That means there's a gap in knowledge about the other teams, and we need to close that gap if we're to assess this tournament correctly. With that, the next three days will be spent talking about the representatives from the other three conferences that are playing in Montreal. We'll start with the OUA today, look at the AUS tomorrow, and finish with the RSEQ on Wednesday as we get set for the opening games on Thursday.
HBIC's week of coverage of the U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship begins today as we look at the OUA representatives in the Toronto Varsity Blues and the Nipissing Lakers!
Toronto Varsity Blues
U SPORTS Ranking: 1st
Record: 28-3-2
The Varsity Blues arrive in Montreal as the only team needing one set of jerseys as they'll be the home team in every game they play thanks to their first-overall seed in the tournament. Toronto enters the championship after sweeping TMU in the OUA quartefinals, defeating Guelph 2-1 in the semifinals, and defeating Nipissing in the McCaw Cup. In their final ten OUA games, Toronto has a 7-3 record which included the dramatic finish in the McCaw Cup Final.
Toronto has shown a knack for finding ways to win all season, and they've been fairly dominant in their wins. Their goaltenders have recorded eight shutouts in OUA play this season, and the Varsity Blues only surrendered 41 goals total as a team through the regular season and playoffs. Scoring hasn't been much of a problem for the Varsity Blues either as they've lit the lamp 101 times in their 33 OUA contests. Toronto comes in as one of the favorites, if not THE favorite thanks to their ranking, and they'll be dangerous.
Among those players who should be noted is FISU gold medalist Céline Frappier who seems to always find pockets in the defence for scoring chances, but her three goals and seven assists in 14 games hardly make her the only standout on this Toronto team. Leading scorer Nikki McDonald had 11 goals and 13 assists while both Taylor Trussler and Kaitlyn McKnight dented twine ten times each. Natasha Athanasakos was second in scoring thanks to her team-leading 18 assists, and both Caroline Eagles and Olivia Hilton chipped in 12 points each from the blueline. This Varsity Blues team can score in bunches if they're clicking, and we saw that in the McCaw Cup Final most notably as the team rallied for two goals late.
The starting goaltender duties will be handled by Erica Fryer, and there's little reason to believe her season was a fluke after she posted a 10-2-1 record on the strengths of a 1.39 GAA and a .936 save percentage with two shutouts. If, for some reason, Fryer were to falter, it's not like Toronto will be forced to scramble as goaltending partner Madeline Albert finished this season with a 12-0-1 record, a 1.07 GAA, a .908 save percentage, and five shutouts. The OUA playoffs was where Fryer shone, though, as she went 3-1 with a 1.01 GAA and a .951 save percentage. Toronto has a couple of very good netminders coming into this championship, and we've heard that defence and goaltending wins championships.
Toronto led the OUA with a 22.5% power-play efficiency as they scored 31 goals on 138 opportunities while allowing no shorthanded goals-against. They also had the conference's best penalty-killing efficiency at 93.5% as they allowed just eight goals in 117 shorthanded situations while scoring three shorthanded goals. Where Toronto should be concerned is with their playoff numbers as the power-play dropped to 13.8% (4/29) while their penalty-killing dropped to 86.4% (19/22). They did score a shorty, but special teams performances at the U SPORTS National Championship could be the difference between advancing and going home empty-handed.
As much as it sounds like Toronto is unbeatable based on some of this info, the OUA teams showed that not giving Toronto space to operate was the key to defeating them. Gap control, particularly on forwards in the offensive zone, and quick transitions for odd-player rushes was what helped Guelph win one game and nearly had Nipissing upset the Varsity Blues for the second-straight year. The best way to beat a team that likes to put a lot of pucks on net is to not give them time and space, so we'll see if teams in Montreal use this idea. The last thing that any team should do, particularly if they hold a lead, is to sit back and defend. Toronto's simply too good for anyone to take their foot off the gas pedal.
Historically, the U SPORTS National Championship hasn't gone so well for Toronto. Last year, they didn't make the big dance thanks to Nipissing upsetting them in the OUA semifinal, and they were upset by the Mount Royal Cougars in overtime in 2020 in the quarterfinal game. 2019 saw them lose to the Alberta Pandas in the quarterfinal game, and 2018 didn't see Toronto win a game in the OUA playoffs. With the Varsity Blues looking at another date with the Mount Royal Cougars, it should be noted that Toronto also lost to Manitoba in the consolation final in 2019, so the Varsity Blues are 0-4 in their last four games against Canada West. Will this be the year they shake that gorilla off their backs?
We'll know that answer on Thursday afternoon as the eighth-ranked Mount Royal Cougars meet the first-ranked Toronto Varsity Blues at 3pm ET. You can catch all the action from Montreal this week for free on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem, and the free CBC Sports app!
