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Arts & Entertainment

Funk and gorilla costumes

by Holly Stewart on

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Since embarking on a national tour, Vancouver’s Five Alarm Funk are discovering the real meaning of a Canadian winter. Even with the first few stops of their tour in frigid Saskatchewan, the intensity of their live performances hasn’t cooled.

“I say that Five Alarm Funk is an omni-musical, multi-sensical experience, where we’re going to give many kinds of music and we’re also going to see a big visual assault, we’ve got lots of choreography, lots of jumping around,” says saxophone player Dameian Walsh.

According to Walsh, the music playing in their tour van has included Frank Zappa, gangster rap, James Brown, and gypsy music, just to name a few.

The array of sounds, beats, and personalities isn’t lost on the stage.  It’s likely that a band member will don a gorilla costume at some point in the night, although it was relegated to the washing machine for a brief period. “It got a little too funky for us for a while,” says Walsh.

Unfortunately, the band’s shark costume was damaged during the first part of the tour, so there won’t be anymore silver-backed gorilla versus great white shark wrestling matches. But according to Walsh, this doesn’t mean the show won’t be a wild time.

“We aim to see the audience getting down really hard.  We want to have a great time going on where you can lose yourself in the dance and the sweat of the moment,” he says.

The band’s costumes are a reference to Anything Is Possible’s tongue-in-cheek album cover,a sketch of a gorilla and a shark engaged in a toothy battle.  Walsh explains that their drummer inspired the art as well as the name of the album.

“Tao was imagining the fiercest thing he could get tattooed on himself,” he says. “He figured if he had a silver-backed gorilla tattooed on his chest being attacked by a great white shark coming over his shoulder then it would be one of those real fierce combinations of beasts. It turned into a joke that went around the band for a month … that’s how we got the name for the album, and that’s how we had our attitude in making the album. We could get the sound that we wanted because anything is possible.”

It’s remarkable that these ten individuals can get together in the studio, with all their different backgrounds and sounds, and make music as complex yet cohesive as the tracks on Anything Is Possible. The songwriting process begins when one band member brings in a riff or a beat that inspires the rest of the group to build on it, coming up with the different horn, percussion and guitar parts. Then all 10 band members work on getting the song ready for recording. “We call it trimming the fat,” says Walsh. “We take a jam and turn it into a fully arranged song.”

The band is planning some more dates in and around Vancouver this April, followed by a few shows in the U.S., which means their next album probably won’t be released until 2012 at the earliest. This will give them time to introduce more people to the music on Anything Is Possible.

“That’s how we spread the word about Five Alarm Funk, through word of mouth,” says Walsh. “When people come to see our show and they have a great time, they go tell their friends.”  

Five Alarm Funk plays at The Belmont on March 15 at 8:30 p.m.

Opinion

Shyam Patel

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Shyam Patel is the ideal candidate in this year’s election for VP finance and operations. Patel, the current SSMU funding coordinator, has the requisite background and expertise to make a successful VP finance, which is perhaps one of the most difficult portfolios in SSMU.

In his current position Patel has worked extensively with this year’s VP finance, Nick Drew, and has lain solid groundwork for a tenure as VP. Any frequent visitors to the SSMU office know that Patel is a ubiquitous presence. He is a diligent, committed, and organized worker.

Patel seeks this position fully aware of the challenges involved, and he is refreshingly honest about what it will take for the Society to meet them. Regarding the renovation of Gert’s, Patel urges students to be patient and to recognize that working with the university is a painfully slow but necessary process. He is also worried about who will pay for the summer 2012’s Gert’s renovations, since only half of the cost is currently accounted for.

Patel is similarly honest about the slow process involved in turning the SSMU Book Bazaar into a solely online endeavour. The idea is to create a “safe space” in which students can sell anything they want, furniture as well as books. His pledge to never get bogged down in anything similar to the failed Haven Books demonstrates an ability to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors.

