By Barb Karadimos
When the final buzzer sounded, it was the scene on the ice that told the story as the Moncton Aigles Bleus defeated the Guelph Gryphons 5-1 to win the University Cup at Maple Leaf Gardens Sunday night.
There were hugs and slaps on the back; players skating around with the school flag draped over their shoulders; sticks, helmets and gloves strewn all over the ice; and a parade of Moncton players kissing the Cup they enver believed would be theirs at the beginning of the season.
The other end of the rink painted a different picture. Guelph players wiped away tears and consoled each other. Several skated in circles hunched over, wondering why it had to happen two years in a row.
After both teams beat the favourites—Moncton defeated Western 5-4 and Guelph downed the Calgary Dinosaurs 4-1 in semifinal action—the stage was set for a final where anything could happen. But the ghost of 1994, when Guelph lost to Lethbridge 5-2 in the Final, would come back to haunt the Gryphons in the form of missed opportunities.
Early in the first period, the Gryphons were all over the Aigles Bleus but couldn’t finish any of their plays and only got a few quality shots on goaltender Pierre Gagnon.
The Aigles Bleus didn’t get a shot on net until halfway through the first, but they made sure it was worth waiting for. A shot by Patrick Caron from the top of the face-off circle whipped through George Dourian’s legs and made it 1-0 for Moncton. A Guelph penalty right after the play proved deadly, Dominic Rheaume parked himself at the side of the net and tucked in a rebound off Dourian’s arm to make it 2-0 for the Aigles Bleus.
Special teams were the key for the Aigles Bleus, as Patrick Caron backhanded a shot from the slot on the power play for his second goal of the game to put Moncton up 3-0 in the second.
The Aigles Bleus slammed the nail in Guelph’s coffin with Peter Jacob’s short-handed goal opening up the third period. Dominic Rheaume, who was named tournament MVP, closed out the scoring for Moncton with his second goal of the night.
Gagnon’s bid for the first shutout in a FInal in 20 years was spoiled by Brad Haelzle halfway through the third, but it was a minor disappointment as the Aigles Bleus celebrated the fourth CIAU title in the University of Moncton’s history.
In the dressing room after the game, coaches and players were doused with beer and Gatorade. In a relatively quiet corner of the room, coach Pete Belliveau reflected on his team’s victory.
“I think Marv Levy said it best when he said ‘Offence will sell you tickets, defence will win you games, but you win championships with special teams.'”
Belliveau also said he thought that the underestimation of his team by opponents helped their playoff run. “On paper, we’re a fairly good team but nobody took us seriously. And rightly so—we didn’t have a good first half, we were 7-5-2. But in the second half we did a lot of mental preparation and off-ice conditioning and we just kept on rolling through the playoffs. Everything just fell into place and our character came through.
Gryphon’s coach Marlin Muylaert didn’t dispute his opponent’s strength, but couldn’t help but wonder whether it could have gone either way. “It was a winnable hockey game,” he said. “We just weren’t going after them like we did Calgary. It was a confidence and momentum factor and we couldn’t make confidence and momentum work for us tonight.”
Guelph goalie Dourian took the loss the hardest. After playing brilliantly all season and overcoming injury to make it to the final, Dourian saw his dream slip away on the strength of two soft goals.
“We could have had it,” an emotional Dourian said outside the Guelph dressing room, long after most of the players had left. “I wish I could turn back time and have done something about the first two goals…but that’s the way it went,” he said, taking a deep breath and struggling to compose himself. “I just can’t describe it. It’s a devastating feeling.”
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