Thu Mar 25, 2010
THUNDER BAY, Ont. (CIS) Mike Hellyer scored his second goal of the afternoon one minute and 51 seconds into the first overtime period as the fifth-seeded Manitoba Bisons stunned the No. 2 McGill Redmen with a 5-4 comeback win in the opening game of the CIS mens hockey championship, Thursday afternoon, at Fort William Gardens.University Cup website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice
With the victory, the Canada West finalist Bisons (1-0) take the Pool B lead and get to rest until Saturday at 2 p.m., when theyll meet the No. 3 Saint Marys Huskies (0-0) in their second and final preliminary round contest.
McGill (0-1) gets back on the ice Friday at 2 p.m. against Saint Marys. The OUA champion Redmen need a win and some help on Saturday to advance to Sundays national final (7 p.m. Rogers Sportsnet).
McGill took a comfortable 4-1 lead into the third period but saw Manitoba mount a furious comeback with goals by Kyle Howarth, his second of the afternoon, 3:55 into the stanza, Hellyer at 16:42 and freshman Ian Duval with 4.8 seconds left on the clock.
With goaltender Steve Christie pulled in favour of a sixth attacker, the Bisons spent the final minute of regulation in the offensive zone and created a flurry of chances, including near misses by Duval and Jared Walker. Duval finally pushed the puck past McGill netminder Hubert Morin at the end of a mad scramble in front of the net to tie the affair at 4-4.
In overtime, Hellyer received a pass from Duval from the corner and fired a shot inside the right post from the top of the circle to cap the improbable rally.
This is the biggest goal of my career so far, said Manitoba game MVP Hellyer, a third-year forward from Brandon, Man., who was the Bisons top goal scorer in the regular season with 11 markers in 28 games. We never lost focus, we never gave up. This is a huge victory for the Bisons program.
I thought we played well early but didnt capitalize on our chances, said Canada West coach of the year Mike Sirant, who led his troops to their first University Cup appearance since 2005. We didnt change anything and stuck to our game plan in the third, and found a way to win. This is one of the most character wins Ive been involved with in my career.
Howarth of St. Andrews, Man., scored the Bisons first goal and also finished with a pair, while Walker, a native of Winnipeg, tallied three assists. Duval, also of Winnipeg, collected two points in the win.
The Redmen, making their fourth University Cup appearance in five years, received goals from Guillaume Doucet of Anjou, Que., rookie defenceman Sbastien Rioux of Sorel, Que., Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., and Simon Marcotte-Lgar of Longueuil, Que.
All four finished the game with a goal and an assist, with Rioux earning player-of-the-match honours in the losing cause.
It hurts to lose a lead in the last few seconds, said McGill interim head coach Jim Webster. But weve been able to bounce back from adversity, and I see no reason why we cant do it again this time.
Christie, a Winnipeg native who received the inaugural CIS goalie of the year award on Wednesday, got stronger as the game went on and finished with 28 saves. His counterpart Morin, a sophomore from St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que., stopped 35 pucks but couldnt do much in the third period as the Bisons outshot the Redmen 11-3.
Manitoba capitalized on two of nine power-play opportunities, while McGill went 1-for-5 with the man advantage.
The action-packed first period featured numerous scoring opportunities at both ends of the ice.
Doucet took a pass from behind the net from Marcotte-Lgar and wired a wrist-shot low on Christies stick side to open the scoring.
The Bisons had a glorious chance to tie the game three minutes later during a penalty kill but Morin stoned Duval on a breakaway.
Eight minutes in, it was Christies turn to shine as he robbed Picard-Hooper with the glove after the speedy winger was sent flying down the left side by linemate Francis Verreault-Paul.
Rioux made it 2-0 McGill at the 13:21 mark on a play that was almost identical to the one that led to Doucets goal. The freshman received the puck from behind the goal line from Andrew Wright and one-timed it past Christie on the blocker side.
The last minutes of the initial period belonged to the Bisons, who missed a number of chances with the man advantage, including a 50-second 5-on-3.
Brandon Lockerby saw his shot end up on the cross-bar after Morin partially blocked it, and Duval fanned on two attempts to put the rebound in as the puck was sitting on the goal line.
Moments later, with Morin out of position following a save, McGill captain Yan Turcotte slid across the crease to stop a shot from Duval, who was staring at an open cage.
The end-to-end action resumed in the second frame.
Manitoba cut the deficit to one 38 seconds after the intermission when Howarth redirected a Walker shot behind Morin.
But the OUA champions restored their two-goal advantage only 17 seconds later. Verreault-Pauls face-off win in Manitoba territory went straight to Rioux, whose blast from the point was deflected by Picard-Hooper.
Five minutes into the stanza, Riley Dudar deflected a point shot on the post, to the right of Morin.
Morin came up big during back-to-back penalty kills, making his best save on Duval, with the right pad, when the freshman crashed the net at the end of a 3-on-2 rush.
