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By Earl Zukerman

MONTREAL – The perennial Battle of Quebec in men’s university hockey begins Wednesday (Mar. 4) when visiting McGill (22-9-2) takes on the top-seeded UQTR (26-5-3) in an OUA East conference best-of-three final series at Le Colisée in Trois-Rivières.

Game 2 of the series is slated for McConnell Arena on Friday and a rubber match, if necessary, will be back in Trois-Rivières Sunday night. All games are scheduled for 7 p.m.

At stake will be an automatic berth at the CIS championships in Thunder Bay, Ont., which McGill is attempting to reach for the third time in four years.

The Patriotes have won 11 of the previous 13 post-season series between these arch-rivals, winning six of eight in the conference finals. McGill, the defending league champions, has captured the last two playoff reunions, sweeping both OUA East final series 2-0, in 2006 and again last year.

This season, the teams split their four meetings, with the Pats winning the first two (7-3 at McConnell and 3-2 in OT at Le Colisée) and McGill winning the last two matchups (4-3 in OT at home, 4-3 on the road). In those four games combined, UQTR outshot McGill 148-132, outscored the Redmen 16-13 and went 6-for-26 on the powerplay (23.1%). McGill was 5-for-28 with the man-advantage (17.9%) and allowed one shorthanded marker.

Despite finishing tied for the OUA points lead, the Patriotes slumped down the stretch, winning just two of their last seven regular season games. During their semifinal series against Carleton, UQTR lost 4-2 at home in Game 1 and bounced back to won 2-1 on the road and 5-4 in double-overtime at home. .

Rookie centre Francis Charland of Victoriaville, Que., led the Pats with three goals and a pair of helpers in the series against Carleton. Sophomore centre Jean-Sebastien Breton of Pincourt, Que., scored the series-clinching goal against the Ravens after 22:45 of overtime.

McGill, which features 14 rookies on their roster, ended the regular season on a tear, winning eight of nine games. After going a full three games against Ottawa in the quarterfinals, McGill has won three straight contests, including a two-game sweep over Toronto (3-2 and 6-3).

Freshman centre Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que.), has taken the Redmen under his wings with five goals in five games. And rookie goaltender Kevin Desfossés, a native of Beauport, Que., who was an all-star with the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts last year, has been strong between the pipes for McGill since joining the team in January. He was 6-2 with a 2.09 goal-against average and a .920 save percentage during the season. In playoffs, he is 3-1 with a 2.00 GAA and a .915 percentage.

Since a Quebec team is not permitted to host the OUA championship game, the winner of the OUA Western Conference series between Laurier and Western, will host the East winner in a sudden-death matchup for the Queen’s Cup on March 14.

OUA MEN’S HOCKEY CONFERENCE FINALS

Wed., Mar. 4
7 p.m. – McGill @ UQTR (Game 1)
8 p.m. – Western @ Laurier (Game 1)

Fri., Mar. 6
7 p.m. – UQTR @ McGill (Game 2)

Sat., Mar. 7
7:30 p.m. – Laurier @ Western (Game 2)

Sun., Mar. 8
7 p.m. – McGill @ UQTR (Game 3, if necessary)
7:30 p.m. – Western @ Laurier (Game 3, if necessary)