The last few weeks have brought mixed results to the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team, as they were swept out of a tournament in New Brunswick before storming back to take a pair of road games to resume the regular season.
The Blues dropped both games in the fifth annual Pete Kelly tournament, hosted by the University of New Brunswick over the holiday break. Their first game was a 5-1 loss to the hometown UNB Varsity Reds, in which they were outshot 45-12. The Blues’ lone goal came from Mississauga native Sean Fontyn near the end of the second period.
They came much closer in their second game, dropping a 3-2 decision to the St. Thomas Tommies. Kyle Paige, a first year player, gave the Blues a 1-0 lead about halfway through the second period, but the Tommies stormed back with three unanswered goals, including a shorthanded effort by Alex Labonte. Five minutes into the third, Andrew Kizito pulled Toronto to within one, but that was as close as they would come.
Their return to regular season action went a bit better, as they cruised to a 7-3 win over the Queen’s Gaels in Kingston on Friday. Byron Elliott, Tyler Turcotte, and Paul Dupont each tallied three points in the game, while Joe Rand had four, with two goals and two assists. Both of Rand’s goals came within the first three minutes of the game and both were assisted by Turcotte and Dupont, including the game’s opener, which came a mere 37 seconds after the puck dropped. Goaltender Russell Brownell notched 24 saves in the victory.
Rand was back at it the next day in North Bay, tacking on another four points with a goal and three assists to give the Blues a 6-4 win over the Nipissing Lakers. It was a see-saw game, with Brendan Sherrard giving U of T an early lead before two Nipissing goals wiped it away. Ed Snetsinger evened the score in the second. Nipissing again went ahead, but Robert Kay found the back of the net for a Blues’ equalizer. Elliott then returned to the score sheet, notching the go-ahead goal that would give Toronto a lead it would not relinquish.
Toronto currently sits in fifth place in the OUA men’s hockey east division, two points behind fourth-place Queen’s and three shy of third-place Carleton. It remains a steep climb if they are to reach the top two, as first-place Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières sits 10 points ahead of them, and they are separated from second-place McGill by nine points.
