Tag: OUA

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Colour Commentary: The allure of college sports

The NCAA College Football Playoff National Championship was last Monday and it was not exactly a game that will be remembered as one of the best matchups.

As a Bengals fan it was incredibly exciting to watch Joe Burrow tear up yet another top defence in the Clemson Tigers, throwing for 463 yards and five touchdowns.

But I digress.

Forgetting about the evil organization that is the NCAA, the players themselves are so amazing to watch; the sheer emotion and passion being evoked by them.

For most of the players in the final, it was their last chance to play in a primetime sports game with millions upon millions watching them. It’s why the wins are that much sweeter and the losses are that much harder to swallow.

According to the NCAA’s statistics, only two per cent of division one football players get drafted to the NFL. That number does not include actually getting a contract or playing time. The odds of making it as a pro are very slim.

Personally, watching college sports is a reminder of the dedication that so many put into the sports they love. For many players, it is a culmination of the early morning practices, long road trips and heavy enrollment costs to play amateur sports.

Forget the NCAA—the same holds true for university sports across Canada as well. I’ll never forget when the Concordia Stingers were eliminated by the Queen’s Gaels in the 2018-19 OUA East Division playoffs. It was captain Philippe Hudon’s last game as a Stinger.

When the Gaels scored their overtime series clinching goal, Hudon’s tears immediately started to flow. I could only imagine what was going through his head at that moment.

The amount of sacrifice that goes into a student athlete playing for their school is quite astonishing. After the University of Connecticut Huskies won the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, Shabazz Napier, the team’s point guard, said in an interview with Fox Sports that he had had a lot of hungry nights.

This is why so many people love college sports. Yes, the NCAA is a disgusting organization; it cannot be said enough. The players’ stories resonate with so many and show us how much they sacrifice to play a game they love.

Watch some highlights of either college football or basketball national championship finals, and take a look at the players’ faces. That’s how much sports mean to them.

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McGill 3, Stingers 2 OT: McGill comes out on top on carnival night

There are very few times where teams are happy after a loss. For the Concordia Stingers, this was one of them.

It was a hostile environment at McConnell Arena as many McGill students were in attendance as part of their carnival week. Kyle Jessiman made his debut as a Stinger and despite the loss, the 20-year-old made quite the impression on his new team.

“For his first game, in front of all those people it could be a little intimidating,” said defenceman Carl Neill. “But he did a heck of a job, we’re very happy for him.”

Head coach Marc-André Élément showed great confidence in the rookie, starting him in front of the crowd. They jeered him the entire night but that did not faze the youngster making his first start.

“He played really well. I’m very proud of him,” said Élément. “It’s not easy coming in playing in full [arena], against McGill — it’s not easy. It just showed how mentally [tough] he is.”

The full crowd was given quite the show, as right from the opening faceoff, the game was fast-paced and physical. The game was reminiscent of the OUA conference final playoff series between the two teams back in the 2017-18 season.

The physicality of the game played to the strength of many Stingers players, including Chase Harwell who scored the team’s second goal of the game just under a minute after McGill took a 2-1 lead in the third period.

I love that type of game, the atmosphere was crazy and emotions are high,” said Harwell. “I think we played really well. We deserved those two points but that’s the way overtime goes — one bounce and it’s all over.”

This was without a doubt the Stingers’ best losing performance of the season, which on the surface isn’t saying much as they did not get the full two points. However the team felt that they deserved a better fate.

“I think we dominated the third period with a lot of scoring chances,” said Élément. “I’m really proud of the guys. It’s not easy to play in front of a full crowd like that.”

The Stingers hit a bunch of posts in the third period and overtime, and ultimately didn’t get the last bounce they needed to get the victory.

McGill’s goaltender Louis-Philippe Guindon had another stellar performance as well, making 56 saves on 58 shots. This was by far the Stingers’ highest output of shots on goal in a game this season.

This was one of the most entertaining games of the U-Sports season and Élément couldn’t help but take in all in and salute both teams, and the crowd.

“I think university should always [have a full crowd],” said Élément. “It was a great game. For 10 bucks they had a great show — it’s great for hockey.”

Élément wouldn’t confirm who would start in goal for the Stingers tonight against the #6 ranked Carleton Ravens. Puck drop for the game is set for 7:30.

