Western and Guelph clash in 7th annual Frosty Mug presented by Canadian Tire

BURLINGTON, Ont. – With two huge points up for grabs in a tight playoff race, the Western Mustangs (11-8-0) will head to "The Royal City" on Thursday night to take on the rival Guelph Gryphons (11-7-0) in the 7^th annual Frosty Mug presented by Canadian Tire.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00pm at the Sleeman Centre in downtown Guelph, home of the OHL's Guelph Storm. 

Just as they did last season, the Gryphons stumbled out of the gates, winning just once in their first five games.  However, since then Guelph has been one of the hottest teams in OUA men's hockey having won eight of their past ten games.  

Prior to losing 3-1 last Saturday on the road at Waterloo, the Gryphons had won four straight and will look to start a new streak Thursday against the visiting Mustangs.

It's been a different story this season for Western, who rattled off a five-game winning streak to open the season but have struggled to find consistency since then.  The Mustangs staggered into the December break losing five of six games, with their only win coming against the last place RMC Paladins.

However, many of those losses could have gone either way as the Mustangs came up just one goal short in four of those games.

This will be the second and final regular season meeting between these two teams and if their first matchup back in October was any indication, fans can expect another high intensity, close game between two heated rivals.

In that contest, a late surge from Guelph wasn't enough to knock off the Mustangs, as Western put up three goals through the first two periods to come away with a 3-2 victory over the Gryphons at Thompson Arena back on Oct. 24.

Greg Dodds (Wingham, Ont.) stood tall in the Western net, turning aside 32 of 34 shots he faced, while defenceman Stephen Gaskin (London, Ont.) led the Mustangs with a goal and an assist.  Stefen Hiff (Cambridge, Ont.) and Michael Stevens (Brantford, Ont.) found the back of the net for the Gryphons, while Scott Stajcer (Cambridge, Ont.) took the loss in net for Guelph.

However, with six wins in his last seven games, the Gryphons will likely go with 2014-15 OUA West division all-rookie team goaltender Andrew D'Agostini (Scarborough, Ont.) between the pipes on Thursday night. 

The Mustangs have only faced the former Peterborough Petes netminder once.  In that game late last season, D'Agostini made 30 saves in a 5-2 Guelph victory.  The Scarborough, Ont. native is ranked second in OUA with a .932 save percentage (SV%) and fourth with a 2.19 goals against average (GAA).

Through 18 games this season for Western, Dodds and Peter Delmas (Bedford, NS) have essentially split the starts for Western.  In 12 games, Dodds is 7-4 with a 2.94 GAA and a .910 SV%, while Delmas is 4-4 with a 3.51 GAA and .897 SV% in nine games for the Mustangs. 

Delmas joined the Mustangs this season from the Gwinnett Gladiators of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) and has also made appearances in net for the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs.  Dodds took over the starting job last season and was a member of the NOJHL's North Bay Trappers before coming to Western in 2013.

Right winger Matt Marantz (Calgary, AB) leads the Mustangs this season with five goals and 19 assists for 24 points in 19 games.  His 19 assists have him currently ranked fifth in OUA, just three back from the leaders from McGill. 

Marantz, a former member of the WHL's Regina Pats, had a breakout season last year, recording career highs in goals (9), assists (8), and points (17) while appearing in all 27 games for the Mustangs.

Western might have one of the deepest and well balanced rosters in OUA when it comes to scoring as 10 different players have scored 5 or more goals this season and the Mustangs are currently ranked fourth in the conference with 75 goals. 

Rookie Andrew Goldberg (Toronto, Ont.) leads the Mustangs with seven goals this season.  Goldberg, who played with the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads last season, has 14 points in 17 games for Western.

Goals have been much harder to come by for the Gryphons as they've scored the fourth fewest in the conference, finding the back of the net only 50 times in 18 games.  Only Laurentian, RMC, Nipissing and Lakehead have scored fewer times this season. 

Despite that (and more so thanks to their stellar goaltending) the Gryphons still find themselves tied with the Mustangs and Windsor Lancers for second in the OUA West division with 22 points and have one game in hand on both.

The trio of Carlos Amestoy (Toronto), Dylan Gilbert (Oakville, Ont.) and Cody Thompson (Mississauga, ON) lead Guelph with six goals apiece, while Rob De Fulviis (Toronto) is averaging a point per game with 16 points in 16 games. 

Last season, De Fulviis, who previously played in the QMJHL with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Rimouski Oceanic, finished tied  with Amestoy for second on the Gryphons with 26 points.

As a rookie, Thompson has certainly made a statement in his first season in red, black and gold with six goals and four assists in 17 games.  The Mississauga, Ont. native, who was teammates with Western's Goldberg on the hometown Steelheads last season, has proven to be clutch, leading the Gryphons with three game winning goals.

The Gryphons are 4-2-0 all-time in the Frosty Mug, including last season's 6-4 victory over the Brock Badgers in front of a record crowd of 3,226 spectators. 

After dropping the inaugural game 3-1 to Waterloo on Jan. 23, 2010, the Gryphons rattled off three straight victories over Laurier (2011/2012) and Waterloo (2013) before falling to York 2-1 in 2014.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students/youth and are available here. 

If you can't make it to the Sleeman Centre for the game, catch all the action streaming live on OUA.tv.  Fans can also listen to the game on 94.9 CHRW.