Looking to rebound from last week’s loss to the Ryerson Rams, the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team played host to the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins in front of a rowdy, enthusiastic home crowd at Varsity Arena.
Early in the first, RMC applied pressure and created some quality scoring chances, all of which were denied by Blues goaltender Brett Willows.
The momentum soon shifted in favour of U of T when the first penalty of the game was handed out to RMC’s Brett Pinder for tripping. With 22 seconds remaining on the man advantage, the Blues drew first blood. Third-year forward Blake Boddy opened the scoring when he finished off a give-and-go play with Jeff Brown at the side of the net, and slid the puck past the Paladins netminder.
Discipline was an issue for U of T in the later stages of the first period, with Matt Walters and Michael Markovic called for roughing and kneeing penalties respectively. The penalties allowed the Paladins to tie the game on a two-man advantage, with RMC forward Brendan Wright scoring the team’s only goal of the game.
The Paladins, who looked tired while playing their second game in as many nights, cracked under the pressure and were called for some careless penalties. The resulting power plays allowed the Blues to take the lead as Boddy pounced on a deflection off Lane Werbowski’s point shot and fired it past first-year goaltender Evan Deviller for the score.
This was followed by two more quick goals for U of T. Forward Paul Van de Velde found the back of the net on a delayed penalty. A minute later, Boddy scored to complete the hat trick in stunning fashion, racing through the neutral zone, picking up a pass from linemate Jeff Brown, and then shooting the puck beyond Deviller’s reach.
“The pucks were just going in,” Boddy said of his second career hat trick. “Jeff Brown gave me two really nice passes and made two of the goals really easy. The other one was just a rebound that landed on my stick.”
Having picked up two assists in the game, Jeff Brown scored a goal himself — his eleventh of the season — bringing his team-leading point total to 24. The last goal of the night came from defenseman Lane Werbowski to make it 6–1, and put the game well out of reach for the Paladins, who extended their losing streak to 14 games.
Despite the loss, goaltender Evan Deviller made 29 saves for RMC. However, even that wasn’t enough to hold back U of T’s offence, which continues to shine.
Blues goaltender Brett Willows had yet another solid performance between the pipes, making 26 saves and continues to lead the CIS with an impressive 0.935 save percentage.
“Willows played well,” said Blues head coach Darren Lowe. “He was there when we needed him to stop the puck.”
Having defeated the Paladins 4–1 and 7–1 earlier this season, the Blues successfully sweep their series against RMC with this win, and improve to third in the OUA East.