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Stingers fall 4-2 to Voyageurs

The losing streak continues for the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team after they lost 4-2 to the Laurentian Voyageurs at the Ed Meagher Arena on Friday night.

It was a game of numbers last night: the Stingers overpowered the Voyageurs with shots on net, ending with 36 to the Voyageurs 27. The Voyageurs had 18 penalty minutes on eight infractions. You could say the game was aggressive, with big hits at both ends of the ice by each team — the backboards  of the rink burst open at one point – players tripping over their teammates and opponents, sticks flying out of their hands. It was that kind of night for the Stingers.

With all this, the Stingers had six power play opportunities — which head coach Marc-André Élement called “terrible.”

“We didn’t execute the power play properly and we didn’t have success,” says Élement. “If we play for 40 minutes in this league, we’re never going to have success; we have to play for 60 minutes.”

The Stingers had 12 scoring opportunities in the first, but the Voyageurs came up and scored two goals. In the second, there was a lone goal scored by the Stingers’s Liam Murphy, assisted by Bradley Lalonde.

“We want to be discipled, especially at the end of the game we had a chance to come back and some of the penalties kind of took the momentum away and gave it to them,” says Lalonde about what the team could improve on.

“The penalties were late so I think we could have done something earlier to keep us out of that position but we have to stay disciplined, especially in the last couple of minutes of the game when we need a goal.”

Players continued falling over each other for the rest of the game, and tensions were high. Little scuffles broke out almost every time the goalies stopped the puck. Concordia’s Colin Grannary got swooped up against the boards a few times. He finally got the chance to break free and make his way towards the Voyageurs’s net, only to be brought down to the ice by an opponent at the blue line. After landing on his face, the refs allowed him a penalty shot, which he missed.

He redeemed himself less than five minutes into the third with Concordia’s second goal of the game. The rest of the period, there were more penalties for each team, with the Voyageurs scoring two goals on the power play, winning the game 4-2 as the last-ranked team in the division.

The Stingers will play host to the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks tonight at 5 p.m. where they will look to end their four-game losing streak.

 

Feature photo by Alex Hutchins

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New Chapter for the Stingers men’s hockey program

The Stingers finished the regular season with a 15-11-2 record.

Last year’s season did not end the way the Concordia Stingers had thought it would. The Queen’s Gaels swept the Stingers in the first round of the OUA playoffs after a hard-fought regular season.

On top of the early playoff exit, former captain Philippe Hudon played his last game with the team after five seasons.

Enter Philippe Sanche, who was chosen by head coach Marc-André Element to be the captain of his team for the 2019-20 season.

“It’s a big honour for me,” said Sanche. “Being the captain after [Philippe] Hudon, [Olivier] Hinse, it’s huge.”

Marc-André Element said he took some time over the summer to come to the decision to slap the C on Sanche’s jersey. However, Element feels that the Stingers’ leadership group is one of their main strong points heading into the new campaign, with Carl Neill and Alexandre Gosselin serving as assistant captains.

“We have an amazing leadership group, chemistry and players,” said Element. “There’s going to be an adjustment [for some], but they’ll figure it out pretty fast that we can’t take any nights off in this league.”

While Sanche adjusts to the role of captain, new recruits will have to adjust to a new team, league and even city; four of the new wave of players from the Stingers are from out of province. However, Sanche believes they are already being integrated into the team nicely.

Neill, who led the team in points last year and is now entering his third year, also expressed how his off-ice role has changed into more of a mentor-like figure for the new and young team.

“There’s a lot of young guys coming in and I’m just trying to get them adjusted to the atmosphere,” said Neill. “The quicker the team meshes together, the more success we’ll have so it’s about showing them the ins and outs [on and off the ice.]”

The Stingers have a good mindset heading into this season. They know where their strengths lie, what needs to be improved on, and what they can build off of. One of the areas of improvement that needed to be addressed was size.

The OUA is a very physical conference. Last season, the average height and weight of a Stingers player was 5’11 and 187lbs, which ranked 18th and 15th, respectively, among the 20 teams in the conference. To address that, the average height and weight of the nine new recruits listed on eliteprospects.com, is 6’1 and 198 lbs.

