TORONTO, Ont. – On the road. In the playoffs. Against the top-seeded team in the division. And playing without the services of their team captain. It all adds up to the most impressive win of the entire 2018-19 season for the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team.
Thursday night in downtown Toronto at the old Maple Leaf Gardens, now known as the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the Gryphons picked up an impressive 4-1 road win over the No. 7-nationally ranked Ryerson Rams in Game 1 of their best-of-three OUA West semi-final playoff series.
Fresh off of sweeping the Windsor Lancers in the opening round, the Gryphons entered the 2nd round of the postseason without the presence of their three-time team captain,
Scott Simmonds.
Mikkel Aagaard celebrates his first of two goals Thursday vs Ryerson
Simmonds, a fifth-year senior and an OUA West First Team All-Star a season ago, was in street clothes on Thursday evening, serving the first of a two-game suspension for a hit to the head delivered during Game 2 of the Windsor series. Simmonds led the Gryphons in scoring during the regular season with 25 points in 28 games played and has anchored the Gryphons' top line throughout the year, forcing the Gryphon coaching staff to juggle some lines for Game 1 versus Ryerson. Moving up to the top line on Thursday night was talented newcomer
Mikkel Aagaard, who looked right at home alongside new linemates Todd Winder and Connor Bramwell.
Late in the opening period, Aagaard would open the scoring, streaking through the Ryerson defence, firing a shot on Rams goalie Taylor Dupuis and following up his own rebound to give Guelph a 1-0 lead. Aagaard arrived at the University of Guelph this season as a highly-touted prospect after having previously served as captain of Team Denmark at the World Juniors (2014-15).
Todd Winder reacts after putting Guelph up 2-0
A season ago, Aagaard suited up in 23 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers). Thursday night's goal marked the 2nd of the postseason for the Arts student and native of Frederikshavn, Denmark.
Gryphons second-year goalie
Andrew Masters made 23 saves on the night, including several huge stops during a scoreless 2nd period, which helped keep the game 1-0 in Guelph's favour heading to the 3rd period. In the final period, Gryphons' sophomore standout
Todd Winder would add to his already eye-popping postseason totals.
Just :48 seconds into the final period, Winder, the reigning OUA West Rookie of the Year, would showcase some incredible hand-eye coordination, seamlessly receiving a neutral zone pass blindly on his backhand before bursting into the Ryerson zone and firing a shot into the top corner to give Guelph a 2-0 lead. For Winder, who was named the OUA's Athlete of the Week two days prior, it marked his 11th career playoff goal in just eight career postseason games.
With four minutes remaining in regulation, Ryerson would finally solve the Gryphon defence with a goal from Steven Harland trimming the deficit to 2-1. But whatever momentum the host Rams had from that goal would not last long, as the Gryphons would answer back just :26 seconds later with a goal of their own. After
Marc Stevens was able to force a Ryerson turnover, it would be U of G rookie
Ryan Valentini finding the back of the net to restore the Gryphons' two-goal lead to put the visitors up 3-1.
An empty net goal from Mikkel Aagaard, his second of the night, would cap the scoring and seal an all-important 4-1 road win for Guelph.
During the regular season, the Ryerson Rams finished atop the OUA West standings with a 20-5-3 record. But the high-powered Rams have had their hands full with the Gryphons in 2018-19, having lost three of their four head-to-head meetings with Guelph. All three of the Gryphons' wins over Ryerson this season have come in Toronto. The Gryphons will now look to close things out on Saturday night (7:30pm) when the series shifts to the Gryphon Centre.
Gryphon Take
"We felt we got better as the game went on. Our special teams were solid and our goaltending was excellent when called upon. You can't replace a guy like Scott Simmonds, but we had other guys step up tonight and help fill the void." ~
Gryphon head coach Shawn Camp
Next up
OUA West semi-final series vs Ryerson Rams
Game 1: Guelph won 4-1
Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 23 (Ryerson @ Guelph – 7:30pm)
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, Feb. 23 (Guelph @ Ryerson – 7:15pm)
