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The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team opens their 2013-14 regular season campaign this Friday, October 11 as they host the Ottawa Gee-Gees at Varsity Arena.

U of T also takes on the McGill Redmen on Saturday night (Oct. 12). Advanced tickets are on sale here. Both games will be streamed live on GoBlues.tv starting with puck drop at 7:30 p.m.

The Blues ended the 2012-13 season with a 13-9-6 record in fifth place in the OUA East division. U of T dropped an OUA East quarter-final best-of-three series with the Ottawa Gee-Gees, falling 3-2 in double overtime in Game 3.
Toronto makes the move into the OUA West division in 2013-14.

"It's going to be a good challenge for us with the change to the Western conference this season," said Darren Lowe, who enters his 19th season as Blues bench boss. "We want to be a playoff team and are always striving to be in the top four of the division to clinch home ice in the post season."

Back to lead the Blues is goaltending duo Garrett Sheehan and Brett Willows. Sheehan (Cremona, Alta.) played in 13 games, holding a .898 save percentage, while Willows (Rivers, Man.) saw action in 16 games and ranked third in the CIS with a .930 save percentage last season.

Also looking for playing time between the pipes is first-year netminder Michael Nishi. The Toronto native played 17 games with the OHL's Ottawa 67's in 2011-12, going 9-6-1 with a .902 save percentage. Nishi played the last two seasons with the Guelph Storm.

Third-year forward Jeff Brown returns to lead Toronto's offensive attack. The Toronto native recorded a team-high 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points in 2012-13. He will look to fourth-year forwards Blake Boddy (Scarborough, Ont.) and Michael Markovic (Toronto) to once again be scoring threats this year. They, along with third-year standout Tyler Liukkonen (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.), each notched 24 points in 28 games last season.

Fellow third-year forwards Paul Van De Velde, Tyler von Engelbrechten and Kevin Deagle add great depth to Toronto's forwards, while third-year Ryerson transfer David Harris as well as sophomores Andrew Doyle and Ernesto Valente look for playing minutes this season as well.

Joining the Blues are first-year forwards Connor Cleverley, Russell Turner, Dean Klomp and Casey Knight. A native of Winnipeg, Cleverley has already proven his ability to score, posting three goals in the pre-season, while Turner, standing at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, adds great size as a power forward. Klomp is a solid two-way player and Knight provides great energy whenever he hits the ice.

Second-year NCAA transfer from Clarkson University Christian Finich will join the Blues in January. The Claremont, Ont., native was named the RBC national junior player of the year in 2011-12 and was the OJHL's most valuable player, leading the league with 104 points as a member of the Stouffville Spirit.

U of T's defensive corps will be led by the fifth-year leadership of Tyler Turcotte. The St. Catharines, Ont., native will rely on sophomore standouts Lane Werbowski, who was named to both the OUA and CIS all-rookie teams in 2012-13, and Dylan Heide to continue their solid play this season.

Returning defencemen Cameron Bernier, Marcus Yolevski, Matthew Oakley and Tim Halloran will be challenge by newcomers Corey Jackson and Charlie Connell for playing time in 2013-14. 

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