2003-04 Men's Hockey Team

The 2003-04 Dalhousie men’s hockey team, coached by Fabian Joseph, Brian Melanson, Jaro Sevcik, and Doug MacNeil, accomplished what only one team had done before them: win a national medal. With 19 returning players to the roster, the team finished the regular season in fourth place, advancing to the AUS playoffs.  

With their fourth-place finish, the team played the UPEI Panthers in the quarterfinals of a best-of-three series. Dropping their first game 6-5, the Tigers won the next two games 2-1, with forward Chris Stanley scoring both goals and 3-2 with rookie Jonah Leroux, forward Brent Theobald, and forward Ross McCain scoring to advance to the semifinals. Goaltender Jean-Francois Perras was outstanding in the series, earning AUS male athlete of the week honours.  

The second-place UNB Reds were to be the match-up for the Tigers in the AUS semifinals. The Tigers won game one 5-4 in overtime. Sophomore Darrell Jerret had three goals, Fred Belanger had one, and Chris Stanley scored the overtime winner. Game two was at UNB, with a win, the Tigers would advance to the semifinals and secure an automatic spot in the national championship. The game was hard-fought and saw some unlikely heroes, including Marcon Gascon, Chris Tellum, and Brad Pierce, who tied the game 3-3 and sent it into overtime. One overtime period wasn’t enough, and so the teams headed into the second overtime period where Chris Tellem scored the game-winner with his second of the game, advancing the Tigers to the AUS finals where they would face the nationally ranked and regular first place STFX X-men.  

While the games were close, with scores of 4-1, 3-2, and 2-1, the X-men swept the Tigers in three games to claim the AUS championship. While the team was the 2003-04 AUS silver medalist, they would be one of three teams to represent the AUS at the CIS National University Cup Championship.  

The team was having a formidable season, and individual players were also flourishing, with AUS first-team all-star and AUS MVP Chris Stanley leading the conference in scoring with 18 goals and 30 assists, Dominic Noel with 16 goals and 21 assists for fifth in the conference for scoring, AUS second team all-star Fred Belanger finishing third in defensemen scoring, David Walker finishing fifth in defensemen scoring and AUS second team all-star goaltender JF Perras who registered the most saves per game and a .909 save percentage.  

At the tournament, the Tigers faced the X-men in their first game, losing 5-0. Needing to rebound quickly, the Tigers needed a win against York University to move on to the CIS University Cup bronze medal game. The Tigers rose to the pressure, beating York University 4-2, scoring three goals in 27 seconds to secure their place in the bronze medal game against the University of Alberta Golden Bears.  

The Tigers defeated the Golden Bears 4-1, winning the bronze medal, something that hadn’t been accomplished since 1979 when the men’s hockey team last won a national championship medal.

Player Chris Stanley capped off his year by being named CIS first-team all-star and CIS Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy (player of the year), which is the only time this award has been won by a Dalhousie men’s hockey player.

Roster