A major part of the VP finance portfolio is dealing with SSMU’s investments and managing them in a simultaneously shrewd and ethical manner. Patel is professional and knowledgeable, and has repeatedly articulated his commitment to ethical investments. His plans to redirect some of the society’s investments from larger, potentially problematic corporations to smaller businesses are laudable, as is his desire to revamp the Financial Ethics Research Committee (FERC).

One of Patel’s more interesting proposals is to make the position of VP finance more visible on the SSMU political landscape. He wants to get more involved in the funding of clubs and services, and intends to meet with clubs to explain operations and how they can use Gert’s to their advantage. Patel cites as his first priority streamlining the funding of clubs, in the belief that the Society’s profits should go to benefit its own constitutive groups.

Patel’s opponent, Stefan Prokopetz, inspires less confidence than Patel. His last minute entry into the race and paucity of serious promotional material contrast sharply with Patel’s constant planning and grounded campaign materials. Prokopetz also lacks Patel’s intimate knowledge of SSMU, which is necessary for the position. Especially given the competition, the learning curve for Prokopetz may simply be too steep.

Drew has done an able job steering the society into a profitable and ethical future. Shyam Patel is the best imaginable candidate to receive that legacy and to continue moving forward.

Opinion

Lauren Hudak

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We have full faith in the ability of both Lauren Hudak and Emily Clare to do an exceptional job as VP university affairs next year. Ultimately, we feel that Hudak’s wide range of experience and record of working with diverse groups will make her SSMU’s most effective representative to the university administration.

Both candidates have similarly strong platforms. They are interested in increasing student services, including commitments to decrease waiting times for notoriously backlogged McGill health services. Clare and Hudak are both devoted to increasing accessibility. While Clare has placed more emphasis on fighting tuition hikes, their platforms both pledge to create more work study positions, improve student aid, and raise undergraduate participation in research. Each has unique aspects as well. Clare, for instance, wants to institute more half-year French classes and make campus food more affordable. Hudak pledges to fight for more student representation on the Athletics Board and smaller class sizes.

It is good to see that Hudak and Clare are both capable of setting concrete goals, but even the most phenomenal UA vision must be tempered against the goals of five fellow executives, the results of much-promised consultation, and the agenda of an often stubborn administration. More important than platform, then, is how we can expect candidates to handle committee meetings, negotiations with the administration, Senate, and any other unexpected issues. Their respective past experiences are all we have to go on in assessing them on those issues.

Again, both inspire faith.  Clare has been a devoted and hard-working equity commissioner, even if the Tribune has taken issue with aspects of the new equity policy. She is friendly, affable, professional, and uninterested in engaging in fruitless adversarial politics with the administration. Her consistent attendance at Council meetings this year and her demonstrated commitment to working with faculty associations indicate that she is familiar with SSMU’s workings and interested in learning. Clare would make a fine VP university affairs.

Hudak, though, stands out even more. She is also personable and professional. In addition to being the current SUS representative to Council, she is the Engineering Undergraduate Society speaker of council and was the SSMU speaker last year. She has therefore been present for nearly every piece of SSMU legislation passed in the last two years, and knows SSMU politics inside and out. She was also one of the most active councillors this year. She served on a number of committees and contributed to the crafting of important resolutions like the boycott of McGill Food and Dining Services in the wake of the Arch Café closure. She demonstrated a consistent willingness to work beyond ideological bounds, rarely providing a predictable stance and showing an ability to gain the respect of a wide spectrum of fellow councillors. As an Arts and Science student who knows EUS policy, she also brings a strong understanding of a broad array of student life to the table, and can more than any other candidate claim to be a representative of SSMU’s members. While her support of a motion to have students vote on defunding QPIRG that was later ruled out of order might have been a misstep, the Daily’s assertion that it demonstrates a “complete misunderstanding of the powers of SSMU” is grossly hyperbolic. Few councillors can claim to have never erred; fewer councillors can claim as much intimate knowledge of SSMU as Lauren Hudak.

