The Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team will host the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks this weekend at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The Golden Hawks come to The Bay with a 4-0-0-0 OUA record (4-4-0-0 overall). The Thunderwolves are 3-1-0-0 in OUA play and 9-3-1-1 overall.
The high scoring Hawks are third in the CIS in goals per game at 5, while Lakehead has allowed the least goals per game in the CIS at 1.5. These will be the 9th and 10th meetings between the two teams; with Lakehead owning a 6-2 record against Laurier.
Head Coach Pete Belliveau said the Golden Hawks will be a tough early season challenge for the Wolves. We are playing and undefeated team with a new coach, and they beat us last year 2-1 in their building. So we are looking forward in matching up with them this weekend. Head Coach Steve Martell has them flying early in this new season, they have some snipers, and we will have to be at our defensive best.
The Thunderwolves will be riding the strong goaltending of Grant McCune and Chris Whitley, who have combined to allow only six goals between them in their four OUA regular season starts. Lakehead will look to defensemen like Steve Rawski, Drew Kivell, and Jesse Baraniuk to try to control the high scoring Hawks. Team Captain Joel Scherban leads Lakehead in scoring with 3 goals and 1 assist in regular season play (7g and 9 a overall), good for 20th in the OUA; Peter Cava is second with 1 goal and 3 assists (3 g and 12 a overall); Murray Magill has 1 goal and 2 assists (8 g and 7 a overall); Chris Shaffer has 2 goals and 2 assists (7 g and 4 a overall); and rookie Sean Stefanski has 1 goal and 2 assists (3 goals and 7 assists overall). Jeff Richards also seems to be finding his touch as evidenced by his goal and two assists last weekend against Windsor, which is a good sign for Lakehead.
New Laurier Head Coach Steve Martell has his club playing excellent hockey early in the season. Laurier features strong forwards who can put the puck in the net. David Brown leads the OUA with 4 goals and 3 assists, Nick Gibson has 1 goal and 4 assists and Mathew Schnarr has 2 goals and 3 assists. Richard Colwill Bryan Kazarian, and Mathew Grennier are also strong offensive players. Key blueliners for the Hawks are Nick Vukovic, Kyle Roffey, Riley Moher, and Rob Dmytruk. Goaltender Justin Day has a 4-0 record, GAA of 2.46, and a Save Percentage of 92.37%.
Coach Martell said his team is anticipating a good series in Thunder Bay. Our club has made some strides in the early season and has learned to compete once again. We are looking forward to the opportunity of playing Lakehead and competing against a top-ten ranked team.
Laurier Season Results:
Sun Oct 31 Laurier 7 Queen's 3
Sat Oct 30 Laurier 3 RMC 2 OL
Sun Oct 24 Laurier 6 Ryerson 2
Sat Oct 23 Laurier 4 Toronto 3
Sat Oct 16 Elmira College 4 Laurier 3 EX
Fri Oct 15 Waterloo 6 Laurier 1 NC
Sat Oct 9 Quinnipiac NCAA 6 Laurier 5 EX OT
Fri Oct 8 Bentley 3 Laurier 1 EX
The two teams face off at 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday nights.