Holly Stewart
Holly StewartWhat used to be an anomaly is now the norm: the McGill Redmen are perennial National Championship contenders. The 2010-2011 season was a historic one for the Redmen hockey team as McGill qualified for its fifth National Championship in six years and played in the national title game for the first time in the program’s history. McGill also set a school record with 38 wins and led the CIS with an average of 5.08 goals per game.
CIS MVP Alexandre Picard-Hooper and linemates Francis Verreault-Paul and Andrew Wright once again led the Redmen offence. What allowed McGill to put together the highest goals-for total in all of CIS hockey this year was the secondary scoring of players like Maxime Langlier-Parent, a vital contributor in McGill’s long postseason run. Stellar defence from a corps led by captain Evan Vossen and strong goaltending from Hubert Morin were also key elements in a near perfect mixture for first-year Head Coach Kelly Nobes. McGill defeated Western for a second straight Queen’s Cup title before dispatching St. FX and Alberta en route to the national final.
This season will go down in history—at least until next year, when the strong core returns for another shot at the University Cup. While the Redmen ultimately fell in the championship game to the top-ranked University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds, optimism abounds for McGill as they are well positioned to take another run at the cup. Expectations are high as the Redmen have their sights set on the top prize.
Record: 24-2-2
MVP: Alexandre Picard-Hooper
Player to Watch: Ryan McKiernan
