PLAYOFF PREVIEW: #7 Men’s hockey set to face Ridgebacks in OUA East Quarterfinal

After an exciting end to the regular season at TD Place Arena, the Gee-Gees men's hockey team quickly shift focus to the postseason. 

Wrapping up the OUA regular season 20-6-2 (42 points) the Gee-Gees finish third in the OUA East, matching them up with the sixth ranked Ontario Tech Ridgebacks (14-10-4, 32 points).

The best-of-three series gets started on Wednesday Feb. 14 at Ontario Tech, with games two and three (if necessary) to be played at Minto Sports Complex on Feb. 17 and 18. Puck-drop for the first two games is 7 p.m. while game three gets started at 3 p.m.

Tickets for game two and three will be available at https://teams.geegees.ca/tickets. 

The battle between Ottawa and Ontario Tech has been gritty. Their first meeting went without a goal throughout both regulation and overtime. Mathieu Desgagnes stepped up for the Gee-Gees, scoring in the shootout to take the 1-0 win.

Less than a week later, the teams were head-to-head once again. This time, Ottawa was the dominant team, logging four goals in the third period to seal a 4-1 win.

Goaltending has been the story for the Gee-Gees as Franky Lapenna joined the squad. The rookie goaltender finished the regular season with a 1.72 GAA and a .942 SV%, leading the OUA in both categories. Throughout the regular season, Lapenna registered 736 saves in 26 games played. 

Another rookie has been notable for Ottawa. Luka Verreault finished the regular season leading the Gee-Gees with 28 points, including 15 assists. Verreault added another layer of firepower to an already impressive offensive setup with the likes of Max Grondin, Mathieu Desgagnes, and captain, Anthony Poulin.

James White led the Ridgebacks lineup in an array of categories, logging 26 points, 12 goals, and 14 assists. Stephen Calisti and Andrew Suriyuth also contributed 14 assists each.

The other OUA East Quarterfinal sees a meeting between Concordia (17-8-3, 37 points) and Queen's (19-8-1, 39 points) while UQTR (21-6-1, 43 points) and McGill (21-5-2, 44 points) earned byes.

In the OUA West, Toronto (17-10-1, 35 points) will be taking on Laurier (13-13-2, 28 points) while Lakehead (14-12-2, 30 points) and Windsor (15-11-2, 32 points) face off as Brock (21-7, 42 points) and TMU (19-8-1, 29 points) earned byes. 

All OUA playoff games can be streamed live on OUA.tv.