The second ranked Redmen kept on rolling during the break as they advanced to the OUA East final by sweeping the Ottawa Gee Gees and Nipissing Lakers in consecutive series.

On Saturday, at McConnell Arena, the Redmen ended the Lakers’ playoff dreams with a 6-4 victory. McGill cruised to a 1-0 lead in the first period as they outshot Nipissing 12-6. They exploded for four goals in the later half of the second period to take a 5-1 lead into the third. Nipissing responded with three consecutive goals to open the final period. But with four minutes remaining Simon Marcotte-Legare scored his third goal of the playoffs to double the Redmen lead and extinguish any hopes the Lakers had for a comeback.

“We had good performances from a lot of different guys in the first four games,” said Head Coach Kelly Nobes. “[We were] real effective on the forecheck, in the corners and along the boards.”

The victory came three days after McGill travelled to North Bay to capture the first game of the series 4-1. McGill was outshot 32-31 for the game and entered the third period trailing 1-0. They remained composed, however, as Maxime Langelier-Parent scored the first two goals of the third period to give the Redmen their first lead at 2-1. A minute after Langelier-Parent’s second goal, CIS scoring champion Alex Picard-Hooper found the back of the net to double the McGill lead.

The Redmen victory against Nipissing came on the heels of a sweep against the Ottawa Gee Gees in the first round. That series started slow for the Redmen as they found themselves trailing 1-0 midway through the third period at home in game one. However, sniper Francis Verreault-Paul was able to tie the game with 13 minutes to go. With less than three minutes left Christophe Longpre-Poirier scored the game winner. The Redmen scrambled to close the game as they took two penalties and were reduced to three skaters. With the pulled goalie, Ottawa had a six on three advantage but weren’t able to find a way to score.

With one win already under their belts, the Redmen cruised to a 10-5 victory in the second game against Ottawa. McGill put the game out of reach quickly as they jumped out to 6-0 first period lead and were a dominant five for seven on the power play. Andrew Wright, Francis Verreault-Paul, Guillaume Doucet, and Simon Marcotte-Légaré all scored twice for the Redmen.

McGill now advances to the OUA East final against the eighth ranked UQTR Patriotes, who defeated Carleton in three games in the other East semifinal. The winner earns a berth in the OUA Queen’s Cup final and gets a spot in the upcoming CIS Championship.

With the victories, McGill extended their perfect record at McConnell Arena to 18-0, which bodes well for the Redmen, who have home ice advantage in their upcoming series. The series will begin Wednesday at 7 p.m. in McConnell Arena. The second game will be played at UQTR on Friday night. If the series is tied, the tiebreaker will be played back at McGill on Sunday night.

Playoff recap

The Martlets won the Quebec Student Sports Federation semi-final series, a best-of-three contest, against the Carleton Ravens last week. The Martlets, however, didn’t need all three games against the Ravens: on February 23 Gillian Ferrari, former defender for the national team, put a quick end to game one to earn a 1-0 victory. In game two, more members of the squad (Katia Clement-Heydra, Lisa Zane, Chelsea Saunders and Alessandra Lind-Kenney) contributed on the scoresheet in a dominant 4-0 win. As a result, the Martlets are heading into the QSSF final against the University of Montreal Carabins at McConnell Arena on March 3, and at Montreal on March 4. After this last QSSF hurdle, they’re hoping to head to the CIS nationals to reclaim the gold.

The team also clinched a winning streak of 100 consecutive games against Quebec University Hockey League opponents the Friday before last against Montreal. In addition, two players, Ann-Sophie Bettez and Carly Hill, scored the winning goals to help Canada snag the 2011 Winter Universiade Gold Medal in Turkey in early February. Although these achievements in themselves are phenomenal, the team is far too busy with their eye on CIS gold to spend time patting themselves on the back.

The Martlets won gold two years in a row before last season, when Alberta sniped the title, with McGill’s all-star goalie Charline Labonte away at the Olympics in Vancouver. The girls are determined to win gold in Waterloo, Ontario at nationals this year.

Most athletes can attest that any successful team has its roots in its coaching staff. Head Coach Peter Smith has been a significant factor in the success of the Martlets. Smith has coached women’s hockey national teams at the last two Olympics, and has coached the McGill Martlet squad since 1999. Being named CIS Coach of the Year and QSSF Coach of the Year on numerous occasions, he and assistant coaches Amy Doyle, Shauna Denis and Stewart McCarthey are all integral to the team’s consistent success.

This confluence of talent and a history of excellence makes the Martlets unlike any other team at McGill.

