The Lakehead Thunderwolves Hockey team will host the Laurier Golden Hawks for a pair of games at the Fort William Gardens this weekend. The opening face-off will go at 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday night.
Last Time Out
Lakehead is coming off a successful road weekend at Windsor where it swept the Lancers by scores of 4-3 on Friday and 4-2 on Saturday.
Laurier split its two games played, losing 3-0 at Brock on Friday, and then defeating the Western Ontario Mustangs 5-4 at home on Saturday.
Series History
Lakehead holds a slight edge over Laurier all-time, with a record of 24-20-0 versus the Golden Hawks. The two teams last met in Kitchener/Waterloo just three weeks ago where the Wolves came away with a road series split; winning 3-1 on Friday before losing 3-2 on Saturday despite outshooting Laurier 47-24 in the loss.
Hot Streak
The Thunderwolves are the hottest team in the OUA right now, having won 11 of its last 12 games. Last weekends sweep of Windsor, combined with Lauriers win over Western Ontario, has put Lakehead in sole possession of first place in the OUA West Division.
Lakehead also moved up one spot in the national rankings, and is now ranked #8 in the CIS Top 10 poll.
About the Golden Hawks
Laurier has been one of the top teams in the OUA for the last six seasons, but the Hawks are a very young team this year. With no seniors in the line-up, the roster is made up of 9 freshmen, 9 sophomores, and 5 juniors.
Sophomore winger Thomas Middup is the Hawks top returning scorer. Forwards Mitch Lebar, James Marsden, Mitchell Good, Tyler Stothers and Joseph Vanni are all players that Lakehead will have to watch for.
Junior goaltender Ryan Daniels has been one of the best puck-stoppers in the OUA for the past two seasons, and is capable of winning games all on his own. In Lauriers 5-4 over Western Ontario last Saturday, Daniels put aside 55 of the 59 shots he faced, as was also outstanding in the Hawks 3-2 win over Lakehead on November 5.