ST. CATHARINES, ON – Technically, the OUA playoffs for men's hockey do not get underway until mid-February. Don't tell that to the Guelph Gryphons and Brock Badgers.
 
Friday night in St. Catharines, the Gryphons and Badgers squared off in a heated preseason game played in front of a record crowd that had all of the emotions of a postseason contest. The game was played at the Meridian Centre, the host venue of the OHL's Niagara Icedogs, and marked the 18^th edition of the Badgers Steel Blade Classic, an annual preseason competition that is part of Brock University's homecoming. A record crowd of 3,532 were on hand to watch the Brock Badgers edge the Gryphons 4-3 to claim their sixth straight Steel Blade Classic. The Gryphons led 3-2 with five minutes remaining in the third period before conceding a pair of late goals to give the Badgers the victory.
 
Several players on both sides received ejections following fighting majors as tempers boiled over on multiple occasions. When it came to goal scoring, the Gryphons received some promising signs as all three of their goals on the night were scored by incoming rookies as newcomers Nick Boyer, Wyatt Trainer and Emmanuel Gialedakis all picked up their first goals in Gryphon uniforms.
 
The Gryphons will continue their preseason schedule on Monday, September 19 when they travel to Windsor to face the Lancers. The Gryphons will play a total of five preseason games before opening up the OUA regular season portion of their schedule on October 5^th at Waterloo.

Note: Gryphons Assistant Captain Mac Nichol did not participate in Friday night's game as he is refereeing at the NHL rookie tournament taking place in London this weekend at Budweiser Gardens with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens all represented.