The No.6 Lakehead Thunderwolves travel to Windsor this weekend to take on the Lancers in a battle of OUA Far West Division opponents. Lakehead (9-3 conference, 14-7-2 overall) is coming off a non-conference win and a tie against No. 1 Alberta and a victory in the first Bell Canada Varsity Cup Tournament held over the holiday break in Thunder Bay. Windsor (5-6-1 conference, 5-11-1 overall) is coming off a tough 8-2 loss to Western in London last Saturday. Lakehead is second in the OUA Far West with 18 points while Windsor is third with 11, both trailing first place Western (12-0) with 24 points.
Thunderwolves Head Coach Pete Belliveau said his team is looking forward to facing the new-look Lancers. "We are looking forward to playing the Windsor Lancers, Coach VernStenlund has them playing disciplined hockey and their work ethic makes the opposition work for every inch of the ice. This should be a great weekend series."
Lancer's Head Coach Vern Stenlund says the Thunderwolves will be a great test for his young team. "Having Lakehead coming to town sort of makes me understand how Daniel must have felt while in the lion's den!! For my money, they are the best team in the country this year, and we are going to have to play perfect hockey even to compete with them. But that is the challenge and we look forward to measuring ourselves against the best."
Series History:
This is the seventh meeting between the two teams. Lakehead won all previous six meetings, outscoring Windsor 30-10. Lakehead eliminated Windsor from the OUA Far West Division Semi-Finals 2-0 in last year's playoffs.
The teams will play two games over the weekend, the first on Saturday night at 7:30 at the Windsor Arena, the second on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 at the Adie Knox Arena. Fans of the Thunderwolves and Lancers can listen live to Bryan Wyatt calling the action on 580 CKPR AM in Thunder Bay, and on www.ckpr.com via the internet. Saturday's game will also be televised on Cogeco Television in Southwestern Ontario.
Windsor Team Preview:
Windsor is in a rebuilding year under new Head Coach and Thunder Bay native Vern Stenlund. Stenlund has brought a tough disciplined approach to coaching the Lancers. He also took them on a very tough pre-season exhibition tour that saw them face such opposition as NCAA powerhouse University of Denver. Players to watch on Windsor are Captain Stu Vandergeest, Assistant Captain Joe Gawant, and forward B.J. Gaylord. Gaylord scored 5 goals in the Lancer's 12-8 win over Waterloo. Lancer Defenseman Joe Lombardo hails from Thunder Bay.
For more info on Lancer's Hockey, click here.
2002-2003 Results:
Sat Jan 4 Western 8 Windsor 2
Sat Dec 28 Windsor 4 St. Clair 3 EX
Sun Dec 1 Windsor 8 RMC 1
Sat Nov 30 RMC 3 Windsor 2
Sun Nov 24 Western 2 Windsor 1
Sat Nov 16 Toronto 8 Windsor 2
Fri Nov 15 Toronto 4 Windsor 2
Sun Nov 10 Guelph 8 Windsor 3
Sat Nov 9 Guelph 4 Windsor 4 TIE OT
Sat Nov 2 Windsor 4 Brock 3
Fri Nov 1 Windsor 5 Brock 2
Sun Oct 20 Windsor 12 Waterloo 8
Sat Oct 19 Windsor 4 Waterloo 1
Mon Oct 14 Denver 12 Windsor 1 EX
Sun Oct 13 Air Force 9 Windsor 1 EX
Sat Oct 5 Guelph 6 Windsor 3 NC SO Cons
Fri Oct 4 Brock 4 Windsor 2 NC
Tue Oct 1 Bowling Green 5 Windsor 2 EX
Coaching Staff:
Head Coach: Dr. Vern Stenlund
Vern Stenlund is a native of Thunder Bay. He was introduced as the head coach of the University of Windsor Lancers men's hockey team on April 24, 2002. Stenlund is a tenured Associate Professor in the University of Windsor's Faculty of Education, Coach Stenlund is a fo