Tue Oct 06, 2009
Written by Mike Bennett
Photo by James Mirabelli
The Lakehead Thunderwolves will open their 2009-10 OUA regular season as they host the visiting York Lions, Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10 in an OUA West divisional series at the Fort Williams Gardens in Thunder Bay. The puck drops at 7:30pm both nights.
Head coach Joel Scherban will look to extend his teams preseason success into the regular season after the Wolves went 2-0 in their two games with the Guelph Gryphons last weekend at home. Lakehead posted a 27-16-1 overall record and was 18-8-0-2 in the OUA regular season in 2008-09.
York is 1-3-1 overall after their five-game preseason and are entering head coach Jim Wells first full season behind the bench. Wells took over coaching duties mid-season from Kevin Forrest and guided the team to an 11-6-3 record as head coach and their first OUA Mid West Division title in four years. York posted a combined 14-11-3 regular season record between Wells and Forrests leadership. The Lions were swept 2-0 in the first round of the OUA playoffs by the Western Mustangs.
Head to Head
The Thunderwolves have dominated the Lions in their cats versus dogs battle and is 19-7 all-time against York, posting a 6-2 playoff record against the Toronto team. All-time goal scoring between the two teams favours Lakehead 113-68.
Despite the historic mismatch between the Wolves and the Lions, York has had some recent success at the Fort William Gardens as they split their two-game series in Thunder Bay last November. After falling 3-1 to Lakehead in their first head-to-head match of the year, York rebounded with a stunning 7-6 overtime win.
Lakehead Thunderwolves (2-0-0 overall, 0-0-0 OUA)
The Pack got strong contributions from both freshman and veterans alike last weekend versus Guelph and will look for this trend to continue in their OUA home opening games with York.
Offense was in steady supply against the Gryphons as Lakehead averaged 5.5 goals per game in their two games.
Fifth-year senior Dan Speer of Thunder Bay and senior Brock McPherson of Brampton, Ontario enter the York series with five points apiece as both notched two goals and three assists last weekend. McPherson led the Wolves in scoring in 2008-09 with 27 goals, 20 assists and 47 points, with Speer second on the roster with 12 goals, 23 assists and 35 points.
Third-year forward Kris Hogg of Sicamous, BC was a special teams sensation against the Gryphons with one goal and one assist on the powerplay, with one shorthanded goal bringing his overall scoring to three points in 2009-10.
Also posting strong offensive stats in the preseason were forwards Andy Hyvarinen (three assists) and Mark Soares (two assists), with defenseman Ryan Baird posting a surprising two-goal game last Friday. Baird, a third-year Thunder Bay native scored three goals all of last season.
Freshmen Victor Anilane of Gothenburg, Sweden and Andrew Wilkins of Pickering, Ontario both picked up their first CIS goals and will look to continue their assault against York.
On the blue-line, captain Jordan Smith of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario will set a strong physical tone as will second-year defenseman Kalvin Sagert and Pierre-Marc Guilbault who returned from a foot injury on Saturday night.
Fellow D-men Bryan Wilson and Andy Zulyniak each added an assist to pitch in offensively for the Wolves against the Gryphons.
Special teams should play a factor in Lakeheads game plan against the Lions. The Wolves went 4-18 (22.2%) on the powerplay last weekend and overcame a slew of penalties to kill off 20-22 (90.9%) of Guelphs man advantages.
Anchoring Lakeheads defensive effort will be goaltender Kyle Moir of Calgary and local Alex Dupuis, a freshman who led the Summerside Western Capitals to a MJAHL championship last year. Moir stopped 30-33 (0.909) shots faced in winning last Fridays contest, with Dupuis earning his first CIS win on Saturday when he blocked 28-29 shots (0.966).
Lakehead 2009-10 results:
Oct. 3W 4-1 vs. Guelph
Oct. 2W 7-3 vs. Guelph
York Lions (1-3-1 overall, 0-0-0 OUA)
Fifth-year captain Tyler Harrison will lead his Lions into Thunder Bay flanked by a big up-and-coming roster featuring eight players of 215 lbs or more. The Lions carry a 27-man roster with 16 forwards, 8 defensemen, and 3 goaltenders.
Nine freshman earned roster spots with Wells team with Harrison and Matt Restoule of Val Caron, Ontario representing the Lions two fifth-year seniors.
Harrison, a 65 215-pounder from Whitby, Ontario is the teams offensive star and scored 9 goals with 15 assists in 19 OUA regular season games last season while missing some time due to injury.
York will rely on fourth-year right winger Jesse Grespan of Toronto (16 goals, 15 assists, 31 points), third-year playmaker Nathan Brooks (6 goals, 21 assists, 27 points) and fifth-year senior Matt Restoule (14 goals, 12 assists, 26 points) to round out their offensive attack.
On the blue-line, fourth-year athlete Kyle Searle (5 goals, 8 assists, 13 points) was the teams top offensive option and leads an experienced defensive unit.
The goaltending position is a question mark for the Lions after the departure of former starter Carlo Di Rienzo. Second-year player David Davenport is the lone returner in net for the team with freshmen David Blair and J.J. Gargour also battling for opportunities.
York 2009-10 results:
Sept. 26W 4-3 vs. Ryerson
Sept. 27L 4-8 vs. Nipissing
Sept. 29T 3-3 at Toronto
Oct. 3 L 2-5at Niagara
Oct. 4 L 2-3at Rochester
