Oct. 3 will mark the beginning of the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey season.
Having qualified for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) University Cup Tournament appearance last spring, the team’s upcoming year seems promising.
The Ravens finished the regular season last year with 22 wins and 6 losses, placing first in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) east conference with 45 points. 2013-14 saw them take a trip to Saskatoon for the University Cup Tournament. Unfortunately, they were eliminated after losing two games to McGill and Alberta.
The team has since been focused on improving this off-season. Notable changes occurred since the team’s last performance, including the loss of a few key graduates, namely forward Linden Bahm.
“We lost Linden Bahm who was, in my opinion, our captain last year. That was a big loss in our leadership group,” Ravens goalie Francis Dupuis said. “At defense, we lost Jordan Deagle to graduation as well, which is another big loss to our team.”
Even with the graduates gone, the team has been working hard in the off-season, making new additions to each position on the team, according to Ravens forward Joe Pleckaitis.
“We’ve got some young guys coming in that can fill the gaps and it’s looking good,” he said.
The team is looking to improve on their performance last year against some of the stronger out-of-conference teams, especially the defending champion Alberta Golden Bears, according to Pleckaitis.
“I think last year we saw that Alberta had a pretty good four lines and I think we are improving on that. I think we’ve got a solid four lines, solid [defense], and goaltending. I think it’s just about putting it together this year,” he said.
Highlighted among new recruits is Justin Stevens, who transferred to Carleton this summer after two seasons playing Division I NCAA hockey for Mercyhurst College. The addition of the five-foot-eleven defenseman provides a solid component to the blueline, especially with the loss of Deagle.
Alongside Stevens will also be David Weckworth, from the Ottawa area and a much bigger presence on the ice at six-foot-three.
Ravens defenseman Tim Billingsley said the team is confident headed into the new season, with many returning players from last season to lead the way for the new-and-improved group.
“I think we have a stronger team than last year, just because we have so many returning guys plus the new guys that are coming in are fitting into the system pretty well so far,” he said.
With the bar set at a new high, the team to repeat their success from last year and is hopeful to qualify again for the University Cup. Though it will be tough to beat their 13-game winning streak and 22-6 record from 2013-14, Dupuis is poised to do well.
“We finished first last year in the OUA [east] and I think that that’s very attainable for us again this year if we put the work in and we do our jobs,” he said.
Dupuis’ 1.78 goals against average led the CIS last year and his continued performance will be crucial in repeating the Raven’s conference-leading 67 goals against.
Their season is only about to begin, and as the University Cup is still months away, Pleckaitis said they’re not thinking about it just yet.
“We’ve got to play one game at a time and focus on taking small steps,” he said.
