8 juin 2018 – Telegraph Journal

Aigles Bleus’ national championship a team effort Class of 2018 Series 1 2 3 4 5 6

SEAN HATCHARD TIMES & TRANSCRIPT

The Université de Aigles Bleus captured the Canadian university men’s hockey championship in 1990. PHOTO: SUBMITTED

Université de captain Claude Gosselin, right, celebrates the Canadian university men’s hockey championship trophy with teammate Richard Linteau in 1990. PHOTO: SUBMITTED The Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus captured the school’s third Canadian university men’s hockey championship in 1990. On a Saturday afternoon in Toronto, the Aigles Bleus edged the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 2-1 in the national final. 8 juin 2018 – Telegraph Journal

Twenty-eight years later, defence-man Marc Bernier recalls the traits of the team as if it was yesterday. “Everybody gave their 100 per cent and backed each other up. From the first line to the fourth line, everybody knew what they needed to do,” Bernier said. “Everybody stayed in a group. If we had a group function, everybody got involved. Everybody was focused.” The 1989-90 Aigles Bleus team will be inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday at the Moncton Coliseum. Almost the entire UdeM club will get back together to remember the season when it was the best university hockey team in the country. “Everybody is pretty excited,” said Bernier, who played four seasons for the Aigles Bleus from 1986-90. “We know we did something special for the university, the city and the province.” The 1989-90 campaign was sweet redemption for UdeM, which reached the national championship one year earlier as the top-ranked squad, but was eliminated by Wilfrid Laurier in a semifinal. The Aigles Bleus, with Len Doucet behind the bench, avenged that loss by beating Wilfrid Laurier in the 1990 gold- medal game. A goal by Mathieu Béliveau midway through the third period lifted UdeM to the 2-1 victory. Goaltender Alain Harvey made 22 saves as the Aigles Bleus overcame a strong performance by Wilfrid Laurier netminder Rob Dopson. “We knew it was going to be really difficult. They had a really good team with a good goaltender,” Bernier said. “We just had to play strong defensively, capitalize on 8 juin 2018 – Telegraph Journal whatever chances we had and we knew our goaltender Harvey was just as good and that he could keep us in there. We were very patient, very conservative, but at the same time very confident.” UdeM needed a miracle two days earlier just to get to the final. Trailing the 4-2 with two minutes left in the third period, the Aigles Bleus received goals from Pierre Cliche and Dany Gauvin, with goalie Harvey on the bench in favour of an extra attacker, to tie the game. That set the stage for Sylvain Lemay, whose overtime winner capped a dramatic 5-4 semifinal win. “We believed in each other and we had a lot of confidence. We thought we could come back,” Bernier said of the late- game heroics. “We kept plugging away and kept our composure and our confidence. When we tied the game, we knew our chances were really good.” Bernier said the team’s coach, Doucet, deserved a lot of credit for the national championship. “Len played a big role. After going there the year before, he made the necessary adjustments right off the bat. He was able to get everybody 100 per cent involved and buying into his plan,” Bernier said. “We could see with the way he coached and the way he used his players that we could be a winning team.” Two members of the Aigles Bleus, Gauvin and Lemay, were named to the Canadian all-star team. The team roster included David Bastille, Mathieu Béliveau, Marc Bernier, Alain Bissonnette, Éric Boisvert, Stéphane Briand, Pierre Cliche, Réjean Després, Dany Gauvin, Claude Gosselin, Alain Harvey, Claude Lagacé, Martin Lamoureux, 8 juin 2018 – Telegraph Journal

Dany Landry, Jean-Claude Latour, Michel LeBlanc, Sylvain Lemay, Richard Linteau, Don Mc-Grath, Louis Melanson, Serge Pépin, Steve Salter and Serge Thériault. Assistant coaches were Paul Belliveau, Pierre Giard and Louis Guay. Charles Pellerin was the manager. The Class of 2018 also includes taekwondo pioneer Won Kap Chung of Moncton, former League player Al Charuk of Moncton, former Major League player Bill Phillips of Saint John, longtime hockey coach and administrator Bob Deap of Scotchtown and equestrian Rob Stevenson of Fredericton. A reception is scheduled for 6 p.m., with the dinner and ceremony at 7 p.m. on Saturday.