The Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team travels to Trois Rivieres, Quebec this weekend for two big road games against Les Patriotes du UQTR. Lakehead enters the weekend with a 9-2-1 OUA record (11-5-1 overall)) after sweeping Queens at home last weekend with a pair of 6-2 wins. Lakehead remains in a first place tie with Waterloo for first place in the OUA Far West Division with the Western Mustangs close behind. Both Lakehead and Waterloo are tied for Laurier with the best overall mark in the OUA conference heading into the weekend.
UQTR is 7-0-1-3 in conference play and 10-3-2-3 overall. UQTR defeated York 3-2 and lost in OT to Guelph at home last weekend. Les Patriotes are tied with McGill in the OUA Far East Division for points but listed second due to having one less win than the Redmen.
Game time Friday nightis is 7:30 pm EST and Saturday afternoonat 2:00 pm EST and both games be heard live in Thunder Bay on 580 CKPR AM radio and online at www.ckpr.com. Bryan Wyatt will be calling the action live and Jonas Gilbart will handle the pre-game and intermission duties.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said UQTR will be a huge challenge for his team. This will be our biggest test of the season and this series could determine where we end up in the Far West Division standings. We are going to UQTR for our first-ever OUA regular season games against a very strong and fast-skating team that will make you pay for turnovers and bad penalties. Coach Laporte has the Patriotes always playing a fast skating game and they love to counter with great speed. It will be a great weekend series!
Head To Head:
These two games will mark the first time that the two squads have faced each other in OUA regular season play. The Thunderwolves are 3-6 against UQTR in five plus seasons, 3-5 in non-conference games and 0-1 in the 02-03 CIS National Championships. UQTR has outscored Lakehead 26-23 in those previous nine meetings.
Lakehead leads the CIS in goals for at 5.1 per game while UQTR is tied for third with 4.6 per game. Lakehead is tied for 6th in the CIS in goals allowed with 2.8 per game while UQTR is third at 2.4 per game.
So, history and this years stats and result would seem to indicate a very tough and even series in Trois Rivieries this weekend.
Lakehead Thunderwolves:
One of the main keys to the success of the Wolves so far this season has been the balanced attack with scoring coming from throughout the roster and this continued this past weekend against Queens which saw 10 players score the Wolves 12 goals. Another positive point gained from last weekend was the strong team defensive play and the good performance of freshman goaltender Matt Iorrianni who looked very steady marking his first-ever OUA win. The Wolves special teams were also hot as they scored 7 power play goals and 1 shorthanded marker against Queens.
Tobias Whelan continues to lead the team offensively and his 25 points (9 goals, 16 assists) leads the OUA and puts him in second in the CIS. His goal in the second game against Queens was one of the prettiest individual goals by a Lakehead player this season.
Lakehead captain Jeff Richards had 3 goals and an assist against Queens but unfortunately will not make the UQTR trip due to suspension; so the Wolves will have to pick up the pace to make up for his absence.
Junior forwards Matt Maissoneuve (3 goals, 2 assists) and Richard Molenaar (3 goals, 7 assists) are a force on the ice on the PK unit; and they also clicked very well with new line-mate Mark Soares. Soares (6 goals, 9 assists) continues to be an offensive force on the ice and his development as a scorer will be key for Lakehead down the stretch.
Sophomores Dan Speer (4 goals, 7 assists) and Shandor Alphonso (2 goals, 5 assists) as well as fresh