49 Sports sets up the intriguing East Division ahead of 2023-24 season
Toronto, Ont. (via Richard Coffey/Ben Steiner, 49 Sports) - For the second straight season a year ago, the Queen’s Cup ran through Trois-Rivières as the UQTR Patriotes, although ultimately unable to defend their national title, took down the Windsor Lancers to win their 12th Queen’s Cup.
Now, as puck drop on the OUA East hockey season draws closer, each team in the eyes a chance to be the ones that ultimately upend the back-to-back conference champions.
The Playoff System: On February 11th, a play-in game will hit the ice between the West Division’s No. 6 and No. 7 seeds. The winner of that game will then join the best-of-three opening-round matchups taking place from February 12th to 18th. Those series will see the No. 3 seeds play the lowest seeds (i.e., No. 6 seed in the East and play-in winner in the West), respectively, while the fourth and fifth-ranked teams will also face off.
From there, the series victors will advance to play the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, each of whom receive byes in the opening round of play. Those best-of-three quarter-finals will run from February 19th to 25th, with winners then advancing to the semifinal series from February 26th to March 3rd.
Division winners then play for the 112th Queen’s Cup on March 10th.
Realignment: The Nipissing Lakers switch to OUA West division, while the York Lions shift to OUA East.
With the nuts and bolts of the season out of the way, 49 Sports looks at each of the teams in the OUA West for 2023-24.
Carleton Ravens
The Carleton Ravens started and ended in 2022-23 with Parker AuCoin and Nick McCarry. With AuCoin picking up a goal per game, netting 24 in 24, and Nick McCarry, his wingman, notching 22 assists and 28 points, the duo helped carry the Ravens to the East semifinal before they fell to aforementioned UQTR.
As he has eligibility but is not listed on the Ravens roster, AuCoin’s status for 2023-24 is up in the air, leaving sophomore Nick McCarry the role of stepping up on both sides of the scoresheet. A goal-per-game rate is hard to replace, but someone to watch for the Ravens would be sophomore Keiran Craig, who lit the lamp 10 times for Carleton a year ago to finish second on the team in scoring.
With long-time defenceman Aaron Boyd now a graduate, a recruit to watch would be former Owen Sound Attack defender Nolan Seed. A former OHL first-rounder, Seed picked up 33 points in 65 games for the Attack a season ago.
Key Player: Nick McCarry
Concordia Stingers
After playing their way to the 2023 University Cup as OUA bronze medalists a year ago, the Concordia Stingers have high expectations in 2023-24, especially with a roster featuring many key returnees.
The Stingers’ top five scorers are all back for the upcoming season, led by Isaiah Campbell, who had a breakout year in 2022-23 with a team-high 10 goals and 24 points. Those impressive marks represented a nine-point improvement from his rookie season.
The team also retained defensively responsible forward Tyler Hylland for another season, and he will remain with the team for the full year, having also missed a chunk of the season with the FISU Games.
In net, there will be a transition as 2022-23 starting goaltender Jonathan Lemieux has signed with the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, leaving an open competition between Jordan Naylor and Jacob Delorme for starting duties.
While the U Cup dream ended in a quarterfinal loss to the eventual champion UNB Reds last season, head coach Marc-André Element has instilled a hard-working attitude in all facets of the game and will hope to bring the Stingers back to similar heights.
As a bonus, they have also been together for a few weeks longer than other OUA programs, having taken a trip to Europe to face professional teams from Italy and Austria.
Key player: Tyler Hylland
McGill Redbirds
The McGill Redbirds are still trying to find their way back to the top after last winning the Queen’s Cup in 2018, but with a core just rounding into form, the Redbirds could be a serious team to watch these next couple of seasons.
The key thing for McGill? Youth. Three of McGill’s top four offensive players a season ago are only entering their third year of eligibility this season. All the while, William Rouleau, who led the team with 26 points in 26 games, is just entering his sophomore season.
