The Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team travel to St. Catherines this weekend for two games against the Brock Badgers on Friday and Saturday night. Both games can be heard live on 580 CKPR AM radio in Thunder Bay and online around the world on www.ckpr.com with Bryan Wyatt calling all the action beginning at 7:15 pm EST.
The Thunderwolves are now 11-7-2 in OUA play (15-13-4 overall) and are coming off a home sweep of Guelph while Brock is 7-11-2 in OUA action (10-16-2 overall) and are coming off two close losses to Waterloo and Laurier. Lakehead is in third in the OUA Far West Division with 24 points while Brock is in third in the OUA Mid West with 17 points so this series is crucial for both teams in the hunt for playoff positions.
Lakehead is 5th in the CIS in goals for per game at 3.8 while Brock is tied for 14th with 2.7 per game. Lakehead is tied for fourth in the CIS in goals allowed at 2.5 per game while Brock is 8th at 3.0 per game.
Head to Head:
These will be the ninth and tenth meetings between the two teams and Lakehead is 6-0-2 in the previous eight games. Lakehead outscored Brock 45-20 in the previous eight matches.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said his team has to be ready for an angry den of Badgers. We will be playing in a very tough barn, they play very well in their rink, and they are in playoff race as we are. The points will be hard to earn; we must match their passion and intensity.
Lakehead Thunderwolves:
Lakehead looked very impressive in last Saturdays 7-1 win over Guelph and displayed a jump and intensity that hadnt been seen at home since early in the season. The Wolves will have to build on last weekend and look to veteran leadership from Captain Joel Scherban (11 goals, 10 assists) and Jeff Richards (11 goals, and 10 assists).
Richards has been playing great two-way hockey the last four games and just needs to convert more on his scoring opportunities. Jason Lange (6 goals, 10 assists) and Murray Magill (2 goals, 9 assists) have also played well recently as have Brad Priestlay (3 goals, 4 assists), Tobias Whelan (2 goals, 3 assists), Mark Robinson (6 goals, 4 assists), and Dan Speer (4 goals, 6 assists).
Mike Jacobsen (7 goals, 9 assists), Matt Jacques (4 goals, 7 assists), and Erik Lodge (3 goals, 7 assists) have been supplying offense from the blueline recently while Hugo Lehoux, Steve Rawski, Mike Self, Drew Kivell, and Dan Rogers have been solid on the defensive side.
Grant McCune (OUA Stats: 4-5-0, GAA 2.85, SV% .900) and Chris Whitley (OUA Stats: 7-2-2, GAA 1.97, SV% .930) both played well against Guelph in the Lakehead goals and will have to be solid on the road this weekend for the Wolves to be successful. Bad news for Lakehead is that Mike Wehrstedt was injured again in last Saturdays game and is out for 3-4 weeks while Kris Callaway remains out indefinitely.
Lakehead 05-06 Results:
Sat Jan 28 Lakehead 7 Guelph 1
Fri Jan 27 Lakehead 5 Guelph 3
Sat Jan 21 Waterloo 8 Lakehead 5
Fri Jan 20 Lakehead 4 Waterloo 0
Sat Jan 14 Western 2 Lakehead 0
Fri Jan 13 Western 3 Lakehead 2
Wed Dec 28 Lake Superior St 4 Lakehead 0 EX
Thu Dec 29 StFX 3 Lakehead 2 NC OT
Fri Dec 30 Calgary 5 Lakehead 1 NC
Sat Dec 3 Lakehead 1 Waterloo 1 OT TIE
Fri Dec 2 Waterloo 4 Lakehead 2
Sat Nov 26 Lakehead 10 Toronto 0
Fri Nov 25 Lakehead 6 Toronto 4
Sat Nov 19 Lakehead 3 RMC 3 OT TIE
Fri Nov 18 Lakehead 3 RMC 1
Sat Nov 12 Lakehead 5 York 3
Fri Nov 11 Lakehead 6 York 1
Sat Nov 5 Lakehead 3 Laurier 0
Fri Nov 4 Laurier 5 Lakehead 2
Sat Oct 29 Lakehead 3 Windsor 1
Fri Oct 28 Lakehead 3 Windsor 2
Sat Oct 22 Windsor 2 Lakehead 1
Fri Oct 21 Windsor 5 Lakehead 4
Sat Oct 15 Saskatchewan 7 Lakehead 5 NC
Fri Oct 14 Saskatchewan 4 Lakehead 2 NC