Ã山ǿ¼é

By Earl Zukerman

HAMILTON, Ont. – Six members of the Ã山ǿ¼é Redmen are among the honourees as Ontario University Athletics announced their 2008-09 men’s hockey all-stars and major award winners, Wednesday.

Freshman Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., senior Eric L’Italien of Ste. Foy, Que., and head coach Martin Raymond were all recipients of major awards, while seniors Ken Morin of St. Prosper, Que., and Sam Bloom of Toronto both earned a berth with Picard-Hooper on the OUA East Conference second all-star team.

Picard-Hooper, who led all OUA rookies with 36 points in 28 games, including 10 goals, also received the conference rookie-of-the-year nomination and earned all-rookie honours along with teammate Marc-Andre Dorion, a rearguard St. Hubert, Que., who was invited to the NHL’s Dallas Stars rookie camp last September.

L’Italien, a fifth-year right winger and co-captain, is the OUA East nominee for the Randy Gregg trophy, presented to the CIS player who best combines academics with hockey and community service. A solid two-way player who is arguably the fastest skater in the league, L'Italien earned 13 points in 17 regular season games. An Academic All-Canadian and second-year law student, he volunteers with the Montreal police force and other organizations to promote the importance of combining school and sports with youth groups. He also offers his time for legal advice to Ã山ǿ¼é students, among other supporting groups in the Ã山ǿ¼é community.

Raymond, in his 14th season as bench boss of the Redmen, is the OUA East coach of the year. A native of Pierrefonds, Que., who now resides in Ste-Basile-le-Grande on the south shore of Montreal, guided the Redmen to an 18-8-2 record despite losing nine veterans from last year’s league championship team. Raymond’s troop upset UQTR last week to capture the OUA East Conference title and a berth in the OUA Queen’s Cup final in London this Saturday. They also qualified for the CIS championship tournament in Thunder Bay, Ont., March 21-23.

Morin, also a co-captain and a defensive stalwart on the blueline, earned second-team all-star status. He tallied 13 points, including three goals – two of them game-winners.

Bloom, tied for the team league in goals with 14 and was second among Redmen scoring leaders with 34 points in 16 contests.

UQTR right winger Jonathan Boutin of La Pocatière, Que., who led the conference with 21 goals and 52 points, headlines the first all-star team and was named conference MVP.

Ottawa’s Dan McDonald of New Liskeard, Ont., was voted the conference’s most sportsmanlike player and merited all-star status.

Joining Boutin and McDonald on the all-conference squad was UQTR teammates Alexandre Demers of Laurier Station, Que., and Tommy Lafontaine, a defenceman from Chesterville, Que., plus U of T rearguard Ed Snetsinger of Ajax, Ont., and Queen's goaltender Brady Morrison of Thamesville, Ont.

Joining Picard-Hooper, Bloom and Morin on the second team was Concordia forward Mike Baslyk of Montreal, Que., and Varsity Blues defenceman Brendan Sherrard of Toronto and UQTR goaltender Jean-Christophe Blanchard of Trois-Rivières, Que.

Blanchard made the all-rookie squad, along with Picard-Hooper and Dorion, plus Concordia’s Nicolas D'Aoust of Lorraine, Que., Toronto’s Byron Elliott of Burlington, Ont., and Carleton defencemen Christian Boudeau-Mifflen of Ottawa, Ont.) of Carleton.

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2008-09 OUA EAST CONFERENCE HOCKEY ALL-STARS & AWARDS:
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EAST MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Jonathan Boutin (UQTR)



EAST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Alexandre Picard-Hooper (Ã山ǿ¼é)



EAST MOST SPORTSMANLIKE PLAYER: Dan McDonald (Ottawa)



EAST RANDY GREGG AWARD NOMINEE: Eric L'Italien (Ã山ǿ¼é)



EAST COACH OF THE YEAR: Martin Raymond (Ã山ǿ¼é)



EAST FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS

F - Jonathan Boutin (UQTR)

F - Alexandre Demers (UQTR)

F - Dan McDonald (Ottawa)

D - Tommy Lafontaine (UQTR)

D - Ed Snetsinger (Toronto)

G - Brady Morrison (Queen's)



EAST SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

F - Mike Baslyk (Concordia)

F - Sam Bloom (Ã山ǿ¼é)

F - Alexandre Picard-Hooper (Ã山ǿ¼é)

D - Ken Morin (Ã山ǿ¼é)

D - Brendan Sherrard (Toronto)

G - Jean-Christophe Blanchard (UQTR)



EAST ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

F - Nicolas D'Aoust (Concordia)

F - Byron Elliott (Toronto)

F - Alexandre Picard-Hooper (Ã山ǿ¼é)

D - Christian Boudeau-Mifflen (Carleton)

D - Marc-Andre Dorion (Ã山ǿ¼é)

G - Jean-Christophe Blanchard (UQTR)





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2008-09 OUA WEST CONFERENCE HOCKEY ALL-STARS & AWARDS:

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WEST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Josh Vatri (UOIT)



WEST MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Mark Voakes (Laurier)



WEST MOST SPORTSMANLIKE PLAYER: Salvatore Peralta (Western)



WEST RANDY GREGG AWARD NOMINEE: Andrew Brown (Lakehead)



WEST COACH OF THE YEAR: Kevin Hamlin (Windsor)



WEST FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS

F - Chris Ray (Waterloo)

F - Jean-Michel Rizk (Laurier)

F - Mark Voakes (Laurier)

D - Chris Petrow (Western)

D - Kyle Sonnenburg (Waterloo)

G - Jim Watt (Windsor)



WEST SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

F - Brock McPherson (Lakehead)

F - Salvatore Peralta (Western)

F - Nick Vergeer (Laurier)

D - Ryan Martinelli (Western)

D - Jordan Smith (Lakehead)

G - Jeff MacDougald (Laurier)



WEST ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

F - Kevin Baker (Western)

F - Scott Restoule (York)

F - Josh Vatri (UOIT)

D - Phil Magistrale (Laurier)

D - Mike Noyes (UOIT)

G - Pier-Olivier Pelletier (Waterloo)



SOURCE:


Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Dept. of Athletics & Recreation, Room 225 B
Ã山ǿ¼é
475 Pine Avenue W.,
Montreal, QC H2W 1S4
CANADA
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
514-398-1956 (Fax)