“I think when you have success over a period of time there are very high expectations,” said Smith. “So I think sometimes your successes as you go along aren’t appreciated as much. But, you know, there are no victims here.”

Accolades aside, what further sets the team apart from others at McGill is that they break the age-old prejudice that only male sports engage fans enough to come out and watch them. Smith hopes for a big outporing of support before the team heads to Waterloo for CIS championships,

“I think it makes a difference for the players,” said Smith.

History

With a roster of exceptionally hard-working, successful, and dedicated hockey stars, the Martlets squad is a team that warrants watching. The girls have represented McGill University not only in Montreal and Quebec, but across the nation, and internationally as well.

The McGill women’s hockey program was the first of its kind in North America when it began in 1896, only 12 years after women were first allowed to study at McGill. While the women’s team wasn’t always nationally acclaimed, the arrival of Kim St-Pierre (two time CIS All Canadian, CIS Player of the Year in 2002-2003, CIS Championship MVP 1999-2000, Team Canada Olympian 2002, 2006, 2010) jump-started the program. Since her arrival, amazing athletes have consistently joined the highly competitive squad. One such player is Melodie Daoust, a nationally sought-after hockey star, who just signed a letter of intent to play with McGill next season. With her years of experience playing in the intense national development program, she still says she was “impressed by [the Martlets] team chemistry and how hard they pushed themselves at practice.”

There will be a bus from McGill’s Currie Gym leaving for the University of Montreal at 6 p.m. on March 4 for fans hoping to catch one last glimpse of the team before Nationals. Seats can be reserved on the Red Thunder website: ssmu.mcgill.ca/redthunder (not accessible on Firefox).

Full disclosure: Monika Fabian is the president of Red Thunder.

Additional reporting by Sam Hunter.

Women’s volleyball

A crushing defeat to Sherbrooke in the Quebec bronze medal match ended McGill’s bid to win a wild card and qualify for the CIS championship this year.

Despite posting a perfect four and zero record against the Vert et Or in regular season play, the Martlets were swept out of the playoffs.

“Our team played really shaky in the first game, which is  really important one,” said Head Coach Rachele Beliveau. “If we win that one game then we would probably have been OK in the second one.”

The team’s veterans were the ones who folded in the heat of the moment, while younger players exceeded expectations.

“When you’re younger there’s less pressure, when you’re graduating it’s your last chance,” said Beliveau. “It shouldn’t be like that, you should be agressive and intense but it was the opposite this year. [The vets] were hesitant and that creates doubt, which is no good for volleyball.”

Rookie Genevieve Plante was probably the player-of-the-series, recording a game-high 21 kills in game two and 16 in game one, which was also a game-high mark she shared with graduating senior Kelsey Irwin.

Plante, along with the vast majority of the Martlets’ core, is young, so next season brings renewed promise of success.

CIS Swim Championships

in Calgary

Despite contending with 3,500 feet of altitude and the discomfort of a prairie winter, McGill swimmers performed well at the CIS championships held in Calgary over the weekend.

Led by two gold medals from Steven Bielby, the Redmen and Martlets fell into the middle of the pack, with the men finishing 11th and the women 14th.

Rookie Pierre-Alexandre Renaud and third-year Matthew Khatchadourian were the next best McGill performers on the men’s side, both finishing eighth in the 200m butterfly and the 50m breaststroke respectively.

For the women, Maxime Charron, Sophie Overney-Ragan, Leanne Roach, and Myriam Donato all finished in the top-16, but no Martlets made the final (top eight).

“The level of effort was phenomenal,” said Head Coach Peter Carpenter. “The meet was difficult in that [it] was held at 3,,500 feet, so that did pose some issues.”

The lack of oxygen at altitude affected the times, so it’s difficult to compare this meet with others of the year.

“It’s hard to say how we did vis-a-vis the other teams,” said Carpenter. “I can definitely say that more often than not our athletes moved up in the rankings than they moved down. By that standard we did well.”

Some sports’ trade deadlines arrive with a ton of hype and coverage, but rarely a trade that’s actually interesting, *cough* NHL *cough*. The NBA trade deadline is not one of those lame ducks, and 2011 was no exception. In fact, the 2011 deadline was one of the craziest in recent memory, with 14 trades involving 17 draft picks and 49 players, ranging from the Carmelos and Derons of the world all the way down to the Luke Harangodys. I’d love to go through every one of them, but that would require a lot more space than I have. I’ll take the space I do have to break down the deal that shuffled the deck at the centre of the universe: New York City.

