Rams open 2016 with big win over U of T

TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams kicked off the New Year in style with a 9-1 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues on Wednesday. 

BOXSCORE

The Rams went the entire 2015 calendar year without a win against their city rivals, but took just six days into the New Year to accomplish the feat. 

The offensive explosion seemed long overdue for the Rams.  Coming into Wednesday's affair, the Rams sat behind the league's top two teams in McGill and UQTR for third in shots on goal and added 41 more in the victory.

"If you look at our last three games, we've been shooting lots," said head coach Graham Wise.  "We had 50 shots in Waterloo and lost 3-0.  It was only a matter of time before things started going our way and they did this afternoon." 

The Rams first goal of 2016 came just six minutes into the opening frame.  Vince Figliomeni sent home a loose puck past Varsity Blues starting goaltender Michael Nishi for the 1-0 lead.  The Rams went on to add two more in the period thanks to Kyle Blaney's first of the year and Michael Fine's team leading seventh. 

The scoring then continued for Ryerson in the second.  Mitch Gallant scored the first of two on the night, just over a minute into the opening frame.  Fine then contributed his second of the contest followed by a power play goal from Clairmont to give the Rams a 6-0 lead just two and a half minutes into the second.

The Rams power play coming into Wednesday was the fourth worst in the OUA at 13.4 percent, but was in tip top shape against the Varsity Blues.  Toronto defenseman Charlie Connell took an interference penalty to set the stage for more of Fine's heroics. Fine potted his third goal of the game for his first OUA hat trick and improved the Rams power play to 2-for-4 on the day.

The Blues eventually got on the board on a goal by Max Flanagan, but it was too little too late.  The Rams went on to add two more on way to a 9-1 victory. 

Rams starting goaltender Taylor Dupuis was nearly perfect in this one, stopping all but one of the 32 shots he faced. 

Kyle Blaney netted two goals and two assists in his season debut for the Rams, a debut he couldn't have gone much better.

"At first it was nerve-racking, but I knew I was slotted with some pretty good line mates," said Blaney.  "I just had to go out and do a little bit of a feeling out process and try and pick up from where I left off last year.  I couldn't have drawn it up any better." 

The line of Blaney, Clairmont, and Gallant combined for 10 points in the victory, but their success was no surprise to coach Wise. 

"We put Blaney and Clairmont together because they had some great success for us last year," said Wise.  "We then throw Gallant on the left wing being a right shot and he did really well.  A line like that gives us some depth." 

The Rams will look to continue on an impressive start to 2016 Friday when they take to the ice against the Waterloo Warriors at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.  The game is scheduled for a 7:30 start and can be streamed live on OUA.tv.

Source: Ryerson Rams