After capturing their seventh consecutive Mid-East title, Men’s hockey looks to improve on last year’s success. The Blues finished with an 18-9-1 record and had a strong playoff run, shutting out and sweeping the ninth-ranked McGill Redmen 1-0 and 2-0, before losing two tough 5-4 games in overtime to Université de Trois-Rivières. Last year’s season was an improvement of 10 wins from the 2005-06 season, when the Blues finished 8-13-2-1, going 8-2-1-1 in the last twelve games.
“We have a number of players who have experienced both winning and losing. We were close to a championship last year and we are confident that we could be a good team. Last year was a big confidence boost,” said Blues coach Darren Lowe.
“Obviously you strive to be champions, but we want to at least match last year’s success,” said Blues rookie Stephen Duffy. “I would just like to have a positive impact and help the team as best I can.”
Last year’s team consisted of mostly second and third-year players. Coach Lowe says that about 50 per cent of those players have returned this year.
But there are two notable omissions from the lineup: Captain Simon Barg, who was second on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 18 assists, and OUA MVP goalie Ryan Grinnell, who led the Mid-East with a goals against average of 2.20 and a .920 save percentage.
“Both Ryan and Simon will be missed,” said Lowe, “but our point leader, Anthony Pallotta, is back, as well as our leading scorer, Joe Rand.”
Pallotta led the team in points last year with a score of 36, while Joe Rand netted 18 goals. To fill the void left by Barg, both team members need to have similarly successful seasons. On defence, the Blues will need the leadership of top defenceman Brenden Sherrard to galvanize the team from the back and ease the load off the net.
“We have two first-year goalies with good junior backgrounds. While they may not have the same experience as Ryan [Grinnell], they are more prepared than when Ryan started”, said Lowe.
Last season, stricter rules were imposed for stick infractions, making specialty teams’ success crucial for victory. The Blues only converted on 12.3 per cent of their power plays last season, but they are looking to improve other aspects of their game.
“Our power play is second right now,” said Blues defenceman Darrell Simich. “We have been working mostly on the penalty kill.”
“We want to focus on our defence and get that set so we can build from there,” explained Duffy.
Though the Blues may be in a weaker division with Ryerson, Queen’s, and Royal Military College, who had a total of 17 wins between them last year, U of T needs to create a strong defence, as all three teams continue to get better. “Last year Ryerson and Queen’s both had a full-time coach for the first time in quite a while. RMC has hired Adam Shell, McGill’s old coach, who has worked with a successful system. All three teams will be much improved by these coaching changes in all aspects of the game,” , advised Lowe.
The Blues head into the last portion of their exhibition season with a tournament in Michigan against tough Division 1 American teams. This will be the ultimate test for the Blues, a chance to see what they have accomplished in camp and during the preseason. “You can’t really prepare for Division 1 teams,” said Simich. “You just want to play your game and play the system, and try and gauge where we are at as a team and what to improve on.” The Blues begin their season with two road games on Oct. 12, against Guelph, and Oct. 13, against Brock, before returning home for two games, against York on Oct. 17 and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology on Oct. 19.
