The No.3 Lakehead Thunderwolves arrive in Edmonton with their first ever Queens Cup OUA title under their belts. The Wolves cant rest on that laurel as they face formidable opposition in Pool B; the No. 2 Acadia Axemen and the No. 5 Saskatchewan Huskies. Lakehead posted a 13-9-2 OUA regular season mark and are 24-17-4 overall. The Wolves went 7-2 in the OUA playoffs and posted two playoff shutouts.
The Wolves got to the CIS Nationals the hard way; basically the OUAs equivalent of the Wild Card route. Lakehead had to defeat York 2-0 in an OUA preliminary round series; then fought past the then No. 4 Western Mustangs for a 2-1 series win. Next up was a tough OUA semi-final series against the then No. 7 Laurier Golden Hawks which saw the Wolves prevail 2-1. Finally Lakehead won their first Queens Cup and OUA Championship with a 4-0 home win over then No. 2 McGill.
This will be the Thunderwolves second trip to the Nationals in five years as a hockey program and the third trip for Lakehead hockey. In 2002-03 then competed at the tourney hosted by UNB and lost two tough games to UNB and UQTR, both by one goal margins. Lakeheads previous hockey incarnation, the Lakehead Norwesters (65-66 to 84-85) went to the Nationals in 1972-73 and lost both games to Alberta.
Lakehead was tied for 8th in CIS regular season play in goals for at 3.6 and tied for 5th in goals allowed at 2.5 per game. Lakehead has scored 3.6 goals per game in the playoffs and allowed 2.6 per game.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said his team will be ready to play. We are looking forward to our second CIS Nationals Finals and we will be giving our best effort in representing the OUA and making Lakehead University proud!
Head to Head:
In Lakeheads five seasons of OUA play they have played Saskatchewan four times; recording three losses and a draw in four exciting non-conference matches; all played in Thunder Bay. The Thunderwolves have never played Acadia. Lakehead had a home win and a draw against Alberta in non-conference action in 2002-03.
Lakehead is 11-4 against Laurier all time; 7-3 in regular season play, 2-0 in non-conference play, and 2-1 in playoff action. The two teams split their two regular season games played in Waterloo this season; a 3-0 Lakehead win and a 5-2 Laurier victory while Lakehead defeated the Hawks 2-1 in their best-of-three OUA Semi Final Series. Lakehead has outscored Laurier 65-37 in their 15 previous meetings.
The Wolves have played McGill four times and went 4-0; the Queens Cup Championship win and three wins in non-conference games last season. Lakehead outscored McGill 20-6 in those four games.
Lakehead will be led by its Captain, Joel Scherban; last years Sullivan Trophy winner and five-time OUA West First Team All Star. (13 goals, 14 assists reg. season; 7 goals, 4 assists playoffs). Scherbans heart, experience, and leadership will be paramount at the nationals as will the play of fellow OUA West First Team All Star forward Jeff Richards (11 goals, 13 assists reg. season; 1 assist in one playoff game) as he will be counted on for his lightning fast attack and tough backchecking. Richards can be a force in any game.
The Wolves will also count on OUA First Team All Star d-man Erik Lodge (4 goals, 9 assists reg. season; 2 goals, 4 assists playoffs) as well as Mike Jacobsen (7 goals, 11 assists reg. season; 3 goals, 6 assists playoffs) to supply offense, defense, and leadership from the blue line.
Seniors Jason Lange (8 goals, 11 assists reg. season; 3 goals, 4 assists playoffs) and Mark Robinson (6 goals, 6 assists reg. season; 4 goals, 4 assists playoffs) have been fantastic in the OUA playoffs and this must continue at the Nationals for the Wolves to be successful. Young players stepped it up for the Wolves in the OUA playoffs and Tobias Whelan (3 goals, 4 assists reg. season;<