The Lakehead Thunderwolves will host the defending National Champion McGill Redmen at this years Christmas Challenge at the Fort William Gardens on December 28th and 29th. The opening face-off is set for 7:30 both nights.
Last time out
Lakehead finished its first half of the OUA regular season a week earlier than most teams in the league by hosting the Windsor Lancers on November 23rd and 24th. Before the weekend began, Windsor was in first place in the West Division and ranked #6 in the CIS Top Ten poll. The Wolves defeated the Lancers 4-2 in the Friday game, and held a commanding 3-0 lead over Windsor midway through the first period in Saturdays contest. But penalty trouble proved costly for Lakehead as the Lancers stormed back to beat the Thunderwolves 7-4 on the strength of four power play goals.
McGill wound up its fall semester in OUA play with a pair of road wins; a 4-2 victory at Ryerson on November 30th, followed by a 7-2 drubbing of RMC on December 1st.
Before the puck drops to start the Christmas Challenge with McGill, the Thunderwolves will have had five weeks off as compared to the four weeks since the Redmen last played.
Series history
Playing in separate divisions, Lakehead and McGill dont play each other every year, but some of the games have been epic and this has created quite a rivalry. Lakehead has twice hosted McGill for the OUA Queens Cup Championship. The first came in 2006, when the Lakehead won its only OUA title with a 4-0 victory in one of the most memorable nights in Fort William Gardens history. McGill exacted a measure of revenge in the 2010 championship, winning the Queens Cup by a 3-1 decision.
The two teams last met at Lakehead in October of 2011 to open the OUA regular season. McGill won two very close contests by margins of 4-3 in the Friday game and 3-2 in the Saturday night rematch.
Lakehead holds a 5-3-1 advantage over McGill all-time.
About the Redmen
Located in Montreal, Quebec, McGill has the oldest hockey program in Canada, having begun play in 1877.
The Redmen are not only the defending National Champions, but have also won the last three OUA Queens Cup titles.
After a slow start to this season, the Redmen will arrive in Thunder Bay on a roll and with a record of 10-5-0. McGill has won four games in a row, and have been victorious in eight of its last ten.
The Redmen are lead by Head Coach Kelly Nobes, now in his third season behind the McGill bench after playing for the Redmen from 1993 to 1997. Before returning to his Alma Mater, Nobes had been the Head Coach at RMC (2001 to 2006) and Laurier (2006 to 2010), and helped to turn both of those programs around during his tenures there.
McGill has a more balanced attack this year as compared to seasons past. The Redmens top scorers are senior forward Chris Longpre-Poirier, and freshmen forwards Mathieu Pompei and Patrick Delisle-Houde. Junior defenceman Ryan McKiernan anchors the McGill blue line.
The goaltending duties have been split between fifth-year senior Hubert Morin and senior Andrew Flemming. Both have respectable GAAs (2.81 for Morin and 2.89 for Flemming) and each has posted one shutout so far this season.