Tyler Hylland – The Concordian

The Stingers men’s hockey team bounced back in the second half of back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, and got the win in their first home game in 2022.

The Concordia Stingers’ team effort persisted throughout 60 minutes, as they came together to take the 5-2 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Feb. 26.

This was the Stingers’ second game in two nights, bouncing back after a 0-4 defeat against the UQTR Patriotes on Friday.

The Stringers struck early with Maxim Trépanier opening the scoring only a minute and a half into the game. The first period ended with shots 13-11 in favour of Ottawa, while Concordia’s goaltender Jordan Naylor stood on his head and kept his team in the game.

“In the first period we were a little hesitant, we had to get our legs back,” said Tyler Hylland, centre for the Stingers. “We hadn’t played back-to-back games in a couple of months, so I think the guys were feeling it out, but I think we found our legs in the second period, and we finished strong, so it went well.”

Right at the beginning of the second frame, Ottawa scored twice in a minute and took the lead in what was a pretty back and forth game up to that point.

About seven minutes into the second frame, two Ottawa players collided with Naylor. Trainers joined him on the ice to evaluate him, but he remained in net until the end of the period.

It didn’t take too long for Concordia to tie the game afterwards, with a goal by Alexandre Desgagnés around the midway mark of the period, which gave the Stingers some momentum back.

They found themselves on the powerplay a couple of minutes later, where Jeffrey Durocher capitalized and gave his team the lead again.

Naylor didn’t return for the final period, and Jacob Delorme came in instead after having played the previous night as well. Stingers head coach Marc-André Elément said that Naylor didn’t sustain an injury and that he will be okay.

Hylland doubled the Stingers’ lead around 12 minutes into the third period after creating a turnover and having a breakaway chance.

“It was kind of a broken play in the d-zone, a turnover, and I kind of saw the opportunity that I could maybe get it by them, and I took it, and then I went in on the goalie and put it five-hole,” Hylland said.

The Gee-Gees pulled their goaltender with two and a half minutes remaining, leading to Trépanier, who had opened the scoring early on, to seal the win for the Stingers with an empty-net goal.

Delorme continued Naylor’s effort and stood tall, stopping all 11 shots he faced in that period, while the defence also did their job and kept blocking shots.

Although the final shots were 39-30 in favour of the Gee-Gees, the Stingers weren’t giving them many good scoring opportunities, and if they did, the goaltenders made the saves.

“I think we were ready for tonight’s game,” Elément said. “We have a good team and we needed to compete tonight, and I think the guys showed a lot of character when we were down… And [when] you’re losing your goalie going into the third period, and your other goalie steps in, that’s a big big team effort there.”

Elément added that Delorme kept them in the game in the final frame. He also mentioned how important the defence was in the game, highlighting Kyle Havlena and Marcus Tesink’s performances in particular.

“It was a big team effort tonight and I’m really happy about the win.”

Photograph by Kaitlynn Rodney

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photograph by Kyran Thicke