Soon, the Gaels will be headed over to the Kingston Memorial Centre, home of the Queen’s men’s and women’s varsity hockey teams.
On the men’s side, the Gaels are looking to expand on their impressive season last year, which saw them bring home an OUA Bronze and a berth at the U Sports National Championships in Ottawa.
In an interview with The Journal, Head Coach Brett Gibson articulated how unique an off-season he faced. “With the new rules with the CHL (Canadian Hockey League) and the NCAA, there were a lot of moving parts. We would get recruits, and then they would go to the NCAA,” he said.
The program will look notably different from last year, with Gibson bringing in 12 new players. “Seasons don’t roll over, and we have to start fresh. Having said that, we think we brought in a lot of talent,” he said.
Going into this new season, Gibson knows that teams are hungrier playing against Queen’s amid the success they’ve had over the last five years—a narrative he wants to change. “Flip it right back to the opposing team, we know they’re going to get their best, let’s bring ours,” Gibson said.
Coach Gibson’s player to watch this season is Liam Tanner, Kin ’28, who has won a British Columbia Hockey League title and is “a guy that kind of flew under the radar,” according to Gibson, explaining that Tanner does everything the right way and is expected to help the team with their secondary scoring.
With the season already underway with four straight home games over the next two weekends, it’s certainly not too late to catch some early-season action at the Kingston Memorial Centre.
The Queen’s women’s hockey team’s comes out in a tremendous start, achieving an undefeated record through their first four games—notably the program’s best start since 2014.
Head Coach Morgan McHaffie, Kin ’14, is excited that changes in a less passive to more aggressive style of play have led to early success. “[They] want to play a much more aggressive style, closing time and space and [making] it very difficult for teams,” she said in an interview with The Journal.
She credits the depth that the team has, saying a strong mix of veterans and rookies has allowed them to play this way. “The team’s really bought in and the accountability of each player in the system has been outstanding,” McHaffie said.
In explaining that there will be three OUA berths this season to the U Sports National Championship, McHaffie says Queen’s women’s hockey will be vying for one of those spots. “We have a real opportunity to compete for an OUA Championship this season and peak at the right time [February],” she said.
A player to watch this season, according to McHaffie, is captain Sophie Hudson, Sci ’26, who has four points in four games while “driving the play.” McHaffie explained that Hudson’s someone who would be overshadowed by other names in the past, but that it’s her year “to really make a name for herself.”
The women will be on the road until Nov. 7, when they face the Laurier Golden Hawks at the Kingston Memorial Centre.
Tags
CHL, Hockey, NCAA, season preview
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