The expression “all good things come to an end” summed up last year’s season for the Varsity men’s hockey team. For the first time in seven years, the team failed to win the Mid-East Division title and finished with a 13-13-0-2 record, five wins short of their prior season’s performance. While the Blues did manage to make the OUA playoffs, they were ousted by the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the final game of a three-game series.
The generally weak Mid-East has slowly improved over the years. Two seasons ago, the Blues finished with eighteen wins, while the combination of Queens, Royal Military College, and Ryerson had only seventeen.
“I agree that the division is getting stronger, but we just didn’t have a great season last year,” said Blues head coach Darren Lowe. “We ended with a .500 record and blew first place in the last game of the season against Ryerson in a shootout. We could have won our division.”
This season, the Blues will have to overcome the loss of key veteran players. Last year’s top two scorers, second team all-star Anthony Pallotta and first team all-star Mark Heatley, and veteran forwards, Julian Sarraino and Mark Wright, have graduated.
“When it comes to points and a leadership role, we are looking to our two remaining scoring leaders, Joe Rand and Ed Snetsinger,” Coach Lowe explained. “We just need the team to collectively put up the numbers.”
The loss of the veterans provides younger players with the opportunity to shine. “So far training camp has been interesting. It has been very competitive as we have had a large influx in first-year recruits and young walk-ons looking to gain a spot,” Coach Lowe said.
The surge of newcomers will add to an already youthful Blues team. Last year, the squad began the season with two first-year goaltenders and five first-year defencemen. With the addition of the new players, the team will be comprised of a primarily first and second-year forward core. With the absence of Pallotta and Heatley’s offensive power, these new forwards must collectively produce scoring opportunities in order to have any success this season.
Despite the fairly young team, Coach Lowe is not fazed about the team’s depth. “We are much deeper as a team as we […] now have four lines,” he said. “Last year, we were mainly a two line team with talent spread further through the lineup. This year, it’s much more balanced as our high end guys might not be as high end, but our lower end guys are definitely not considered low end.”
Two seasons ago, the Blues’ success was complimented by the outstanding play of OUA MVP goaltender Ryan Grinnell, who led the OUA with a goals-against average of 2.20 and a .920 save percentage. After Grinnell’s departure last season, the Blues went with two first-year goalies Andrew Martin and Russ Brownell. With Martin getting the bulk of the playing time, both goalies improved and continue to impress team management.
“Andrew was very good for us last year. He adapted to the game and style very well. Russ played well in the [York] tournament and continues to grow as a solid goaltender. Both are still young and still have plenty of time to progress and get better. They are certainly impressive,” Coach Lowe said.
Age and relative inexperience proved not to be a problem for the Blues this preseason. On Sept. 27 to 28, they participated in the York Invitational, finishing in second place, including a 6-0 blanking of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. In the finals, the Blues lost to the York Lions 3-2 in a shootout after York capitalized on a 6-4 advantage in the closing seconds of the game, to send it into overtime.
“Overall our team chemistry has been very good. The 6-0 win was split in goal between Russ and Andrew, and our team played very well. We are very happy and impressed with how the tournament went,” Coach Lowe explained.
This week, the Blues ended their preseason with two games against Division-1 NCAA teams. The Blues beat the Michigan Tech Huskies 3-1, before falling to the Northern Michigan Wildcats 4-1 the next day.
“D-1 schools will be an experience for us,” Coach Lowe said prior to the games. “It is the ‘best hockey’ […] to compare yourself to. These games are just another opportunity for us to do some final evaluation and to get some team bonding.”
The youthful Blues will begin their season with back-to-back home games on Oct.10 and Oct. 11 against Guelph and Brock, respectively. Next, the Blues hit the road against UOIT, York, and Queen’s before returning home on Oct. 31 to play RMC.
