Weekend Watch | Eliminations on the table as regular season winds down
Toronto, Ont. (via 49 Sports) - The first weekend of February is upon us, and OUA men’s and women’s hockey is reaching the final, nerve-racking moments of the regular season.
With some teams having just two games to go, it’s crunch time for many to lock up playoff spots or playoff seeding. At the same time, some teams play out the string, with seniors potentially taking on the last competitive games of their hockey careers.
So much to offer on the rinks in Ontario and Quebec this weekend - let’s get into it.
WHKY: Queen’s could stabilize playoff spot and eliminate York all in one weekend
The top two spots in the OUA East division have been spoken for, for weeks now, with the Toronto Varsity Blues basically deciding never to lose again and the Nipissing Lakers holding a solid grasp on second place. It's 17 points down the standings in the battle for the final two playoff spots, where things are still very much uncertain.
Currently, the Queen's Gaels are in the pole position with 28 points to 27 for TMU and 25 for Ontario Tech, but both the Ridgebacks and Bold have a game in hand. This means a pair of wins this weekend, ensuring neither TMU nor Ontario Tech cannot catch them until next weekend, would do wonders for the Gaels. The other thing it could do? Push the York Lions to the brink.
The Lions sit at the bottom of the East with sixteen points, eleven back of TMU for the final playoff spot in the division. With six games remaining, the Lions would need to win at least four and have both TMU and Ontario Tech lose a minimum of five of their final six games.
The first chance for the Lions to stay alive comes against the Queen's Gaels. The only time the Lions and Gaels met in 2022-23 so far came back on November 12 when the Lions fired 40 shots on Vanessa Campeau. The Gaels netminder turned away all of them en route to a 4-0 shutout victory for the Tricolour.
Much like it was in that game, offence has been hard to come by for York this season, as they own a -29 goal differential. If the Gaels sweep the weekend, though, and TMU takes a win in either of their two games, it will be curtains on the Lions' season, meaning if they want to see the McCaw Cup playoffs, they will need find a way to put the puck in the back of the Queen's net.
WHKY: Brock vs Western for the final spot in the West
For weeks, the Brock Badgers and the Western Mustangs have pushed back and forth in the standings for the final playoff spot in the OUA West division. On Friday, they get one of two chances to do so in person.
Friday marks the first of the two meetings between the Badgers and Mustangs in their final five games. With both teams coming off rough weekends the last time they hit the ice, the matchup presents the most explicit opportunity to see which team might be able to pull away with the final spot in the division.
Neither team can say they had a solid previous weekend. The Badgers, however, can at least say they did slightly better with one win as they took a school day game victory over TMU before heading up to North Bay to lose 2-1 to the Nipissing Lakers. Meanwhile, Western took a tough 4-1 loss to Toronto, but followed it up with a lopsided 7-3 defeat at the hands of the TMU Bold that saw them trail 4-0 after the first period.
In the one previous matchup between the Mustangs and the Badgers on November 26, Western took the trip to Canada Games Park and left with a Kaitlyn Booth shutout and a 1-0 win. Booth struggled in the loss to TMU, allowing four goals on ten shots. She has been the goalie the Mustangs have leaned on this season, though, and as they head into a critical matchup against Brock, they will have to hope she can come through for them when it matters the most.
MHKY: Carleton’s Playoff Push
Carleton started this season strong, with Parker Aucoin seemingly scoring with ease as the Ravens picked up a pair of wins in the opening two games. Yet, those following two October losses to RMC and Queen’s are coming back to haunt the Ravens.
With just three games to go in the regular season, the Ravens sit fifth in the OUA East, just three points safe of seventh place Queen’s, who captured a must-win game against RMC in the Carr-Harris Cup on Thursday.
For Carleton, they turn their attention to Montreal matchups with the McGill Redbirds and Concordia Stingers, where they’ll look to upset the division’s second and third seeds with critical playoff points on the line.
McGill, however, has been a consistent challenger this season and has had a lift since offensive blueliner Scott Walford returned from FISU Games duties. With that, Friday won’t be simple for the Ravens. Meanwhile, Concordia has been strong all season with players such as Tyler Hylland and Isiah Campbell leading the way.
Carleton has averaged 3.9 goals per game throughout this season, yet they haven’t played at such a high-scoring level all the time, with InStat, an in-depth statistical tracking service, putting them at 3.4 goals per game.
Leaning on Aucoin’s 30 points and Nick McCarry’s 27, the Ravens head to Montreal hoping to keep their playoff hopes alive.
York faces tough test in playoff push
Much like the Ravens in the OUA East, the York Lions are facing pressure in the OUA West, and it doesn’t get any easier for them this weekend. Siting sixth, right on the brink of the OUA playoff picture, the Lions are dancing on the edge with the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, but will have to get points off Lakehead and Guelph this weekend.
Lakehead is a team that has taken the division by storm, sitting second in the division, while Guelph always poses a strong test.
The Lions got off to a bit of a rough start to the season, with some more senior players initially left off the roster for younger talent, before being added back midway through the first half of the year. Recently, however, they’ve been playing entertaining and hard-working hockey, pushing them well into the playoff conversation.
Michael Horon and Ben Evanish lead the team scoring-wise with 17 and 15 points, respectively, yet York has seen offensive contributions from all aspects of their roster, playing with some evident cohesion in the second half.
The big test this weekend will fall on the shoulders of goaltenders Carter Serhyenko and Cole Ceci, who have both been excellent in split time in the net this season and will likely be called on to give their team a fighting chance, particularly against high-flying Lakehead.