Marcotte-Lgar sent the Redmen back to the locker room with a three-goal cushion when he capitalized on a failed clearing attempt with 3:56 to go in the second. The junior slapped the puck into an open net to complete a tic-tac-toe play initiated by Doucet and Evan Vossen.
Howarth gave Manitoba hope 3:55 into the third period when he split de defence before faking to Morins right during a power play.
The Bisons came inches away from making it a one-goal affair five minutes later during another man advantage, but Morin robbed Hellyer with the left pad.
With four minutes remaining in regulation, Christie made a miraculous save on Doucet, covering the puck with his glove on the goal line, and the stop proved crucial in the Manitoba comeback.
With left 3:18 on the clock, Hellyer deflected a Chad Erb point shot to cut the margin to one, setting the table for the wild end to the game.
GAMES NOTES: It was the first-ever meeting between the two teams at the University Cup championship... In the only previous head-to-head meetings in history, both non-conference duels, Manitoba prevailed 5-2 on Dec. 28, 1992, and 8-4 on Dec. 29, 1995... McGill was third in the country in penalties during the 28-game regular season with 684 minutes in the box but led the nation with a .896 penalty-kill efficiency...
SCORING SUMMARY
Manitoba 5, McGill 4 (OT)
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING:
1. McG Guillaume Doucet (1) (Simon Marcotte-Lgar, Evan Vossen), 2:10
2. McG Sbastien Rioux (1) (Andrew Wright, Alexandre Picard-Hooper), 13:21 PP
PENALTIES:
Travis Mealy (MAN) checking to the head, 3:19;
Travis Mealy (MAN) 10-minute misconduct, 3:19;
Calin Wild (MAN) hooking, 7:38;
Ian Duval (MAN) high sticking, 13:13;
Evan Vossen (McG) high sticking, 13:40;
Sbastien Rioux (McG) tripping, 14:50;
Guillaume Doucet (McG) holding, 19:52.
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING:
3. MAN Kyle Howarth (1) (Jared Walker, Blair Macaulay) 0:38 PP
4. McG Alexandre Picard-Hooper (1) (Sbastien Rioux, Francis Verreault-Paul) 0:55
5. McG Simon Marcotte-Lgar (1) (Evan Vossen, Guillaume Doucet), 16:04
PENALTIES:
Maxime Langelier-Parent (McG) hooking, 1:47;
David Brown (MAN), interference, 6:30;
Yan Turcotte (McG) holding, 8:55;
Ben Gazdic (McG) tripping, 11:29.
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING:
6. Kyle Howarth (2) (Jared Walker, Steve Christie), 3:55 PP
7. Mike Hellyer (1) (Chad Erb), 16:42
8. Ian Duval (1) (Jared Walker, Travis Mealy), 19:55
PENALTIES:
Ben Gazdic (McG) holding, 3:15;
Mike Hellyer (MAN) high sticking, 3:15;
Marc-Andr Dorion (McG) tripping, 3:26;
Travis Mealy (MAN) tripping, 4:30;
Andrew Wright (McG) delay of game, 7:33;
Maxime Langelier-Parent (McG) checking from behind, 11:45;
Maxime Langelier-Parent (McG) game misconduct, 11:45.
OVERTIME
SCORING:
9. Mike Hellyer (2) (Ian Duval), 1:51
PENALTIES:
None.
GOALS (by period)
MAN: 0-1-3-1:5
McG: 2-2-0-0:4
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
MAN: 12-15-11-2:40
McG: 17-9-3-1:32
POWER PLAY:
MAN: 2-9
McG: 1-5
GOALTENDERS
MAN Steve Christie (W, 1-0, 32 shots, 28 saves, 4 GA, 61:46)
McG Hubert Morin (L, 0-1, 40 shots, 35 saves, 5 GA, 61:51)
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
MAN: Mike Hellyer
McG: Sbastien Rioux
REFEREE: Jonathon Langille
LINESMEN: Kevin Kuluski, Matt Traub
ATTENDANCE: 2,059
START: 2:02
END: 4:34
LENGTH: 2:32
POOLS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Pool A
1. Alberta
4. Lakehead
6. UQTR
Pool B
2. McGill
3. Saint Marys
5. Manitoba
Thursday, March 25
Pool B #1: Manitoba 5, McGill 4 (OT)
19:30 Pool A #1: Alberta vs. UQTR (SSN Canada webcast)
Friday, March 26
14:00 Pool B #2: Saint Marys vs. McGill (SSN Canada webcast)
19:30 Pool A #2: Lakehead vs. Loser Pool A #1 (SSN Canada webcast)
Saturday, March 27
14:00 Pool B #3: Saint Marys vs. Manitoba (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)
19:00 Pool A #3: Lakehead vs. Winner Pool A #1 (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)
Sunday, March 28
19:00 University Cup Final (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)