Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Anyone unfamiliar with the impact Marc-Olivier Daigle has made on the MacEwan Griffins men's hockey program would have heard all about his long list of accomplishments in a pre-game Senior Night ceremony on Friday night.
Lowest career goals against average in program history. Most shutouts and wins. Longest shutout streak. Best season ever for a Griffins goalie.
It wouldn't have taken long for them to believe every one of them.
Daigle turned in the type of performance that Downtown Community Arena regulars have come to expect and even take for granted – 47 saves on 49 shots to lead the Griffins to a 3-2 win over the cross-town rival NAIT Ooks.
"He's a special player," said Griffins head coach Mike Ringrose. "He's certainly leaving the program in a better place than he found it. He's a leader for us.
"It's sad to say, but efforts like we saw tonight, that's the expectation now. He's done that so many times, it's just something that as a group we're not surprised by anymore, he does it so consistently."
The game between the two teams who've met in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference final for three-straight years was a solid goaltending battle between Daigle and NAIT counterpart Jordan Papirny. Both made multiple spectacular saves and earned player of the game honours for their respective squads.
But for Daigle to get the win in the final home regular season game of his university career will be another amazing memory to add to four seasons of them.
"It's a special night and I'm really happy the way it turned out," said the graduating Commerce major. "It was a good ceremony before the game. I mean, this game is such an important game for us in the standings. We have to put that aside and put the celebration aside and focus. We're in a spot where we can't afford to lose those games.
"Playing against NAIT's always a fun game, it's always intense hockey and getting the win on this night makes it more special."
Marc-Olivier Daigle, left, poses with girlfriend Kristine O'Driscoll and Griffins head coach Mike Ringrose after receiving a special memento in a pre-game Senior Night ceremony on Friday (Joel Kingston photo).
The result keeps MacEwan (20-6-1-0) alive for second place in the standings and the coveted first-round playoff bye that comes with it. Red Deer College (20-5-2-0) remains a point ahead of them after clawing back from a 5-4 deficit to defeat the SAIT Trojans 6-5 in double overtime on Friday.
The Griffins will obviously need to beat NAIT (23-4-0-0) in Saturday's rematch (6 p.m., NAIT Arena, ACAC TV) and get help from SAIT in their match against RDC (7 p.m. in Calgary, ACAC TV) to pass the Kings in the standings.
"Obviously, they're in the driver's seat and we're just taking care of what we can take care of," said Ringrose. "The chips will fall as they may.
"Like I said a few weeks back, for me, it's about making sure we're playing our best hockey heading into the playoffs. Tomorrow night's another opportunity for us to end off the regular season and take another step towards that."
Friday's team performance was a mixed bag. At times, the Griffins hit their top gear (such as in the third period when their speed caused the Ooks fits), but at other times they left a lot for their goaltender to clean up.
"To be honest, I thought we were just OK in the first two periods and got it going a little bit in the third period," said Ringrose. "We started skating, which was a difference-maker for us. I thought we started well and finished well and there was kind of a period of time in the middle where we were not great."
Jared Legien opened the scoring for NAIT 8:10 into the contest when his hard pass from the corner went off traffic in front and past Daigle.
But Nicolas Correale replied in kind in the second period, tying the game off a similar play, putting it off Papirny and in from behind the net.
Legien scored his second of the game and ACAC-leading 32nd of the season 6:20 into the third period when his powerplay point blast went off the post and ricocheted off Daigle's back and in.
Just 28 seconds later, though, Correale responded again with a laser under the bar off a right-wing rush to tie it.
Zach Webb appeared to put MacEwan out front only 38 seconds after Correale's tally when he batted a puck out of the air and in. Unfortunately for the Griffins, the whistle went before the puck entered the net, disallowing the goal.
Leave it up to the hockey gods, though, to take care of the rest of the script. Webb persevered to play hero on his next great chance, scoring the real game-winner with 8:11 remaining when he found a rebound in the crease and hit pay dirt.
"High skill play in tight from a guy when we needed it," said Ringrose. "Credit to him for getting it around the pad and in the back of the net. It's fitting that he got that one after the quick whistle on the other one."
Added Webb: "It was a just a good shot by (Bryan) Arneson and (Colin Schmidt) was in front and knocked it down. The goalie came out, so I just pulled it around and tucked it in. It was pretty open after that."
The victory is MacEwan's first over NAIT this season after dropping both against them in the first semester. It's the type of victory they can gain some momentum from against a rival that will enjoy the No. 1 seed throughout the post-season.
"I think it gives us some confidence," said Webb. "I thought in the first term we didn't have the confidence to beat that team. Now it just gives us a boost."
Zach Webb corralled a loose puck at the side of NAIT goaltender Jordan Papirny and tucked it in for the game-winner with 8:11 left in the third period (Joel Kingston photo).
