The 2005-06 season has not been kind-so far-to the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team. Prior to its two games this past weekend, the team had struggled, recording one tie against three losses in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) play.

On Friday night, the Blues faced the nationally ranked McGill Redmen at Varsity Arena with the hope of recording their first win of this young season. In front of a small but spirited crowd-complete with a pounding snare drum for extra support-the team put forth a valiant effort.

In the end, though, U of T suffered its fourth loss in five games, 6-3.

Poor defensive zone coverage and special-teams issues doomed the Blues on this night.

The latter reared its ugly head in the first period, as McGill struck twice on the power play to hold a two-goal cushion after the first 20 minutes.

Feeling a sense of urgency, the Blues turned up the pressure in the second period. However, these efforts were not rewarded on the scoresheet. Instead, McGill capitalized on several defensive miscues and increased their edge to 4-0 after 40 minutes.

To the majority in attendance, the Redmen appeared to have wrapped up an easy victory with one period to spare.

To the delight of the home crowd, however, the seemingly insurmountable four-goal deficit vanished quickly in the third period. McGill was penalized twice-both four-minute double-minor infractions-handing U of T a lengthy two-man advantage. In a span of ninety seconds, the Blues power play erupted for two goals-scored by Andrew Jakubaitis and Ray Smegal-thereby slicing the visitors’ lead in half and giving the impression that an improbable comeback could, in fact, happen.

Further excitement ensued after the Blues forward Matt McIsaac snuck behind the McGill defence with five minutes left and narrowed the gap to one with a wrist shot that snuck in under the crossbar.

Unfortunately, the inspired comeback fell just short.

With two minutes remaining, a McGill offensive-zone centering attempt deflected off a U of T player and somehow found the back of the net. This sudden and unlucky turn of events proved to be the backbreaker and deflated the Blues’ momentum.

A sixth McGill goal only seconds later provided extra cushion for the Redmen. Consequently, this tough defeat, coupled with the Blues 3-2 loss to Ottawa on Saturday night, keeps the team winless as they travel to Concordia and UQTR for games this weekend.