The annual Colonel By Classic rivalry game will take place this Saturday, as the Carleton and University of Ottawa men’s hockey teams will look to maintain momentum generated over the first half of the season.
By attendance, it’s traditionally one of the biggest regular season games in Canadian collegiate hockey. Both teams will get a preview of what to expect on Friday, when they play each other for the first time this season.
It will be the sixth Colonel By Classic, with Carleton winning four of the previous five iterations.
The Ottawa Gee-Gees are likely to be favoured heading into the marquee matchup, as they boast a 9-5 record to start the year, and placed ninth in this week’s U Sports national rankings.
Meanwhile, it’s been a rollercoaster start for Carleton, which is 7-8 to start the year. After winning two of their first three games, the Ravens promptly lost seven straight, punctuated by a 10-1 rout at the hands of Concordia.
However, since the losing streak ended, Carleton has rattled off five straight wins, including a 6-3 victory over the nationally ranked McGill on Sunday.
Mark Cavallin, Carleton’s interim head coach, said this year’s team is quite young and, as a result, they’re still going through growth spurts as the season progresses.
“We’re a very young and new team,” Cavallin told The Ottawa Compass. “We started the year really well, but that might’ve been a false reading of where we were at.”
Cavallin, who took over the team this past summer, said the big loss to Concordia “really took the wind out of our sails,” but, since then, his team has steadily improved, culminating in their current winning streak.
“We started playing really well but we weren’t getting the wins,” he said. “Sometimes it takes a while for doing the right things to actually pay off.”
Looking forward to the weekend, Cavallin said the back-to-back matchups against the Gee-Gees will be a stiff test for his Ravens squad, which has struggled against nationally ranked teams so far this season.
“They have an extremely skilled team over there, very fast and some big bodies, but they are going through a few injuries that have set them back as of late,” said Cavallin.
He also said there’s an added challenge in preparing for the Colonel By, which usually draws around 2,000 spectators and features a significant student presence.
For now, Cavallin is still focused on Friday’s matchup.
“It’s going to be a challenge for both teams to stay focused on the game at hand and not look forward to the Colonel By,” he said. “The thing as coaches we have to be aware of is managing their emotions.”
“Sometimes in games like that, they get too excited, they burn too much nervous energy before the game and it’s part of the coaching staff’s duties to recognize what level they’re at.”
The University of Ottawa did not respond to The Ottawa Compass’ request for comment.
This year’s Colonel By Classic will be a doubleheader at TD Place, as the women’s teams will square off at 1 p.m. before the men take the ice at 4 p.m.
On the women’s side, neither squad is currently in the top 10 of the U Sports’ national rankings, though the Gee-Gees are 7-6 to start the year. Meanwhile, the Ravens have lost nine of their first 13 games, which included a six game losing streak, though they’re coming off back-to-back wins against Queen’s and Windsor.
The women’s teams are also set to play on Thursday night at the University of Ottawa.
