The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team’s season ended after a first round elimination at the hands of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes back on Feb. 19.
The loss wrapped up an underwhelming season for a team that qualified for the U SPORTS University Cup a year ago.
At the Christmas break, the Ravens found themselves with a 10-7-1 record, and split back-to-back games eight times.
By the end of the season, the Ravens were able to become more consistent, and finished fourth in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East with a record of 16-9-3.
“I feel like in general we felt like we underachieved . . . We had a tougher first round matchup than we expected based on our game consistencies during the regular season,” said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston.
“We certainly got off on the wrong foot, losing to RMC, losing [Ravens forward Brett] Welychka for the first seven games,” Johnston said. “We kinda stumbled and not winning back-to-back games—it was a different experience for us.”
Ravens forward Alex Boivin described the start to the season as a disappointment, and believed a players-only meeting in late November helped turn the team around.
“We got off to a slow start and we were losing to teams that we had no business losing too and we weren’t coming to play against teams that we had to show up to play against,” Boivin said. “I think that meeting was really big for us.”
Next year, the Ravens’ lineup will look very different, as several veterans including Michael McNamee, Ryan Van Stralen, and Corey Durocher will all be graduating.
“A big core group of our guys, a lot of our leaders are gonna be gone next year,” Boivin said.
“Our plan is obviously recruiting and getting to watch those graduating players sign contracts or get jobs,” Johnston said. “That remains a focus of our coaching staff, to help those players that did well by us.”
The younger players on the team will have to step into leadership roles come next year, with a large crop of players being recruited to play for Carleton in the fall.
“We’re gonna see some new faces next year and we’re gonna have to establish our brand and our identity to the new faces coming in,” Johnston said. “We’re expecting possibly nine [new] guys in our lineup.”
The first of these new recruits is Ottawa 67’s forward Jared Steege, a 21-year-old that has put up 33 points in 50 games this season.
“[Steege brings] the ability to kill penalties and the ability to be put in an offensive and checking role and the ability to have a physical impact on the game,” Johnston said. “I know him well and I’m happy with the character that we’re getting.”
– Photo is provided.