After all the Melo-drama, the New York Knicks finally got their man, acquiring Carmelo Anthony along with Chauncey Billups, Renaldo Balkman, Anthony Carter, and Shelden Williams from the Denver Nuggets, and Corey Brewer from the Minnesota Timberwolves. In return, the Nuggets got Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Galinari, Timofey Mozgov, Kostas Koufas, the Knicks’ 2014 first-round pick, second-round picks in 2012 and 2013 (both originally belonging to the Warriors) and $3 million in cash. As part of the deal, the Timberwolves picked up Eddy Curry’s expiring contract and Anthony Randolph from the Knicks, the Nuggets’ 2015 second-round pick and $3 million.

After wading through the details of that monster deal, what does it all mean? It means  that the Knicks will be starting two of the best players in the league, in their prime, for at least the next five years or so.

I read a lot of articles from various sports media outlets leading up to and following the trade about how Carmelo wasn’t worth the price, how he was just a volume shooter who couldn’t, and wouldn’t, play defence. That’s bogus. Carmelo Anthony is not the best scorer in the league. Kevin Durant, Lebron James, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Dwyane Wade are all averaging more points per game and all shoot a higher percentage from the field. But Carmelo Anthony is the most versatile scorer in the league. Carmelo Anthony is faster than you, and if he’s not, then he’s stronger than you. He’s probably stronger and faster than you. He can play with his back to the basket and he can kill you from the outside. He can get to the line, where he shoots better than 80 per cent. When you need a bucket, say, I don’t know, sometime in May or June, Carmelo can get it for you any way you want it. That kind of skill set is rare and invaluable.

Is Carmelo Anthony a terrific defender? No. He doesn’t have the mentality to lock down his guy, possession after possession, game after game. But he has shown himself to be more than capable when he wants to be, just ask Kobe Bryant. When the Knicks play the big games, Carmelo will show up on both ends of the court. Throw in the fact that he’s a New Yorker who wants to play in the Garden more than anywhere else and it’s a slam dunk. If you can get Carmelo Anthony, you do it.

Yes, the price was steep, but it was worth it, and let’s not forget that Carmelo didn’t arrive in the Big Apple alone. Flying in with him, somehow under the radar, is a former Finals MVP, Chauncey Billups, who is definitely an upgrade at the point-guard position over Raymond Felton.

It’s not all doom and gloom in Denver, either, and I think, given the circumstances, the Nuggets came out of this in pretty good shape. They avoided getting Leboned, Boshed, or whatever you want to call it, by getting the most they could for their departing superstar. Along with draft picks, the Nuggets got a couple of nice young players in Danilo Galinari and Wilson Chandler, a promising big man in Timofey Mozgov and either a really good backup guard, or a good trade chip in Raymond Felton. They’ll have to make a decision on whether to resign Chandler after the season, but the rest are signed for at least one more. Remember, these guys made up the majority of a starting lineup that had already begun New York’s resurgence and they’ve started well in Denver, beating the East-leading Celtics in their post-trade home opener.

Nuggets fans should feel good about where they’re at. Kenyon Martin’s $16 million salary comes off the books after this season, meaning they should be able to re-sign anyone they want to keep among their list of expiring contracts (Martin, J.R. Smith, Wilson Chandler, and Aaron Afflalo). As part of the Anthony deal, they have a $17 million trade exception they can use to sign a marquee free agent if and when they choose.

It would be rude not to mention what the Timberwolves got out of the deal but, to be honest, no one really cares. It is kind of funny that one team has now accumulated Eddy Curry, Darko Milicic, and Michael Beasley. Funnier still is that team’s GM is David Kahn (widely regarded as the worst in the league). Unfortunately, Minnesota is hopelessly irrelevant, their fans can only count the days until Kevin Love inevitably leaves, and don’t even have the comfort of knowing that Clippers fans understand their pain. They once did, but now they have the immeasurable pleasure of watching Blake Griffin on a regular basis, so they don’t care anymore.

Martlets close strong, fall short

The Martlets’ wings failed to feed Anneth Him-Lazarenko down the stretch, and it came back to bite them as the UQAM Citadins rallied to upset number-one-seed McGill 89-88 in double overtime.

Him-Lazarenko leads the Quebec conference both in scoring, with a 15.6 points-per-game average, and field goal percentage, at 54.1 per cent. Still, throughout the game she got the ball on the block infrequently, and three of her six made baskets were off offensive rebounds. She finished with game with 14 points on 66.7 per cent shooting.