Nipissing Lakers
U SPORTS Ranking: 6th
Record: 23-5-3
The Nipissing Lakers roll into Montreal with a bad taste in their mouths after coming so close to their first OUA women's hockey banner only to see it snatched away by the Varsity Blues. Nipissing enters the championship after sweeping Queen's in the OUA quartefinals, sweeping Waterloo in the semifinals, before falling to Toronto in the McCaw Cup after leading for 56 minutes in that game. In their final ten OUA games, Nipissing has a 8-2 record with one of those losses coming in the McCaw Cup Final.
Nipissing's story for success comes as no surprise as they used timely scoring and solid defence and goaltending to post their wins this season. They scored 77 goals this season - third-best in the OUA - and they allowed 54 goals - tied for fourth-best in the OUA. Where they succeed, though is winning close games as the Lakers were 11-4 in one-goal games this season, and that includes a 7-3 record in overtime. Of course, that record does include the McCaw Cup Final, but you get my point. Nipissing isn't going to blow anyone out of the water, but they will grind out wins as often as needed.
The spark plugs for the Lakers this season were the Dominico sisters as Malory led Nipissing in scoring with 15 goals and 11 assists while sister Maria won a FISU gold medal with Canada where she led Team Canada in goals. Beyond that, Maria also had six goals and ten assists in 20 games this season with Nipissing. Katie Chomiak will be big part of the Lakers' offence as she was the second-leading scorer on the strength of 14 goals, and Maggie McKee led the team in helpers with 18 as she was the Lakers' third-leading scorer. OUA First-Team All-Star Madison Laberge led the blue line with 21 points to finish second-overall in OUA defender scoring. Nipissing will score when given opportunities, but they often strike from in close and around net.
Nipissing saw a passing of the torch, so to speak, in the crease as long-time U SPORTS veteran Chloe Marshall passed the reins to Chantelle Sandquist this season. Sandquist was solid down the stretch for the Lakers as she went 12-3-0 with a 1.76 GAA, a .925 save percentage, and four shutouts. Sandquist continued her solid play in the postseason as she was 4-1-0 with a 2.07 GAA and a .931 save percentage. The nice part about this tandem is that Marshall could come off the bench with a 7-3-1 record, a 2.28 GAA, and a .912 save percentage combined with her years of experience including the silver-medal run Nipissing made last season at Nationals. Needless to say, the Lakers have a solid tandem in the crease for this year's National Championship.
If Nipissing is going to make a run in this year's championship, they need a better power-play efficiency than what they showed in the OUA. Nipissing clocked in at 12.0% (12/100) while allowing three shorthanded goals-against, and that simply won't get the job done against the other seven teams in Montreal. The Lakers did have the OUA's third-best penalty-killing efficiency at 91.4% - just 0.2% back of second-place Guelph - as they killed off 117 of 128 shorthanded situations they were in while scoring four shorthanded goals. Nipissing was actually much better in the playoffs with a 30.8% power-play efficiency and an 88.0% penalty-killing efficiency, but they were the only team to surrender a shorthanded goal. Against Toronto. In the McCaw Cup Final.
While it seems that Nipissing may have some weaknesses, a lot of those are covered up by Sandquist as she's big, she's agile, and she squares up to shots well. The key for Toronto beating her was quick shots that forced her to move or adjust her stance - a quick wraparound and a one-timer - so getting her moving is the key. They defend well and the forwards are quick to help in the defensive zone, so forcing Nipissing into playing at a gear or two higher than they like with forechecking pressure and good gap control will force them into mistakes. That's where teams can beat the Lakers.
Nipissing's only appearance at the U SPORTS National Championship was last year in PEI where they were ranked as the sixth-seeded team, and they made the most of it as they suffocated the UBC Thunderbirds en route to a 1-0 win in the quarterfinal before shocking the UNB Reds with a 4-0 score. They ran into the top-seeded Concordia Stingers in the gold-medal final, but the Stingers downed the Lakers 4-0 in the final. Nevertheless, the Lakers can make the case that their first National Championship appearance defied all the odds as they captured the U SPORTS silver medal in 2022. Will we see another run by the sixth-seeded Nipissing Lakers this year? If they're going to make that run, they have to go through the team that ended their run last year in their opening game.
The sixth-ranked Nippising Lakers meet the defending gold medalists in the third-ranked Concordia Stingers at 7pm ET on Friday. You can catch all the action from Montreal this week for free on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem, and the free CBC Sports app!
That should get you up to speed on the OUA teams playing in Montreal this weekend. We jump to the Maritimes tomorrow for a look at the two AUS teams heading to La Belle Province this weekend!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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