Notebook from the CIS men's hockey championships
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FREDERICTON, NB -- Among the Redmen grads who made the long trip to Fredericton for the CIS men's hockey championship tourney were former captains Ken Morin and Mike Nelson (alumni president). Morin, who now works for the Habs in hockey operations, hopped a flight on Sunday morning to see the gold medal game. Nelson e-mailed an annual fundraising appeal for the team and over 60 Redmen grads responded, including current NHL coaches Mike Babcock (Detroit) and Jamie Kompon (Los Angeles), plus Tampa Bay coaches Guy Boucher and Martin Raymond...
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Behind the bench for the winning side was UNB assistant coach Steven Pearce, who played for seasons with ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ before graduating and moving back to his hometown to pursue grad studies at UNB...
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Spotted among the faces in the crowd during the week was Allyn Hunter, a Fredericton native and ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ grad who served as the team's equipment manager in the 1990s...
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First-year ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ head coach Kelly Nobes was caught chuckling by Rogers Sportsnet cameras during the third period of Saturday's win over Alberta... The PA announcer had just called out the winning number in the 50/50 draw and the winning ticket was held by Kelly's younger brother Kent, who pocketed a $2,652 pay day... The Redmen bench boss suffered his first loss of the post-season while wearing his lucky charm, a hand-carved belt-buckle made by a cousin of his in British Columbia. The belt buckle made its debut around Nobes waist in the first game of the OUA playoffs. He wore it for five straight victories before putting it aside in game 2 of the OUA East best-of-three final in trois-Rivieres... After the Redmen suffered a 6-1 loss to UQTR, Nobes opted to wear the lucky charm for the remainder of post-season play. He now owns a 9-1 record when wearing the belt fastener...
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After qualifiying for the final with a win over Alberta on Saturday, the Redmen players each threw $20 in the pot to fly out student manager Alex Lunan for the gold medal game... Lunan was supposed to be with the team but fell ill and had to cancel a day before the team left for Fredericton last Tuesday... Pinch-hitting for him at the last minute was Ron Perowne, a former football player with the Alouettes who also skated for ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ in 1973-74... Perowne, put aside his life for a week to help out and did yeomen service for the Red & White, helping drive the team's gear (along with equipment manager Earl Hawke) in a rented van from Montreal to Fredericton and back, while the rest of the team flew both ways...
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The Madill family had a tough time deciding who to cheer for in the UNB-±«ÓãÖ±²¥ final... Herb Madill and his son Lucas each skated and coached for both schools and were seen daily at the tournament wearing each school's jersey, alternating every day... Herb, who was just named to UNB's all-decade for the 1960s, captained the Redmen in 1971-72, then coached the team for eight years...
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The four-day event drew a total of 24,941 spectators over seven games, including sellots of 3,760 for all three UNB games.
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012
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