“We’re more [well rounded] this year,” said Sanche. “Last year we played really fast but struggled against bigger teams. This year we will be more physical and be able to better protect ourselves.”

Along with Philippe Hudon, other notable departures on the offensive side of the squad are left-winger Charles-Éric Légaré and center Hugo Roy. Those are some big shoes to fill as they accounted for over 30 per cent of the team’s scoring.

Sanche will be a big part of filling in these big shoes. Sanche has always been one of the team’s main goal scorers, lighting the lamp 38 times in his three seasons as a Stinger.

While the team did recruit Jeff de Wit and Alexander Katerinakis, among others, who have shown their ability to add scoring, they know that they will need a greater contribution from their defence; from players like Carl Neill, Bradley Lalonde, and newcomer Gabriel Bilodeau.

“We have a lot of offensive defensemen, so we need to feed our offence from the D-squad,” said Element.

The team knows what they are getting from Carl Neill in terms of scoring; in his two seasons as a Stinger he’s averaged 32 points. There are two players of interest, however, when it comes to getting offence from the back end.

Bradley Lalonde had an excellent rookie season, scoring five goals and 16 assists. He showed off his cannon of a shot, which will play a big role should the Stingers want to repeat having the fourth-best power play in the OUA.

Gabriel Bilodeau is a name that is very intriguing as he’s shown scoring prowess at the junior level; now he must translate that to the more mature U Sports game.

“[The new guys] need to figure out what type of player they are,” said Neill. “It’s a big step from junior – adjusting to the speed and pace. The quicker they do that is how fast we’ll find success this season.”

The Stingers men’s hockey team will see their first preseason game action on Sept. 18 on the road against the Université de Québec à Trois Rivières Patriotes. 

 

Feature Photo by Hannah Ewen

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Stingers winning streak snapped by Voyageurs

Despite the loss, the Stingers are still five points behind second-place McGill. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Laurentian came into game on 10-game losing streak

In a spirited affair, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team’s four-game winning streak came to an end. They lost 4-2 to the Laurentian Voyageurs Saturday night at the Ed Meagher Arena.

Entering the game on a 10-game losing streak, the Voyageurs were determined not to lose. Voyageurs goaltender Mackenzie Savard stopped 42 of 44 shots, and came up big with a dazzling, sprawling save late in the game to conserve the victory.

“Their goalie played really well. We have to give them credit; they played a really tight game,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. “We will do a lot of videos, but we have to work harder over sixty minutes if you want to win.”

Indeed, the Stingers seemed to be in control of this game, dominating the Voyageurs at both ends of the ice. Yet their powerplay went cold, unable to score on any of their four opportunities. Savard went on to make key saves, especially in the first period.

“I think it got away from us in the first, and when they scored we played well from behind,” said Concordia forward Dylan McCrory. “Their goalie made some pretty big saves. You put 40 shots on a guy and they win. That’s pretty good regardless. Either we need to learn how to score better, or he played really well. Probably a bit of both.”

Down 1-0 early in the second period, the Stingers tied the game after a top-shelf from the left circle by Hugo Roy. With the tempo shifting and the young home crowd chanting, Concordia pressed with their fast and gritty style of play to end the second period.

The Stingers entered the third period laughing and laid back. But five minutes in, Voyageurs defenceman Marc-Antoine Gagnon’s wrist shot from the point beat traffic in front of the net, and eventually went past goaltender Marc-Antoine Turcotte. This ended up being the turning point of the game, as the Voyageurs wound up getting the last laugh.

“We couldn’t score, obviously,” said defenceman Carl Neill. “It’s kind of frustrating. We had a good sequence going the past couple of games, and I think we got a little too confident.  Doing the things we should—we weren’t doing it necessarily. I think it’s a bit of a wakeup call for us, and shows if we play a simple game, we got a chance to win.”

The Stingers did manage to make it exciting for the young fans in attendance, as the night commemorated minor hockey in the region. Stingers defenceman Bradley Lalonde scored with just under 30 seconds remaining to make it 3-2. The Voyageurs would add an empty-net goal with six seconds left in the game, for a final score of 4-2.

The Stingers face a tough test next week traveling to play against Carleton and Queen’s University.

