Hockey (M) 3/7/2024 3:00:00 PM Mario Russo

Queen's Cup Preview: Bold search for first title against UQTR

TORONTO - The TMU Bold men's hockey squad look to hoist their first-ever Queen's Cup on Saturday with a breakthrough win over the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes.

The Bold enter the OUA league final with consecutive series victories over the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks and Brock Badgers, the latter coming via a dramatic 2-1 victory over the St. Catharines side last Sunday.

Despite already having a spot locked down in the U SPORTS national championship as hosts, the Bold are determined to write their own narrative on Saturday and prove to the rest of the nation that they belong on the biggest stage of collegiate hockey through merit rather than inheritance of their positioning.

Third-year forward Kevin Gursoy believes grabbing the attention of the country's very best programs starts with beating some of that elite opposition on the ice - particularly their own - starting this weekend against the Patriotes.

"At the end of the day, we know that we are going to be in nationals regardless, but our goal all year has been to win this Queen's Cup," said Gursoy ahead of Saturday's tilt with the defending OUA champions.

"We want to get there in a way that we earned it," he added.

Standing in the way of the Bold's first league title in the OUA are UQTR, winners of consecutive series against the Ottawa Gee-Gees and McGill Redbirds en route to their third-consecutive appearance in the league final.

The Quebec side have dominated the university hockey space in recent years, winners of a league-best 21 games and two Queen's Cups in each of their last two seasons.

Fielding the OUA's top scorer and last year's U SPORTS Player of the Year in Simon LaFrance, the Patriotes possess one of the league's most consistent and clutch attacks, racking up the most goals throughout the postseason.

Having matched up against the Patriotes just once this season - a 4-1 loss in the final game of the regular season - head coach of the Bold, Johnny Duco, understands the mountain in which his side will have to climb as they get set to face off against the summit of OUA hockey.

"When you get to this time of year, all the teams you play are terrific hockey teams," said Duco.

"The margin for error is so small so we're going to have to be sharp and have everybody dialed in," he added.

Guiding the Bold to their first-ever appearance in the Queen's Cup final, Duco believes the reason behind his team gearing up for Saturday's historic matchup rests in the work put into the program from those before him and the disappointments they experienced while trying to clinch a league final in the past.

"It's been a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears and some very disappointing moments," said Duco, referring to the job put in by previous staff members such as Aaron Armstrong, Graham Wise, Nathaniel Brooks and Kori Cheverie to help elevate the program to new heights.

"I think we have learned some really valuable lessons over the years that we've been able to make some adjustments, tweaks, and further prepare us for this moment," he added.

The 'moment' that Duco and the rest of the Bold are craving is set to promptly arrive on Saturday at 6:15 p.m, requiring a relentless work-ethic and a full team effort to secure a feat that the program has been striving for since the very start of the season.

Luckily for the Bold, the effort needed in Saturday's final has been something the group has put together throughout their postseason run and has shown glimpses of success against the Badgers and Golden Hawks thus far.

Tenacity and depth have defined TMU in each of their series wins this postseason and have become a practice Gursoy described as the Bold's 'bread and butter' ahead of their weekend clash with the Patriotes.

"There has been a lot of buy-in and I think having a lot of depth in our lineup overall has helped us get to this point," said Gursoy.

"There's just something about this group that we have now that feels pretty special."

Perhaps it's the pair of young Russian talents in Daniil Grigorev and Artem Duda that have left the Bold feeling differently about themselves at this junction of the postseason. The two have combined for nine points through two rounds of play and have punctuated TMU's depth as a serious threat in the offensive zone.

The defence may also be leading the Bold feeling dissimilar to playoff runs of years past, with the group surrendering just seven goals over their last five games and possessing a league-best goal differential over that span.

On all sides of the ice, the Bold have strung together a run unlike any other since entering the postseason a little over two weeks ago and have a serious shot at putting the nation on notice with a win this weekend over the reigning champions.

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Players Mentioned

#18 Kevin Gursoy: F; 5' 11"; 3

#9 Daniil Grigorev: F; 5' 9"; 1

#77 Artem Duda: D; 6' 1"; 1

Players Mentioned

#18 Kevin Gursoy
: 5' 11"; 3
: F

#9 Daniil Grigorev
: 5' 9"; 1
: F

#77 Artem Duda
: 6' 1"; 1
: D

Players Mentioned

#18 Kevin Gursoy

#9 Daniil Grigorev

#77 Artem Duda

Players Mentioned

#18 Kevin Gursoy

#9 Daniil Grigorev

#77 Artem Duda