Shouldering the scoring load in crunch time were guards Natalie Larocque and Marie-Eve Martin with 11 and 18 points respectively.

Helene Bibeau was well on her way to a big game, with 16 points in only 17 minutes of playing time, before going down with what appeared to be an ankle injury with 1:13 to go in the third quarter.

“[It was a] small sprain, she’s fine,” said Head Coach Ryan Thorne. “She thinks [she’ll be back for the first game of the playoffs]. I haven’t really spoken to everyone yet so I’m not 100 per cent sure, but we think so.”

Her presence might have made the difference in a game that, despite looking like a mismatch on paper (the Martlets came into the game with a 13-2 record, while UQAM was 8-6), featured the two teams currently ranked first and second in the Quebec conference playing as if they were battling for the top spot.

McGill built a nice lead in the first, finishing the quarter up 21-13, but the Citadins stormed back in the second, tying the game at 26 apiece. The game was tight from there, as every McGill run was answered by sharp shooting from UQAM.

In overtime, UQAM built a five-point lead but Martin, who hit a buzzer-beating three-point winner at Laval on January 28, converted a four-point play with 1:30 remaining to pull McGill within one. UQAM answered with a jumper but Francoise Charest sent the game to double overtime with a clutch three-pointer.

In double OT, McGill centre Valerie L’Ecuyer fought to keep her team in the game, scoring the Martlets’ first four points, but the Citadins pulled away with incredible shooting from Karine Boudrias, who nailed consecutive three-pointers, one from well beyond the arc.

The Martlets showed championship mettle by rallying yet again, as Martin scored two three-pointers in the final 11 seconds, which, along with a bricked free throw by the Citadins, cut the Martlet deficit to a single point. With a second to go however, the Martlets weren’t able to defend the inbounds pass and the Citadins escaped with the victory.

Next, McGill will advance to face Laval in the Quebec semi-final game. The Martlets will need to find a better balance of inside and outside scoring against a long Laval frontline that includes Marie-Michelle Genois, the third most prolific rebounder in the CIS, who’s averaging 10.6 boards per game.

The game will be held at Love Competition Hall on March 2 at 7 p.m.

McGill’s own White Knight

2011’s seniors’ night might as well have been called “Michael White Night,” as the graduating fifth-year forward set the tone on both ends of the floor throughout a defensive, grind-it-out 64-61 McGill win over the visiting UQAM Citadins.

White finished with 11 points on five of seven shooting from the field, a three-pointer, and seven rebounds (three offensive). Fellow senior Kyle Bernard scored six points and had Redmen game-highs in offensive boards (four) and assists (two).

“When you have seniors you’ve got to rely on [them], especially down the stretch in games,” Head Coach David DeAveiro said. “When we needed a big shot today, Michael hit a big shot, when we needed a big rebound, Michael got a big rebound. He was just doing what seniors are supposed to do but I’m glad he did it tonight in his last home game.”

Of the Redmen, only Winn Clark, who scored five points and brought some much needed hustle off the bench, and Tristan Renaud-Tremblay, who scored 15 with a variety of smooth spin moves in the post, joined White in shooting over 50 per cent. The team as a whole was mired in a shooting slump, hitting 35.4 per cent for the game.

Both teams’ offences were particularly anaemic in the first half, shooting a combined 10 for 35 and registering 45 total points. McGill led 23-22 heading into the third quarter.

The Citadins were able to gain a five-point lead in the third but Simon Bibeau hit a late jumper to bring the Redmen within three (39-42) heading into the final stanza.

In the fourth, McGill was able to start scoring with more of their customary regularity and opened up a five-point lead with 12 seconds remaining off of two clutch free-throws by Karim Sy-Morissette.

However Sy-Morissette, a defensive leader, made a mistake on the ensuing possession that nearly proved costly. With less than 10 seconds on the clock, UQAM’s Thierry Justin induced Sy-Morissette to leave his feet with a pump-fake, created contact for the foul, and managed to chuck in an ugly three-pointer for the potential four-point-play. Justin hit the free throw to cut the McGill lead to one.

After a McGill timeout, the Redmen  avoided a five-count on the inbound pass by getting the ball to big man Renaud-Tremblay, who had his defender sealed. Renaud-Tremblay, whose size gives him an advantage in catching inbounds   passes, has improved his accuracy from the line as of late. He’s shooting 66.7 per cent on the season, but 80 percent over the last three games. He iced the game by hitting both free throws for the final margin.

McGill plays next at Laval on March 1 at 7 p.m. in the Quebec Semifinal.