The University of Toronto Varsity Blues are set for a Round 2 best-of-three series battle with the Guelph Gryphons in OUA men's hockey playoff action this week.

Series Schedule

Date	Visitor	Home	Time	Location	Media
Wednesday, February 18	Guelph	Toronto	7:30 p.m.	Varsity Arena	Live Video Live Stats
Saturday, February 21	Toronto	Guelph	2:00 p.m.	Gryphons Centre	Live Video Live Stats
Sunday, February 22 *if necessary	Guelph	Toronto	7:30 p.m.	Varsity Arena	Live Video Live Stats

 









A Head-to-Head Look

Toronto finished the regular season with a 13-13-1 record in fifth place in the West, and upset the fourth-place Ryerson Rams, two games to none, in Round 1 last week. 

The Guelph Gryphons concluded the regular season in sixth place with an 11-13-3 record, and came back after a 5-0 Game 1 loss to defeat the third-place Waterloo Warriors in three games.

The Blues went 2-0-0 versus the Gryphons during the regular season, defeating Guelph 7-2 on Oct. 30 on the road, before coming away with a 4-3 victory at home on Nov. 28.

Toronto is 8-11 versus Guelph in OUA playoffs in program history. The two teams first met in the postseason in 1976, with the Gryphons winning the Queen's Cup final 6-5. The Blues and Gryphons also met for six straight seasons from 1993-98, with Guelph winning 5-of-6 series.

Varsity Blues

Fourth-year Blues netminder Brett Willows played both games versus the Rams, accumulating 88 saves and holding a .907 save percentage. Willows ended the regular season with a.893 save percentage in 10 games played.

Toronto is solid between the pipes as fifth-year goalie Garrett Sheehan is also back in fine form and boasted an .884 percentage in nine games, while sophomore Michael Nishi led the squad with a .908 save percentage in 13 games played. 

Toronto's forward line of Christian Finch, Patrick Marsh and Russell Turner shone through the first round, contributing to six of Toronto's eight goals. Turner scored both goals in U of T's, 2-1, Game 1 win over Ryerson, and earned Varsity Blues male athlete of the week honours after adding three assists in Game 2.

Fourth-year Blues forward Jeff Brown led the Blues and ranked ninth in the OUA with 31 points in 27 regular season games. Brown had a spectacular second half of the season, scoring eight goals and adding 10 assists in the past 12 games.

Fellow assistant captain Michael Markovic scored a team-high 14 goals, while adding 11 assists on the year, with veteran forward Tyler Liukkonen topping the squad with 19 assists in 27 games.

Guelph Gryphons

Third-year forward Nicklas Huard led the Gryphons with 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points in the regular season, while Robert De Fulviis notched a team-high 14 goals and added 12 assists for 26 points.

Veteran forward Carlos Amestoy also had 26 points on the season, scoring 10 goals in the process. The Gryphons secondary scoring came from Kyle Neuber and Jordan Mock, with eight goals apiece.

Netminder Andrew DAgostini played 20 games for the Gryphons, holding a .901 save percentage in the process. He also started all three games versus Waterloo in Round 1, making 95 saves and earning a .922 percentage.

Amestoy, Huard and Teal Burns led the Gryphons in Round 1 with three points apiece.
 
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