Both are excellent candidates. However, Hudak’s pragmatic approach may be the most promising for dealing with significant issues. When it comes to who would be the best face for students at Senate, with the administration, and in committees, we vote for Hudak.

Opinion

Monika Fabian

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Both candidates for the VP clubs and services position are well-qualified and demonstrate the necessary requirements for the position. Ultimately, however, we have more confidence in Monika Fabian, and endorse her for the role.

Fabian spent the past year as SSMU interest groups coordinator, a position that has traditionally, though not always, been a useful stepping-stone to VP clubs and services. While being IGC does not necessarily mean a candidate will make a capable VP, Fabian has demonstrated good time-management skills and strong commitment to the job. She has worked intimately with many clubs and services at McGill and is well aware of the diversity of their respective needs. She has a broad sense of what comprises the often disparate elements of the McGill community, and has worked extremely hard to promote a sense of school spirit that can be embraced by all. A Fabian vice-presidency would steer the clubs and services portfolio in a less politicized and more unifying direction, an approach the Tribune believes appeals to a broader base of students and would therefore be more successful.

Fabian’s most interesting proposal is to mandate that all SSMU groups reapply for club status every year, in order to avoid inactive groups sapping financial resources. While the motivation behind this idea is sound, we are concerned that if implemented, it will cause unncessary bureaucratic confusion for new club executives. Fabian also wants to run a club executive training session every year to strengthen ties between clubs and SSMU. This would be a significant step towards eliminating the inevitable challenges of turnover and institutional memory faced by almost all club executives. We look forward to seeing this proposal in action.

Carol Fraser, who is involved with Midnight Kitchen, believes her direct experience with a SSMU service will allow her to bring a unique perspective to the portfolio. She also hopes to import some of Midnight Kitchen’s collectivist principles to the SSMU executive, which, she admits, already operates largely non-hierarchically.

We find Fraser’s direct club experience appealing, however, she is less qualified for this specific position. She lacks a familiarity with many aspects of campus life that characterize Fabian’s campaign. Fraser admitedlly has more experience with political groups at McGill, but Fabian has more diverse experience. In addition, since the VP clubs and services often has to deal with divisive political issues, for example the Choose Life saga, it is important that they remain objective in their interactions with these clubs. We are confident that if such an issue arises, Fabian will strike a fair and unbiased position.

Fraser emphasizes correctly that it is important for the VP clubs and services to be approachable and not abrasive. We were disappointed at Fabian’s slightly condescending tone to her opponent in their debate, and hope she will be more accessible to club executives.

Student Life

Why abc123 is a strong password

by Iain Macdonald on

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If you’ve used the Gawker media service in the last year or so, you’re probably aware of the massive account information leak that occurred in late 2010. In this security breach, the user database, containing 1.3 million users, was leaked. This breach shows that even huge sites with millions of users aren’t safe from simple hacking techniques. Furthermore, these sites don’t always use simple techniques like password salting, proper hash algorithms, and good Internet security practices to protect themselves and their users. However, Gawker’s experience provides a lesson to users regarding Internet password security measures.

The user account database dump contained information for 1.3 million users, just over 8,000 of which had crackable passwords. Results of the password crack showed that about four per cent of users were using one of the passwords: 123456, password, 12345678, lifehack, or qwerty. Also high on the list of common passwords were number sequences, words, and names. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Strong passwords are characterized primarily by their uniqueness, so you won’t find a lot of other users using  this password. However, this leak demonstrates that many Gawker users are vulnerable due to their use of weak passwords; or, perhaps, that Gawker users are actually so secure they’re using simple passwords like 123456.

Consider a security-savvy Internet user. She has two or three very strong passwords. Because of the uniqueness and length of these passwords, she can only remember three. She reuses the same three passwords for all of her online accounts, from email to Facebook to online banking. Now, in a password leak, one of her passwords is made publicly available. Additionally, her e-mail address is associated with the leaked account. Unfortunately, she uses the same password for her e-mail as for the leaked account. Now her e-mail is exposed to anyone who wants to take a look. Furthermore, in her e-mail are her bank statements, which contain enough information to determine her account numbers. In another unfortunate mishap, she is using the same password for her online bank account as email.