Main photo by Hannah Ewen.

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Stingers steal game one on the road

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.

Main photo by Alex Hutchins.

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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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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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Carleton Ravens hand Stingers first regulation loss of season

6-3 win included a fight, 77 total penalty minutes

The Carleton Ravens handed the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team their first regulation loss of the season with a 6-3 win on Oct. 27 at the Ed Meagher Arena.

“We were awful,” said head coach Marc-André Élement. “We didn’t execute the game plan. We all need to be better.”

The first period was a roller coaster of emotions for both teams as Dalen Hedges, the leading scorer on the Ravens, scored on just their first shot of the game one minute into the first period. The Stingers quickly answered less than a minute and a half later as forward Massimo Carozza banged a rebound past Ravens goalie Francois Brassard, for his third goal of the season.

After the fast-paced opening three minutes, the Carleton Ravens controlled the majority of the play in the first period. After Stingers goalie Antoine Dagenais gave up the first goal on the first shot he faced, he made three big pad saves during the period, keeping his team in the game.

“I was pretty nervous at the beginning,” Dagenais said. “But the more the game went on, the better I felt. I just need to work harder to help the team.”

In the first period, both teams got under each other’s skin. A total of six minor penalties were given between the two teams. Stingers forward Francis Brunelle was given a game misconduct with seven minutes left in the period, leaving the Stingers down a man on the bench for the rest of the game.

“Emotions were running high,” Élement said. “We all need to do a better job of controlling our emotions, myself included.”

The Concordia Stingers come off the ice at the end of the first period in their Oct. 27 game against the Carleton Ravens. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Forward Philippe Hudon hit another milestone in his Stingers career in the second period when he scored his first goal as captain of the team, on the penalty kill, early into the period. However, after the goal, the Ravens started what would be an offensive onslaught against the Stingers, firing 22 shots at the Stingers net in the second period.

The Ravens scored two unanswered power play goals by first-year player Jared Steege and fourth-year veteran Ryan Van Stralen to give themselves a 3-1 lead midway through the second period.

“We didn’t have the puck very much the entire game,” said Stingers defenceman Carl Neill. “I think we need to take care of some things in our own end before worrying about the other. Bad mistakes and mental errors cost us.”

Five minutes into the second period, six-foot-five Stingers forward Justin Doucet and five-foot-nine Ravens forward Dakota Odgers dropped the gloves. Both landed some good punches, but Doucet’s size was too much for Odgers.

The Ravens did not take their foot off the gas until a holding penalty by Derek Brown with five minutes left in the second. That finally opened the door for the Stingers to get some offence going. On the power play, forward Anthony Beauregard took control of the puck and fired it towards the net before forward Alexis Pépin tipped it in.

“Our power play is working really well,” Neill said. “We need to get going five-on-five, but the power play is definitely a positive to take out of this one.”

Two minutes into the third period, Brett Welychka gave the Ravens a two-goal lead off a shot that beat Dagenais on the glove side. The Ravens did not look back with the lead and added two more goals for the 6-3 win.

The Concordia Stingers beat the Queen’s Gaels on Oct. 28, 4-3, in overtime. Their next game is at home on Nov. 3 against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks.

Main photo by Kirubel Mehari.

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Sports

Back-to-back wins for the Stingers

Concordia defeated the Guelph Gryphons 4-2 on Saturday

Despite great goaltending from Guelph Gryphons netminder Jason Da Silva, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team cruised to a 4-2 win at Ed Meagher Arena on Oct. 21. They won their second game of the weekend after a 5-3 win against the Brock Badgers Friday night, and improved their record to 3-0-1 on the season.

“It was kind of a physical game again,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. “Couple of breakdowns, but we were good and it was a big weekend for us.”

The Stingers opened the scoring just two minutes into the game, after forward Charles-Éric Légaré threw the puck to the net from a weird angle. The puck trickled through Da Silva who never saw it.

Just a few minutes later, while the Stingers were on the power play, they gave up a breakaway to Gryphons forward Todd Winder, who slid the puck through the legs of Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte to tie the game at 1-1.

To end the period, Stingers forward Anthony Beauregard scored on the power play to give the Stingers a 2-1 lead heading into the second period. All night, both the Gryphons and Stingers were given many power play chances. Overall, the Gryphons committed 10 minor penalties while the Stingers committed seven minors.

