Brian Smith, courtesy UNB Athletics
As many McGillians know, hockey was actually invented at our alma mater. However, it wasn’t until last Sunday that the McGill Redmen, in the program’s 136th season, took home their very first national title.
Team captain Evan Vossen scored six minutes into overtime, leading the team to a 4-3 victory over the Western University Mustangs in the 2012 Cavendish University Cup final in Fredericton, N.B.
The victory was particularly satisfying for the Redmen after last year’s close call, when they reached the national title game but lost out to the University of New Brunswick.
After finishing the 2011-12 regular season with the nation’s best record in conference play (22-4-2), and the most goals per game, the Redmen were poised to win big.
The win triggered an outpouring of enthusiasm from alumni and fans around the world.
“I got at least 150 messages from former players alone before I got on the plane from Fredericton,” said Earl Zukerman, Athletics and Recreation communications officer. “This has touched so many people. It’s incredible.”
The Twitterverse was also buzzing over the win, with tweets from, among others, former McGill star and current Montreal Canadien Mathieu Darche, BCom’00:
@matdarche52 Great job by mcGill redmen. Congrats on national championship!!!!!
@Sz1909_Szemberg HOCKEY HISTORY: McGill Redmen win 1st national title in 135 years – in OT. So waiting for #Habs since 1993 can’t be that bad
@smsaideman McGill Redmen win men’s university hockey championship–guess I will not penalize one of their players who missed a quiz for the tourney
@aronsolomon Proud that @McGill just won their first national hockey championship in school history. My grandfather played for the Redmen in the 1920s.
The men’s hockey win was the icing on the cake after one of the most successful seasons of all time for McGill’s varsity teams.
This year, in fact, McGill sports teams had their strongest presence ever in playoff competition, with both the men’s and women’s hockey teams, both basketball squads and the women’s volleyball team all playing in a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship tournament. This was the first time in history that McGill had five teams simultaneously in the playoffs. And for the volleyballers, it marked their first championship appearance in fifteen years.
We salute all our McGill athletes and congratulate them on their great and numerous successes this season.
March 29th, 2012 at 7:39 pm
Congrats to the Redmen for the BIG win. With Boucher & Redmond leading our Tampa Bay Lightning down here in Tampa, they were very excited about the win. Great for the Mc Gill hockey program. Brought back many good memories from my days playing for the Redmen in the 1958/59 & 59/60 seasons.
March 30th, 2012 at 10:18 pm
i am 65 and we just won our league championship
so tell the boys to enjoy it they really deserved it this year and keep playing until you are
85 or so
keep the spirit skating
well done guys
mcgill dentistry 1970
March 31st, 2012 at 10:36 am
Congratulations to the McGill Redmen!!!
To the coach and his assistants well done!!!
Kimon Christopoulos
April 1st, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Well done hockey players and all of the athletes and supporters of the McGill teams.
Keep up the spirit.