The No. 4 Lakehead Thunderwolves travel to Waterloo and Kitchener, Ontario this weekend for three games against the University of Waterloo Warriors and the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks. Lakehead will play Waterloo on Friday and Saturday nights and Laurier on Sunday night. All games can be heard live in Thunder Bay on 580 CKPR AM radio and across Canada via the internet at www.ckpr.com.
Lakehead goes into the weekend in second place in the OUA Far West Division; four points behind first place No. 2 Western. Lakehead has a game in hand on the Mustangs in the race for the Divisional title, so every game is crucial. Lakehead goes into the weekend with a record of 10-2-2- in OUA play, and 17-4-3 overall. The Thunderwolves are coming off a win and a tie last weekend against Windsor.
Special teams will be important this weekend as both Lakehead and Waterloo are near the top in both the powerplay and penalty kill in the OUA. Lakehead is second in the OUA on the powerplay, scoring at a 23.19% clip. Waterloo is fourth at 21.74% and Laurier is seventh and 15.56%. The Warriors are third on the pk, successfully killing off 87.1% of their penalties. Lakehead is fourth at 87.06% while Laurier is tenth at 82.47%.
The Thunderwolves will be looking to team Captain Joel Scherban for scoring and leadership and the return of forward Jeff Richards who was out of action last weekend against Windsor. Both players lead Lakehead in scoring with 22 points. Lakehead Head Coach knows that this weekend is crucial for points in the run for the playoffs. "We have our work cut out for us as we go on our third road trip of the year, we haven't shown any consistent effort in our previous road trips and we know that both Waterloo and Laurier will be waiting for us and will be ready to take away valuable points."
Divisional rival Waterloo is in a battle of its own, sitting 2 points behind third place Windsor in the OUA Far West for the final playoff spot. Waterloo has an OUA record of 5-12 and is 7-15 overall. Lakehead is 9-0-1 against Waterloo since joining the OUA. Waterloo is coming off two losses to No. 2 Western. The resurgent Warriors under first year Head Coach Karl Taylor feature Mike Della Mora (9 goals and 7 assists), Kevin Hurley (6 goals and 10 assists), Adam Metherel (5 goals and 10 assists), and Richard Scott (2 goals and 13 assists).
Coach Taylor said his team will be ready for the Thunderwolves. "When playing Lakehead, the No. 4 team in Canada, our team has to play a tough, hard-nosed team game from top to bottom. Lakehead has set the standard for our league, both with the off-ice promotion of their program and the on-ice performance of their team, and it is our challenge to meet it."
The Laurier Golden Hawks find themselves in a dog-fight in the OUA Mid-West Division. The Hawks are in third place, five points behind second place York and three points up on fourth place Guelph. Lakehead is 5-1 against Laurier since joining the OUA. Laurier will be playing Guelph on Saturday night before taking on Lakehead on Sunday. Laurier is coming off a tie with York and a loss to Brock. Laurier features leading scorer Nick Gibson (9 goals and 11 assists), Richard Colwill (5 goals and 12 assists), and Matt Grennier (5 goals and 11 assists).
Laurier Head Coach Mark French said the Lakehead game will be a battle. "We looking forward to the challenge of facing off against one of the top teams in the country. We expect it to be a hard fought battle since both teams have a lot on the line."
All games this weekend will face off at 7:00 p.m. EST in Waterloo and Kitchener.