V-Reds take commanding series lead vs. Aigles Bleus
March 9, 2012
FREDERICTON – Thursday night the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds took a commanding 2-0 lead in the 2012 Subway Atlantic University Sport men's hockey championship with a hard fought 4-2 win over provincial rival Université de Moncton. UNB captain Kyle Bailey led the V-Reds offence with two power play goals and an assist while les Aigles Bleus goalie P-A Marion made 34 saves in the loss.
The 2785 fans at the Aitken University Centre saw a much more physical start to the game than the night before as both teams got down to business early. Despite UNB having the early scoring chances it was Moncton who got on the scoreboard first at 8:04 when the V-Reds got sloppy in their own zone and Guillaaume Parenteau (Boucherville, QC) was all alone in front of the net to bury the puck past Travis Fullerton (Riverview, NB). UNB kept up their strong forecheck and were rewarded ten minutes later when Christopher Guay (Pont Rouge, QC) took a tripping penalty. On the power play defenceman Jonathan Harty (Oromocto, NB) pinched deep into the Moncton zone with the puck and fed a pass to Kyle Bailey (Ponoka, AB) in the slot. Bailey battled two defenders for position and with his back to P-A Marion (Gatineau, QC) backhanded the puck into the corner of the net.
As time expired in the first period Charles Bergeron (St. Joseph de Coleraine, QC) drove Harty from behind awkwardly into the boards by the UNB bench, and then as he was being escorted to the penalty box he got into a bit of a wrestling match with a linesman as he tried to turn back towards the action when his teammate Samueal Groulx (Gatineau, QC) started pushing and shoving with UNB’s Josh Kidd (Sundridge, ON). Bergeron was only given two minutes for boarding. UNB doubled up Moncton 14-7 in shots in the first period.
UNB didn’t do much with the power play to start the second period, as they were out-chanced by the Moncton penalty kill. Shortly have the man advantage ended Bailey was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and UdeM took their turn on the power play. The V-Reds killed that off and then half a minute later Harty left a point shot go from just inside the blue line and along the ice that appeared to fool Marion, and put UNB in the lead. At 6:16 Bailey won the faceoff in the offensive zone back to Luke Gallant (Bedford, NS,) and he blasted a well-aimed shot through a crowd of bodies that Marion had no chance on.
Moncton had almost killed a minute of a penalty near the nine minute park when the puck squirted through the neutral zone just ahead of Moncton’s Marc-Andre Cote. Fullerton came flying out of his net to the top of the circle to try to win the race for the puck. He won the race and took the skates out from under Cote all in the same motion. As the action went back the other way Cote got to his skates and as he went by Fullerton he gave him a shot to the upper body and was called for goalie interference. In some of the pushing and shoving afterwards Harty came away with the only additional penalty – a 10-minute misconduct. UNB’s 5-on-3 power play lasted about 30 seconds before Bailey was called for slashing. Two minutes later Gallant was called for holding and UdeM got a turn on the power play. They made it count, as Eric Faille (Lachine, QC) walked out of the corner and stickhandled right to the net for the goal to draw Moncton within one at 12:59.
Less than a minute after the goal Shayne Wiebe (Brandon, MB) picked up a double-minor for high sticking and les Aigles Bleus were back on the power play. UNB did a great job on the penalty kill, and late in the second minor Bergeron was forced to take an Interference penalty when a V-Red was about to blow by him on a partial break. Fullerton was involved in another race for the puck just past the 18 minute mark, coming out almost to the blue line. This time the puck came loose with the UNB goalie badly out of position, and defenceman Gallant was forced to make a goal-saving move to get to the puck first close by the open V-Reds net, and better yet, he sprung the UNB forwards on a rush the other way. Wiebe raced up the left side of the ice, circled behind the Moncton net, and fed a pass to Bailey who beat Marion with a quick shot to cap a very dramatic play on a very scrabbly power play.
While UNB outshot Moncton 15-10 in the second period, there were a lot fewer shots on goal by either team in the third period as the Varsity Reds did their best to keep Moncton bottled up in their own zone. UNB’s best scoring chance came early in the period, at 1:50, when a perfect stretch pass gave Wiebe a breakaway from the blue line, but he couldn’t deke out Marion. However Wiebe was wearing the goat horns at 9:09 when he speared Alex Quesnel (Dorval, QC) in the neutral zone and handed Moncton a four minute power play to try the game. The V-Reds penalty killers were up to the task, and Moncton didn’t really have another good scoring chance in the game, including the last minute with Marion on the bench for the extra attacker. The shots in the final period were 9-5 for UNB, and 38-22 in the game.
UdeM was 1-for-6 on the power play while UNB went 2-for-7 with the man advantage. One improvement for UNB from the night before was faceoffs, with the home side having a 43-23 edge.
After the game V-Reds captain Kyle Bailey was asked about the high intensity of the series, considering that both teams already have berths at the Cavendish University Cup. He replied, “We’ve been in this scenario a couple of times before where both teams from the AUS were going to Nationals. It seems to be in the media that they try to build it down, like it’s not something, but everyone that’s been part of this you fight tooth and nail. I mean there’s a lot of pride on the line and playing in this league five years I have a real keen understanding of how hard it is to win the AUS and how much of a privilege it is to win the AUS. We’ll be trying to do everything we can to win on Sunday and I’m sure they’ll be trying to do the same.”
Similarly UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall said, “We expected a one or two goal game tonight. We knew there would be a good response. That’s what the AUS finals are all about. You’ve got two good teams battling for inches and you hope you win some inches to get some feet.”
