Eight former U SPORTS players help Lions to ECHL Kelly Cup

On Saturday, the Trois-Rivières Lions won the ECHL championship and no fewer than eight former U SPORTS players were part of that history-making team. The Lions, the secondary affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Toledo Walleye 4-1 in Game 5 of the championship series in Trois-Rivières, to take the final four games to one and become the first Canadian team to win the Kelly Cup. 

Leading the U SPORTS alums on the Lions roster is former Concordia Stinger Anthony Beauregard. The Saint-Damase, Quebec, product tied for second on the Lions with 18 points (10-8) in 21 games. Beauregard, who played for the Stingers from 2016-18, scored the Lions' opening goal on Saturday afternoon. 

Two other former Stingers also formed part of the Lions roster, notably Kyle Havlena, who capped a four-year career at Concordia this year with an OUA Queen's Cup title and a national silver medal and will now add a Kelly Cup ring to his trophy cabinet. The defenseman from Kirkland, Quebec, scored three points and had a +8 rating in 21 games. Rounding out the Stinger trio is Tyler Hylland of Chateauguay, Que., who played for Concordia from 2019-24.  

Wyatt McLeod (Alberta, 2021-24) also hit the scoresheet in Saturday's championship-clinching game, as he scored the Lions' third goal of the day. That was his first goal of the playoffs, to go with his eight assists and +21 rating.  

Rounding out the U SPORTS contingent is Jacob Paquette (Queen's, 2021-24), who had one goal and four assists and a +9 rating in 21 games; Nicolas Guay (UNB 2021-22), who scored five goals and added eight assists and went +13 in 21 games; Emmett Serensits, who joined the Lions this spring after a four-year career with the Toronto Varsity Blues; and Andrew Coxhead, who was with the Saint Mary's Huskies from 2021-24 before joining the Lions. 

The 2025-26 U SPORTS men's hockey season is set to get underway this October and will culminate in the University Cup tournament in Halifax next March. The 2027 University Cup is set to be held at the Colisée Vidéotron in Trois-Rivières, site of Saturday's historic game.