The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team will host the Laurentian Voyageurs in the Crime Stoppers Christmas Challenge on Friday, December 27th and Saturday, December 28th at the Fort William Gardens with the opening face-off set for 7:30 both nights.
Last Time Out
Lakehead wound up the first half of the season with a road sweep of the York Lions at the end of November. The Wolves blanked York 1-0 on the Friday before finishing up the first term with a 5-3 victory in the Saturday game.Laurentian dropped a pair of road contests to the top two teams in the OUA East Division that same weekend, falling 3-2 at Queens on the Friday followed by a 4-1 loss at McGill on the Saturday.
Nationally Ranked
Lakehead now has on OUA record of 11-3 and is tied with Windsor for first place in the West Division with a game in hand. That was enough to impress voters to rank the Thunderwolves #7 in the latest CIS Hockey Top Ten Poll.
About the Voyageurs
The Laurentian University hockey program returned to the OUA this season after an extended hiatus, so in this way the Voyageurs have something in common with the Thunderwolves of 2001-02. Namely, the Sudbury-based team led by Head Coach Craig Duncanson is comprised almost entirely of freshmen.
Laurentian posted a 4-11 record in the first half of the OUA season, and the Voyageurs currently sit in the eighth spot of the ten-team East Division.
The Voyageurs top scorers are forwards Nick Esposto, Marc-Alain Begin and Richard Therrien, while the defence is anchored by Brandon Howes and Vincent Liorca. Netminders Alain Valiquette and Charlie Millen have split the bulk of the duties in the Laurentian goal.
Series History
The Wolves and Voyageurs played each other for the first time in early November when Lakehead swept Laurentian in Sudbury, winning by scores of 7-1 and 4-1.