The 2021-22 season was a difficult one for Queen's Women's Hockey to navigate. With a schedule limiting travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a number of games postponed or cancelled, last year was anything but normal for the Gaels.

Especially for a young roster, the limited number of games impeded Queen's from fully hitting their stride.

"We don't want to dwell too much on last year, but it was a challenge for a lot of different reasons," said Queen's Women's Head Coach Matt Holmberg. "We played the fewest amount of regular season games in the country. We got to where we wanted to at the end of the day, playing a quarterfinal playoff game against a good team, but I always felt that we were a December ready team versus a March ready team because of the number of games we played."

Heading into this year, Holmberg said the team is excited to get back to the full slate of games. The Gaels, who open the regular season on Oct. 21 against the Western Mustangs in London, Ont. after six pre-season games, are scheduled for 27 games in the regular season, more than double the amount of action they saw last season.

Holmberg also said the full schedule will help his team grow and build towards the playoffs.

"Players and coaches alike are excited that the schedule is shaping up to be a more robust and full one. We will play more games by mid November than we did all last year.

"I'm confident that should give us sufficient time to work through any issues that may result from our inexperience. We have a smaller roster as well this year, going from 27 down to 24, so we know everyone will be getting in and getting an opportunity.

"I imagine there will be growing pains, but the effort and attitude are both strong. I'm confident that we'll continue to improve through the regular season and by February, we'll be playing our best hockey of the year."

While the team did face a number of challenges outside their control last year, as Holmberg alluded to, they still finished the year where they wanted to be, playing competitive hockey in the OUA Playoffs. After ending the 2020-21 regular season with a 3-8 record, the Gaels doubled up the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks 4-2 in the first round of the playoffs before falling to the Toronto Varsity Blues 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

Holmberg said he thinks the team can carry over their late season success into the new year.

"I think for those players that were able to participate in that end of the year push and playoff win, absolutely. It was a nice reminder what we can do when we're playing at our best. It was a much needed confidence boost."

Queen's will once again have a young roster heading into the season. Only six players on the current roster played with the Gaels pre-COVID, meaning this season will be the first typical year for a lot of the players on the team. Holmberg said they're fortunate to have a very strong leadership group that can lead the way this year.

"We had a lot of great leadership meetings over the summer. We identified overall accountability as one particular area that we all, coaches and leaders, wanted to improve on. We've got a great leadership group that leads by example on the ice, but I trust that they're also well equipped to help push their teammates, whether through a conversation or a quick pep talk or reminder."

Holmberg added the leadership meetings over the summer also touched on the team's off-the-ice goals, with players setting goals both on Queen's University campus and the Kingston community.

"We already have an existing relationship with the Kingston Ice Wolves. We had a big kickoff event with their house league U9 and U11 teams, and it was really well received. We're going to continue events throughout the year with the Ice Wolves, and really looking forward to that.

"The team also identified five really important local non-sport initiatives that we're going to try to support throughout the year as best we can."

Holmberg said he expects another strong year of parity throughout the OUA. Four teams make the playoffs in each division, which means at least two strong teams in the OUA East will be left out of the post-season.

With so little separating a lot of teams in the division on the ice, Holmberg said the difference could come down to how the team works outside of game action.

"A lot of it comes down to preparation. The last couple of years, our ability to fully prepare was limited because of COVID. We've really tried to take a 360 degree approach to preparation this year, including a renewed emphasis on what we need to do from a strength conditioning perspective, and taking a deep dive into hydration and nutrition and mental skills. On the ice, we've revamped some of our systems in an attempt to increase offense."

Holmberg added the team has really committed to being part of the rich history of Women's Hockey at Queen's as well.

"We are spending some important time talking about where Queen's Women's Hockey has come from, and the history of the program. Really trying to instill that feeling of belonging, that this year's team isn't just a team in a vacuum, but rather, recognizing that women were playing hockey at Queen's back in the 1890s. Those pioneers really had to struggle to play and maintain a team over the decades. That sense of belonging and gratitude will be an extra edge."

Heading into the season, the goals the Gaels have set out aren't necessarily results oriented, but rather making sure they do all the right things to ensure the results come.

"Are we able to honestly look in the mirror at the end of the season and say we did all that we could to prepare to be our best when it mattered most, regardless of the result. If yes, then we were successful. We have a renewed focus on the process and the journey. With the team that we have, we believe that if we are fully prepared, then success as others might define it in terms of wins will naturally flow."