Now, despite taking proper security measures, the user has become an easy target for identity theft as a result of the account leak.

In contrast to this, some Internet users divide their online accounts into two tiers: high priority and low priority. For high priority accounts, like e-mail, online banking, and myMcGill, the user uses one of a few strong passwords. However, for low priority accounts, like Gawker, Twitter, and other things of that nature, the user opts for a dummy password. Now, in the same leak, this user has had his news-site account compromised, but because he is using a different, stronger password for his e-mail, his important accounts are still safe. By using dummy passwords for accounts which she doesn’t care about, the user has made her online life more secure.

Simple passwording can be taken to the next level by creating a different e-mail address linked  to low priority accounts, so security breaches relating to these accounts don’t reveal any important user information. This also has the desirable side effect of quarantining spam mail to another e-mail account.

While it is not likely that the tens of thousands of Gawker users with weak passwords are employing this tiered approach to online account management, there’s actually a valid reason to use seemingly foolish passwords. For sensitive accounts, secure passwords should be always used. A password’s security is a function of length, mix of capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. However, in some cases, abc123 might actually be the most secure password of all.

Recipes, Student Life

Carrot-Zucchini bread

by Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite on

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This zucchini-carrot bread uses the healthiness of vegetables to create a guilt-free alternative to your average brownie. Quick and easy to make using any fruit and nuts you have lying around, it’s easy to tweak the recipe for a range of dietary restrictions. The best part is that the veggies make it acceptable to eat for breakfast, especially with some jam. Happy snacking!

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs or 5 tbsp egg whites
  • Slightly less than 1/2 cup of olive oil
  • 1 cup brown sugar or 1/2 cup agave syrup
  • 1 medium-sized zucchini, grated
  • 1 large carrot, grated
  • Splash of vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour (slightly more if you use agave)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Chopped almonds
  • Dried cranberries
  • Chocolate chips

 

Directions:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking pan with olive oil or cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and gradually add the oil, sugar/agave, vanilla, carrot, and zucchini.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir this into the egg mixture until just combined.
  • Add chocolate chips, almonds, and cranberries (add as much or as little of each as you want).
  • Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes. Ensure the bread is cooked through by inserting a skewer in the centre of the pan. When it comes out clean, the bread is done.

For a vegan alternative, mix 2 tbsp of ground flax seed and 6 tbsp of water. Let the mixture thicken and add in place of eggs. (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen).

Sports

Martlets win sixth consecutive QUHL championship

by Rebecca Babcock on

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Elisha Lerner
Elisha Lerner

The McGill Martlets are champions of Quebec once again. The top ranked Martlets continued to utterly dominate their provincial opponents as they captured their sixth consecutive Quebec University Hockey League championship this past week. McGill swept the Montreal Carabins with wins on Thursday and Friday night to extend their conference winning streak to an amazing 105 victories.

 

GAME ONE

On Thursday, McGill won the first game of the series at home against an overwhelmed Montreal squad. There were some ups and downs for the Martlets, but a strong overall team effort led to a convincing 4-1 win.

“We have to play simple, stick to the basics, try not to do anything ourselves, [make] no individual plays, and play as a team—that’s when we play our best,” said fifth-year forward Caroline Hill who scored two goals in the game.

Both teams were obviously excited for playoffs to begin as the first period began with speed and intensity from both sides. The Martlets’ skills were on display early as accurate passing, great puck control, and an offence that was both calm and strategic led to a dominant first period in which the Carabins were outshot 11-3.

For the first 15 minutes of the game the Martlets managed to generate numerous scoring chances but were unable to find the back of the net. But with McGill continuing to keep the pressure on the Montreal defence and with the Carabins clearly not posing an offensive threat, Montreal was forced into taking multiple penalties near the end of the period.

