By Eliza Nwaesei
As the clock ran out and the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team were down by three points with no chance of making a comeback, the Saskatchewan Huskies clinched a 4-1 victory to claim the bronze medal at TD Place on Saturday afternoon, leaving the Bold empty-handed for the second year in a row.
Still reeling from a grueling seven-hour quarter-final against the Mount Royal Cougars and a semi-final loss to the Ottawa Gee-Gees, the Bold found themselves in a similar position to last season: fighting for bronze. An opportunity for redemption was in their midst as they faced the Huskies, who were defeated by the Concordia Stingers in a shutout game the previous round.
With championship hopes dashed, low morale was evident in both teams. Even in victory, the Huskies’ celebration was subdued, the emotions of a missed gold medal still lingering.
“It’s bittersweet,” said fifth-year forward Justin Ball, who was playing his last U Sports career game. “It’s nice to go out on top and finish our season—and in my career—with a win and a bronze medal. We’re still disappointed that we didn’t get the big one, but at the end of the day that’s hockey and we are going to just enjoy what we did here this weekend and go from there.”
For the Bold, the loss serves as a bittersweet ending to their season and to the tenures of celebrated seniors. After coming close last year, losing in overtime in both the Queen’s Cup Finals and the U Cup bronze medal game, this was the last dance for graduate forward Kevin Gursoy, captain and fourth-year forward Chris Playfair, graduate forward Matthew Kinash, fifth-year defender Matthew Barnes and fourth-year forward Jackson Doherty at bringing home a medal.
Lineup changes for the Bold meant Barnes played in place of third-year defenceman Liam Ross—who head coach Johnny Duco said was unable to play due to a concussion suffered in the game against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. As a result, Barnes got to play in his last-ever U Sports game after a four-year career with the Brock Badgers was capped off with doing his Master’s of Business Administration at TMU.
“It’s certainly sad and emotional to see them go, but I couldn’t be prouder of the legacy they left,” said Bold head coach Johnny Duco. “I’m really proud of the way this group put the program on the map.”
The Huskies controlled the pace early in the first period, peppering third-year Bold goaltender Kai Edmonds with shots. While struggling, the Bold saw their first shots on goal during the power play when second-year Huskies forward Ben Tkachuk took a penalty for roughing, but the Bold couldn’t capitalize.
The Huskies—who boasted a 31.6 per cent power play percentage and 90 per cent penalty kill percentage during the regular season—proved to be a menace as the nation’s best special teams units drove them to victory.
While being under relentless pressure from the Huskies’ lightning-quick offence midway through the first frame, Edmonds warded off an onslaught of shots, pulling moves that only gymnasts could dream of. His solid performance in the game earned him the player of the game award for the second time in the tournament.
The first period ended with aggression, tensions brimming and no goals.
Four minutes into the second period, the game erupted into a flurry of emotions and tempers, as the intensity of both teams reached a boiling point. Aggression and fouls seeped into TD Place when first-year Bold forward Jordan D’Intino firstly took a hit from fourth-year Huskies defenceman Parker Gavlas. While down on one knee, first-year forward Ashton Ferster’s verbal jabs led D’Intino to slash him on the back of the legs.
D’Intino was handed a slashing penalty and a 10-minute misconduct. In the chaos, players from both benches came off the ice, with first-year Bold forward Tyler Savard throwing punches at Gavlas, earning a rare nine-minute penalty and a game misconduct.
Huskies head coach Brandin Cote expressed his surprise at the officiating and unique penalty calls throughout the game.
“I’ve been around a long time, I played a lot of hockey and coached a lot of hockey and I’ve never seen that,” said Cote. “We practiced one minute power plays in practice a lot. To have seven, it’s almost too long,”
Despite successfully killing off a 5-on-3 situation, TMU couldn’t hold out forever. With two minutes left in the power play, Ball opened the scoring, blasting a shot past Edmonds off a feed from first-year forward Chase Bertholet.
Six minutes later, second-year defenceman Landon Kosior sniped a top-corner goal, extending the Huskies’ lead to 2-0.
The Bold broke through on the power play after second-year Huskies forward Keaton Sorenson was sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct. Gursoy capitalized—from a zipping cross-ice pass from first-year defenceman Joseph Ianniello—between the pads of fourth-year goaltender Roddy Ross, narrowing the difference with the score at 2-1.
In his final game with the Bold after five years—including a return to do his MBA this year after graduating last season—Gursoy scored the Bold’s lone goal, his second of the tournament.
“He’s a warrior, he’s a gamer,” said Duco. “Him and I have butted heads over the years, but always with good intentions. We love each other, I’d do anything for him.”
The third period became a battle of endurance. Already missing D’Intino and Savard for being ejected by the officials, TMU suffered another blow when third-year forward Ian Martin was ejected for gross misconduct, leaving them with an even shorter bench.
The chippiness of the game continued and despite a lack of scoring opportunities for the Bold, a notable player on the defensive side was fourth-year Bold defenceman Joe Rupoli. Through the team’s many and long penalty kills, he was relentless in blocking shots and clearing pucks—Duco acknowledged Rupoli’s play and revealed that he intends to return for a fifth year with the Bold next season.
“He blocks shots with his face, he blocks shots with every limb on his body and he leaves it all out there every single night,” said Duco. “[Rupoli] is a special guy, a key contributor and a big time leader for us and certainly someone we’re gonna have to lean on next year with a new crop of players coming in.”
With three minutes left in the game, fourth-year forward Aleks Dimovski took a penalty for interference when he lifted a Huskies player’s stick out of his hands. On the ensuing power play, Ball set up fifth-year forward Vince Loschiavo, who fired one into the net to secure Saskatchewan’s lead.
In a last-ditch effort, the Bold pulled Edmonds for an extra attacker, but it backfired. Loschiavo struck again, scoring his second goal of the game with an empty net goal.
“Couldn’t be prouder of the group and everything we’ve overcome this year,” said Duco. “It would have been very easy to say, ‘As many new players as we had, it’s a rebuild, it’s not our year’ but hey, we’ll be back in the future.”
The Huskies skated away with bronze, while the Bold were left facing the same fate as last year—just shy of the podium.
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