SEASON PREVIEW: Men’s hockey prepares for wide range of opponents in 2023-24, starting with a familiar face
Puck drops on the 2023-24 Gee-Gees men's hockey regular season this weekend.
While the Gee-Gees start things off against a frequent foe in UQTR, the team will get a chance to test themselves against opponents from across the OUA, rather than just OUA East foes that they've faced since 2021.
"We're facing a big test off the start with UQTR," Gee-Gees head coach Patrick Grandmaître said. "We're looking forward to putting some things in play and seeing where we fit against one of the top teams in our conference."
Ottawa will have an early home weekend against unfamiliar foes in Laurier and Waterloo on Oct. 20 and 21. Before taking the road to Southwestern Ontario for matchups against Western and 2023 Queen's Cup finalist Windsor.
On Dec. 2, a matchup against Guelph at home has particular interest. Though the teams faced off in exhibition action in September, the last game that Ottawa faced against Guelph that officially counted was the 2020 Queen's Cup final, where the Gryphons came away victorious in three overtimes. Justin Stevens was a part of the Guelph coaching staff in 2020, and joined Ottawa as their full-time Associate Coach over summer.
After the holiday break, the Gee-Gees face a higher percentage of familiar foes, with matchups against Carleton, McGill, Concordia, and Ontario Tech sprinkled throughout early 2024.
The Gee-Gees will end the regular season with a matchup against the Ravens at TD Place for the Colonel By Classic on Feb. 8, serving as their fourth matchup of the year.
Ottawa returns a critical mass of their top performers. Both of the Gee-Gees leading scorers from last season have returned to the lineup. Charles-Antoine Roy and Mathieu Desgagnés each finished the 2022-23 season with 13 goals. Captain Anthony Poulin led the team with 16 assists and will return as a key piece of the team's offensive attack.
Bradley Chenier, Max Grondin, and Tommy Bouchard help round out the returning forwards, while Liam Markhauser, Peter Stratis, and Keenan MacIsaac bring the experience to the blue line.
In net, Franky Lapenna enters as a highly touted addition after a stellar junior career in the QMJHL. Jean-Philippe Tourigny will also return after starting 17 of 19 regular season games in 2022-23.
"We're excited to get started, it's been a long enough preseason," Grandmaître said. "We've had good results and even in the losses there were good parts of those games but it's never the real deal until you start playing for points."
Ottawa will start their season at home against UQTR on Oct. 7th. The Patriotes had the Gee-Gees' number last season, winning all three meetings.
The back-to-back OUA champions will be at the Minto Sports Complex for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop, tickets can be purchased at geegees.ca/tickets.