The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team opens their 2014-15 regular season campaign this Friday, October 10 as they host the Laurentian Voyageurs at Varsity Arena.
 
The Blues also host the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday night. Advance tickets are on sale here. Both games will also be streamed live on OUA.tv, starting at 7:30 p.m.
 
Toronto is coming off their 25th-straight post-season appearance in 2013-14, but are determined to make it to March this season. U of T added their first-ever full-time assistant coach in Dan Price this off season.
 
"Our goal as a team this season is to improve upon last year's record and get home-ice advantage in the playoffs," said Darren Lowe, now in his 20th season and Varsity Blues head coach. "Dan has already made an impact on the amount of time that we get to spend individually with players and his level of expertise in a lot of areas is really going to help us."
 
The Blues return the goaltending duo of Brett Willows and Garrett Sheehan once again this season. Willows and Sheehan notched .911 and .921 save percentages in 19 and 10 games, respectively, last season. Willows took the top spot when Sheehan suffered a second-half injury last year, but the duo, along with sophomore Michael Nishi, are all expected to see time this year.
 
The Blues also return their top five scorers from last season. Fifth-year veteran Michael Markovic is coming off a breakout year, which saw him lead the team with 15 goals and 17 assists. Jeff Brown, who led the team in scoring in 2012-13, is also back after a 23-point season last year.
 
With the return of 13 forwards from last year's roster, U of T will look for secondary scoring from players such as Tyler von Engelbrechten, who notched nine goals and 15 assists in 27 games last season and fellow third-year forward Andrew Doyle, who looks to step into a leadership role after doubling his offensive output last season.
 
Fourth-year veterans Tyler Liukkonen and Paul Van De Velde are coming off 18 and 20-point seasons, respectively, and will also be relied upon to generate up front.
 
Christian Finch returns for his first full season as a Varsity Blue. Finch joined the team from Clarkson University and notched five points in nine games for the Blues last season. Similarly, third-year forward and Clarkson University transfer Patrick Marsh is expected to make an immediate contribution this year. 
 
Toronto's back line will be anchored by third-year defencemen Lane Werbowski and Dylan Heide. They will be supported by veterans Marcus Yolevski and Cameron Bernier, as well as sophomores Charlie Connell and Corey Jackson.
 
Playoffs will commence February 11 with the top eight teams in each division advancing to the post-season.  The first three rounds of the playoffs will run until March 1 with each round consisting of a best-of-three series.  
 
The 104th Queen's Cup, presented by ArcelorMittal Dofasco, will be played on March 7, 2015 in a single-game battle and hosted by the remaining team with the best record.

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