Photo by Marc Lafleur
There was no doubt when the OUA schedule was released that the OUA Far East would be incredibly competitive, now six games into the season only three points separate first and fourth place. Coming off back-to-back games against their crosstown rivals from the University of Ottawa, the Ravens now turn their attention to a pair of games against long-time playoff foes the UQTR Patriotes.
Thursday, November 25, 7:00 p.m. at the Carleton Ice HouseTickets: GoRavens.ca/ticketsBroadcast: OUA.TV
Saturday, November 27, 7:00 p.m. at Le Colisee de Trois-RivieresBroadcast: OUA.TV
The Patriotes will be returning to action after their bye week ranked number seven in Canada. Having gone 3-0 since starting the season with a 3-0 loss to Concordia the Pats are led offensively by William Leblanc. Leblanc’s four goals in four games follow up an impressive rookie campaign where the Drummondville product had 21 points in 28 games.
For the Ravens, the offense has come in bunches early in the season as Aaron Boyd and Oliver Castleman now sit first and second in the OUA in scoring with eleven and ten points respectively. Boyd’s strong start even earned him BioSteel Athlete of the Week honours for November 15. The accolades didn’t slow down Boyd as he added 3 points (1 goal and 2 assists) in the weekend series against the Gee-Gees.
Back to the Win Column – The Ravens suffered their first regulation loss of the regular season on Saturday night at the University of Ottawa. They’ll need to bounce back with a strong defensive effort against a UQTR team that scored six at Le Colisee in early November.
Defence First – The Ravens’ season has been a tale of team teams, with strong defensive performances being followed up with high scoring firewagon hockey games. The Ravens are 3-0 when holding their opponent to two or less goals, but are 0-1-1-1 when they allow more than two goals. The Ravens have averaged 6.0 goals against in their three losses.
King of the Castle(man) – Ravens rookie Oliver Castleman has brought no shortage of firepower to start his OUA Career. The Ottawa prospect who played minor hockey with the Gloucester Rangers and Ottawa Jr. 67s has made an immediate impact since joining the team from the Niagara Ice Dogs. With 10 points in his first 6 games, Castleman sits only 1 point behind Aaron Boyd for the OUA lead.