The Martlets were finally able to score on Montreal’s third consecutive penalty, a tripping call. With three and a half minutes to go in the first, there was a scurry in front of the net and Caroline Hill was able to slip the puck past Carabins goalie Rachel Ouellette. Ann-Sophie Bettez and captain Cathy Chartrand were awarded assists on the goal.

McGill again dominated in the second period as Montreal generated little offence and barely seemed able to clear the puck. The few good shots the Carabins were able to take were turned aside by McGill goalie Charline Labonte. With eight minutes to go, Montreal received another penalty for tripping. A minute into the power play a great offensive push by McGill led to Bettez finding the back of the net to make the score 2-0.

The beginning of the third period also started off well for McGill. Only five minutes into the frame, Hill scored her second goal of the game making the score 3-0. However, the Martlets got into penalty trouble late in the period. McGill was reduced to three skaters and with the two man advantage Montreal finally found the back of the net, cutting the McGill lead to 3-1.

Montreal appeared emboldened by the goal and pushed hard to tie the game. In the last few minutes, the Carabins pulled their goalie to give them a sixth attacker. The extra skater was still no match for the Martlets, who held off the Montreal attack. The extra player also didn’t prevent Chartrand from scoring with 38 seconds left in the game to make the final score 4-1 for McGill.

Head Coach Peter Smith credited the victory to a solid team effort for the entire game

“We had a lot of energy and a lot of get up and go,” he said. “I think the beauty of our team is that we have a whole group of players who work hard and focus.”

 

GAME TWO

With a 1-0 lead in the series, the Martlets remained focused and humble as the next night they played the second game of the series in Montreal’s arena

“We worked hard all week in preparation so we were able to stick to our plan to work hard around their net,” said Chartrand after the game one victory. “But tomorrow is another day and we need to build on it. We don’t want to be overconfident.”

On Friday, McGill continued to build on their momentum from the previous night as they cruised to a 8-1 victory against the Carabins. The  Carabins opened the scoring and led 1-0 but the Martlets were quick to answer. Jordana Peroff scored the first McGill goal on a power play with assists from Leslie Oles and Kim Ton-That.  Two minutes later Lisa Zane found the back of the net to give the Martlets a lead they would never relinquish. In the last few seconds of the period, Ton-That scored another goal with assists from Oles and Peroff to make it 3-1 for McGill.

Katia Clement-Heydra and Bettez scored in the second period to extend the McGill lead to 5-1. Then, in the first minute of the third period, Peroff scored her second goal of the game. Hill scored the last two goals of the game to make the final margin 8-1.

Next week the Martlets will travel to Waterloo, Ontario for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Nationals. McGill is the team to beat in the CIS championships as they have a 30-0 record against CIS teams this season and is looking to bring another trophy back home.

 

Sports

From velour tracksuits to cardigans and class

by Jon Rubenstein on

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The National Basketball Association, my friends, is back. The turnaround the NBA has made over the past few years is truly remarkable considering the dark days it suffered for most of the 2000s. While a number of factors have accounted for the comeback, much of the credit should go to one man—commissioner David Stern.

The bleakest moment in the NBA’s recent history came on November 19, 2004 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit, Michigan. When Ron Artest made the ill-fated decision to enter the stands and attack a fan who had thrown a Diet Coke at him, the fate of the Association changed forever. “The Malice at the Palace” confirmed a wide held belief among basketball fans that pretentious thugs dominated the league. Whether or not this view was accurate is up for debate, but many fans became disenchanted with the sport and Stern realized that its image needed to be refashioned.

Part of the solution to this problem came in the way of a controversial dress code, which was instituted in 2005 and helped the NBA turn the corner. Gone were the days when players appeared on the sidelines dressed in velour tracksuits with gold chains around their necks. Now ballers are seen as classy professionals who try to out-swag each other on the sidelines with the freshest fashion trends. Rather than Allen Iverson sitting at a post-game press conference in gangster clothing with an “I just don’t give a f*#$” attitude, LeBron James rocks a cardigan with skinny jeans and hipster glasses. Stern’s decision received a lot of heat initially but it was a smart move that helped the league clean up its image and rebound from the melee in Detroit.

