The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team will be playing two games against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees this weekend in the Nations Capital. The games will start at 7:00 PM on both Friday and Saturday nights, and will be broadcast live on Rock 94 FM.
Last Time Out
The Thunderwolves opened the OUA regular season at home last weekend against the two-time defending Queens Cup champion McGill Redmen. The Wolves were edged out in both games by narrow margins, losing 4-3 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday.
Ottawa has played 3 conference road games so far this season, posting a 2-1 record. The Gee-Gees lost 5-2 at Nipissing on October 1, but won 5-2 at Guelph and 3-1 at Laurier on October 7th and 8th respectively.
Series History
Lakehead holds a 3-1 all-time record over its OUA East Division rival. The most recent meetings between Lakehead and Ottawa took place last October in the Wolves season opener in Thunder Bay. The Thunderwolves won those two games easily, by scores of 6-0 and 7-2.
About the Gee-Gees
Ottawa is led by first-year Head Coach Real Paiement. He brings the Gee-Gees nearly 30 years of coaching experience at the CIS and Quebec Major Junior levels, and well as some background coaching professional hockey in Europe.
Like Lakehead, Ottawa is a fairly young team, with 10 freshmen and only 4 seniors in the line-up. Ottawa had three players in the top five OUA scorers last season, and that returning trio will be the players that Lakehead will have to watch for this weekend.
In 2010-11, Luc-Olivier Blain finished second in the OUA with 52 points, Kyle Ireland was third with 48 points, and Matthieu Methot rounded out the top five of the league with 38 points. This year, Methot is a senior, but Blain and Ireland are only sophomores, making their achievements that much more impressive.
Need to Rebound
Despite losing its first two games, Lakehead went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the country last weekend. Given a few lucky bounces here and there, the Wolves could just as easily be sitting at 2-0 in the OUA. But the Wolves will need to capture some points this weekend to keep from falling too far behind in what is becoming an increasingly competitive league.