The Gryphon women's hockey team opens their 2011-12 regular season this weekend at the Gryphon Centre with a pair of games.  Guelph will host the Queens Gaels on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and the UOIT Ridgebacks on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

Both games will be webcast LIVE on www.ssncanada.ca

The Gryphons have proven to be one of the strongest the OUA has to offer, with three straight OUA silver medals to show for. After finishing last year's campaign with a 17-13 record, Guelph has even greater aspirations for this upcoming season.

Guelph will miss the services of forwards Jessica Zerafa, Dayna Kanis, Tori Woods, Jacklyn Upchan, Tayne Hewer and Katherine Van Vlack; defencemen Carla D'Angelo and Lucia Mazza and starting goaltender Danielle Skoufranis.

The team hopes to offset these loses with one of its strongest rookie classes coming in this season, which should mesh nicely with the Gryphon's 14 returning players. The balance of new and returning players should only help the Gryphon's continue their recent dominance in the OUA and hopefully lead to an OUA championship.

Last season, the Gryphon's ended it's OUA championship run in a dramatic three game series against the Queens Gaels, which saw the longest recorded game in CIS history, spanning over six overtimes. Guelph gets their chance at retribution early on this weekend opening against the Gaels.

Former assistant coach Carly Haggard was named as interim head coach for the 2011-2012 season as head coach Rachel Flanagan take a one year maternity leave. Haggard has two seasons of assistant coaching experience for the Gryphons, and will no doubt bring a wealth of experience with her behind the bench, as well as a fresh outlook as the team looks to capture a conference championship.

Heading the Gryphon's offence will be fourth year forward Tamara Bell (Guelph, Ont.), who will once again be the team captain for the upcoming season. Bell posted nine goals and 12 assists last season, and her 21 points were good for 16th in the league, tied with fellow Gryphon's Erin Small (Pickering, Ont.) and Jenna Lanzarotta (Mississauga, Ont.)

Jackalyn Sollis (West Vancouver, BC) returns as the anchor of the Gryphon defence after finishing sixth in the OUA for scoring by defenseman, racking up 12 points, receiving OUA second-team all-star honours. Sollis earned a gold medal with Team Canada at the World University Games, and will bring a wealth of knowledge to the Guelph defensive core.

In total the Gryphons are welcoming a total of 10 rookies.  Watch for Gryphon incoming rookie, Victoria Head to make an immediate impact with the team this season. She joins the team after playing for the Ottawa Intermediate AA team last year and will be looked upon to be a dominate power forward this year for the Gryphons.

Gryphon goalie, Brooke Siddall (Windsor, Ont.), entering her second season with the Gyrphon's went 7-3 over ten games last season. The Gryphons will also look to rookie goalie Stephanie Nehring (Oshawa, Ont.) to lead the team between the pipes.