The second decision made by Stern that changed the makeup of the league was instituting an age minimum to enter the NBA Draft. In 2005, the commish announced that players had to be at least 19 years of age before becoming eligible to be drafted. The talent in the league had become diluted due to a plethora of high schoolers who forewent the college experience to chase millions in the NBA. These youngsters were poorly prepared not only in the basketball sense but also psychologically. For every Kobe Bryant who successfully made the jump from high school to the league, there were twice as many Kwame Browns and Eddy Currys whose careers were destroyed because they made the ill-fated decision to skip university. Instead of attending college and growing both physically and mentally, these players were thrown into the fire of professional basketball and burnt out quickly.

Do you think it’s a coincidence that there are suddenly myriad young superstars looking to dominate the league for the next 20 years? It all comes back to the ingenious decision to create an age minimum. Players like Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and Blake Griffin all benefitted from the university experience, both on and off the court. In a recent interview, Durant noted that, “Once I went down to school I grew up a lot as a person—as a man—off the floor, and it prepared me for my time in the league.”

The work is not done for Stern. He is about to encounter another turning point for the NBA as the collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of this season. I pray to the powers above that a deal gets completed to avoid a lockout. I could not imagine life without the NBA. No more awe-inspiring Kobe Bryant buzzer-beaters that stab teams in the heart worse than Brad Pitt did to Jennifer Aniston. No more Derrick Rose crossovers that are so nasty they make you want to puke. No more Kevin Garnett getting his Charlie Sheen on every time he steps on the court.

Let’s not even talk about what would happen if there was no fantasy basketball. The beauty of fantasy sports goes beyond crunching numbers and vying for the prize at the end of the season. Managers live and die with their teams while trying to scrap their way into the playoffs. It’s about finding that hidden gem on the waiver wire and watching him blossom into a fantasy stud. There is no greater feeling than seeing fellow league managers at a bar and talking shit about how they drafted David Lee in the second round. These are the joys of life that I cannot go without.

So please Commissioner Stern, get a deal done. Do whatever it takes. As fans of the game, we cannot afford to have something so meaningful taken away from us. In the meantime, let’s be thankful that we are about to witness possibly the best NBA playoffs we’ve ever seen. Ever.

Sports

Redmen rally from crushing defeat to take rubber match

by Walker Kitchens & Adam Sadinsky on

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Adam Scotti

Earn a berth in the CIS National Championships: check. Take out a bitter rival: check. Finish the season perfect at home: check. The McGill Redmen ticked all of these things off their to-do list for the 2010-2011 season this past week as they defeated the UQTR Patriotes two games to one in the OUA Eastern Conference final.

 

GAME ONE

Despite dominating the first 20 minutes of game one in the Eastern Conference final, the McGill Redmen found themselves deadlocked in a scoreless tie against the UQTR Patriotes. The second-ranked Redmen had outshot the Patriots 15-5 but were unable to find the back of the net. Instead of panicking, McGill, who led the nation in scoring this season, remained composed and rallied for a 5-3 victory as five different players scored Wednesday night at McConnell Arena.

“We knew that we were taking it to them [in the first period] and we had our chances,” said Redmen captain Evan Vossen. “And we knew if we just kept working eventually [the goals] were going to come. No one got frustrated, we knew with our skill and speed we were going to get one.”

That turned out to be the case as the McGill power play went three-for-four and dominated the final 40 minutes. With 12 minutes to go in the second, Redmen forward Guillaume Doucet made a great play as he drove wide on the left wing and drew a hooking penalty. With the man advantage, McGill made no mistake as Francis Verreault-Paul batted a loose puck out of the air and into the net at the 9:25 mark of the second period.

