Vicki L MorrisonBe sure not to miss the excitement of the annual varsity hockey game between the Royal Military College of Canada and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. The Carr-Harris Cup takes place Thursday, February 5, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
The intense-rivalry hockey game, being held at the Rogers K-Rock Centre, kicks-off the 2015 Kingston Feb Fest Celebration.
“Obviously winning this game last year was huge for us and we’d like to do the same to finish off the season the right way,” said RMC head coach Adam Shell. “The game is always exciting playing at the K-Rock plus the chance to get a win to finish off the year, especially against Queen’s, is really important for us.”
Last year, the Gaels were outdone by an outstanding goaltending performance from Evan Deviller of RMC who stole the game for the Paladins stopping 52 Gaels shots, in the 2-1 victory. The loss denied Queen’s of tying a team record for wins in a single season and gave RMC their first Carr-Harris Cup title in seven years.
The Carr-Harris Challenge Cup was initiated in 1986 by the International Hockey Hall of Fame to celebrate the 100th year of the hockey rivalry between Queen’s and the Royal Military College (RMC), dating back to 1886.
The Queen’s versus RMC match-up is advertised as the oldest recorded hockey rivalry in the world.
“It’s a critical game for us,” said Queen’s head coach Brett Gibson. “Any time there is trophy up for grabs you want to be in that picture at the end of the game. The big picture for our program is we’re looking to move up and get home ice in the first round of playoffs. In order to do that we have to beat RMC on Thursday and we don’t expect it to be easy as was proven last year.”
The Carr-Harris Challenge Cup trophy was donated by the Centennial Committee. The trophy features the “Lennie,” created by Kingston artist Joan Belchde. The sculpture is of Lennox Irving, the Queen’s player who scored the lone goal in the inaugural game between the two teams.
The trophy itself is named for the Carr-Harris family which has a long-standing connection with both Kingston universities.
In addition to the Carr-Harris Trophy, the top player from each team is awarded the Mary Carr-Harris Most Valuable Player Award in memory of Mary Carr-Harris who, up until her passing in 2006, annually presented “Lennie” to each year’s winning team.
Lorne Howland Carr-Harris (15 December 1899 – 7 April 1981) was a British ice hockey player who competed in the 1924 Winter Olympics. He was the goaltender of the British ice hockey team, which won the bronze medal. He was a member of the team that won World Championship bronze in 1924.
Born in Kingston, Ontario, Carr-Harris joined the British Army and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1917. Carr-Harris served with the British army and was posted to India for 13 years. He was stationed in the UK in 1924. The British Army hockey team formed the backbone of the British team at the Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France.
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