If the Nipissing Lakers men’s hockey team is going to make a run in the playoffs, they are going to have to beat the Carleton Ravens or UQTR Patriotes – or maybe both.
Throw McGill in there, and the Lakers have a tough test ahead of them when it comes to possible post-season competition, but this weekend, they’ll get a preview of a two of those teams on home ice.
The Lakers will entertain the Ravens and Patriotes in the team’s final two home games of the regular season, as the 2015-16 campaign winds down.
Coming off two big wins over the Laurentian Voyageurs, the Lakers are looking to continue their strong play and build momentum heading into yet another post-season berth – their seventh straight.
Nipissing can finish as high as fifth and as low as eighth and the final four games of the season will determine where they do end up.
The Lakers enter the weekend one game under the .500 mark at 10-11-3 and are 2-3-0 in their past five games.
On top of the momentum aspect and extending their winning streak, the Lakers will look to climb back to .500 on home, as they currently sport a 4-6-2 record at Memorial Gardens, compared to a 6-5-1 record away from North Bay.
In their lone meeting so far this year, the Lakers dropped a 4-1 decision to the Ravens in early December in Ottawa.
Nipissing was also on the wrong end of a 5-3 decision against UQTR near the end of a long homestand in late November.
Revenge will be on their minds this weekend, but more importantly, wins and points will be the Lakers main goal.
Carleton is coming off a loss to the Queens Gaels in their previous game, but prior to that setback, they had won six in a row and are 8-2-0 in their past 10 contests.
Offensively the Ravens are very potent, having scored 100 goals in just 24 games this season while surrendering only 55 – second best in the OUA.
The Ravens, although it will be tough, still have a shot at top spot in the division, so they’ll be after key points on the road.
On Saturday, things don’t get any easier for Nipissing, as they take on the division and league leading Patriotes, who have just three regulation and one overtime loss so far this year, compared to 20 victories.
As one of the three Quebec based teams, the Pats enter with five wins in a row and are 9-1-0 in their past 10 games, losing to Queens to kick off the month of January.
More impressive than their current streak is the fact they only have two losses since the start of November – one on Nov. 14 to Carleton and the setback against Queens.
After going 6-1-1 in October, UQTR is 14-2-0 since.
The Patriotes are the highest scoring team in the OUA, finding the back of the net 112 times this season, an average of more than 4.5 per game.
In comparison, the Lakers have scored just 63 times this year.
Regardless of the stats, both teams will be hungry for a win and points this weekend.
Nipissing hosts Carleton Friday at 8 p.m. and UQTR Saturday at 7 p.m., both at Memorial Gardens
Women's Hockey
With the playoffs just around the corner, the Nipissing Lakers women’s hockey team is looking to finish the regular season with a few wins.
The Lakers wrap up the home portion of the regular season schedule this weekend, when they host the Queens Gaels and UOIT Ridgebacks this weekend, before finishing the season on the road against Guelph on Feb. 14.
But before they hit the ice for a showdown with the first place Gryphons, the Lakers will focus on the Gaels and Ridgebacks two teams – like the Lakers – who are looking to finish the year on a high note.
Queens, similar to the Lakers, will be prepping for the playoffs, while the Ridgebacks will be looking to take positives into the off-season, as they will fall short of post-season play.
The Lakers enter the weekend with a 2-0-1 record in their past three game, two of which were on home ice.
Overall, the Lakers have a 5-2-3 record on home ice and are 3-0-2 in their past five, after struggling a little bit early on in the season.
Nipissing will look to grab some revenge on the Gaels after a 3-2 overtime loss in late October in the teams’ first meeting of the season in Kingston.
And they will look for a season sweep of the Ridgebacks thanks to a 3-1 win in Oshawa Oct. 23.
Currently, Nipissing sits in second place in the OUA with 37 points, but that’s only five points ahead of eighth spot in the league and nine back of Guelph, who is in top spot.
Five points separates second place from the eighth and final playoff spot and while it looks like the eight teams who are in playoff spots as of now, are going to qualify, but where they finish will depend on the last few games on the schedule.
Queens will enter the weekend with a 2-2-1 record in the past five games and are coming off an overtime win over UOIT in their previous game.
The Gaels got off to an amazing start, going 6-0-1 in the first month of action, but have gone just 5-5-1 since the beginning of November.
Queens has two games in hand on Nipissing and could still jump them if they heat up in the final month of play, which makes Friday’s matchup so pivotal for both teams.
On Saturday, the Lakers will have to refocus after a big game against Queens, as they face a team that has only pride to play for in the final four games.
The Ridgebacks aren’t a team to be taken lightly, but they have had trouble picking up wins on a consistent basis this year and enter the weekend having lost five in a row and are just 1-7-0 in the month of January.
UOIT has just five wins overall, with the main issues being keeping goals out of their own net, surrendering 65 this season – the worst in the league with Windsor.
Six points are on the line this weekend for Nipissing, hosting the Gaels Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m., both at Memorial Gardens.