Game 3 goes Sunday night at 7:00 pm in Moncton, and if there’s a Game 4 it will be Tuesday at 7:00 pm, also in Moncton.
The 2785 fans at the Aitken University Centre saw a much more physical start to the game than the night before as both teams got down to business early. Despite UNB having the early scoring chances it was Moncton who got on the scoreboard first at 8:04 when the V-Reds got sloppy in their own zone and Guillaaume Parenteau (Boucherville, QC) was all alone in front of the net to bury the puck past Travis Fullerton (Riverview, NB). UNB kept up their strong forecheck and were rewarded ten minutes later when Christopher Guay (Pont Rouge, QC) took a tripping penalty. On the power play defenceman Jonathan Harty (Oromocto, NB) pinched deep into the Moncton zone with the puck and fed a pass to Kyle Bailey (Ponoka, AB) in the slot. Bailey battled two defenders for position and with his back to P-A Marion (Gatineau, QC) backhanded the puck into the corner of the net.
As time expired in the first period Charles Bergeron (St. Joseph de Coleraine, QC) drove Harty from behind awkwardly into the boards by the UNB bench, and then as he was being escorted to the penalty box he got into a bit of a wrestling match with a linesman as he tried to turn back towards the action when his teammate Samueal Groulx (Gatineau, QC) started pushing and shoving with UNB’s Josh Kidd (Sundridge, ON). Bergeron was only given two minutes for boarding. UNB doubled up Moncton 14-7 in shots in the first period.
UNB didn’t do much with the power play to start the second period, as they were out-chanced by the Moncton penalty kill. Shortly have the man advantage ended Bailey was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and UdeM took their turn on the power play. The V-Reds killed that off and then half a minute later Harty left a point shot go from just inside the blue line and along the ice that appeared to fool Marion, and put UNB in the lead. At 6:16 Bailey won the faceoff in the offensive zone back to Luke Gallant (Bedford, NS,) and he blasted a well-aimed shot through a crowd of bodies that Marion had no chance on.
Moncton had almost killed a minute of a penalty near the nine minute park when the puck squirted through the neutral zone just ahead of Moncton’s Marc-Andre Cote. Fullerton came flying out of his net to the top of the circle to try to win the race for the puck. He won the race and took the skates out from under Cote all in the same motion. As the action went back the other way Cote got to his skates and as he went by Fullerton he gave him a shot to the upper body and was called for goalie interference. In some of the pushing and shoving afterwards Harty came away with the only additional penalty – a 10-minute misconduct. UNB’s 5-on-3 power play lasted about 30 seconds before Bailey was called for slashing. Two minutes later Gallant was called for holding and UdeM got a turn on the power play. They made it count, as Eric Faille (Lachine, QC) walked out of the corner and stickhandled right to the net for the goal to draw Moncton within one at 12:59.
Less than a minute after the goal Shayne Wiebe (Brandon, MB) picked up a double-minor for high sticking and les Aigles Bleus were back on the power play. UNB did a great job on the penalty kill, and late in the second minor Bergeron was forced to take an Interference penalty when a V-Red was about to blow by him on a partial break. Fullerton was involved in another race for the puck just past the 18 minute mark, coming out almost to the blue line. This time the puck came loose with the UNB goalie badly out of position, and defenceman Gallant was forced to make a goal-saving move to get to the puck first close by the open V-Reds net, and better yet, he sprung the UNB forwards on a rush the other way. Wiebe raced up the left side of the ice, circled behind the Moncton net, and fed a pass to Bailey who beat Marion with a quick shot to cap a very dramatic play on a very scrabbly power play.
While UNB outshot Moncton 15-10 in the second period, there were a lot fewer shots on goal by either team in the third period as the Varsity Reds did their best to keep Moncton bottled up in their own zone. UNB’s best scoring chance came early in the period, at 1:50, when a perfect stretch pass gave Wiebe a breakaway from the blue line, but he couldn’t deke out Marion. However Wiebe was wearing the goat horns at 9:09 when he speared Alex Quesnel (Dorval, QC) in the neutral zone and handed Moncton a four minute power play to try the game. The V-Reds penalty killers were up to the task, and Moncton didn’t really have another good scoring chance in the game, including the last minute with Marion on the bench for the extra attacker. The shots in the final period were 9-5 for UNB, and 38-22 in the game.
UdeM was 1-for-6 on the power play while UNB went 2-for-7 with the man advantage. One improvement for UNB from the night before was faceoffs, with the home side having a 43-23 edge.
After the game V-Reds captain Kyle Bailey was asked about the high intensity of the series, considering that both teams already have berths at the Cavendish University Cup. He replied, “We’ve been in this scenario a couple of times before where both teams from the AUS were going to Nationals. It seems to be in the media that they try to build it down, like it’s not something, but everyone that’s been part of this you fight tooth and nail. I mean there’s a lot of pride on the line and playing in this league five years I have a real keen understanding of how hard it is to win the AUS and how much of a privilege it is to win the AUS. We’ll be trying to do everything we can to win on Sunday and I’m sure they’ll be trying to do the same.”
Similarly UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall said, “We expected a one or two goal game tonight. We knew there would be a good response. That’s what the AUS finals are all about. You’ve got two good teams battling for inches and you hope you win some inches to get some feet.”
Game 3 goes Sunday night at 7:00 pm in Moncton, and if there’s a Game 4 it will be Tuesday at 7:00 pm, also in Moncton.