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Season Preview: Breaking down every team in the OUA West
Toronto, Ont. (via Ben Steiner) – The 2024-25 OUA West season got underway over the weekend, and over the last few years, it’s proven to be one of the most competitive divisions in Canadian university hockey.
With the 28-game season underway and significant turnover, with some teams having as many as 14 new players, let’s take a look at each program and how it may fare in the leadup to the 113th Queen’s Cup.
We’ve arranged the teams to mirror 2023-24’s final standings.
Can Brock find success after Connor Ungar?
The Brock Badgers have quickly become one of the best OUA teams, but questions still need to be answered about whether they can find success in 2024-25. After goaltender Connor Ungar left the program to sign an NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers, the team is left with a significant hole in the crease and throughout what was a veteran-heavy roster.
After falling to TMU Bold in the OUA semifinals in 2023-24, the Badgers have brought in 11 players for this season, a new era and first full recruiting cycle for head coach TJ Manastersky, now entering his third year with the program.
Adding Andrew Amousse, Alexis Cournoyer, Tyson Greenway, Daylon Groulx, Will Hambley, Jacob Hoffrogge, Braeden Lewis, Derek Smyth, Zander Stewart, Zach Stringer, and Sam Vyletelka, Brock may need time to gel. Still, they’ve got quality players at every year of eligibility.
Among the recruits are the 6-foot-3 forward Ammouse, who comes over from NCAA D1, and Groulx, arriving with the Badgers after three years with the UPEI Panthers, including a U CUP semifinal run. Meanwhile, Greenaway heads to the OUA after a brief professional spell in the ECHL.
While the team will miss its top four scorers from last season, they do return with some veteran presence, with Ethan Sims entering his third year, hoping to improve on his 20-point sophomore season. Similarly, second-year Jonah Boria will continue to play significant minutes on the blueline as one of the OUA’s premier offensive defensemen.
For Brock, which opened the season with a win over Waterloo and a loss to Laurier, it’s not a question of if they’ll be a good team, but when and whether that time comes in 2024-25 or another season after the sizeable recruiting class.
TMU has set a standard, can they keep up with a young group?
With two U CUP appearances in the last three seasons, the TMU Bold have a high standard -- and it’s one they might struggle to live up to in 2024-25.
After stacking the team with elite level talents, including now NHL player Artem Duda last season, the group looks towards this season without the likes of veterans Kyle Bollers, Elijah Roberts, and others, who were pivotal in the recent, and most successful seasons in program history.
Yet, there’s still reason for hope. Head coach Johnny Duco has tended to get more out of the players than their resumes suggest, and with top goaltender Kai Edmonds returning for another season after being named to U SPORTS all-star teams the last two, the Bold can have confidence from the crease.
TMU’s powerplay finished second in the OUA last season with 23.4%, and continued to be their strong suit into a lengthy postseason run, which ended in a bronze medal U CUP loss to the McGill Redbirds.
This year, though, they’ll rely on a younger roster to carry those trends.
Kevin Gursoy and Chris Playfair return for their senior seasons, while Russian youngster Daniil Grigorev is back for a second year, after breaking out in the second half of 2023-24 to end his rookie season with 12 goals and 21 points.
Having moved on from key veterans who led the group to immense success, the Bold look to build with a new standard this season. They will do so after opening the year with losses to Ottawa and Carleton.
New season, similar story for the Varsity Blues
The Toronto Varsity Blues return to the OUA West after a third-place regular season finish, and another disappointing playoff performance that left them short of the U CUP. Still the most decorated U SPORTS hockey program, the Blues haven’t won a Queen’s Cup since 1993.
Veteran returnees in Nick Wong, Emmett Serensits, Owen Robinson, and Billy Moskal will look to set the rhythm for head coach Ryan Medel’s group, with the former coming back after leading the team in scoring with 12 goals and 22 assists for 34 points.
Similarly, Serensits continued to define himself as one of the OUA’s best two-way defencemen, contributing 12 assists on a team that also boasted an OUA West-leading penalty kill of 86.7 percent.
Like the Badgers, however, doubts come in net for Toronto, with netminder Jett Alexander now graduated. Jordan Fairlie returns for his second season after keeping a .919 save percentage through six starts last year, alongside Rayce Ramsay, who posted three wins in his four starts.
In their opening weekend, though, some of the goalie doubts may have been pushed aside, with Seabstian Resar making 36 saves in a 4-1 win over the Lakehead Thunderwolves. Toronto lost the second contest of the weekend in Thunder Bay, 5-3.
"There's been a great vibe and energy throughout our training camp as we head into the season, we have a solid core coming back who've played in the league for a number of seasons now,” Medel said. “We've also been impressed with our incoming additions and they've meshed nicely within the group. We expect there to be parity in the league as usual but feel that if we can be an ultra-competitive group and play as a five-man unit on the ice, we will give ourselves a chance to be successful on a nightly basis."
Regular seasons aren’t the problem for this Toronto group though. The questions arrive come playoff time, and whether or not the team will have enough to make a deep run to the Queen’s Cup for the first time since ‘93.
Windsor Lancers add 12 new recruits
The Windsor Lancers took a step back in 2023-24, but will look to return to the Queen’s Cup final in 2024-25.
They’ve undergone a massive changeover, with 12 new recruits entering the program. Head coach Kevin Hamlin will look to impose a strong defensive style on the group that has garnered success the last two seasons.
Veterans Will Ennis, Matt McNamara, and Stef Dobrich will look to bring composure to the group. At the same time, there is no doubt in strong goaltending with Nathan Torchia returning between the pipes, just a season removed from claiming 2022-23 OUA and U SPORTS goaltender of the year honours.
