Scholars and Champions

During a wonderful weekend in the world of sports—including March Madness, the NHL playoff race, Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Invitational, Toronto FC’s home opener, and let’s not forget we’re still in the middle of curling season with Canada taking home silver from the Women’s World Curling Championships—one outstanding sporting event has fallen by the wayside for most casual sports fans. The Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Men’s Hockey University Cup being hosted by the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, NB provides some of the most exciting amateur hockey—or any hockey for that matter—you can find. And last night’s final between the McGill Redmen and the hometown UNB Varsity Reds lived up to that billing.

In the oft forgotten CIS hockey—comprised of the Atlantic University Sport, the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec, Ontario University Athletics, and Canada West conferences—the majority of the players that make up these teams have experience at the major junior level in the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL, while the rest were studs at the Tier II and Jr. B levels—with several being former NHL draft picks. CIS hockey is fast, hard-hitting, talented hockey that offers these guys a chance to continue to play the game they are passionate about and get a top-quality education. For most players this is where their hockey career will end as they pursue jobs in their field of study, but little by little more players are playing pro hockey after their four years in the CIS. Just think of current Nashville Predators forward Joel Ward, current Toronto Maple Leafs forward Darryl Boyce, and Embro, Ontario’s Cody Thornton who plays with his St. Mary’s University teammate Marc Rancourt for Landshut in Germany—among others.

You get it, the hockey is sick, now let’s get to last night’s final. The battle of the “Reds”—yeah, I made that up—between the second ranked Redmen from McGill and the favoured and first ranked Varsity Reds from the University of New Brunswick, saw the V-Reds take home the University Cup in a spirited title game. UNB capitalized on their chances and played a tough, hard-nosed game to come out on top 4-0 when it was all said and done. The difference for UNB was undoubtedly goaltender Travis Fullerton, who was unbeatable stopping all 28 shots he faced—making some highlight reel saves to keep his team in front at crucial moments. Also coming up big was defenseman Luke Gallant who led the way in scoring with a goal and two assists. It was a dominant performance by Head Coach Gardiner McDougall’s team who made it clear from the outset of the season, his team would not be satisfied with anything less than a national championship.

However, the real story here isn’t the tremendous play by Fullerton, or the players moving on to play pro, or the dynasty UNB is in the middle of, rather its the fact that these guys play a full season traveling hundreds of kilometres and are still expected to perform in the classroom. The grind is tough enough as an athlete to practice, workout, and perform at your highest level over a seven-month season without worrying about essays, group projects, and exams. The wear and tear student-athletes go through physically, mentally, and emotionally is something only a few truly appreciate. For UNB—and the rest of the CIS athletes—to fight through all the ups and downs of their season along with the rigors of performing academically over two semesters, something needs to be said. What keeps student-athletes so focused? Its passion, they have a passion for the sport they love and sacrifice a lot to be able to continue to play at such a high level and juggle everything else in their lives. That kind of dedication and focus is something to marvel and my hat goes off to anyone that can win a national championship while excelling academically.

Congratulations to the V-Reds, no hangover in the world could make them feel less than awesome waking up as national champions.