PLAYOFF PREVIEW: #5 Gee-Gees open OUA playoff push with series against the Ridgebacks

Closing out the regular season with back-to-back wins on the road, the Gee-Gees men's hockey team is shifting gears to post-season play.

The Gee-Gees finished the OUA regular season with a 19-6-3 (41 points) record to finish third in the OUA East, matching them up with the sixth ranked Ontario Tech Ridgebacks (16-9-3, 35 points).

The best-of-three series gets started on Wednesday Feb. 19 at Ontario Tech, with games two and three (if necessary) to played at the Minto Sports Complex on Feb. 21 and 22. Puck-drop for the first two games is set for 7:00pm while game three gets started at 4:00pm.

Tickets for game two and three are available at https://www.showpass.com/gee-gees-hockey-m/

Ottawa and Ontario Tech met twice during the regular season, splitting games back in October. The Gee-Gees won their home opener 5-4 (Oct. 4, 2024) over the Ridgebacks before travelling to Oshawa and falling 4-1 (Oct. 12, 2024).

In the 2023-24 season, the Gee-Gees and Ridgebacks met in the OUA East Quarterfinals. Ottawa played a dominant series, winning 5-1 and 8-0 to advance to the OUA semi-final round.

This season, Ottawa has seen production throughout the lineup. Rookie forward, Andrew Belchamber, led the squad with 30 points, scoring 10 goals and finding 20 assists. Brad Chenier was a reliable goal scorer throughout his fourth season in the Garnet and Grey, finding 13 goals and appearing in all 28 games.

Zach Giroux, Mathieu Desgagnes, and Peter Stratis have been key players for the Ottawa squad. Captain Anthony Poulin continues to be a consistent presence for the Gee-Gees while Marc-Antoine Seguin has provided the clutch factor for the Gee-Gees, totalling three game-winning goals, including overtime heroics against the Brock Badgers (Feb. 14, 2025).

Ottawa has made use of all three of their goaltenders, showcasing their depth in the position. Franky Lapenna was at the helm of 11 wins this season, finishing the year with a .911 save percentage.

Lapenna was absent for a stretch of the season as he travelled to Torino, Italy, to represent Canada at the FISU Winter Games. During this time, Zach Dietz stepped up for the Gee-Gees, recording a solid seven wins and earning his first U SPORTS shutout with a 3-0 win over the Nipissing Lakers (Jan. 17, 2025).  

Jean-Philippe Tourigny tagged in for the regular season finale. With 19 saves, he was perfect between the posts, logging a 3-0 win over the Guelph Gryphons (Feb. 15, 2025).

Ranked second in the OUA East, the #5 Queen's Gaels (22-6) will be waiting to see the outcome of the Ottawa-Ontario Tech series. The winner of the OUA round one matchup will meet the Gaels in the OUA quarterfinals, set to take place from Feb. 26-Mar. 2.

All OUA playoff games can be streams live on OUA.tv.