The Lakehead Thundewolves hockey team will host the York Lions for a pair of games at the Fort William Gardens this weekend. These will be the final home games of the regular season, with the opening face-off set for 7:30 p.m. both nights.
Last Time Out
Both Lakehead and York played two games each last weekend, with neither squad faring very well. The two teams had a combined record of 0-4 between them.
Lakehead lost a couple of close contests at Guelph, losing 2-1 on Friday night, followed by a 3-2 overtime loss on Saturday.
York took a 5-4 overtime shoot-out loss at Brock on Friday night, and then returned home where they were defeated 4-2 by Laurier on Saturday night.
Series History
Lakehead holds the all-time series lead over York, with a record of 24-9-0 versus the Lions. This will be the second series between the two teams this season, as the teams split a pair of games in late October.
The first game was played on the York campus in Toronto on Friday, October 29th, and the Thunderwolves won that game by a 5-2 margin. The following night was a home game of sorts for the Wolves, as it was played on the Lakehead satellite campus in Orillia about 70 miles north of Toronto. Lakehead didnt seem to gain much of an advantage, however, as the Lions came away with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Wolves.
About the Lions
York is quite a young team, with 11 freshmen in the line-up. The Lions are in 9th place in the OUA West Division with a record of 8-16-1. Yorks top scoring forwards are freshman Adam Stuart and sophomores Mackenzie Micks and Jesse Messier. Freshman Kyle Lamb and junior Matt Thomson are the top blue-liners, and the goaltending duties have been split so far this season between sophomore David Blair and freshman netminder Travis Rolheiser.
Depleted Pack
The Wolves will be missing a few key members of the pack this weekend, as fifth-year senior defenceman and team captain Jordan Smith, as well a top-scoring sophomore forward Matt Caria are representing Team Canada at the World University games in Turkey.
Senior forward Kris Hogg has missed the last five games with a knee injury, but is hopeful to return to the line-up this weekend. If Hogg can play, he will add some much-needed spark to the Wolves attack, as Lakehead has only one win in its last six games. Still, the Thunderwolves currently sit in third place in the West Division and have already clinched a playoff spot.
Special Jerseys
Saturday night, the Thunderwolves will be wearing special tenth-anniversary throwback jerseys to help raise prostate cancer awareness, focusing on prevention and early detection. There will be a silent auction on each players jersey in the lobby of the Fort William Gardens that night, with proceeds going to the Northern Cancer Research Foundation.