The No. 5 Lakehead University Thunderwolves embark on a very tough road trip this weekend when they play three games in three days against OUA Far West Division Rivals Western and Windsor. Lakehead (2-0-0 OUA, 6-1-0 overall) travel to London where they will take on the No. 4 Western Mustangs on Friday and Saturday nights at 7:35 p.m. at the Thomson Arena on the University of Western Ontario Campus. They then bus an hour downthe 401 highway to Chatham, Ontario on Sunday where they will play one game against the University of Windsor Lancers at the Chatham Memorial Arena at 2:00 p.m.
Thunderwolves fans in Thunder Bay can catch all the action live on 580 CKPR AM radio with Sports Director Bryan Wyatt doing the play-by-play and Tish Boychuk doing the colour commentary. Fans across Canada can listen live on the internet via www.ckpr.com
Lakehead is coming off a sweep of the Waterloo Warriors last weekend which saw strong play from a variety of players such as Captain Joel Scherban, speedster Jeff Richards, rookie Mike Wehrstedt, third year defenseman Erik Lodge, as well as veteran forwards Murray Magill and Bryan Duce. The Thunderwolves have a 3-10 record against the Mustangs in two seasons.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said the trip will be a crucial test early on in the season, with a lot of divisional points at stake. He said Western will be a good measuring stick of where his team is at this point in the season. "We are looking forward to our biggest weekend of this young season as we travel to Western. Coach Singer has done another great job in recruiting top OHL players in order to make them a top ranked CIS team again this season."
Western (2-0-0 OUA, 5-0-0 overall) is riding a 49 game regular season unbeaten streak into this weekend's two game series. The Mustangs have lost some stars from last year's unbeaten squad like Joe Talbot and Ryan Mckie who have gone on to the pro ranks.
Head Coach Clarke Singer has brought in a strong group of recruits for this season's squad including former London Knights forwards Mike Stathopoulos and Ryan Hare, Erie Otter grads Chris Eade and Mike Rice, as well as Mike Sellan from Oshawa and Chris Rowan from Brampton. Singer also added defenceman Jamie Sokolsky who played with the Long Beach in the West Coast Hockey League.
Windsor (0-1-0 OUA, 0-6-0 overall) is coming off a 9-4 loss to Western last Saturday. Head Coach Vern Stenlund had a good recruiting year and is building his young team. Windsor will also be playing its third game in three days as they will have played Waterloo on Friday and Saturday nights in a home and away series. New recruits include center Jordi Preston from the Halifax Mooseheads of the QJMHL and forward Alex White from the OHL's Windsor Spitfires. The Thunderwolves have a two-year record of 12-0 against Windsor going into Sunday's game.
Lancer Coach Stenlund knows playing Lakehead on the third day will be tough but a good challenge for his team. He also feels both teams will be in the same boat. "Playing 3 games in 3 days won't be easy, but it's the same for both teams so we'll see how the game plays out. I know that Pete will bring a strong team to Chatham, and I look forward to the challenge of competing against one of the top programs in the country."
Lakehead Coach Belliveau said Sunday's game should be a real battle. "We had great games last season against Coach Stenlund's Windsor Lancers and you can rest assured they will be waiting for us as it will be our third game in three nights. It will be a great challenge for us to play the much improved Lancers."