The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team will host the top-ranked Alberta Golden Bears for a two-game series this weekend. Game times are 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday nights at the Fort William Gardens.
Battle in the Top Ten
Both teams are ranked in the latest CIS Top Ten Poll, with Alberta ranked #1 in the country and Lakehead now sitting at #10.
Last Time Out
Lakehead hosted the Laurier last weekend, sweeping the Golden Hawks by scores of 5-4 on Friday and 4-2 on Saturday.
Lakehead now has on OUA record of 5-1-0, and is tied with York for first place in the West Division.
Alberta also swept at home last weekend, with wins of 5-3 and 6-2 over British Columbia.
Series History
Lakehead has an all-time record of 1-5-1 versus the Golden Bears, with the lone win and tie coming when the teams met for the first time in Thunder Bay back in January of 2003. The Bears have won the last five matches over the Wolves, the most memorable being a 3-2 decision at Rexall Place in Edmonton in the 2006 CIS championship game.
About the Golden Bears
Located in Edmonton, the Alberta Golden Bears are a perennial power in CIS hockey, having won 13 national championships, the last one coming in 2008.
Entering this weekend, the Bears have a record of 8-0 in Canada West conference play and are 16-2 overall including non-conference games.
Alberta has a lot of scoring punch up front, but Brett Ferguson, Jordan Hickmott, Jamie Crooks and Levko Koper are particular dangerous with the puck. Jordan Rowley and Jesse Craige are the anchors on the Bears blue line.
Netminders Luke Siemens and Kurtis Mucha have been splitting the duties in goal, and both have impressive numbers with GAAs of 1.33 and 1.88 respectively, and have recorded two shutouts each already this season.
Freshman Starting Fast
Many of Lakeheads freshmen have been given prominent roles early on, and have responded quite well.
Goalie Justin McDonald has a win-loss record of 5-2 after taking over the reins for the injured Jeff Bosch. Forward Matt Kaarela recorded a hat-trick versus RMC in the OUA opener, and Cody Alcock had a four-goal outburst in Lakeheads 5-4 win over Laurier last Friday. The following night, defenceman Nathan Bruyere was chosen as the first star of the game after a very strong outing.
Injury Report
Goaltender Jeff Bosch (knee), forwards Jason Grecica (elbow), Brennan Menard (concussion) and Carson Dubchak (knee) are all out of the line-up this weekend.