Friday:
On Friday, after splitting two away games over Thanksgiving weekend, the McGill Redmen opened their first game at home with a bang; a 6-0 victory over the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. This was the second straight shutout for goaltender Andrew Flemming, who made 28 saves for the clean sheet after recording a 37-save shutout against the University of Toronto on October 12.
It took a while for McGill to find the back of the net, but, in the last minute of the first period Jonathan Brunelle buried the leftovers of a scramble around the net to get the game’s first goal. Patrick Delisle-Houde, last year’s leading goal scorer, also contributed a goal to the winning effort alongside Neil Prokop, Mathieu Pompei, Guillaume Langelier-Parent, and Max Le Sieur.
Strengths:
The Redmen presented the physical style that they promised to deliver this season with some thunderous hits, and all-around solid defensive play. They skated well in transition, and used their speed to control the pace of play throughout the game. Andrew Flemming was easily McGill’s top player as he devoured all the pucks that were thrown his way. It was a very positionally sound game from McGill as the team always seemed to be in the right places at the right time. The penalty kill unit was outstanding as they were a perfect 10 for 10 including two 5-on-3 penalty kill situations. Andrew Flemming was especially good on the penalty kill, as the keeper stopped everything thrown his way in tough circumstances.
Weaknesses:
The Redmen got themselves out of trouble with their tremendous penalty killing, but if they continue to give up the same high number of penalties every game, their fortune will take a turn for the worse. McGill must be more disciplined if they hope to regain the former glory of their 2012 championship team.
Saturday:
On Saturday, the McGill goaltending position once again did not fail to impress. However, this time it was Jacob Gervais-Chouinard shutting the door on the UQTR Patriotes with a 41-save performance in a 3-0 Redmen victory, their third shutout victory in a row.
Jan Kaminsky, David Rose, and Ryan McKiernan netted the goals for the Redmen. The Redmen improved in the discipline area as they only took three penalties throughout the game.
Goalie Controversy?
With the outstanding play of both goalies, Andrew Flemming and Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, one must be wondering what type of goalie tandem McGill will have for this upcoming year. At press time, Flemming has posted a 0.98 Goals Against Average and a .968 save percentage in three games while Chouinard has his lone shutout victory. Although it’s early in the season, we can see that the duo has great potential to be a force in the Ontario University Athletics conference this year. If the Redmen can bank on having two legitimate starting goaltenders, that strength and their newly equipped offence should give them an added boost over last year’s struggles.
The Redmen continue their season on Friday with an away game on Friday at Carleton.