Five minutes later McGill drew another penalty, this time for high sticking. Again the Redmen calmly converted as Simon Marcotte-Legare tipped a point shot past Patriot goalie Jean-Christophe Blanchard.

With a minute to go in the second, UQTR was able to answer with a goal of their own, but the Redmen remained poised as they entered the third period. Just two minutes into the final period McGill again found themselves on the power play. They set up their offence quickly and Marc-Andre Dorion found Andrew Wright with a beautiful slap pass to give McGill their third goal with the extra skater and a 3-1 lead.

Wright, who now has five goals in these playoffs, credited the successful power play to aggressive play.

“We just up the tempo when we go onto the power play,” he said. “A lot of teams drop down a notch when they go onto the power play. We just move the puck quick, get hard shots and get after the rebounds. We pick up the pace rather than backing down.”

Just 21 seconds after Wright’s goal, Maxime Langelier-Parent scored what was to be the game winner on a wrap around that fooled Blanchard. The game looked all but over at 4-1, but UQTR scored two goals in two minutes to cut the deficit to one goal with five minutes to play. The Redmen remained composed and confident despite the Patriot rally. UQTR struggled to mount any sort of attack to close the game and with 17 seconds to go CIS scoring champion Alex Picard-Hooper scored an empty-netter to ice the win.

“Our game plan did not change [after the two UQTR goals],” said Redmen Head Coach Kelly Nobes. “Our effort level did not change, they got a few opportunities and they went in—it wasn’t like they started taking the play to us.”

“They scored but we controlled the third period,” echoed Vossen. “They scored a couple but we kept our composure—we knew that the last few minutes were going to be tough, they were going to throw everything they had at us, but we handled it pretty well.”

The victory improved McGill’s record to 34-3-3 on the season and a perfect 20-0-0 at McConnell Arena. The 34th victory tied the Redmen’s single season record for most wins. It was a night in which the score was much closer than the game itself as McGill controlled from the start and outshot UQTR 42-18.

“I thought we played a good game tonight,” said Nobes. “I thought we played a full 60 minutes. We created a lot of offensive opportunities. I thought our discipline was good. We were moving our feet all night, which is why we had a good 60-minute effort. [And] our power play was real good.”

 

GAME THREE

On Sunday night the Redmen cruised to a decisive 6-1 victory in the OUA Eastern Conference final rubber match over the UQTR Patriotes. In front of a raucous McConnell Arena crowd, the Redmen put the finishing touches on a 21-0 home season in a game they led for the last 53 minutes. Six different players scored for McGill, who will now travel to London to take on the Western Mustangs and play for a second straight OUA Queen’s Cup title.

After a crushing 6-1 defeat to the Patriotes in game two at the Colisée de Trois-Rivières, the Redmen were determined to avenge their loss and send their provincial rivals packing. Hubert Morin, who allowed five of the six goals on Friday, put the rare bad game behind him and stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced in the series-deciding game.

“Friday was tough, it’s all confidence,” said Morin, a junior from St. Georges de Beauce, Quebec. “Coach talked to me and told me not to worry about it, just come back stronger. Tonight it was either end the season or play two more weeks of hockey. I can’t live without hockey so I wasn’t nervous tonight at all, just excited. The crowd was there and loud, they brought us energy and we were all over them all night.”

McGill got on the board early when captain Evan Vossen took a pass from Simon Marcotte-Légaré and slipped the puck past UQTR goalie Jean-Christophe Blanchard. The goal quieted the sizeable contingent of Patriotes fans who travelled from Trois-Rivières and shut down the early UQTR momentum, which they would never recapture.

“We wanted to set the tempo of the game and spend time in the offensive zone by getting the puck deep, cycling it along the wall and getting it to the net,” said McGill Head Coach Kelly Nobes. “We played a full 60 minutes tonight.”

After outshooting the Patriotes 14-5 in the first period, McGill wasted no time in the second, as Francis-Verreault Paul notched his sixth goal of the playoffs just 59 seconds into the frame.

