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The Guelph Gryphons traveled to a familiar arena today, a short trip down Highway 7 to Kichener saw the Gryphons face their rivals, the Kitchener Canucks. In the history of the two franchises, the Gryphons have met the Canucks 4 times prior in league play with Guelph winning 3 of the four games. In the playoffs, the Gryphons and Canucks have met twice. The first time in season 1 in the first round with the Gryphons winning 2 games to 1 while last year in season 2 the Canucks swept the Gryphons in the league finals. Thus, to date the Gryphons are leading the series 5 games to 4 but still have a very bitter taste in their mouth after last season's playoff final loss.

Prior to the game the Gryphons players were interviewed. Captain Richard commented "we all know the importance of getting a win here today. It will surely be a real battle. We hate them, they hate us. Even the fans hate eachother. I'm sure there will be lots of our fans make the trek down to Kitchener to see the game. If I am not mistaken the game is sold out too. Either way, we got a job to do and we are a very focused group. Expect a strong performance from each and every player."

The game was sold out indeed. The rink was packed but a good portion of the fans were that of the Gryphon type. Nearly 200 fans made the trip, and their vocal support made the game almost feel like a home game for the Gryphons. Their support certainly encouraged the visiting Gryphons.

At the start of the first period the Gryphons got off to a spectacular start. Sharingham scored the opening goal just over three minutes in with assists going to Bystrík Borkovics and Brian Messier. Five minutes later the Gryphons capitalized on a powerplay as Teodor Vaverka got his 98th career league point assiting with Lee Nicholson on a Matt Kennedy goal. The Canucks would pull one back shortly after on a powerplay of their own and the teams would go into the first intermission with the Gryphons up 2-1 and five shots per side.

The remaining two periods was forty minutes of great goaltending at both ends. The Gryphons peppered the Canucks in the second period outshooting them 12-3 in the frame but neither team was able to solve the other goalie. In the third, the Canucks pressed harder, especially late in the game, but were not able to solve Newton. The game would end 2-1 with the shots 27-16 in favour of the Gryphons.

"It was a very important win for us today. We needed to get a couple wins in a row strung together, and this one feels even better. The lads kept their chances to a minimum and got an early lead for me to work with. I can't stress enough how well Bob Parent played at the other end. But we came in here with conviction and got the win. We couldn't be a happier group of guys right now" said Tim Newton who got the win.

Newton and Garnett have split the duties so far this season, with Newton starting 7 games and Garnett starting 4. "Newton will likely start Friday against les brave. Garnett will get the Canada Cup games on Thursday and Saturday and the HF Boards tourney quarterfinal playoff game on Sunday. We have a very important stretch of games that started today. The season cannot be won with a a weeks games, but it certainly can be lost. The boys know the importance. They will play very well. I have no doubts" said Head Coach Stubbs.

The Gryphons await the draw of the Canada Cup tournament to see who they'll play Thursday and Saturday. It will surely be a very exciting week in Gryphon hockey, be sure to catch a game as the intensity is only going to rise.

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