SEASON PREVIEW: Men’s hockey eyeing return to playoffs in 2022-23

The men's hockey team won't have to wait long to avenge their playoff loss from earlier this year. 

The Gee-Gees will actually play the very first game of the OUA regular season on Thursday, Oct. 13 at the Minto Sports Complex, followed the next night by a meeting with the Nipissing Lakers. The Lakers bounced Ottawa from an abbreviated OUA playoffs series. 

Tickets to all Gee-Gees home games are on sale at tickets.geegees.ca. The full schedule can be found here. 

A quick glance at the 2022-23 schedule for Ottawa shows much more variety. The team will no longer play exclusively within the OUA Far East (consisting of traditional powerhouses Carleton, McGill, UQTR and Concordia) as they did last season. The Gee-Gees will play a 26-game circuit within the OUA East, where they'll be joined by Nipissing, Ontario Tech, Queen's and RMC. 

"I'm looking forward to the expanded schedule," said Gee-Gees head coach Patrick Grandmaitre. "It's good to play against other teams apart from our small division last year. That weighed heavily on the team last season." 

Reigning First Team All-Canadian Nicolas Mattinen has graduated and turned pro, along with veteran staples Yvan Mongo and Cody Van Lierop. Mattinen and Mongo finished one-two in team scoring, while Van Lierop was second among Gee-Gees rearguards with ten points in 18 games. 

Despite the talent leaving the program, Ottawa returns a young, strong core, many of whom are still in just their second year of eligibility. 

"I'm excited to see the evolution of our team," said Grandmaitre. "Two-thirds are back for their third year, but first full regular year. It'll be fun to see the maturity and evolution of our group." 

Mathieu Desgagnés, Charles-Antoine Roy and Nicolas Ouellet headline the forward group. Ouellet brings particular intrigue as he was limited to just eight regular season games, but put up seven points in said games. 

The team's plus-minus leader, Adam Sandstrom, is back, while Anand Oberoi, Jean-Philippe Tourigny and rookie Christian Sbaraglia will be between the pipes this season.

Seven new faces will be in fold this season for Ottawa. Grayson Ladd and David Lafrance bring a wealth of major junior experience to the Gee-Gees, while Tommy Bouchard has proven to be a reliable goal-scoring threat during the preseason. Bouchard put up 36 points and 17 goals in 15 games in the QJHL last season, helping Longueuil Collège-Français to a berth at the 2022 Centennial Cup.

Tickets for all Gee-Gees home games, including the home opener on Oct. 13 against Ontario Tech, are available for purchase at tickets.geegees.ca. The home games will be streamed on OUA.tv. 

This season's U SPORTS National Championship tournament runs from Mar. 16-19 at the University of Prince Edward Island.