Friday night McCaw Cup rematch kicks off 2016-17 season, live on OUA.tv

By: Carlos Verde

With the 2016-17 OUA women's hockey season set to kick off on Friday night with a McCaw Cup rematch in London, it's the optimal time to revisit some key storylines and players as we enter another campaign. 

Guelph and Western will kick off the season in London on Oct. 7 in a rematch of last year's McCaw Cup. The Gryphons and Mustangs will begin the season as favourites to return to the conference championship in 2016-17.

Budding programs at Nipissing — headed by former NHL all-star Darren Turcotte — and Waterloo will be looking to build on impressive seasons. The Lakers turned their home ice in North Bay into a fortress last season, losing in regulation just twice en route a 44-point, fifth-place finish — a 17-point improvement from 2014-15. At Waterloo, veterans Marissa Redmond and Rachel Marriott appear likely candidates to replace the offence of graduated forwards Paula Lagamba and Kaitlyn McDonell. 

The Windsor Lancers were nothing short of an enigma last season. Jim Hunter's team boasted the OUA's three top scorers — Krystin Lawrence, Shawna Lesperance and Erinn Noseworthy — yet missed out on the playoffs due to an inability to keep the puck out of its own net.

Big-name coaches Dan Church (York) and Lisa Haley (Ryerson) will be hoping to turn their respective GTA programs around this season; York finished in 10th place for the second-straight year in 2015-16, while Ryerson plummeted from 7th in 2014-15 to last place a year ago. 

As is the case with any college circuit, there are a number of uncertainties entering the season. Injuries, surprise performers, and other variables will inevitably play a role in the moulding of the OUA's power structure in 2016-17. 

Storylines

1)    Defending Champs: Rachel Flanagan's Guelph program was superb in 2015-16, losing just four times en route to the McCaw Cup. While the Gryphons lost two of their top three scorers in Averi Nooren and Jessica Pinkerton, there is a strong returning core led by standout goaltender Val Lamenta. Will they be able to repeat?

2)    Northern Rising: Both the Nipissing Lakers and Laurentian Voyageurs showed marked improvement last season, with Laurentian pushing Guelph to a third game as an eight-seed in their first-round series and Nipissing pushing Western to triple-OT in the third game of the league semi-final. What will the North have in store this season?

3)    Struggles in the 6ix: With the incredible talent pool generated in the GTA region, it's a shock that the likes of York and Ryerson struggled so mightily in 2015-16 — especially with their highly-respected coaches. Rome wasn't built in a day, but both the Lions and Rams will be hoping to see tangible steps forward this season.

4)    Goalies, goalies, goalies: The number of elite goaltenders in the OUA is incredible, with six different goaltenders posting save-% in excess of .940 last season. Graduated are notable names like Kelly Campbell (Western) and Megan Lee (York), but with Caitlyn Lahonen (Queen's), Jacqueline Rochefort (Nipissing) and Val Lamenta (Guelph) still around, the league's goaltending depth remains substantial. 

Players to Watch 

F: Katrina Manoukarakis (Queen's) — The Scarborough native tied for second in the league in goals (15) as a rookie last season and will be counted on to get the Gaels past the first-round exit they suffered last year.

F: Sam Strassburger (Nipissing) — It's an off-the-board pick as Strassburger wasn't amongst the league's top scorers last season, but the diminutive Lakers forward had a strong summer camp with Team CIS and has looked sharp in pre-season play. Expect her to return to the 20-point mark if not eclipse it as a junior. 

G: Valerie Lamenta (Guelph) — Think about what a sub-1.00 goals-against-average means. Just think about it. It's sick, disgusting, unfair to the competition, and it's what Val Lamenta brings to every game between the pipes for Guelph.