The headline recruit for the Redbirds is former Detroit Red Wings third-round pick Zach Gallant, who joins the squad after a year off the ice. Despite just 13 points in 53 games with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda the last time he skated, Gallant brings the pedigree of leadership as former captain of the Peterborough Petes and offence with a pair of point-per-game seasons in the OHL.
Key Player: Zach Gallant
Ontario Tech Ridgebacks
Having only missed the Queen’s Cup playoffs once since 2010, the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks have also seemed to find themselves right smack dab in the middle of the OUA East Division. In 2023, though, with long-time starter Leif Hertz graduating, the most significant question mark to returning there is in net.
The odds-on favourite to replace Hertz would likely be last year’s back-up, William Desmarais, who had a 5-1-0 record across nine appearances in his rookie season. Still, the Ridgebacks' recruits present some intriguing possibilities. On the one hand is Samuel Ivanov, the 2023 starting goalie for the Soo Greyhounds, but who put up just a .856 save percentage in 42 games a season ago. On the other side is Alexis Giroux, who split time in three leagues in 2022-2, but in eight games in the Quebec Junior Hockey League, went 8-0-0 with a .915 save percentage.
Up front, it was James White who had a breakout sophomore season for the Ridgebacks with 24 points and will look to build upon it, while Alex Drover, who put up 27 points in 31 games as an over-ager with the St. John SeaDogs, looks to be a recruit to watch for Ontario Tech.
Key Player: William Desmarais
Ottawa Gee-Gees
The 2022-23 season was a learning experience for the Ottawa Gee-Gees, despite making the first round of the Queen’s Cup playoffs and bowing out in a sweep against McGill.
While they finished the season with a 13-11-2 record, few moments highlighted championship caliber or bottom-tier play. In most categories, the Gee-Gees were a mid-tier, albeit younger team last season.
This year, much of the progress will have to come from within. Under head coach Patrick Grandmaitre, the group will look to the likes of Mathieu Desganges and Max Grondin to keep improving. Desgagnes, in particular, experienced a quick rise last season, bringing his stat line to 13 goals and 24 points, doubling his 12-point output from the year prior.
On the back end, expect to see elevated responsibilities for Liam Markhauser and Peter Stratis as the duo enter their third season with the Gee-Gees.
The 2023-24 season represents the seventh year since the return of men’s hockey at the University of Ottawa, with the cyclical nature of U SPORTS hockey suggesting it should be an improved campaign for the group, all before they do whatever they can to win a U Cup as hosts in 2024-25.
Key Player: Max Grondin
Queen’s Gaels
For the first time since 2009, the Queen’s Cup did not see a challenge from Queen’s, as the Gaels missed the playoffs by just two points to the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
It was a case of vanishing offence for the Gaels. The group that put up 87 goals in 19 games two seasons ago saw their total drop to 66 in 26 games last season. Heading into their third season in Kingston, both Holden Katzalay, who went from 29 to 15 points, and Jonathan Yantsis, who went from 26 to nine, will be looked upon to fire things back up offensively.
On the back end, watch for former Nashville Predators prospect Jacob Paquette to play significant minutes once again, and do so for the entire season (unlike last year, where he missed several games due to Team Canada duty at the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games).
The reality of no FISU Games is a major difference for Queen’s this year, not only allowing them to rely on their top rearguard all season, but also Yantsis and head coach Brett Gibson.
A recruit to watch for the Gaels in 2023-24, meanwhile, would have to be Cameron Tolnai, as the former Ottawa 67 put up 73 points in 64 games to lead his OHL squad a season ago.
Under the guidance of their determined bench boss, the Gaels will certainly hope to push into the playoffs once again this year.
Key Player: Jonathan Yantsis
RMC Paladins
It was tough to put your finger on the Paladins in 2022-23.
