In a rematch of the 2006 OUA Championship game, head coach Joel Scherban and his Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team will face Jim Webster and his McGill Redmen in the Queens Cup, Saturday, March 13, 7:30 p.m. EST the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Tickets are on sale now at the Fort William Gardens box office, with season ticket holder seats being held until 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Wolves qualified for the conference finals with a two-game sweep of the Western Mustangs, capped off by a 5-2 Saturday night win at the Thompson Arena in London, Ontario. McGill punched their ticket by sweeping UQTR in two games with the 7-4 series clinching win coming last Friday at the McConnell Arena in Montral.
Lakehead last Queens Cup was the 2006 game, a 4-0 shutout of the Redmen in which Scherban earned MVP with one goal and one assist to help the program to their only OUA title. Now, the first-year bench boss will be counting on a strong effort from his team as they continue their journey to the 2010 Cavendish University Cup later this month. Unsatisfied with leaning on their automatic berth as the host squad at the CIS Championships, the team has long stated its intent to enter the tournament through the front door as conference champions. Saturday, the Wolves have that chance to legitimize themselves as a tournament favourite and add a new banner to the Gardens rafters.
The game will be webcast live with Rock 94 news and sports director Bryan Wyatt handling the call. Fans can connect to the game at www.thunderwolveshockey.com prior to the game.
Lakehead Thunderwolves
Balance is the key word for a Thunderwolves attack that received postseason goals from 14 players through their first seven playoff games. Fifth-year seniors Scott Dobben (Drayton, Ontario) and Dan Speer (Thunder Bay) and senior Mark Soares (Burnaby, British Columbia) have been at the top of their games with four goals and five assists apiece to lead the Wolves in scoring.
A pair of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario freshmen have carried their fine regular season play into the playoffs as Matt Caria and Matt Dias have two goals, six assists, and three goals, four assists, respectively. A third midseason arrival, Ryan McDonald (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) has struggled to find the score sheet at times but has three postseason goals.
Junior Kris Hogg (Sicamous, British Columbia) is the complete two-way threat and has three goals and three assists for the team while fifth-year senior Shandor Alphonso (Orangeville, Ontario) has added some solid postseason offence with two goals and three assists to his usual repertoire of heart, hustle and hits.
Look for Andy Hyvarinen (Thunder Bay), Brock McPherson (Brampton, Ontario), Arron Alphonso (Orangeville, Ontario) and Andrew Wilkins (Pickering, Ontario) to step up with quality minutes at forward.
The defensive pair of junior Ryan Baird (Thunder Bay) and senior captain Jordan Smith (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) have caught fire offensively in the postseason. Baird has been the playmaker with one goal and five assists while Smith has put home four goals with both booming shots from the point and aggressive takes to the crease.
After leading OUA defensemen in goals, junior Pierre-Marc Guilbault (St. Julie, Quebec) has yet to find the back of the net in the playoffs but has four assists while blue line partner Andy Zulyniak (Winnipeg) is a formidable contributor and has four years of CIS experience on his resume.
The big duo of Kalvin Sagert (Abbotsford, British Columbia) and Mitch Maunu (Thunder Bay) have been quiet offensive in the postseason but have been steady contributors all year and are reliable shut down defenders and hard hitters.
Hometown favourite Alex Dupuis (Thunder Bay) has been great in between the pipes with a 6-0 record since taking the starting goaltending job during the Thunderwolves series with York. His 2.35 GAA and 0.925 SV% are both drastic improvements of his regular season numbers of 6.80 and 0.779.
McGill Redmen
Lakehead will have to contend with the offensive exploits of Francis Verreault-Paul (Mashteuiatsh, Quebec) and Alex Picard-Hooper (Boucherville, Quebec) who are first and second in OUA playoff scoring, respectively. Sophomore winger Verreault-Paul has an OUA-best nine postseason goals, with five assists, a spectacular encore to his 54-point regular season which also led the conference. With five of his goals coming on the power play the Wolves will need to be sharp on the penalty kill. Also a sophomore, Picard-Hooper is a stellar playmaker who has two goals and 11 assists, following on the heels of a 49-point regular season that ranked him third in the OUA scoring race.
Junior Evan Vossen (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) has put together a strong postseason with four goals and five assists while sophomore Maxime Langelier-Parent (Levy, Quebec) has netted six goals in the extra season with one coming shorthanded.
On the blue line Marc-Andre Dorion (St-Hubert, Quebec) has been the teams biggest scoring threat with two goals and five assists in his second postseason with the team. Freshman Sebastien Rioux (Sorel, Quebec) is dangerous as well and has two goals and three assists.
McGill will be without Yan Turcotte (Laval, Quebec) who was assessed a controversial three-game game suspension after picking up a spearing penalty in the teams semi-final game, February 28 against the Carleton Ravens. His absence will be noticeable as the fifth-year senior is the squads most experienced player and has two goals and two assists in five postseason games.
Sophomore goaltender Hubert Morin (St-Georges-de-Beauce, Quebec) has been solid in net for McGill, building a 6-1 postseason record with a 2.43 GAA and a 0.910 SV%.