Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Hockey: No. 5 McGill scores 15 goals, season high in CIS

Tonight, McGill's Francis Verreault-Paul had a good week.

The left wing had seven points as the Redmen won, wait for it, 15-4 at Ottawa. Verreault-Paul's four-goal, three-assist night included a natural hat trick in the first period (where he also assisted on the first Redmen goal), two helpers in the middle frame and a goal 3:53 into the final frame. His seven points came in the span of McGill's first 10 goals, as did linemate Alexandre Picard-Hooper's six (one goal, five assists)

It was sixth time a team has put a 10-spot (or more) on the scoreboard. UNB had a 10-0 win earlier this season and Saint Mary's won 11-zip another night; may you guess which conference has accounted for the other four?

That would be the OUA. McGill, out of the oft-maligned OUA East, has done it twice. Lakehead and Western have each done the double-digit deed once. Make of it what you will.
posted by sager at 10:51 PM
Labels: , ,

9 comments:

  1. Just took a look at the game sheet for this one. McGill went into the 3rd period up 9-3 and proceeded to outshoot Ottawa 23-6 and outscore them 6-1 in the third. I wonder if this will lead to a chippy game the next time they meet. Personally, I've always felt that each team in a contest needs to show up and play hard for 60 minutes, and if that happens lead to a 20-0 score, so be it. But I know there will be some who will feel McGill could have and should have played dump-in hockey in the third since the outcome of the game was never in doubt.
    ReplyDelete
  2. It was bound to happen to Ottawa sooner or later. Ever since the current coach took over the Gee-Gees have slipped a notch year after year. They have become less competitive each year he has been in charge. Look at the year over year records. They are getting pretty close to the bottom of the OUA and are likely to stay there under the present regime. An inability to recruit the better available players, who end up elsewhere, seems to be at the heart of the problem.
    ReplyDelete
  3. FYI - SMU also 'squeaked' by Moncton 11-0 this season.
    ReplyDelete
  4. It is interesting to note Western's 10 goal performance also came at the expense of Concorida - another OUA east team. They have yet to do it in the OUA west.
    ReplyDelete
  5. Todd...
    I agree with you that if one team is not competitive in a game, the opposing team should not feel obligated to 'ease up'.
    But in the case of a blowout like this, there are some things the McGill coach could have done to make it not lok like they were piling on.
    For example, using the 4th line and and his 5th and 6th defenseman on the PP, instead of going with the regular unit.
    Still, it's the Ottawa U coach who has to answer for this.
    Right now, the fledgling Carleton program looks like it is forging ahead of Ottawa, while the Gee-Gees look like they are standing still.
    ReplyDelete
  6. I usually am opposed to teams running up the score. It usually results in frustration/embarassment for the losing side, who are usually giving it everything they have and get more and more frustrated. As mentioned earlier, it also can lead to chippy games, and 3rd periods that go on forever. I would like to see teams put out their 3rd or 4th lines more, and play more with their 3rd defensive pairing, playing that dump in style of hockey only.

    At the same time though, I think I know where you are coming from Todd. While this exists in a "perfect world," I can see several reasons why coaches would not do this. With momemtem being such a large factor in hockey, sometimes you culd end up fighting to hold on at the end, and even if the lead is so big that it is untouchable, playing a lower calibre of hockey could lead to more goals let in and a loss of confidence by your goaltender. Coaches also have to look tht in some leagues, goals for can be instrumental in tie breaking purposes. Changing your style of play could also lead to bad habits. Some positives could result such as your 3rd or 4th line players getting more confidence and experience with more ice, but there certainly are negatives as well. While I think I understand why it happens, I hope that the teams will be at least close enough that we would never see a 15-4 win again. Still, I would like to see some teams let up and make it respectable. Why can't we all play nice haha?
    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, did they run up the score? McGill scored 6 goals in the third period, but the last one was at the 13:47 mark. At that point, the coaches might have said, no more goals.
    ReplyDelete
  8. You're right, what was I thinking? No way does putting 23 shots on goal and pumping in 6 goals in the 3rd while already up 9-3 constitute running up the score. The were just keeping the G's at bay. I'm sure Ottawa was just a goal away from getting back into this thing ;-)
    ReplyDelete
  9. I have no way of answering definitively, Todd. I do see that the first-liners did not have point after that first goal in the third period. And McGill got 37 shots and 9 goals in the first two periods, so 23 in the third isn't out of whack.
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)