Weekend Watch | Margin for error becoming minimal for playoff-hopeful teams
Toronto, Ont. (via 49 Sports) - The home stretch of the OUA women’s hockey season is finally here.
Some things may already be set, and the Toronto Varsity Blues have essentially been entrenched in the top seed since December. Still, with between three to five games remaining for each team and playoff positioning undecided for as many as seven different squads, there is still much to learn ahead of the 2023 McCaw Cup Playoffs.
We break down a couple of things to watch for this weekend.
Every point matters as Brock hosts TMU
The Brock Badgers are in crunch time, trying to avoid the wrong type of history. The defending McCaw Cup champion has not missed the playoffs in over 15 seasons, but with three games remaining on their schedule, the Badgers sit tied with the Western Mustangs at 28 points for the fourth and final playoff spot in the OUA West Division.
With only one game on the schedule for the Badgers this week compared to two for the Mustangs, picking up points at Canada Games Park on Saturday is critical for Brock’s chances to stave off infamous history.
The challenge for the Badgers will be whether or not they have enough left offensively to carry them into the playoffs. Brock has only put the puck in the back of the net more than once in two of their last five games, but the key to that is one of those games was against the team they’ll square off against at 2:00 pm at Canada Games Park on Saturday – the TMU Bold.
It was back on January 27th that the Badgers spoiled the Bold’s school day game, picking up the 4-2 win with a late goal from Mishayla Christensen serving as the winner. Brock will have to hope the offence will come alive for them again when the Bold take the ice.
For TMU, their playoff spot is more secure than Brock’s, but points are still critical for two reasons. First, they find themselves just a single point back of the Queen’s Gaels for third in the OUA East Division. Slipping into that third spot would mean that TMU would move away from a date with the streaking Varsity Blues and instead take on the Nipissing Lakers. Still a formidable challenge, but a different story nonetheless.
Conversely, TMU still has yet to lock up their playoff as the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks – despite having lost six straight games – still sit just five points back with three games to play. With the Badgers turning into Ontario Tech fans on Friday night as the Ridgebacks take on the Mustangs, it only makes it more critical for TMU to pick up points in their game against Brock.
It’s the last chance for the York Lions
Depending on your perspective, it could be the best or worst feeling, but the York Lions have officially run out of runway. Sitting at 19 points, eleven back of the TMU Bold with four games remaining, the Lions are not technically eliminated from the McCaw Cup playoffs. Still, they have no margin for error.
The only way that the side from northern Toronto could qualify for this year’s playoffs would be to win all four of their remaining games in regulation, have the Bold lose all four of their remaining games in regulation, and see the Ridgebacks pick up a combination of just four points over their final four games.
The first hurdle for the Lions, which could also simplify things quickly, comes on Friday night when the aforementioned Bold head to Canlan Sports for the final meeting between the cross-town rivals. The results between the Lions and Bold have been mixed thus far in 2022-23, as both sides took one of the previous two head-to-head meetings this season.
In November, it was the Bold that took the 4-2 win at Mattamy Athletic Centre thanks to a goal and an assist from sophomore Brooke Michaud. Fast forward three months to January at Canlan Sports, and the Lions scored a win themselves, coming back from 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 deficits before Ava Ricker-Singh slotted in her first of the season for the overtime winner.
If the Lions want to survive, they’ll have to find more of that magic, and they’ll need to do it in regulation to pick up every point possible. Should York pass stage one, they’ll immediately become Brock Badgers fans on Saturday, but beyond that, they’ll head to Guelph to take on the Gryphons.
The Gryphons made their annual trip up to Canlan Sports on January 28th amid a difficult stretch for York that saw them get shutout three times in four games, punctuated by a 1-0 loss to Guelph. Martina Fedel picked up 24 saves in the shutout for the Gryphons and presents a difficult challenge for the Lions, as at 7-1-1 since the calendar turned to 2023, Fedel has taken over in the second half.
