OUA men's hockey returns to the Carleton Ice House Friday night as the Ravens host the uOttawa Gee-Gees in a preview of the 2023 Colonel By Classic. Just 16 days before the two teams collide at TD Place, Friday night's contest carries enormous weight in the OUA East standings.
With only the top six teams in the conference making the playoffs the Ravens and Gee-Gees are battling for key points as they look to close the gap on McGill for second place and a first-round bye. The Ravens (8-7) enter the second half with games in hand on everyone in the East, including two on uOttawa (9-8). With both teams set at 19 points, they find themselves three back of Concordia and Ontario tech and four behind McGill.
The defending champions from UQTR continue to lead the division with 26 points, but it's a wide-open race to the Queen's Cup.
Carleton continue to be led by the duo of Parker Aucoin (Sturgeon County, Alta.) and Nick McCarry (Calgary, Alta.) combined the two Ravens have 43 points and are on pace for two of the best seasons in recent history.
Aucoin entered the holiday break leading the country with 17 goals. The Ravens feature four other double-digit scorers are Aaron Boyd, Brogan O'Brien, Garrett Wright and defenseman Simon Kerr have all chipped in.
Friday will be the second of three meetings between the crosstown rivals with the Gee-Gees having taken the first meeting in November 5-3.
Both teams continue to chase Ontario Tech, who arrive at the Ice House on Saturday night. The Ridgebacks have established themselves as the top dog in the Western end of the division, having separated themselves from Queen's, RMC and Nipissing. The Ravens welcome the Ridgebacks for a second meeting this season. After scoring a 6-1 win in their home opener, Carleton fell 3-2 in overtime against Ontario Tech in early November.
The Ravens and Gee-Gees faceoff in the 2023 Colonel By Classic on Sunday, January 22, 2023. The annual rivalry series returns for the first time since 2019, with a doubleheader of hockey action feature both the men's and women's hockey teams in action for one low price.
Tickets for the 2023 Colonel By Classic are on sale now at TDPlace.ca.
