The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team takes on the fourth-seeded Ottawa Gee-Gees in the first round of the playoffs this week (Feb. 13-17).

Toronto will host Game 1 on Wednesday, February 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Varsity Arena. The game will be streamed live on SSN Canada and live stats will be available via varsityblues.ca. Advance tickets are on sale here. 

The Blues will then travel to Ottawa for Game 2 on Friday night at 7 p.m., and, if necessary, Game 3 on Saturday night, also at 7 p.m.

U of T ended the season by snapping a seven-game losing streak over the Concordia Stingers. Toronto finished fifth in the East with a 13-9-6 record, four points behind the Gee-Gees (16-8-4).

Toronto went 1-0-1 versus Ottawa this season. The Blues defeated the Gee-Gees 6-4 at home on Nov. 30, before falling 5-4 in a shootout last Friday (Feb. 8).

The two teams last met in the playoffs in 2008, where the Gee-Gees took the three-game series, 2-1, with two overtime victories.  All in all, the Blues are 46-26-6-3 versus Ottawa since their first meeting in 1971, including a 4-1-2 head-to-head playoff record.

The story of the year for the Blues has been in between the pipes. Sophomore netminder Brett Willows (Rivers, Man.) ended the season ranked second in the OUA and third in the country with a 0.930 save percentage in 16 games played. Third-year goalie Garrett Sheehan (Cremona, Alta.) boasts a 0.898 percentage in 13 games this season.

Second-year forward and Toronto native Jeff Brown ended his first regular season campaign with the Blues with 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points. Veteran forward Kyle Ventura (Scarborough, Ont.) shared the team’s lead in goals, also netting 14 on the season.

Paul Van De Velde, Blake Boddy, Tyler Luikkonen and Michael Markovic all posted over 22 points this season.

Guillaume Donovan had led Ottawa this season with 10 goals and a team-high 22 helpers. Stephen Blunden has also notched a team-leading 10 goals, while Luc-Olivier Blain and Dominic Jalbert recorded 27 and 28 points, respectively, this season.

Gee-Gees goaltender Russell Abbott holds a 0.891 save percentage in 21 games this season. 

For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite U of T athletes and teams, please visit www.varsityblues.ca. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Facebook for the latest and greatest in Varsity Blues intercollegiate athletics.