Habs Darche to drop puck at Redmen-Ottawa game on Friday
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(PHOTO COURTESY CLUB DE HOCKEY CANADIEN)
MONTREAL - Montreal Canadiens forward Mathieu Darche has been invited by his alma mater to perform the ceremonial faceoff at Friday's university hockey game between the Ottawa Gee-Gees and the º«¹úÂãÎè Redmen at McConnell Arena (3883 University Street). The game is slated to start at 7 p.m. and will be webcast on the Streaming Sports Network ().
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The Redmen lead the OUA East Conference with a 22-2-2 record and need one more win over their final two games to establish a single-season school record for victories. Ottawa is 11-12-3 and need a win if they hope to avoid meeting º«¹úÂãÎè in the league's best-of-three quarter-finals, which begin next Wednesday.
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Darche, a 34-year-old native of St. Laurent, Que., played four seasons at º«¹úÂãÎè, before graduating with a commerce degree in 2000. He is the 10th player from º«¹úÂãÎè to skate in the National Hockey League and one of 159 Canadian university players who have made the lofty leap to that level.
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The 6-foot-1, 215-pound left-winger currently has nine goals and 21 points in 49 games with the Habs. He has a 22-33-55 record in 179 career NHL games, including stints with Columbus, Nashville, San Jose and Tampa Bay. He is the third º«¹úÂãÎè grad to play for the Canadiens, joining left winger Jack º«¹úÂãÎè (1934-37) and defenceman Nels Crutchfield (1934-35).
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With the Redmen, Darche scored 170 career points, including 78 goals, in 133 games overall and won the CIS scoring title in his senior year. He earned all-Canadian honours, merited Academic All-Canadian status, served as captain, won the Bobby Bell trophy three times as Team MVP and captured the Forbes trophy as º«¹úÂãÎè male athlete of the year.
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He also played one season of varsity football alongside with his brother Jean-Philippe Darche, who went on to play nine years in the National Football League.
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Darche, who was º«¹úÂãÎè's leading scorer twice, has been the top goal-scorer with five different American Hockey League teams. In nine AHL seasons, he posted a 212-231-443 record with 290 PIMs in 552 regular-season contests with Syracuse, Milwaukee, Hershey, Worcester, Norfolk, Portland and Hamilton.Ìý In 2003-04, he helped Milwaukee win the Calder Cup league championship.
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FORMER McGILL PLAYERS IN THE NHL
Bert Lindsay (goaltender; played 1917-19 with Montreal Wanderers and Toronto Arenas)
Sam Rothschild (left wing; played 1924-28 with Montreal Maroons, NY Americans & Pittsburgh Pirates)
Lester Patrick (defenceman; played 1926-28 with New York Rangers; also coached from 1926-39)
*Russ Blinco (forward; played 1933-39 with Montreal Maroons and Chicago Blackhawks)
Nels Crutchfield (defenceman; played 1934-35 with Montreal Canadiens)
Jack º«¹úÂãÎè (left wing; played 1934-37 with Montreal Canadiens)
Johnny Peirson (forward; played 1946-58 with Boston Bruins)
*Jack Gelineau (goaltender; played 1948-54 with Boston & Chicago)
Reggie Sinclair (right wing; played 1950-53 with New York & Detroit)
Mathieu Darche (left wing; played 2009-to present with Montreal and 2000-08 with Columbus, Nashville, San Jose, Tampa Bay)
*NHL Rookie of the Year
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
º«¹úÂãÎè Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012
earl.zukerman [at] mcgill.ca
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