The No. 4 Lakehead Thunderwolves travel to London, Ontario to challenge the undefeated and defending CIS Champion No. 3 Western Mustangs in a pivotal OUA Far West Division series. Western (16-0 in OUA play, 18-6-1 overall) is in first place in the OUA Far West Division while Lakehead (13-3 in OUA play, 18-7-2 overall) is 6 points behind in second place.
Lakehead will try to put an end to Western's 40 game OUA unbeaten streak as the Mustangs went undefeated last season (22-0-2), and are 16-0 so far this season. The streak has an asterisk however, as Lakehead defeated Western 5-3 and 3-1 in the opening series of this year in Thunder Bay, but both games were forfeited to Western when Lakehead disclosed that they had inadvertently used an academically ineligible player. Lakehead goes into London riding a 10 game OUA winning streak of their own during which they outscored their opponents 62-18.
Thunderwolves Head Coach Pete Belliveau says this series will be a battle. "We, as a team, are looking forward to playing our arch-rivals again as we have not played each other since October. I can tell you that these two games are going to be playoff type games with lots of good, clean, tough, hockey and we know how tough they are going to be in their barn. But, that's why we play these games and the fans in London are going to be treated to top calibre hockey!"
In just two years, a fierce rivalry has developed between the two divisional rivals, and this weekend should be no different. Western's Ryan Held predicted that the Mustangs would sweep the Thunderwolves in an article in the London Free Press last Saturday, adding fuel to what should be a white hot weekend clash.
Series History:
This will be the 10th and 11th meetings between the two teams. Western has an 8-1 head-to-head record, outscoring the Thunderwolves 42-14.
Previous Meetings:
Oct. 20, 2002. Western 1 @ Lakehead 0 (Forfeit)
Oct. 19, 2002. Western 1 @ Lakehead 0 (Forfeit)
March 2, 2002. Wolves 1 @ Western 5 (Loss) Divisional Final
March 1, 2002. Wolves 3 @ Western 4 (Loss) Divisional Final
February 26, 2002. Western 3 @ Wolves 4 (Win) Divisional Final
January 19, 2002: Western 5 @ Wolves 1 (Loss)
January 18, 2002: Western 8 @ Wolves 1 (Loss)
October 20, 2001: Wolves 2 @ Western 8 (Loss)
October 19, 2001: Wolves 2 @ Western 7 (Loss)
Series Notes:
- Western has 85 goals for and 23 against while Lakehead has 78 for and 31 against.
- Lakehead's leading scorers are Chris Shaffer (14 goals and 8 assists), Joel Scherban (7 goals and 15 assists), Bryan Duce (9 goals and 12 assists), and Jason Lange (7 goals and 12 assists).
- Western's leading scorers are Brad Yeo (13 goals and 15 assists), Joe Talbot (9 goals and 18 assists), Tim Zafiris (8 goals and 16 assists), and Chris Haskett (10 goals and 9 assists).
- Two potent powerplays will be on display as Lakehead leads the OUA with a percentage of 26.67, while Western is sixth at 20.65. Conversely, two of the OUA's premier Penalty Kill units will be on the ice as Lakehead leads the conference with a PK percentage of 91.55 while Western is third at 88.54.
- Western No. 1 goaltender Mike D'Allessandro has a GAA of 1.97, save percentage of 93.38, and a record of 10-2 while Lakehead's No. 1 Grant McCune has a GAA of 2.36, save percentage of 89.52, and a record of 10-1. Lakehead's No. 2 goaltender Corey MacEachran has a GAA of 1.4, save percentage of 93.52, and a record of 5-0 while Western's No. 2 Mike Boyce has a GAA of 0.9, save percentage of 94.83, and a record of 4-0.
- It will be interesting to see if, after the series, Mr. Held's soothsaying skills will be compared