The RMC squad started the season 3-3-0 in six games, a stretch that included a 7-6 overtime comeback win over McGill, as well as 9-2 and 6-1 losses to Ottawa and Ontario Tech. They then proceeded to lose eight of ten to close the fall semester, though, and despite splitting their first four games of the winter, dropped their next six to finish 7-17-2 and in eighth in the division.
Austin Saint and Isaac Pascoal led the offense as freshmen for the Paladins with 19 and 17 points, respectively, and will be looking to grow this season. Perhaps the biggest offensive question for the Paladins is whether Chris Paquette will recapture the form that saw him pick up 15 goals and 32 points in 2019-20 and earn OUA East MVP and Rookie of the Year honours.
In net, Micheal Davis looks to have the keys to the crease after serving as backup to Joey May a season ago, while new recruit Ulrick Roussel joins the RMC net after posting a .918 save percentage in 22 games with the Northern Colorado Eagles of the USPHL.
Key Player: Austin Saint
UQTR Patriotes
The UQTR Patriotes enter the season as the two-time defending Queen’s Cup champions and reigning U SPORTS bronze medalists. However, they’re unrecognizable.
Outside of leading goal-scorer and 2023 U SPORTS and OUA MVP Simon Lafrance and goaltender Alexis Gravel, the Patriotes have replaced nearly their entire roster.
Not to discount Lafrance’s 16 goals and 38 points in 23 games or Gravel’s tendency to steal results, the Patriotes will need a lot to go their way this season to experience anywhere near the levels achieved since university hockey returned from COVID-19.
The Patriotes saw a large recruiting class and welcome 15 new players to the program for the upcoming season. Among them, 13 come from the QMJHL, the top division of junior hockey in Quebec.
Included in the top recruits is forward Pier-Olivier Roy, who joins UQTR after a 26-goal, 74-point season with the Quebec Remparts. Meanwhile, Zach Gravel, brother of Alexis, also comes in, having posted 23 goals and 45 points with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens last season.
Marc-Étienne Hubert has a tumultuous task on his hands to get the group hitting on all cylinders as quickly as possible, but with his team-building abilities and the skill of the new recruits, it could be a quick turnaround for UQTR.
Either way, it will be an intriguing season for the two-time defending champs, with the extremes seeming most likely -- it just depends on what side of the standings it ends up being.
Key Player: Simon Lafrance
York Lions
The York Lions will take on a significantly more testing travel schedule this season as they make the switch over to the OUA East Division. Head coach Russ Herrington and the group, meanwhile, will only have one game against each of their local rivals, TMU and Toronto.
It’s the first time the Lions will play in the East, having participated in the West since the two division setup was introduced in 2009-10.
The Lions finished the 2022-23 season second last in the West with a record of 12-13-2, but move to a division that may suit them better, playing programs that often are closer in quality.
Still, the Lions will hope to improve on their penalty kill, which was the lowest in their previous division, but would have been middle of the pack in the East. While killing 77 percent of penalties isn’t a lofty goal, matching or exceeding that mark could significantly impact York’s season.
At the same time, the group has introduced a recruiting class of mostly Junior A players and will hope to get the best out of them while also turning to veterans such as Brock McLeod, who scored seven goals and 18 points last season.
In net, Carter Serhyenko will hope to carry his rookie success into his second season, having posted a .916 save percentage in 13 games as a first-year netminder.
Potentially, the most intriguing additions to the 2023-24 Lions have been on the bench, with experienced coach Cyril Bollers joining as an assistant, having helped Team Ontario at the Canada Games and the Jamaican Hockey Federation while taking on several other roles. Alongside him as a new assistant will also be Jessi Turi, who held a similar role with the now-defunct Toronto Six, winners of the Premier Hockey Federation’s Isobel Cup in 2023.
The newest season is a year of adjustments for the York Lions, but one that could pay off for the group as they prepare for a new adventure in OUA hockey.
Key Player: Carter Serhyenko
