Canada

Moving Women’s Sports from the Margins to the Living Room

Published on Elle Beaver – March 20, 2014

Close to 13 million Canadians tuned in to watch the women’s hockey gold medal game at last month’s Olympics, with a peak of 6.37 million viewers in the dying minutes when Canada mounted their incredible comeback against the U.S.

During the previous summer games in London, 3.8 million watched the semi-final soccer match between the same two nations.

So please, say again that women’s sports are boring. Or that the players aren’t as athletic or skilled. Or the games aren’t competitive.

The numbers don’t lie. It has been a slow progression, but Canadians are showing that such criticisms are outdated, and more to the point, founded in thin air.

With the Canadian Interuniversity Sport winter championship season in full swing, Rogers has reached out to provide Canada’s top student athletes a national stage. Two weeks ago, the men’s basketball championship was broadcast on Sportsnet, while the semi-finals were on Sportsnet360. This past weekend, the women’s basketball tournament had two semis and one final game on SN360, while the women’s hockey gold medal game was also broadcast on SN360.

Of course, the fact that Rogers’ SportsnetU programming is showing any winter championships is progress in and of itself, as broadcasting anything aside OUA football games of the week and national football playoffs was generally unheard of before this year.

Taking on a new direction, however, Sportsnet broadcasted the semi-finals and title games of the men’s and women’s basketball and men’s hockey championships, as well as the final game of the women’s hockey championship. It’s high time that our amateur student athletes get a greater national spotlight, but in a hockey crazy market that broadcasts the Tier II Junior “A” championship tournament across the country, the fact that the university championship for basketball is shown cannot be understated in itself.

When you add in the lack of media coverage for women’s professional sports (like the CWHL and WNBA), the fact that our female university stars can shine on such a stage is even more important.

Continue reading →

Ravens Survive Gee-Gees in Capital Battle

Published on The CIS Blog on January 12, 2014.

—–

The stands were packed, the benches fired up, and the referees’ whistles put away in this past weekend’s big matchup between heated cross-city rivals #9 Carleton and Ottawa. And while the cliché of “the game being closer than the score reveals” is used a lot, it was certainly true in this one. Despite Ottawa outplaying the Ravens for much of the opening period, Carleton were able to escape with a lead after twenty minutes before opening up a 4-0 lead in the second, en route to a monstrous 5-2 victory.

Kyle Brown

The highly anticipated, crushingly physical game got off to a flying start for the Gee-Gees, who tested Carleton’s backup goaltender Francis Dupuis early and often. Within the first seven minutes of play, the garnet and grey had created a flurry around the Raven net, outshooting the home side 7-0.

Continue reading →

OUA Men’s Hockey Mid-Season Wrap-up

Published on The CIS Blog on January 2, 2014.

It’s been thirty years, but the Queen’s Golden Gaels finally find themselves back in the CIS Top 10 with OUA teams set to hit the ice again and enter the second half of the season. As the games begin to mean more and we come out of the turn and into the final stretch of the playoff push, here’s five of the biggest storylines from the conference over the first half, and that are worth watching as we begin the second.

Gaels on Top

It took until the eighth week for Queen’s to finally crack the top ten and take the eighth spot. In spite of three other OUA teams placing ahead of them in the voters’ eyes, the Gaels find themselves atop the conference standings with a two-point lead on #5 McGill. More impressively, despite racking up two losses in overtime and three as a result of shootouts, the Gaels remain undefeated in regulation, the only team in the OUA who can claim that (the only other in CIS is the #1 Calgary Dinos).

Continue reading →

Great Goaltending Lifts Gaels Over Windsor in Weekend Sweep

Published on The CIS Blog on November 26, 2013

—–

It probably wasn’t the way that head coach Brett Gibson drew things up, but in the end the Queen’s Golden Gaels walked away from a difficult weekend double-header against the #7 Windsor Lancers with four points.

The weekend’s game plan ultimately ended up going something like this: allow goaltender Kevin Bailie to carry the team, and then capitalize on quick flurries of offense.

That improvisation was certainly in full effect in Friday night’s game at the historic Kingston Memorial Centre.