Special teams were the difference on Sunday night as McGill capitalized on three of their eight powerplays while the Patriotes failed to convert on any of their five opportunities. The Redmen would score the first of their three power play goals after Andrew Wright was robbed point blank on a two-on-one with Alexandre Picard-Hooper who found a wide open Marc-André Dorion to make the score 3-1. “This was one of our best games of the season,” said Dorion, “We’ve been working hard on special teams all season and it makes a big difference in the playoffs.”

Guillaume Doucet, Christophe Longpré-Poirier, and Marcotte Légaré all added goals for McGill, who would outshoot the Patriotes 47-25 in a game that was never in doubt. Félix Petit scored the lone goal for UQTR, whose season comes to a disappointing end after having qualified for Nationals last year. The game ended with a scare as second-year Redmen forward Jean-François Boisvert was slashed on the calf by UQTR’s Guillaume Chicoine, who received a five-minute major for his apparent cheapshot. When asked in the locker room after the game what he would have said to Chicoice, Boisvert answered like a true fighter: “I’d say nothing. He’s going home and I’m still playing hockey.”

McGill will keep playing hockey for the next two weeks and will try to improve on last year’s University Cup performance in which they finished at the bottom of their three team pool. “The mentality of the team is different,” said Dorion. “We don’t want to just win, we want to go all the way and be the first McGill hockey team to win the National Championship. It’s been 130-some years now and I want to break that history and make it all the way.” Dorion’s hopes for success on the national stage were echoed by
Coach Nobes who made very clear what the team’s goal will be when they get to Fredericton: “We’re going to win.”

The Redmen will now battle the Mustangs for the Queen’s Cup at 7 p.m. on Saturday night in London. After that, they’ll make the long trip to Fredericton for the 2011 Cavendish University Cup that will run from March 24-27 and will feature the representatives from Quebec, Ontario, and Western and Atlantic Canada.

Sports

Laval upsets top-seeded McGill

by Sam Hunter on

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Holly Stewart

Through three quarters, Laval was so hot from the field that it’s excusable if anyone thought they were the cause of the alarms ringing in Currie Gym. The culprit was in fact a faulty detector, but that didn’t stop the entire complex from being evacuated for 20 minutes while the fire department searched the premises. Even that reprieve from the Rouge-et-Or bombers wasn’t enough for the Martlets, as they fell behind by 16 soon after play resumed, en route to a devastating 72-68 upset loss at the hands of the visiting team.

Laval took the RSEQ playoff field by storm, coming in as the fourth seed and ending the tournament as Quebec champions. The Rouge et Or beat both number-one ranked McGill and number-two UQAM, earning a spot in the CIS National Championships in the process.

After the loss, the Martlets applied for an at-large berth to the Western Regionals in hopes of winning their way into Nationals. The University of Victoria was selected instead, ending McGill’s season.

There were danger signs from the opening tip, as the Martlets looked nervous and disjointed.

“I think it was probably the emotion of the moment,” said Head Coach Ryan Thorne. “We got caught up in that, so we weren’t connecting, we weren’t on the same page, we weren’t doing the things we normally do.”

This was manifested on offence by over-passing, rushing shots (the Martlets shot 10.3 per cent from three on the game), and poor clock management. But it was on defence where the team really struggled.

“We gave up too many points,” said Thorne. “We don’t usually give up 70 and we gave up 72 … [Laval] played solid, they shot well from the three-point line. 52 per cent in the first half, so they hit some shots, [but] we left them open on bad rotations.”

Despite the disparity in their regular season records, Laval looked like the more poised and confident team. The presence of twin towers Marie-Michelle Genois and Marie-Pascale Nadeau might have had something to do with that. With a combined height of 12’4″, their presence in the middle provided Laval with a backbone on defence and a means to attack McGill’s shorter frontcourt.

No Martlets will graduate this year, so the 2011-2012 team will be equipped to come back and make a deeper playoff run.

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