Coming into the year off a season that saw them boast the best powerplay in the OUA West at 26.7%, the Lancers have high hopes with a young group, and lots of potential to pave the path for future success too.
Lakehead Thunderwolves seeking playoff run
The Lakehead Thunderwolves have been one of the most peculiar teams in the OUA the last few seasons. Two years ago, they came within a game of qualifying for the U CUP, while last season saw them take a step back.
Still, the program continued to get strong play throughout the roster in front of the highest-attending crowds in the conference, and they’ll look for an extended playoff run this year, while also garnering similar regular season success.
Nick DeGrazia, a standout rookie from last season, returns for his second year, hoping to build on his 13 goals and 25 points. Meanwhile, Spencer Blackwell, Ben Badalementi, and Josh Van Unen also bring a dynamic touch to the lineup.
With local goaltender Christian Cicigoi likely to take most of the starts after two seasons above .909 goaltending, the Thunderwolves have a regular season standard they’ll want to measure up to before the playoffs. They got off to a solid start too, winning one of two games against the Toronto Varsity Blues on opening weekend.
Laurier Golden Hawks look for small improvements
Kevin Forrest enters another season with the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, looking to finally turn the corner and bring the program into contention. In reality, though, it’s much easier said than done in the ever-competitive OUA West.
After a 6th place finish last season, the Golden Hawks come into 2024-25 with their top two scorers returning in Sam Rhodes and Patrick Brown, while also adding former OHL champion Brenden Anderson to the lineup, among their 12 first years.
Former Team China goaltender at the Beijing 2022 Olympics, Paris O'Brien, enters his first full year with the program but looks to be taking a back seat to rookie Tristan Malbouef and Ventsislav Shingarov, who played six games in relief of former starter Christian Propp last season.
With a loss to Western and a win over Brock on opening weekend, it’s tough to tell where the Golden Hawks stack up this season. However, expect the team to fight for the playoffs, with the potential of a Cinderella postseason run a primary goal.
Nipissing Lakers seeking continued powerplay success
The Nipissing Lakers come into 2024-25 after a year that saw them post the third-best powerplay in the OUA West, powering them to a seventh-place finish. To find success this season, they’ll want to maintain that level while also shoring up defensively—they allowed 93 goals, scoring just 76 to counter.
Harrison Caines returns to the lineup as their main offensive threat after a 35-point season in 2023-24, while defenceman Payton Vescio looks to find continued success as a powerplay quarterback after a 22-point campaign.
There are many reasons to be positive about Nipissing, but competing with the best in the OUA West will remain a challenge, given the depth of their roster and the ample travel required each year compared to other teams.
Guelph Gryphons looking to return to glory
After the 2020 Queen’s Cup title, it’s been downhill results-wise for the Guelph Gryphons men’s hockey program, and that’s not a trend they want to continue.
With head coach Josh Dixon entering his second season with the program, there’s a chance for more stability as the team looks to take the next steps after finishing eighth last season.
Jacob Winterton returns for his fourth year, after leading the team with 12 goals and 26 points last season, while the veteran depth at centre will be critical to success, with Luke Bignell and Anthony Tabak, alongside Griffin Wilson and Dylan Hudon.
Nine rookies come into the program this season, a sizeable turnover, but far from the largest in the OUA, and many of the critical pieces from last year remain through the team’s spine.
With captain Tristan De Jong returning to lead the blueline and Tanner Wickware, the team’s 2023-24 MVP, set to take the crease again, the blueprints are there for Guelph to take steps in the right direction this year. They got off to a decent start with it too, winning once and dropping a game against Windsor to open the year.
Western Mustangs bring back veteran core
The Western Mustangs are already off to a better year in 2024-25 than they were in 2023-24. After dropping the first eight games of their season last year, the Mustangs lost most of their playoff hope before the second half.
But this year, after picking up a season-opening win over Laurier, they look composed and ready to compete under long-time head coach Clarke Singer, who has brought back some intriguing veterans this season.
Captain Shane Bulitka comes back for his second year with the “C” and fourth with the program, while Christiano Aiello also returns after a 10-goal, 22-point season last year. Meanwhile, Andrew Bruder also comes in, looking to crack the 10-goal plateau after a nine goal year in 2023-24.
The most exciting returnee, though, is Franco Sproveiro. He is a vivacious two-way forward who played four seasons from 2019-2023 and returns after two years off for his fifth year of eligibility. Sproviero had 30 goals and 78 regular-season points in his previous Western spell and will look to bring that level back as one of U SPORTS’ oldest players at 26 years old.
"It's only a 28-game schedule, we will need guys to be ready to play every night and be consistent and impactful if we want to have positive results this year," Singer said "We've seen it already this year in exhibition games, everyone is beating everyone and anyone can win on any given night so there aren't going to be very many easy nights across the OUA this year with some of the best parity I have ever seen in my time in university hockey.”
Waterloo Warriors look to improve
There’s only one way to go for the Waterloo Warriors: Up.
After finishing last in the OUA West in 2023-24, the Warriors will look to improve without three stars from last year. Connor Lovie, veteran Alex Gritz, and Max Neill have all gone to the pro ranks.
Tate Popple, who put up 13 assists and 19 points last season, returns as the team’s highest scorer for 2023-24, alongside Simon Rose, who reached the same points total with 18 assists and a lone goal.
Improvement in the ever-competitive OUA West will be difficult, but after a year that saw Waterloo score just 71 goals and concede 116, a modest level of improvement should be expected, especially after a competitive 5-4 loss to Brock to open the season.