The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds played in the final game of the Canadian University Cup for the second year in a row Sunday night. Last year they were victorious, this year they suffered defeat.
Michael Ouzas, their goalie and long-time Jon Elkin's Goalie Schools student, was named the Tournament All-Star goaltender but said, "I would exchange all the personal hardware for the Championship trophy". The feeling of exhilaration and accomplishment that he possessed last year gave way yesterday to disappointment and the lingering thought that only subsides with time, "If only I could have made one more stop".
Making just one more stop would have been a tall order. The winning goal, scored with 8:27 minutes left in the third period, was a powerplay marker that would have been tough for anyone to thwart.
An Alberta Golden Bears' forward walked out of the corner on an attempted wrap-around on Mike's glove side. Ouzas played it perfectly with the player having some room to step out. Mike took away the opponent's ice and went paddle down to seal off the short side. The rebound popped out far side to Ian McDonald who one-timed it into the open side. McDonald, who was the Tournament MVP with 4 goals and 2 assists, was in the right place at the right time. Not much "Ouzie" could have done.
The first two goals were also difficult plays. Goal one came in the first period on a pass-out to a forward to Mike's right. The player then drove to the net unobstructed making a move far side and then reversing it back short side for a nice deke.
In the second frame, a pass-out and a point blank one-timer that hit the far post and went in beat Ouzas to tie the game at two. UNB almost tied the game with 1:40 minutes left in the game when one of their players rang a one-timer from the slot off the far post.
The game was reminiscent of this year's Superbowl where undefeated New England lost a hard fought battle in the Championship to the Giants ending a storybook season. Prior to the game, UNB was riding a 23 game win streak.
Having won the Championship the year before, Ouzas's team entered the final game with a 5-0 record over the two years. In those five matches, "Ouzie" had relinquished a mere four goals. But the great thing about sports is you never know, anything can happen. When it does, one is left with either one of the greatest sensations in the world or with a numbness that is pervasive to the core.
"Ouzie" did everything he could to repeat as National Champ. In the Tournament's first game, he held his team in early as they came out somewhat flat. Mike stopped 20 of 21 shots in the 6-1 victory over Brock University. The semi-final game was a 4-0 shutout versus Saskatewan in which Ouzas made 23 stops. He finished the Tournament with a sensational .941 save percentage and a stingy 1.33 goals against average.
The win by second ranked Alberta earned the school a record 13 Canadian Men's University Hockey National titles.
