LONDON, Ont. - The War in the West will enter its second stage at Thompson Arena at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 with the start of the 2009-10 men's hockey playoffs.

The Western Mustangs (21-7-0) and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) (11-15-2) battle for the second time in less than a week in the opening game of the best-of-three OUA West quarter-final series on Feb. 17. Game 2 goes Friday Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at UOIT and Game 3, if necessary, is back at Thompson Arena on Sunday Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

The teams have had three meetings this season, with Western winning two of the three.
UOIT snapped Western's 16-game winning streak last month with a 6-4 win on Jan. 15 at Thompson Arena. It's the only time in the Ridgebacks history they have won on the road at Western.

Western played a strong defensive game to edge UOIT 4-1 at the JLC on Jan. 23 and then defeated the Ridgebacks 3-2 in a shootout on Feb. 12 in their latest meeting.

Undefeated when leading after both the first and second periods this season, Western has lost just twice on home ice in 2009-10, including the one loss to the Ridgebacks in January.

Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer said he knows this series will be a battle.

"We need to play strong team defence and we must have good special teams play," Singer said. "Those are the two things on the top of our list."

The Ridgebacks are coming off a 6-4 upset win over Waterloo on Feb. 13 in their final regular season game. They also defeated Lakehead earlier in February and have the ability to keep games close. 

UOIT is 5-4-1 in their last 10 games, but have won only four games on the road this season. Western is 5-5 in its past 10 games, but won three of its final four regular season games.

Western has been playing better as of late, but head coach Clarke Singer said he believes the penalty killing and defensive play can be better.

Offensively, the sensational sophomore line of Kevin Baker (Georgetown, Ont.), Keaton Turkiewicz (Brantford, Ont.) and Aaron Snow (Windsor, Ont.) have combined for 15 points (five apiece) in the three games against UOIT this year and will be a trio to watch.

UOIT's Nathan Spaling has two goals and two assists for UOIT in the three meetings against the Mustangs this season.

But Western netminder Keyvan Hunt (Coquitlam, B.C.) earned two victories against the Ridgebacks this season, with a 91.4% save percentage and 2.40 GAA in the two starts against UOIT this season. 

On Feb. 12, Hunt was sensational making 39 saves and blanking the Ridgebacks on both shootout attempts. He also played a strong game in the 3-2 overtime win against Wilfrid Laurier on Feb. 13, making 36 saves and bailing out his team in the third period to give them the opportunity to win.

Jeff Dawson earned the win in UOIT's net on Jan. 15 over Western.

Here are the OUA men's hockey playoff match-ups:
WEST
1. Western vs. 8. UOIT
2. Waterloo vs. 7. Windsor
3. Lakehead vs. 6. York
4. Wilfrid Laurier vs. 5. Guelph
EAST
1. UQTR vs. 8. Concordia
2. McGill vs. 7. Nipissing
3. Toronto vs. 6. Ryerson
4. Carleton vs. 5. Queen's