GUELPH, Ont. - The 2023-24 OUA women's hockey season is nearly here, with the Guelph Gryphons getting set to drop the puck on their regular season schedule this Saturday, October 14, 2023 on the road against the Windsor Lancers. The team will then hit the ice for their home opener on Thursday, October 19 with a rematch of the 2022-23 OUA semifinals, when they host the Toronto Varsity Blues.
The 2023-24 OUA women's hockey season will see 12 programs from across the province compete over the course of a 28-game regular season schedule for a chance at the postseason, and ultimately the McCaw Cup.
Eight teams will make it to the playoffs, with four available positions in both the East and West Divisions. The Gryphons, competing in the OUA West, will be looking to continue their incredible streak of advancing to the postseason in each of the last 32 seasons. Once in the postseason, the two divisions will see a pair of quarterfinal matchups between the 1 & 4 and the 2 & 3 seeds, facing off in a best-of-three series. The winners of the quarterfinal rounds will then cross over with the East division for the semifinals, also best-of-three series, before a winner-takes-all single-game OUA championship takes place on Saturday, March 9, 2023 in the McCaw Cup final. The two teams featured in the McCaw Cup will automatically book a trip to Saskatoon where the 2023-24 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship will be hosted by the Saskatchewan Huskies.
The Gryphons will also see a new bench boss during the 2023-24 campaign, with head coach
Rachel Flanagan heading to the PWHL for the upcoming season. Associate coach
Katie Mora will step in as the Gryphons interim head coach, with the Guelph native and former Gryphon captain having spent the past eight seasons with the Gryphons (2016-present) as an associate coach following her five year playing career (2010-2015).
"We feel very strong about our chances this season thanks to a great group or returning student-athletes that is complimented well by our recruiting class," says Mora.
"In order to see success this season we need to recognize the importance of every game and every point on a nightly basis. Playing in both a competitive conference and division, we need to play with the same high-level of compete we know we can. This team has a strong group of leaders and talented athletes that bring a lot of experience to the ice which will be key for our recruiting class that is full of players who have the potential to make an immediate impact. With the opportunity to learn from our experience in the postseason last year, combined with a strong offseason, we believe this group has a real shot in 2023-24."
The Gryphons will be looking to build off of a 2022-23 season that saw the team finish the regular season with an 18-4-5 record and just two points shy of the Waterloo Warriors for the top spot in the division. The Gryphons went on to defeat the Windsor Lancers in the quarterfinals before falling to the eventual OUA champion, Toronto Varsity Blues, in the semifinals. In 2023-24 the Gryphons are in search of their 12th OUA title and 2nd U SPORTS title, with the last trophy for the Gryphons coming during the 2018-19 season when they were crowned both provincial and national champions. See below for a full breakdown of the latest edition of the Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team.
Gryphon Forwards
The Gryphon forward group is led by an outstanding top line consisting of
Hannah Tait,
Tori Verbeek, and
Jaime Magoffin that combined for 23 goals and 44 assists in 2022-23.
Hannah Tait returns as the Gryphons captain in 2023-24 and brings with her a wealth of both collegiate and international experience.
The 5-foot-9 Exeter native was a key member of the gold medal-winning Team Canada squad at the 2023 FISU games in Lake Placid. Tait has also impressed in a Gryphon uniform, having played in 51 career collegiate games during her U of G career. Off the ice,
Hannah Tait has also led by example, serving as a member of Hockey Gives Blood while also taking on the role as the director of finance for ENACTUS Guelph (Sustainable Entrepreneurship Club – creating impactful projects that tackle social, economic, and environmental issues). Lining up alongside Tait is third-year Flesherton native,
Tori Verbeek, who produced a team-high 22 points (11 G, 11 A) during the 2022-23 season. The pair of Verbeek and Tait produced one of the more memorable goals in recent history for the Gryphons women's hockey program, combining on a
quadruple overtime goal against the Windsor Lancers to send the team to the OUA semifinals last season. Verbeek enters the season looking to continue her goal-scoring success having developed ways to find the back of the net more frequently in the offseason after scoring frequently on the powerplay and in short-handed situations last year. The final member of the top line is
Jaime Magoffin, a 5-foot-7 Woodstock native and one of the conference's best faceoff specialists.