Bailie was tested early, as Queen’s took three penalties in the first period to Windsor’s one. The Lancers managed to fire 14 shots on net, but Bailie was able to withstand the pressure. Not to be outdone, Parker Van Buskirk stopped all 10 shots he faced in the Windsor goal.

Windsor, the CIS leaders in team penalty minutes, fell back into their usual undisciplined habits in the second period, but managed to keep the pressure up throughout the second frame. Despite having four power play opportunities, Queen’s managed to put the puck on net just three times. Windsor, on the other hand, tested Bailie eight times, but he was able to stand tall.

Continue reading →

Lancers and Patriotes Trade Wins Amidst Penalty Parade

Published on The CIS Blog on November 19, 2013.

—–

Considering the schools are separated by approximately ten hours of highway, one wouldn’t expect bad blood to exist between Windsor and UQTR. However, with the Patriotes visiting the #7 Lancers for back-to-back games, penalties ruled the weekend double feature.

The Lancers were coming into the weekend having not lost since opening night, and looking to keep their spot atop the OUA West division. The Patriotes, meanwhile, were on a five-game winning streak of their own, and hungry to capture their first road win of the season.

The fireworks started early, with three players off to the box just 34 seconds in. Windsor quickly took three straight penalties in the first, managing to kill off all three, before UQTR made three straight trips of their own. It was the Patriotes who jumped out on the offensive, though, as Thomas Martin scored his first goal of the season on the penalty kill. The Pats took that 1-0 lead into the first intermission, following a period that saw ten minor penalties and a misconduct.

Continue reading →

Shootout in Montreal – Redmen Down Mustangs in Penalty-Filled Affair

Published on The CIS Blog on November 10, 2013.

——-

It was a cold, brisk evening in the city of Montréal on Saturday night, but inside McConnell Arena things better resembled the Wild West, as an all-out barnburner took place between the #5 McGill Redmen and #7 Western Mustangs.

Western was entering the game coming off of a tough loss in Ottawa against the Gee-Gees the night before where they were held off of the scoresheet until over midway through the second. In this one, they got started quickly to try to remedy that as Steven Reese scored just three and a half minutes in to get the Mustangs out in front early.

Following the goal, both teams started a long and lengthy parade to the penalty box that endured throughout the entire game, as special teams became a crucial part of both sides’ strategies.

And just under seven minutes after Reese gave Western the lead, McGill’s Neal Prokop scored on the powerplay to even things up. The goal came after Julian Cimadamore took a cross-checking penalty, the first of three straight calls against Western.
Continue reading →

Top Programs Kick Off Basketball Season in Ottawa

Published on The CIS Blog on November 6, 2013.

——–

Some of the top men’s and women’s basketball programs in the country opened their seasons in Ottawa this past weekend, including both defending CIS champions. Here’s our recap of those games:

Tough Start for Windsor

Following a strong regular season that saw them finish atop of the OUA West last season, the Windsor Lancers looked to rebound from a disappointing missed opportunity to play in the CIS Final 8 basketball championship last season as they lost to Lakehead in the OUA bronze medal game. However, things looked optimistic for the Lancers, who entered the season ranked sixth in the nation. Unfortunately for them, the schedulers weren’t so kind, forcing Windsor to open their season on the road at the opposite end of the province against the no. 1 Carleton Ravens and no. 3 Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Coming off of their ninth national championship in the past eleven years, it should be no surprise that the Ravens entered the season ranked atop of the CIS Top Ten. Led by legendary coach Dave Smart and a returning class of standouts including Phil and Thomas Scrubb, as well as Tyson Hinz, Carleton looks poised to contend in achieving their campaign of “Again for Ten.”

It was a high-profile affair to kick off the season at the Raven’s Nest, with a good-sized crowd walking into the arena on a red carpet draped with Ravens cheerleaders on either side while the band provided a traditional university sport soundtrack. A rendition of the national anthem before the game topped off the classy beginning, and the game began.

It took only four seconds for Carleton to put up their first points of the season, as Thomas Scrubb dunked the ball on a fast break off of tip-off. From there, Carleton never looked back, in a game that didn’t see a single lead change. Windsor was able to keep it close through the first quarter, trailing only 23-16.

Continue reading →