The Queen’s Gaels – led by Captain Spencer Abraham, Law’20, and advised by Assistant Coach Kevin Bailie, Law’19 – are OUA men’s hockey champions! They defeated the Guelph Gryphons 4-1 in the Queen’s Cup championship game on March 9 at the Memorial Centre in Kingston in front of a sell-out crowd of 2,800 fans. It’s the first time the Gaels have won the coveted Queen’s Cup since 1981.
The Gaels came out hard in the opening period, igniting the home crowd with big hits early in Saturday night's game. A few Gaels power-play chances came up empty handed, as the goalies stole the show in the first 20 minutes of play. Justin Fazio made 10 saves in the period for Queen's, while Andrew Masters made 11 for Guelph to keep the game scoreless heading into the first intermission.
Jaden Lindo solved Masters just 22 seconds after play restarted when Queen's started the period on the power play. Lindo deflected a Spencer Abraham point shot in close on the screened Guelph goalie to give the Gaels the lead. Just before the second period expired, Guelph's Marc Stevens brought his team level when his shot on goal slipped past Fazio.
The Queen’s Cup Champion would be decided in the final 20 minutes of play at the Memorial Centre. Scoring his fifth goal of the 2018-19 playoffs, Lindo snuck his second of the game past Masters on a sharp-angled shot as the Gaels regained the lead. Minutes later, Henry Thompson gave Queen's a two-goal cushion when he stepped into a wrist shot from the slot.
An empty-netter from Liam Dunda secured the victory for Queen’s, who claim the top spot in OUA men’s hockey for the first time in nearly 40 years.
The Gaels are now heading west to Lethbridge, Alberta, for the U SPORTS national championship as the OUA champions.
Queen’s Men’s Hockey Championships
Queen’s Cup – 1904 1906, 1909, 1910, 1914, 1981, 2019
Allan Cup – 1909
Stanley Cup Finalists (Challenge Era) – 1895, 1899, 1906
Queen’s Cup
The Ontario University Athletics Conference Men’s Hockey Champions receive the Queen’s Cup, first presented in 1903 by Queen’s University.
The Queen’s Cup is a trophy awarded annually to the champion in men’s ice hockey of the Ontario University Athletics conference of U SPORTS. It has been awarded since 1903 to the champion between Ontario and Quebec universities. It is the second-oldest ice hockey trophy still being awarded, after the Stanley Cup.
For the 1902–03 season, McGill University, Queen's University and the University of Toronto founded the Canadian Intercollegiate Hockey Union. The Queen's Cup, emblematic of the CIHU championship was donated by Queen’s University of Kingston, Ontario. The Queen’s Cup was not presented during the war years of 1915-16, 1916–17, 1917–18, 1918–19, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1943-44 and 1944-45.
The first winner other than the founders was the Université de Montréal in 1949. By the 1960s, other universities, including Ontario Agricultural College (Guelph), McMaster, Waterloo and Western were granted membership and became eligible to win the Cup. Other universities have since joined the CIHU, now known as the OUA conference. The original Cup was retired in 2000 to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Must See
M🏒 | @Spencer5Abraham please come and accept the Queen’s Cup #LeadTheWay pic.twitter.com/nxBS36t6Ql
— Queen's Gaels (@queensgaels) March 10, 2019
Final Say
M🏒| Post-game thoughts from the head coach of the Queen's Cup champion Gaels @Gibby72 📣
— Queen's Gaels (@queensgaels) March 10, 2019
—#LeadTheWay #QueensCup pic.twitter.com/EEnQQ41NXu
M🏒| Post-game thoughts from the Captain of the Queen's Cup champion Gaels @Spencer5Abraham 📣
— Queen's Gaels (@queensgaels) March 10, 2019
—#LeadTheWay #QueensCup pic.twitter.com/MPbjuE4BTp
Up Next
Both the Gaels and Gryphons will head to the U SPORTS national championship next week hosted by the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Visit www.usports.ca for full details on the seeding and schedule.
— Repurposed for Queen’s Law with permission from Queen’s Athletics