Darren Desaulniers takes stock of Ravens, Gee-Gees hockey squads
Gee-Gees squad 9-0-1 over last 10
It’s up for debate whether the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees men’s hockey team rocks, but there is no debating the fact that they are on a roll despite a 4-3 shootout loss to the Queen’s Golden Gaels Saturday at Kingston.
The game was the last for both teams until after Christmas, and although a win Saturday would have had the Gee-Gees ho-ho-hoing into the holidays, as it stands they have collected points in their last 10 games, including 18 points from nine straight wins before Saturday.
The only OUA team on a similar roll is the Gaels, who have yet to lose in regulation and are 10-0-5. The Gee-Gees are 10-5-1 after a 1-50 start to the season. Their last loss prior to Saturday was a 4-2 setback to the Carleton Ravens on Oct. 26.
“We had a tough start mainly because of our defensive play for some reason,” Gee-Gees third-year coach Real Paiement said. “We had a good training camp, some good exhibition games, but when the real thing started, we seemed to be lost in the defensive zone.”
In their first six games, the GeeGees were outscored 25-19, but if you take away their only win in that stretch, an 8-1 thumping of Nippising, and those numbers tell a much more dismal tale.
In the nine straight wins that immediately followed, they allowed just 16 goals against while scoring 41. There’s your turnaround. “We have enough offensive skill to play with just about anybody, but it doesn’t matter how much offensive skill you have if you can’t prevent goals,” Paiement said.
“We’ve progressed and grown as a team and, going into the break, we feel pretty good about how we’ve improved and played.”
Fourth-year forward and former Ottawa 67’s player Stephen Blunden, who leads the Gee-Gees in scoring with 23 points, agrees with his coach that defence was a problem at the beginning of the season, but also points out that the turnaround started when captain David Foucher returned from off-season shoulder surgery.
Foucher, by the way, is also a defenceman.
“The first six games we were without our captain and Saturday was our first loss with him in the lineup,” Blunden said.
“He’s a big difference for us on and off the ice. He’s our leader. We all look up to him and he’s a great guy to have in the room. We’re happy ending the first semester the way we did. It was a nice recovery from a slow start, but we have to keep on the ice for the whole month that we’re off.”
Exams begin this week for the student athletes, and while they would rather be playing than studying, the reality of their situation trumps everything else.
“We’re at a point in the season where everybody needs the break. The players are looking forward to it but we’re going 10 games with a point you don’t want it to stop. It’s like the playoffs, where teams get a bye and then don’t do well in their first series because they had too much time off,” Paiement said.
“We’ve got a program for the next few weeks to keep the guys going but it’s still not games.”
The Gee- Gees can earn a little crosstown revenge in their next game as they open the second half on Jan. 4 at Carleton against the Ravens.