Over the Christmas holidays, millions of Canadians watched the national junior hockey team beat rivals from around the globe to win gold at the World Junior Hockey Championships.

Most fans were probably not aware that, a couple weeks earlier, Canada’s squad of elite young hockey players lost back-to-back games to a group of university athletes from across the country.

Carleton Ravens captain Brett Welychka was part of the U SPORTS Men’s Hockey All-Star Team for the second straight year, and to him their success against the national juniors speaks to the high calibre of play at the university level in Canada.

“We’ve pretty much all played major junior hockey and now we’re more experienced and stronger and have heavier shots,” says Welychka, a third-year Psychology student who played for his hometown London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) before enrolling at Carleton in time for the 2015-‘16 season.

“Guys are a lot more physical on the ice in university hockey,” says Welychka, a forward who led the team with 27 points in their first 20 games, including a career-best hat trick and three assists in the Ravens’ 9-6 win over Laurentian on Jan. 12.

“They’re men, not boys, and are looking to prove themselves again. That puts sparks under everybody’s skates.”

“The hockey here is faster and tougher than in the OHL,” agrees rookie forward Jared Steege, a Criminology major who played for North Bay, Kingston and the Ottawa 67s in the OHL and led the Ravens with 14 goals after 20 games. “It’s a nice break from the grind of classes and studying.”

Welychka, Steege and many of their teammates are hoping to play professionally after their university eligibility expires, either in Europe or North American leagues such as the American Hockey League (AHL).

But they’re also getting an education while advancing their hockey careers. And for the spectators who come out to the Ice House, that means 60 minutes of intense hockey every game, especially in the home stretch toward Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs.