The Thunderwolves host their third Bell Varsity Cup with the goal of winning back the title won last year by the UNB Varsity Reds. Lakehead is 10-2-0-0 in OUA play and 16-6-1-1 overall. The Wolves had a strong first half of the OUA regular season and are again in a battle for first in the OUA Far West Division with arch-rival Western.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said the Thunderwolves look forward to great hockey at the Bell Varsity Cup. "This should be another great tournament featuring some of the best teams in Canada and should be a real holiday treat for the best fans in CIS hockey. We will do our best to win back the Cup!"
Historical Head To Head:
The Thunderwolves are 0-2 vs. UNB, 1-2 vs. Manitoba, and 1-0 vs. Ottawa.
The Thunderwolves have improved noticeably so far this season on team defense; a remarkable achievement due to injuries to the defense. The great play of Erik Lodge, Mike Self, Drew Kivell, Jesse Baraniuk, Steve Rawski, and Dene Poulin can't be underestimated. As well, Lakehead has received excellent goaltending from fourth year star Grant McCune and rookie standout Chris Whitley. McCune has a 4-2 OUA record, GAA of 2.00, and save percentage of .928. Whitley is 6-0 in OUA action (2 shutouts), has a GAA of 0.83, and a save percentage of .971.
On the offensive side, the big strength of Lakehead this season is that they are receiving scoring from all down the roster. Traditional big guns like Joel Scherban (9 goals and 7 assists, Top 20 OUA), Jeff Richards (5 goals and 11 assists, Top 20 OUA), and Chris Shaffer (5 goals and 6 assists) are getting their points but Lakehead's second line of Murray Magill (8 goals and 9 assists, Top 20 OUA), Peter Cava (4 goals and 10 assists OUA), and Sean Stefanski (2 goals and 6 assists OUA) are equally dangerous. The third and fourth lines are also scoring which is a great sign for the Thunderwolves in the second half of the season.
Tobias Whelan, Andrew Brown, Brad Priestlay, Jason Lange, Mike Wehrstedt, Jounni Kuokkanen, Austin Wycisk, Mark Robinson, Leon Cooper, and Francis Walker have been playing great two-way hockey in the first half. Also, defenseman Lodge (5 goals and 10 assists, Top 20 OUA) has returned to his OUA All-Star form of 2001-02; perhaps because the offensive d-man role is resting squarely on his shoulders with the absence of Mike Jacobsen and Chris Callaway.