Written by Dan Howse
While the Gryphon men’s hockey team had their playoff wings clipped by the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the OUA West semi-finals on Friday, there are plenty of things to remain optimistic about.
The Gryphons beat their first-round opponent at Laurier, fell in overtime in both losses to Lakehead, and still, like everyone else, got to cheer on Canada against the United States on Sunday.
However, even more importantly, this team is poised for the future. Just prior to the Lakehead series, centre Thomas Kiriakou and defenceman Tim Priamo were both named to the OUA West all-rookie team and Kiriakou was named OUA West Rookie of the year, after leading the Gryphons with 32 points and 14 goals during the regular season. Priamo was the highest-scoring defenceman for the Gryphons this season, adding four goals and 16 assists.
Kiriakou was nothing short of a pleasant surprise for the Gryphons this season. While by no means unknown to coaches, the Ottawa ‘67s product wasn’t necessarily planning on pursuing his university education right away. After being cut in training camp by the Minnesota Wild in the National Hockey League, Kiriakou decided that taking advantage of the education package the OUA offered was more important than playing for the Florida Everblades, one of the Wild’s minor league affiliates.
Having friends already in the program and having heard great things about the campus, Kiriakou elected to pursue the next stage of his career in Guelph.
“I heard Guelph had a great program,” he said.
Although Kiriakou was part of a consistently solid ‘67s team, his former OHL club had had limited success in the playoffs. Despite a berth in the Memorial Cup in his first year at age 16, the ‘67s hadn’t made it out of the first round since.
With that in mind, Kiriakou was enthusiastic about defeating the favoured Golden Hawks in the first round, but felt that the Gryphons could have easily beaten Lakehead in the semi-finals, leaving him optimistic and focused for next year.
“Laurier was a great series for us.” Kiriakou said. “[Goaltender] Scott Van Bommel stood on his head and in the [Lakehead] series, we lost both games in overtime.
“We knew we could beat Lakehead. They were ranked third, but they only had two more points than Laurier,” he continued, showing frustration given the closeness of the playoff losses. “At the beginning of the year, we played Laurier in an exhibition [game] and they just crushed us. But our record after Christmas was [so much better]. We had a lot of young guys and new players so no one really gelled together quick.”
Though coming so close was obviously frustrating, Kiriakou was impressed by the teamwork that the Gryphons demonstrated.
“We came together as a group, which was fantastic,” he added.
According to Kiriakou, the strongest part of his game is his passing sense.
“I can read plays really well, and I know where my linemates are,” he said.
His linemates are inclined to agree. Ed Gale said that he and Kiriakou, along with fellow linemate Kris Belan, clicked immediately once head coach Shawn Camp put them on a line together.
“We had instant success together,” Gale said, recognizing that a large part of this chemistry was due to Kiriakou’s understanding of the game. “He reads the play well and is a great finisher at the net.”
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