The #2 seed Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team will meet the #7 seed Guelph Gryphons in the best-of-three OUA West Division Quarter-Finals. Game #1 will be played Wednesday night at 7:30 in Guelph, and will be broadcast live on Rock 94.3 FM. The series then shifts to Thunder Bay as Lakehead will have home ice for Game #2 on Friday, and if necessary, Game #3 on Saturday. The opening face-off is set for 7:30 at the Fort William Gardens.
Last Time Out
Lakehead completed the regular season with a home sweep of the Brock Badgers, winning by scores of 4-2 on Friday and 6-4 on Saturday. The Thunderwolves finished the OUA campaign in second place with 38 points after posting a record of 19-9-0.
Guelph finished off its regular season with two straight losses; The Gryphons were downed 3-1 at home by Windsor, followed by a 5-3 loss at York. The Gryphons finished in seventh place in the OUA West Division with a record of 9-14-5, good for 23 points.
Series History
Lakehead holds a commanding lead over Guelph in the all-time series between the two teams, with a record of 23-4-3 versus the Gryphons.
The Thunderwolves played two home games versus Guelph last November and won them both, but those contests could not have been any closer. Lakehead edged the Gryphons 4-3 in overtime on the Friday, and then 5-4 in regulation time on the Saturday. As part of the OUAs rotating schedule, Lakehead did not travel to Guelph during the regular season this year.
The last time Lakehead met Guelph in the playoffs was in the 2009-10 OUA Semi-Finals. The Thunderwolves swept that series over the Gryphons two games to none, but both of those matches went into overtime.
About the Gryphons
Guelph has a fairly balanced scoring attack, as forwards Jon MacDonald, Kris Belan, Zach Lillie, and Thunder Bay native Justin Gvora all scored at least 20 points during the regular season.
Ken Peroff and Patrick Campbell lead the Gryphons defence corps, and Cody St. Jacques handles the bulk of Guelphs goaltending duties.