The No. 8 Lakehead Thunderwolves travel to London this weekend for two crucial OUA Far West games against arch rival No. 3 Western. Friday's game will be played at Western's Thompson Arena while Saturday's will be played at the new John Labatt Centre where Western is hoping to break the OUA single game attendance record of 4500.
Both games will be broadcast in Thunder Bay on 580 CKPR AM radio and online at www.ckpr.com as well as by Western campus radio at www.chrwradio.com. Saturday's game will be televised from the Labatt Centre on Rogers Television in Southern Ontario. All Lakehead alumni in Southern Ontario are encouraged to go to Saturday's game and cheer on the Thunderwolves. Game times are 7:35 pm EST on Friday and Saturday.
Western is in first in the division with a 12-2-0-1 OUA mark (17-8-0-1 overall) while Lakehead is in third with a 10-6 record (18-4-1-1). Western is coming off an 8-1 win over Windsor while Lakehead was swept at home by No. 10 Waterloo last weekend. Western is second in CIS offense with 4.7 goals per game while Lakehead is fourth with 4.2. Lakehead is second in CIS defense allowing 2.2 goals per game while Western is fourth with 2.4 goals per game.
The Mustangs have a 13-7 record against the Thunderwolves but Lakehead has defeated Western in the playoffs in the last two seasons. Lakehead is currently on a seven game losing streak; the longest in the program's three and a half seasons. Lakehead was missing five of its players due to the Winter Universiade for six of those losses and the Wolves were missing assistant Captain Chris Shaffer during last weekend's losses to Waterloo. As well, the Wolves have been plagued by injuries, especially to the defense. Western missed seven players due to the Universiade but they went 1-2 in OUA games with their reduced roster.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said his team is in playoff mode from this point on. "We will renew our most intense rivalry this weekend vs. our fiercest
opponent. We know the importance of these two games and the intensity displayed will be a playoff -like atmosphere! Coach Singer has done an excellent job in his recruitment again and he has a well balanced, well coached, squad that competes very hard on every shift."
So, Lakehead must start now to find its form as it makes a run for the OUA playoffs. It will be counting on offense from Captain Joel Scherban, Erik Lodge, Jeff Richards, Peter Cava, and Murray Magill. It will also look to players like Tobias Whelan and Andrew Brown and veterans Jason Lange and Mike Wehrstedt to put the puck in the net. The Thunderwolves will also need steady defense from Hugo Lehoux, Steve Rawski, Mike Self, and Dene Poulin. Finally, the team needs goaltenders Chris Whitley (6-3, 2.25 GAA, .930 SV%) and Grant McCune (4-3, 2.31 GAA, .920 SV%) to stop the Mustangs.
Assistant Captain Chris Shaffer has left the team to concentrate on academics so this is a huge loss for the Thunderwolves. Lakehead's injuries include Drew Kivell with post concussion syndrome (ongoing observation), Kris Callaway with fatigue syndrome (out for the year) and Francis Walker with upper body injury (2-3 weeks). Seans Stefanski has been suspended for two games for last weekend's stick major against Waterloo.
Western Head Coach Clarke Singer said it will be another tough OUA Far West weekend. "As always we are looking forward to playing our biggest OUA rival. Every year at this time