McGill goes after another CIS hockey title
EYE ON RYAN MCKIERNAN On heels of women’s victory, Redmen ranked fourth heading into tourney
The McGill Martlets were crowned national university hockey champions last weekend, and now it’s the Redmen’s turn to try to match the feat.
The Martlets won the Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s championship last Sunday with a 4-3 double-overtime victory over the Université de Montréal Carabins in Fredericton, N.B. Brittney Fouracres, a defenceman from Calgary, scored a power-play goal 37 seconds into the second overtime period as the Martlets knocked off the top-seeded Université de Montréal Carabins, who were the defending champions. It was the fourth CIS title for the Martlets.
The Redmen won their first CIS men’s championship in 2012 during their 136th year of existence. Two years later, they get another shot.
After five straight appearances at the University Cup tournament, the Redmen failed to qualify last year following the graduation of most of its CIS championship roster. This season they have been led by Ryan McKiernan of New York, who was the Redmen’s leading scorer and the highest-scoring defenceman in the country with 1324-37 totals in 28 games.
On Wednesday night, the 24-year-old finance senior was named the CIS’s top defenceman. He is also a threetime Academic all-Canadian.
“Ryan is a charismatic, mature and confident young man who is an outstanding student,” Redmen coach Kelly Nobes said. “Despite being from another country, he has adopted the bilingual culture of Quebec with open arms, has learned French and communicates well with his teammates.
“On the ice, he has played a major role along our blue line since joining the Redmen and has been a major contributor to our success. A key component on our power play and penalty-killing units, Ryan also excels in even-strength situations. He is a physically strong defenceman, skates well, possesses a great shot and plays with a controlled mean streak.”
The Redmen are ranked fourth heading into the University Cup tournament in Saskatoon, which begins on Thursday. Up front, they will be counting on centre Cedric McNicoll, who had 16 points in eight playoff games as the Redmen advanced to the CIS tournament.
“We are still growing as a team and getting better every day,” Nobes said. “We have 23 guys in their first or second year with our program and we’ve put ourselves in a situation where we have an opportunity to win another championship. Our leadership group has been outstanding, and we have evolved into a mature and resilient group, peaking at the right time. We believe in each other. We faced very tough opponents in the OUA playoffs and feel that we’re battle-hardened and ready for the next step.”
The Alberta Golden Bears are ranked No. 1 heading into the six-team tournament, followed by Acadia, Windsor, McGill, Saskatchewan and Carleton. Alberta, Carleton and McGill are in Pool A, while Acadia, Windsor and Saskatchewan are in Pool B. The top team from each pool will advance to Sunday’s final. McGill will play its first game Friday against the loser of Thursday’s game between Alberta and Carleton.
The complete tournament schedule is available online at universitycup.ca. Stars’ Bettez named CWHL’s MVP: Ann-Sophie Bettez of the Montreal Stars was named the Canadian Women’s Hockey League Most Valuable Player for the 2013-14 season Tuesday night. Bettez, who had 16-24-40 totals in 23 games, also won the Angela James Award as the league’s leading scorer. Last season, Bettez was named the CWHL’s rookie of the year and the CIS female player of the year with the McGill Martlets.
Stars captain Cathy Chartrand was named the defensive player of the year and the Stars received the Chairman’s Trophy as regular-season champions after posting a 19-2-2 record.
The Stars are in Markham, Ont., this week to compete in the sixth annual Clarkson Cup national championship tournament. After winning the Cup in 2011 and 2012, the Stars were beaten 5-2 by the Boston Blades in last year’s final.
Action got underway Wednesday and runs through Saturday, with the championship final slated for 2 p.m. The four-team tournament includes the Stars, Blades, Toronto Furies and Calgary Inferno.