seven minor penalties, with Stingers forward Dominic Beauchemin able to convert on a power play to give Concordia a 1-0 lead late in the first period. The two teams swapped goals in the second period, giving the Stingers a 2-1 lead after two periods.

Two early goals in the third period by Neill and Beauregard gave the Stingers a 4-1 lead. RMC began putting pressure on Concordia, playing a tight-checking, physical game that saw them neutralize the Stingers offence. The Paladins scored two goals two minutes apart to bring the score to 4-3. The late surge wasn’t enough, as Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte played well, stopping 18 of 21 shots. He got some help from his skaters who went down and blocked a couple of shots. Stingers forward Antoine Masson added an empty-net goal to close the game out.

“We just need to be safe out there,” Beauregard said. “We need to play hard, yes, but we need to pay attention to the details. I think we have some good leaders in the room who talked about that. Next week has to be better.”

Élement was not impressed with the team’s effort. “You have your leaders taking stupid penalties, and in the long run, it’s going to cost us some games,” he said. “We started cheating. It almost cost us the game.”

Both Concordia and RMC were playing their second game in two nights, and the Stingers seemed gassed at points, but Élement said that was “no excuse.”

“[RMC] had a tough game against McGill last night,” he added. “We need to get better. I’m happy we got the two points, but I’m not happy with our performance tonight.”

The Stingers are on the road next weekend with games against the Nipissing Lakers on Nov. 10 and the Laurentian Voyageurs on Nov. 11.

Main photo by Alex Hutchins.

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