The Lakehead Thunderwolves head to Toronto this weekend to challenge the York Lions in what could be a preview of an OUA West first round playoff series. Lakehead enters the weekend with a 12-8-2-2 OUA record (15-15-2-2 overall); which puts them third in the OUA Far West and fifth overall in the OUA West. York is 12-8-3-1 in OUA play (14-15-3-1 overall) and are second in the OUA Mid West Division and fourth overall in the OUA West.
The games go Friday at 7:30 pm ESTand Saturday night at 7:00 pm ESTand can be heard live on 580 CKPR AM Radio in Thunder Bay and online at www.ckpr.com with Bryan Wyatt calling the action and Jonas Gilbart doing the pre-game and intermissions.
Lakehead is coming off two losses to No. 7 Laurier while York is coming off an OT tie against No. 5 Waterloo and a win over Windsor.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said it will be a very tough series. We are going into the York Series looking to come out with playoff home ice advantage. We are tied with them and we both have 4 games left. Coach Macguire has his team playing great hockey, as they downed Windsor 9-1 last weekend and tied Waterloo 3-3. They have 14 freshmen who are improving tremendously and are a force the league at the moment. We must finish better on our scoring chances, execute better on our PP and most important, we must be better in zone coverage.
Lakehead is tied for fourth in the CIS in goals for with 4.3 while York is tied for 11th with 3.3. Lakehead is tied for 11th in goals against at 3.8 while York is tied for 5th at 2.8.
Head to Head:
Lakehead is 12-5 against York all time; 7-3 in regular season play, 4-2 in playoff action, and 1-0 in non-conference play. Lakehead has outscored York 75-41 in those games.
Lakehead Thunderwolves:
The Wolves have lost four in a row, their longest losing streak of the season; but they have a lot of talent and are looking to get back in the win column this weekend. They will look to leadership to their captain, Jeff Richards, who has 13 goals and 12 assists; 3rd in team scoring. Richards played well last weekend against Laurier. Lakehead also needs to convert on more of their scoring opportunities.
Lakehead will also need scoring from smooth playmaker Tobias Whelan and freshman star Mark Soares. Whelan (14 goals, 23 assists) is tied for 3rd in both CIS and OUA scoring while Soares has 15 goals and 14 assists and is second in team scoring.
The Wolves will need offense and two-way play from forwards like Mike Wehrstedt, Andrew Brown, Brad Priestlay, Richard Molenaar, and Mark Robinson. Freshman Brock McPherson played well last weekend and his continued strong play could be crucial this weekend.
As a team, the Wolves will need to better protect their goal and cut down on the goals against this weekend and give support to goaltender Chris Whitley (10-8-2, GAA 3.66, SV% .899). The defensive corps will need to clear the front of the goal and also generate some offense and Lakehead will need strong play from Matt Jacques, Drew Kivell, Jarryd Brend, Andy Zulyniak, and Jordan Smith.
Lakehead Injury Report:
Defenseman Dan Rogers remains out for the weekend while fellow defenseman Steve Rawski is listed as day-to-day.
Lakehead 06-07 Results:
Sat Jan 27 Laurier 6 Lakehead 5 OL
Fri Jan 26 Laurier 9 Lakehead 3
Sun Jan 21 Western 6 Lakehead 2
Sat Jan 20 Western 6 Lakehead 3
Sat Jan 13 Lakehead 3 Waterloo 0
Fri Jan 12 Waterloo 6 Lakehead 4
Sat Jan 6 Lakehead 5 Windsor 3
Fri Jan 5 Windsor 5 Lakehead 4 OL SO
Wed Dec 27 Lakehead 7 Calgary 6 NC OT
Thu Dec 28 Toronto 6 Lakehead 4 NC
Fri Dec 29 Laurier 4 Lakehead 3 NC
Sat Dec 2 Lakehead 3 McGill 2
Fri Dec 1 McGill 3 Lakehead 3 OT TIE
Sat Nov 25 UQTR 4 Lakehead 2
Fri Nov 24 UQTR 8 Lakehe