by John Austen

They’re not out of the woods yet, but the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team made a pair of giant steps towards a playoff spot in the OUA Far East division last weekend. Wins over the Ottawa Gee-Gees (5-2) and the McGill Redmen (3-1) moved the Stingers to within six points of third-place Ottawa and just seven points behind the second-place Redmen. Both the Gee-Gees and Redmen beat first-place Trois-Rivières on the weekend to tighten up the race considerably.

“I knew if we kept working hard in practice that things would eventually come together,” said Stinger coach Kevin Figsby.

The Stingers have eight games remaining to try and climb past one of the other teams in the league. Three of the four squads make the playoffs.

Last Sunday”s big win at McGill”s McConnell Arena also gave the Stingers the 15th Corey Cup, played annually between the two Montreal-based universities. Stinger goaltender Philippe Ozga was the star of the day, turning aside 42 of the 43 shots McGill fired his way. The Stingers mustered only 22 shots, but three of them went in with Luc Messier, Edin Burazerovic and Chris Page doing the scoring.

The Stingers lost the shutout when McGill’s Bruno Lemire scored with just 18 seconds left in the third period.

“I must admit I’m surprised the Stingers pulled it off,” said Stinger fan Luc Latendresse. “The goalie was the difference.”

Concordia gained revenge for an 8-5 loss to McGill the week before at the Ed Meagher Arena.

Coach Figsby is in his second year behind the Stingers bench. The noted motivator has more than 15 years of coaching experience at the provincial, national and international levels. He is probably best known for coaching the Lac St. Louis Midget AAA Lions from 1993-’98.

In 1995, Figsby was head coach of the Quebec entry at the world under-17 championship, winning a bronze medal. Other coaching experience includes: working as a guest coach at evaluation camps for the Canadian national team, in 1995 and ‘97, running up a 26-2 record while at the helm of the summer hockey program for Lac St. Louis Midget AAA Selects and six years with the John Abbott College program.

Figsby was also a respected player. He played his minor hockey with the Ville Emard Hurricanes. He went on to play with the LaSalle Cyclones in the junior B ranks, the John Abbott Islanders and the Bishop’s Gaiters.