Forward Antoine Masson tries to score on a rebound against the Guelph Gryphons on Oct. 21. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

“We play with an in-their-head mentality,” Élement said. “We’re really disciplined, we really want to make them skate, and when we do that, they take penalties on us, and that’s exactly what we want.”

Nine minutes into the second period, Winder of the Gryphons scored his second goal of the game on a two-on-one rush up the ice to make the score 2-2. Turcotte was injured on the play and left the game. He was replaced by back-up goalie Antoine Dagenais, who went on to stop all 17 shots he faced in the rest of the game.

“He played really well in Lakehead [during the pre-season] so I wasn’t worried at all,” Élement said about Dagenais. “We have a lot of depth, and we’re happy about his performance tonight.”

With just over four minutes to go in the second period, Stingers forward Alexis Pépin scored on the power play thanks to a slick pass from linemate Scott Oke. The goal gave the Stingers a 3-2 lead, and it ended up being the game-winning goal.

“We caught them on a line change,” Pépin said while describing his goal. “I went around the defence and just took a shot. I thought it was the best play to do, and it went in so it was a pretty good goal.”

In the third period, Stingers defenceman Carl Neill scored his first goal as a Stinger just four minutes into the frame. The score would remain 4-2 as the Stingers went on to win their third game of the season.

The Stingers will now play the Carleton Ravens at home on Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m.

Main photo by Alex Hutchins.

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Sports

Stingers men’s hockey team wins home opener 5-3

Carl Neill forgot to protect his goalie. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Forward Anthony Beauregard scores hat-trick against the Brock Badgers

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team grinded out a 5-3 victory over the Brock Badgers in their home opener on Oct. 20.

“Intensity, skating and speed: that’s what it takes to win,” said head coach Marc-André Élement. “Every night is going to be a battle.”

The Stingers came out of the gate in the first period with intensity and speed, but three penalties late in the period slowed them down. Goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte kept his team in the game with 14 saves in the first period.

“He’s been nothing short of spectacular for us since the beginning,” said Stingers captain Philippe Hudon, who finished the game with three assists.

Hudon was in a gleeful mood after the match as it was his first home game at the Ed Meagher Arena as team captain. “Nothing short [of] great,” he said.

The second period opened with two quick Stingers power-play goals that came 48 seconds apart from veteran forward Scott Oke and sophomore winger Anthony Beauregard. However, three minutes later, the Badgers answered with two quick goals from Mitch Nardi and Brandon O’Quinn, coming 23 seconds apart. Nonetheless, the veteran Stingers kept the team focused after blowing the 2-0 lead.

The Concordia Stingers crowd around Marc-Antoine Turcotte during a stoppage in play in the game against the Brock Badgers. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

“We have great leaders on our team, like Dominic Beauchemin and Phil Hudon,” Beauregard said. “They are like our grandfathers, reminding us whenever things go bad that it’s just hockey.”

That relaxed mentality paid dividends for the Stingers, especially Beauregard. The second-year player netted a hat-trick, including the game-winning goal and received first star honours. “It felt good, but the most important thing was the [win],’” Beauregard said. “But we need to be better tomorrow.”

The game was a physical and chippy affair. Beauregard said he felt the team needed to be more disciplined. The Stingers took nine minor penalties in the contest, however, were a perfect nine for nine on the penalty kill. The Badgers also had their fair share of infractions, with 13 minor penalties.

“We got out of hand when it came to controlling our emotions,” Hudon said. “That’s something we have to work on […] We’ve got to remain cool and calm.”

“The refs did a good job on both sides tonight,” coach Élement said. “I wasn’t happy about the last penalty, but I wasn’t unhappy with the ref—I was unhappy that my player would take that penalty.”

The Badgers certainly had trouble controlling their emotions near the end of the game. Brock players Skylar Pacheco and Nardi were both ejected from the game in the third period. The Stingers did not engage in the extracurriculars in the third period as they knew they had a lead to protect.

The Stingers men’s hockey team’s next game is Oct. 21 at home against the Guelph Gryphons, who are coming off of a 7-4 loss to the McGill Redmen.

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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