Mon Jun 08, 2009
During the upcoming 2009-10 OUA mens hockey season, the Lakehead Thunderwolves will find themselves competing in a new-look league with revised divisional and playoff formats. Replacing the former four division OUA is a two division setup. The Wolves will play in the West Division with rivals Brock, Guelph, Laurier, Ontario Tech, Waterloo, Western Ontario (defending Queens Cup champions), Windsor, and York. The East Division will be represented by Carleton, Concordia, McGill, Nipissing, Ottawa, Queens, RMC, Ryerson, Toronto, and UQTR.
The Wolves will open the season with a pair of games versus the Guelph Gryphons on October 2nd and 3rd at the Fort William Gardens. To view the complete Lakehead Thunderwolves 2009-10 season schedule, click on the schedule tab on the top of the page.
Postseason play will now see the top eight teams in both OUA divisions squaring off in best-out-of-three series. Opening round divisional matchups will pit #1 against #8, #2 versus #7, #3 versus #6, and #4 versus #5 with re-seeding occurring during the second round. The top seed in each series will have home-ice advantage.
Each division will have separate playoffs, and the eventual East and West division champions will faceoff in one game for the Queens Cup. The winner will earn the top OUA seed at the 2010 Cavendish University Cup played at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Thunderwolves Head Coach, Joel Scherban offered his thoughts on the new league format and regular season schedule.
"I am excited about the 2009-2010 schedule and I am confident it will prepare us for the National Championships. The new divisional format allows us to maintain the rivalries that we have built over the past eight seasons and also provides us with an opportunity to see teams that Lakehead University has not played in OUA conference games before. The new playoff format ensures that the OUA is sending the best teams to the National Championships and also provides teams with an opportunity to host an additional playoff game."