Magoffin will be looking to take another step forward after seeing a massive increase impact from her rookie to sophomore year (6 to 19 points).
Another forward with international experience who is looking to build off of an impressive 2022-23 season is
Chihiro Suzuki. Suzuki, a native of Yokohama, Japan represented Team Japan at the FISU games, capturing a silver medal, while also suiting up for Japan at the IIHF World Championships in April of 2023. The 5-foot-2 psychology major was also identified as a
participant in the U SPORTS and Hockey Canada Federation's Creating Coaches Program after coaching at the U18 level. After producing 8 points (4 G, 4 A) in 2022-23, Suzuki will look to use her coaching and playing experience to improve upon her game this season.
Rounding out the Gryphon leadership group of veteran forwards is another fourth-year student-athlete in
Maya Graham. Graham, a 5-foot-4 New Hamburg native is a spark plug in the U of G offence, providing a boost of energy to the front line. Members of the Gryphon hockey program wouldn't be surprised to see Graham increase her offensive output this season after scoring a career-high 6 goals and 5 assists in 2023-24.
Gryphon Defence
Leading the way on the U of G blueline in 2023-24 is returning third-year Woodstock native,
Meaghan Chittick. After a strong offseason Chittick enters the season in the best shape of her Gryphon career and has already established herself as a faster, stronger, and more confident player during the preseason.
The bio-medical science major also brings productive offence to the Gryphon back end having picked up 9 assists in addition to 3 goals last season. Bringing veteran presence to the Gryphon defensive corps is fifth-year
Rylee Davison who enters her fourth season of on-ice action. Davison provides speed to the Gryphon blueline with her ability to accelerate, with the Oakville native chipping in with 8 points last season (2 G, 6 A). 2022-23 was one of Davison's best seasons in terms of her offensive output and she will look to continue the growth of her offensive blueline play in 2023-24.
Sydnie Miller returns for her sophomore season after an impressive rookie campaign that saw the 5-foot-6 Stratford native earn team Rookie of the Year honours and a place on the OUA's All-Rookie Team. Miller will once again be relied upon to generate offence from the back end after totaling 7 points (1 G, 7 A) last season. The criminal justice major showed plenty of potential in her rookie season and has plenty remaining as she continues to gain confidence in both the offensive and defensive ends of the ice.
Gryphon Goalies
Returning for her third season to lead in the way in net is goaltender
Martina Fedel. After a sensational rookie season, the former OUA West All-Rookie Team member followed it up with another incredible season, ranking among the best in the OUA in several key statistical categories.
The Trento, Italy native finished the 2022-23 regular season 1st in the conference in wins (15), 3rd in goals against average (1.48), 5th in total saves (439), and 8th in save percentage (.930) after starting 22 of 27 games for the Gryphons. The 5-foot-4 animal biology student is another member of the Gryphons who returns with international experience after competing with the Italian women's team that narrowly missed qualifying for the 2023 FISU games. The 2023-24 season will also see Fedel take up a leadership position with a pair of incoming rookie goaltenders. As the most senior goalie on this year's team Fedel has embraced the opportunity while also being pushed to continue her high level of performance and compete on a nightly basis.
The two goaltenders joining the Gryphons this season are
Sophie Helfenstein and
Grace Vokes who both come to Guelph out of the U22 Elite League, playing for the Whitby Wolves and Cambridge Rivulettes.
The Gryphons women's hockey team's season opener at Windsor on Saturday can be streamed live online at www.oua.tv, with puck drop set for 7:30pm.
