GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team is one win away from capturing a second OUA title in five years. After defeating Brock, Ryerson and Western, the Gryphons earned a spot in the 108th Queen's Cup (OUA championship game) and will head to Kingston for a Saturday night matchup versus the Queen's Gaels, looking to cement their spot atop the largest conference (20 teams) in the country as OUA champions in 2018-19. Puck drop in set for 7:30pm Saturday night at the Memorial Centre in Kingston.
108th Queen's Cup (OUA Men's Hockey Championship Game)
Guelph Gryphons @ Queen's Gaels
Date: Saturday, March 9
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Memorial Centre (Kingston, ON)
Broadcast: oua.tv
The Gryphons found their legs late in the OUA regular season and brought that momentum into the playoffs, where they have gone 6-2 and vaulted all the way to No. 5 in the U SPORTS rankings.
A spot in nationals is already booked but a team that has perfectly blended its core group of veteran players with a dynamic injection of youth wants to make sure the conference banner returns to Guelph, just like in 2015
"We feel it's a huge advantage having guys who have been through this process before and won it," said head coach
Shawn Camp, referring to his fifth-year players who hoisted the Queen's Cup in 2015. "That's really an advantage in the sense that they understand what it takes to get here and they understand the step-by-step process that it takes to win this thing.
"They can relate that previous experience to the young guys because they won it when they were young. It really gives them some perspective."
Veteran defenceman
Reilly O'Connor is one of those players who tasted that early success.
Now, the Marine and Freshwater Biology major from Penticton, BC wants to end his career alongside fellow fifth-year players
Andres Kopstals,
Michael Stevens,
Tryg Strand,
Mark Raycroft,
Seth Swenson and captain
Scott Simmonds the same way it did in their rookie season – as champions.
"It's been a good run with this special group of guys and it feels great to be heading back to the Queens Cup," said O'Connor, who hasn't had time to reflect on his five years as Gryphon with such big games still ahead. "This group has shown a lot of character throughout the playoffs being able to stay positive and focused through adversity."
The Gryphons won four of their final five games in the regular season, to enter the playoffs with some momentum as the No. 4 seed in the OUA West.
Since the first puck of the playoffs was dropped, the Gryphons have been a force. They swept the Windsor Lancers before knocking off the top-seeded Ryerson Rams in a deciding Game 3 on the road at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. And after dropping the first game of the OUA West final against Western, Guelph stormed back to take the second meeting on home ice and then won a dramatic 4-3 double-overtime thriller at the Thompson Arena in London to get to the Queen's Cup and the national tournament.
"It's been the way that the guys have stayed with the plan," Camp said of the Gryphons' success in the postseason.
Gryphon coach Shawn Camp looks on during Game 2 vs Western
"We always talk about how in every playoff round, there will be some form of adversity. It seems to be the teams that trust the recipe the most and stay with the game plan the longest who usually come out on the right side of it.
"We've been behind in games, behind in series and the guys have been so focused on staying with the plan that they've found a way. That's a credit to their character and their discipline."
The Gryphons have done it in exciting fashion, as well. They lead all OUA teams in playoff scoring with 35 goals, six coming on the power play, and second-year goaltender Andrew Masters has been outstanding when needed most, posting a 2.47 goals against average despite being involved in some wild shootouts.
Simmonds had an inspirational performance in the series clincher with Ryerson, bouncing back from a two-game suspension to score twice when the team was on the brink of elimination. And newcomer
Mikkel Aagaard has been the main catalyst on offence. The native of Fredrikshavn, Denmark had multiple-goal games in the last two matchups with Western, including the clutch 2OT winner when he hopped on a puck in the slot and buried it past Mustang goaltender Luke Peresinni to end the series. Aagaard leads all OUA players with eight goals in the postseason and 16 points.
The Gryphons will need to keep the level high against the Queen's Gaels, who sit just behind Guelph in the U SPORTS polls as the No. 6-ranked team in the country. The Queen's players were active on social media Sunday night, rooting for the Guelph-Western classic to go as long as possible.
The rested Gaels have lost just one game in the playoffs and will be a difficult host to deal with after disposing of the Carleton Ravens in two straight games.
Queen's has been led offensively by Slater Doggett, who has four goals and seven assists in seven playoff games. And beating goaltender Justin Fazio (6-1, 2.74 goals against average and .928 save percentage) will be one of the biggest puzzles for the Gryphons to solve when they travel to Kingston Memorial Centre.
"Queen's is a really skilled and a really patient team" said Camp. "They don't worry if they get a lot of shots on net and they don't worry if they give up a lot of shots because their goaltending is so good. Their D corps is solid, they block shots, they get in lanes, and their first pass from the back end is very good, as well. Up front, they have really balanced forward lines. They seem to play well together as a team. If they don't get something early, they don't panic. And if they do get a lead, they protect it better than most teams. We're going to have to make sure we finish on the chances that we do create and at the same time, limit the chances they get because they don't need many to win a game.
"We're in for a real challenge here."
Given the run the Gryphons have made in the 2019 OUA postseason, it appears no team is better prepared to embrace that challenge.
Gryphon Team Statistics
Gryphon Individual Statistics
Queen's Team Statistics
Queen's Individual Statistics
OUA Playoff Leaders
