After an up-and-down regular season. the men’s hockey team claimed its first playoff series win in its current two-year-old incarnation. The Ravens won two straight against the Concordia Stingers to advance to the second round of the playoffs vs. UQTR. Carleton gave the Patriotes all they could handle, winning game one in Quebec and coming back from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits in the deciding game three to force double overtime. It was there that the Ravens’ season ended.
The year was bookended by big efforts against the favoured Patriotes, with Carleton defeating UQTR in their home opener in October and nearly upsetting them in the playoffs in March.
They were inconsistent, with a blistering start tempered by a five-game mid-season losing streak. The team was once ranked number eight in the country and beat everyone in their division, but also lost to two of the worst teams in the league.
The bad news for the Ravens is that they will lose forwards Ian Greene, Tony Manitta, Mike Testa and Francis Walker to graduation. However, they will return their entire defensive core and their top three scorers in Brandon MacLean, Andrew Gibbons and Ryan Berard.
With all but Walker in their first or second year of eligibility, the Ravens gained some valuable experience for next season, and will be up against ever-increasing expectations.
Grade: B+