Cardiac Gaels: An oral history of the 2011 Queen’s women’s hockey playoff run

Five games. Five wins. Thirteen overtimes. A title run like no other.

Women's hockey celebrates their victory in game two of the 2011 OUA finals
Image by: Journal File Photo
Women's hockey celebrates their victory in game two of the 2011 OUA finals.

A historic hockey game took place on March 2, 2011, witnessed by just 312 spectators in a university rink. The Queen’s Gaels and Guelph Gryphons clashed in a battle where six overtimes were needed to decide the winner. It was the second-longest contest in North America — the longest since a 1936 meeting between the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Maroons.

After playing for nearly the equivalent of three whole games, Queen’s finally prevailed, with Morgan McHaffie — a Guelph native — proving to be the overtime hero.

For the players on the Gaels roster that night, the extra ice time was both an once-in-a-lifetime moment and their fourth straight overtime contest. McHaffie’s goal was the culmination of an unbelievable game — although with four seconds left in regulation, overtime wasn’t a possibility.

In five playoff games, Queen’s had 478:42 of ice time — 78 seconds less than eight full games. They won all five in overtime and brought home a title that Queen’s hadn’t won since 1978.

Five games. Five wins. Thirteen overtimes. A title run like no other.

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