Weekend action starts early for the Western Mustangs men’s hockey team who take on the Guelph Gryphons this Wednesday at Thompson Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.
The Mustangs are 2-0 so far and look to stay undefeated against Guelph. The ‘Stangs have tested the waters both on home ice and in the visitors’ dressing room this season, defeating Waterloo on the road and Laurier at home on a rivalry weekend that saw Western go 7-0 against the various Golden Hawks teams. Western has home ice advantage this week, which is a definite comfort zone for the team and its loyal fans.
The Gryphons are off to a slow start this season starting out 0-4 with one overtime loss, and holding one point at the bottom of the OUA West standings. The team has gone back to the drawing board and will undoubtedly be hungry for revenge Wednesday night against the Mustangs.
Guelph finished fifth in last season’s playoffs and haven’t played the Mustangs since December 2011, when Western came out on top 6-4. The Mustangs look to stay in solid contention early in the race for the OUA title, currently sitting third in the OUA rankings.
Despite being 2-0, the Mustangs show that its talent is evenly dispersed amongst all four lines, with only Zach Harnden on the OUA leaderboard. Harnden leads the league so far with three goals in two games. Guelph looks to Edward Gale and Andrew Bathgate for scoring opportunities, but they will face an experienced Josh Unice between the Western posts in his fourth year of eligibility.
Western completed a valuable exhibition season, playing against Western Michigan and Miami at Ohio on the road and finished with one tie and one loss. This international presence proved the team belongs at a competitive interuniversity level, and also allowed the team to gel in order to prepare for tough competition in the OUA West division.
Without longtime head coach Clarke Singer on the bench, the Mustangs show no sign of tension and look to Patrick Powers who’s at the helm this season. With a game this early in the season Powers looks to guide the team’s offensive and defensive chemistry and test new lines and defensive pairings during the Guelph game.
