Quest for the Cup: 3 key storylines ahead of the Queen’s Cup playoffs

Toronto, Ont. (via Ben Steiner) - The road to the U SPORTS University Cup runs through the OUA for the second straight season. After the TMU Bold hosted in 2024, the Ottawa Gee-Gees hold the honour for 2025 and will look to lead OUA teams to Canadian university hockey’s greatest prize.

To get there, though, teams will have to navigate through the 113th OUA Queen’s Cup postseason, making their way through a four-round playoff, with the top teams earning byes through the first round.

Topping the OUA West, the TMU Bold and Toronto Varsity Blues earned byes in their division, while the Concordia Stingers and Queen’s Gaels clinched the top spots in the East and will skip the opening round.

Here’s how the picture looks heading into Round 1 on the road to the Queen’s Cup.

Round One OUA West:

• No. 3 Windsor Lancers vs No. 6 Waterloo Warriors
• No. 4 Western Mustangs vs No. 5 Lakehead Thunderwolves

Round One OUA East:

• No. 3 Ottawa Gee-Gees vs No. 6 Ontario Tech Ridgebacks
• No. 4 McGill Redbirds vs No. 5 UQTR Patriotes

Now, let’s jump into three of the biggest storylines ahead of the 2025 OUA Men’s Hockey Playoffs.

How far can Western go?

It’s been a tremendous turnaround in London, Ontario. Less than a year after playing to one of their worst seasons in program history, the Western Mustangs have turned things around and enter the OUA playoffs with home-ice advantage and momentum.

Led by head coach Clarke Singer, the Mustangs improved 20 points from their 2023-24 season and set up a first-round clash with the Lakehead Thunderwolves, who are always a tough out in one of the best atmospheres in OUA hockey.

"I think it's a great bounce back by the group after a couple more challenging years in a very competitive OUA West,” Singer said, returning to the postseason for the first time in two seasons. “I think to finish fourth in the conference says a lot about our leadership group and the year we had."

It’s a quick turnaround for both teams, who come into the best-of-three series familiar with each other. It was just on the final weekend of the season that they last clashed, with Western taking the final matchup 3-2 in London after dropping the penultimate game of the campaign 5-2 to the Thunderwolves.

For the Mustangs, the playoffs are an opportunity to go above and beyond what has already been an exceptional turnaround season.

Franco Sproviero leads the team with 20 assists and nine goals and has been a welcome re-addition to the roster, previously playing in some of the team’s recent successful eras, including their 2019-20 run to the U SPORTS Men’s Hockey Championship.

Joining him as top contributors are veterans Shane Bulitka and Andrew Bruder, both on 24 points, and top defencemen Jack York and Eric Van Impe. In goal, Mateo Drobac has taken the most minutes, posting a .904 save percentage as a rookie.

It’s a big year for Western hockey, and taking down Lakehead won’t be easy, but pushing past the Thunderwolves and their crowd could be a big momentum booster ahead of a second-round clash, with the TMU Bold lying in wait.

Can TMU go all the way?

The TMU Bold have been the story of so close for the last several years. While they qualified for the University Cup in 2022 and returned as hosts and OUA runners up in 2024, getting over the final hump to a trophy is a step that’s eluded them so far.

This year, they enter the postseason as the top seed in the OUA West once again, sitting on 35 points, led by a passionate group of young players, and lofted by key veterans, who stepped up to replace some of the critical offensive contributors that carried the program to previous success.

Heading into the second half of the season, the Bold were in a tight race with the Varsity Blues, Windsor Lancers, Western, and Lakehead for the top of the division, but ultimately prevailed in some of the most heated affairs OUA hockey has seen in a generation.

At the same time, they won eight of their last 10 games since the calendar flipped to 2025, including a spell without starting netminder Kai Edmonds, key forward Connor Bowie, and head coach Johnny Duco, who were busy winning gold with Team Canada at the FISU World University Games.

After losing a heartbreaking final to the UQTR Patriotes last season, the Bold return to the Queen’s Cup playoffs with high hopes of lifting the historic trophy, hosting the final, and going on another run at the U CUP.

Daniil Grigorev has been outstanding this season at just 20 years old, leading the team in goals with 13, while senior forward Kevin Gursoy led the team scoring 28 points. At the same time, they’ve got a reliable duo in Edmonds and Ryan Dugas in goal, boasting .917 and .923 save percentages, respectively.

Given their previous heartbreak and the intensity they’ve played the last bit of the season, it seems like TMU might be the favourite, at least in the OUA West. It’s just a question of how far they can take it.

Will Ottawa be able to earn their spot?

It’s always the question that faces the U CUP hosts: Can you earn your way there?

While the Ottawa Gee-Gees have a confirmed spot in the 2025 U SPORTS Men’s Hockey Championship as hosts, head coach Patrick Grandmaitre’s team will hope they can finish within the OUA’s top three and earn their way into the tournament.

It’s been a mixed season for Ottawa, but one the group can be proud of as they hit their win-now season in the build-up since making their run to their last U CUP berth as OUA runners up in 2019-20.

They enter the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the OUA East, and will take on the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks in the opening round after closing a season that saw them post a 19-6-3-0 record for 41 points.

Goaltender Franky Lapenna has had an outstanding season in his second year, playing 19 games and posting a .911 save percentage while also earning the opportunity to represent Canada at the FISU Games in Italy.

Meanwhile, rookies have led the offensive contributions. A year removed from posting 57 points in the QMJHL, Andrew Belchamber led Ottawa with 10 goals and 30 points as a freshman, while former Sudbury Wolves centre Zach Giroux posted 10 goals and 26 points in his first season.

The Gee-Gees find themselves in strong form as they enter their hunt for the Queen’s Cup and the most critical time of year, closing the regular season with wins against the Brock Badgers and Guelph Gryphons to cap an 11-game run that only saw them drop one game in regulation and one in overtime.

It’s win-now time for the Gee-Gees, and they’ve built a team that can compete with the best in the conference; the looming question is whether they can see out the project in a winning rhythm to the U Cup.