Mr. Speaker, on April 3, the Patriotes of the Université du Québec à Trois‑Rivières won the U Sports men's hockey championship for the fifth time in their history.
The victory did not come easy, however, as the Patriotes faced some never-before-seen adversity. They had to deal with a cancelled season, classes, practice, social activities on Zoom, a shortened season, a pandemic break and player departures. Nothing would stop these student athletes and their chants of “we want to play”.
United as never before, the team zeroed in on its destiny, going undefeated in the playoffs. They had to show resiliency one last time in the grand final, coming back from a two-goal deficit to win the game in double overtime. Alexis Gravel stopped 66 shots and Simon Lafrance scored the winning goal. Coach Marc‑Étienne Hubert came in with an assist by kissing the blade of Simon's stick right before he scored the game-winning goal.
I am so proud to congratulate the entire Patriotes family. Go, Pats, go!