University of Guelph

After a strong finish last year, the Guelph Gryphons men’s hockey team is excited to get back in action. The 14-12-0-2 Gryphons of last season have made some key additions to the roster and are looking to showcase their talent and potential for 2009-2010.

Since acquiring third-year head coach Shawn Camp, the Gryphons have only improved, making their first playoff appearance in three years last season, and finishing the regular season with a winning record. The Gryphons looked great in playoff action last year, however, fell short in an exciting but unfortunate OUA quarterfinal, three-game series with the Western Mustangs.

Guelph has put a great deal of effort this offseason into building an unbelievable recruiting class that will reinforce the ever growing threat that is the Gryphons men’s hockey team.

Coach Camp is excited about the new additions to the roster telling us, “This recruiting class should provide plenty of skill as former Guelph Storm player’s Tim Priamo (Guelph, Ont.) and Nathan Martine (Port Colbourne, Ont.) join the defence corps while Matt Lyall (Richmond Hill, Ont.) of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Jake Lalonde (Sudbury, Ont.) of the Kitchener Rangers, Thomas Kiriakou (Richmond Hill, Ont.) of the Ottawa 67's, Cale Jefferies (Glenboro, Man.) of the Brandon Wheat Kings, Mike Kusy (St. Catherine’s, Ont.) of the Bloomington Prairie Thunder and J.T. Macdonald (Niagra Falls, Ont.) of the Niagara Falls Canucks add plenty of offence to the forward lines.”

The newcomers’ skill sets will be a great addition to the Gryphons and should mesh seamlessly.

Chemistry shouldn’t be hard to come by though with the amount of solid veteran talent that returns to the Gryphons. Guelph will be looking to Michael Nelson (Stratford, Ont.), Derek Knowles (Vanderhoof, BC.) and Dave Volpe (Bolton Ont.) to put up similar numbers to those of last season, leading the team with 26, 24 and 23 points respectively.

Returning between the pipes is veteran goalie Scott VanBommel (Norwich, Ont.) who will also be accompanied by new pick-ups Kevin Couture (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Corpus Christie IceRayz and Matt Smith (Waterloo, Ont.) of the Newmarket Hurricanes.

The Gryphons will, “continue their push towards the top of the league this season with a mix of gritty veterans and a group of highly skilled recruits. The experience of two exciting overtime playoff games last year should help with experience this season,” said Camp.

Don’t expect the Gryphons to slow down in 2009-2010. After a stellar recruiting year, look for Guelph to climb to the top of the OUA standings and fight for the championship title.