The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team started the exhibition season with one win and two losses on a road trip to the Maritimes Sept. 20-23.
The Ravens opened the road trip with a 3-1 loss to the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in Fredericton on Thursday.
After a day of travel, coach Marty Johnston was happy with the team’s effort.
“We gave up two power play goals and they added an empty-netter,” Johnston said. “They have been one of the top teams in the league for the past four or five seasons.”
Johnston singled out goaltender Ryan Dube as the best player for the Ravens. Nick Duhn provided the offense with the Ravens’ only goal.
The Ravens bounced back Saturday Sept. 22, with a 6-5 shootout victory against the Acadia Axemen in Wolfville, N.S.
Francis Dupuis made his first Canadian Interuniversity Sport start. He made multiple timely saves and stopped five of six Axemen in the shootout.
The third period featured back-and-forth scoring which ended with Ravens forward Ryan Berard tying the game with 0.9 seconds left in the third period.
Jeff Hayes and Joey Manley scored for the Ravens in the shootout to secure the victory.
The Ravens had a quick 12-hour break between games with a 1 p.m. start against the St. Mary’s University Huskies Sunday afternoon.
Dube started in goal for the Ravens, who lost 3-1. Dupuis came into the game halfway through the second period.
The Ravens faced a slow start, but Dube made some big saves and the Ravens had a lead heading into the second period.
“The second period was our best period of the weekend,” Johnston said.
The Huskies scored first off a bad turnover, then a quick faceoff, and added an empty netter. Johnston was still happy with his team’s efforts throughout the weekend.
“I think we came together as a team, a long road trip like that helps a lot of the players bond,” said forward Joe Pleckaitis. “For the rookies it showed them what CIS hockey is really like.”
The Ravens were playing without a captain with the graduation of Brandon MacLean.
The Ravens will not appoint a new captain until the exhibition season is complete.
“We haven’t made any decisions yet,” Johnston said. “We’ll let the exhibitions play out and see the players’ reactions first.”
“We still have a pretty good group of guys, everyone is stepping up and everyone really respects each other,” Pleckaitis said. “To me it seems like every guy on the team is a captain.”
Johnston was also impressed with improvements players made over the summer.
Johnston singled out forward Tyler Taylor, Dube, and defenseman Matt Stanisz as players who really stepped up their play.
“I was also impressed with all our first-year players,” Johnston said.
The Ravens will continue their exhibition season Oct. 6 and 7 with a road trip to play against two NCAA opponents.
