The No. 11 Ottawa Gee Gees make their first appearance at the Bell Varsity Cup. Last year, under rookie Head Coach Dave Leger, and with a roster composed of half rookies, they defeated perennial OUA powerhouse UQTR in the OUA Far East Finals and went on to qualify for their first ever appearance at the CIS National Championships in Fredericton. This year Ottawa has been ranked in the Top 10 and sits tied for second in the OUA Far East Division, four points behind UQTR, in a wild divisional battle with Les Patriotes, Concordia, and McGill, arguably the strongest overall division in the OUA. Ottawa has a 7-4-2-1 OUA record and are 7-6-2-1 overall. They are coming off a 7-1 exhibition loss to Colgate on Dec. 18th.
Ottawa Head Coach Dave Leger said his team is very excited to travel to Thunder Bay and participate in the Bell Varsity Cup. "The tournament's reputation as a first class event continues to grow and it is going to be great to get the opportunity to experience the atmosphere of hockey in Thunder Bay. We have heard that it is quite the sight to behold, but knowing the rich hockey tradition that exists in Thunder Bay, we would expect nothing less. The competition will be outstanding and we believe that the exposure to the high level of play will benefit our program immensely. We have made good friends with the staff at Lakehead University and we know that everything will be first class throughout our stay in Thunder Bay."
Historical Head to Head:
Ottawa is 0-1 vs. the Thunderwolves, 0-2 vs. UNB, and 3-3 vs. Manitoba.
The fast skating Gee Gees are a very young team, featuring 13 second-year players and four first year players. The team has a strong trio of goaltenders in Mathieu Blanchard, Matt Davis, and Martin Bricault. The Gee Gees play a strong team game, and they have a lot of scoring power that can come from all over the roster from the likes of Jourdan Lagace (3 goals and 9 assists), Samuel Seguin (4 goals and 5 assists), Corey Macdonald (6 goals and 3 assists), Ben Mcleod (5 goals and 6 assists), Jonathan Robert (6 goals and 1 assist), Adam Vaughn (5 goals and 5 assists), and OUA All-Star Rob Rideout (8 goals and 2 assists).
Ottawa 04-05 Results:
Colgate 7 Ottawa 1 EX
Fri Dec 3 Ottawa 3 UQTR 3 TIE OT
Sun Nov 28 Laurier 3 Ottawa 2
Sat Nov 27 Ottawa 7 Brock 6
Sat Nov 20 Ottawa 2 Guelph 1
Fri Nov 19 York 5 Ottawa 4 OL
Sun Nov 14 Ottawa 8 RMC 2
Sat Nov 13 Ottawa 5 Queen's 2
Sun Nov 7 Ottawa 4 Ryerson 1
Sat Nov 6 Ottawa 3 Toronto 3 TIE OT
Fri Oct 29 Concordia 7 Ottawa 4
Sun Oct 24 Ottawa 8 Concordia 1
Sat Oct 23 UQTR 5 Ottawa 2
Fri Oct 15 Ottawa 4 McGill 1
Sat Oct 9 Canisius 4 Ottawa 3 EX
Fri Oct 8 RMC 3 Ottawa 1 NC
Sun Sep 26 Lakehead 6 Ottawa 2 NC
For more info on Ottawa Gee Gees hockey, click here.