Guelph, ON - The OUA men's hockey playoffs will get underway on Wednesday (Feb. 11) with the Gryphons and Warriors meeting up in the opening round.  The Warriors (17-8-2) finished third in the OUA's West Division while the Gryphons (11-13-3) finished sixth in the standings.  These two teams will take part in a best-of-three series.  Game times are listed below.  All games will be webcast live at OUA.tv 

GAME 1:  Wednesday, February 11th - 7:30pm (Columbia Icefield Arena)
GAME 2:  Thursday, February 12th - 7:30pm (Gryphon Centre)
GAME 3 (if necessary):  Sunday, February 15th - 6:30pm (Columbia Icefield Arena)

It is hard to believe that the Warriors and Gryphons have not met in a 'true' OUA playoff series since the 1992-1993 season. Note - Waterloo, Guelph and Laurier met up in a three-team mini-series during the 2000-2001 season to determine who would receive the final berth into the University Cup.  In contrast, the Gryphons have matched up against Laurier three separate times since the 2009-2010 season.  But on Wednesday (Feb. 11th) the Warriors and Gryphons will meet up in the OUA playoffs for the first time in over 20 seasons.  If you are wondering, the Gryphons won that 1993 playoff meeting 2-games-to-1.  There are 14 current players on the Gryphon roster who were not yet born when that series took place.  Despite the lack of postseason familiarity with these programs, a healthy rivalry still exists.

Last Saturday (Feb. 7th) in the regular season finale, the Gryphons and Warriors went back-and-forth all night in a thrilling 5-4 game that ended in a Gryphons win.   Aside from plenty of goals, the game also featured some highlight reel saves as well as some chippy play with tempers flaring at times from both teams.  Both of their regular season meetings were one-goal games, as the Warriors won 4-3 back on January 24th at the Columbia Icefield Arena. 

Despite the fact that they finished the regular season two games under .500, the Gryphons enter the postseason as a dangerous team playing their best hockey.  After winning just three of their first 16 games this season, the Gryphons have caught fire in 2015, winning eight of 11 since the Christmas break.  Goals were hard to come by early in the season, but the Gryphons have been filling the net of late, having scored five goals or more in seven different games since January.  Robert De Fulviis (Toronto, ON) leads the team with 14 goals on the season, including five in his last two games.  Nicklas Huard (North Bay, ON) leads the team in points (28) thanks to his 11 goals and 17 assists, while Carlos Amestoy (Toronto, ON) has also reached double digits in goals scored with 10 on the season.  

At the other end of the ice, a pair of Gryphon rookies have stepped up in a big way in their first season in the red, black and gold.  First year defenceman MacKenzie Nichol (Listowel, ON) is the team's leading point-getter amongst defencemen, with six goals and 12 assists.  The former member of the Guelph Storm has had several clutch performances including a pair of four-point nights (3 G, 1 A versus Ryerson on Jan 3. & 1 G, 3 A versus Lakehead on Jan. 31).  Nichol also picked up three assists in the win over Brock in the 2015 Frosty Mug on Jan. 16.  Rookie goalie Andrew D'Agostini (Scarborough, ON) has been carrying the load for the Gryphons in between the pipes.  The former number one goalie for the Peterborough Petes is enjoying a solid rookie season of university hockey, and will need to play well if the Gryphons are to get past the Warriors in the opening round of the OUA playoffs.

Both of these programs will be looking to make a run in the postseason and put an end to 17 and 18 year championship droughts.  The Gryphons last won the OUA title in 1996-97 (the same year they were crowned CIAU Champions), while the Warriors last claimed the Queen's Cup during the 1995-96 season.