The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team will begin its 2014-15 campaign with a two-game home series against the Mount Royal Cougars this weekend, marking the first time the two programs have played each other. Game times are 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights at the Fort William Gardens.
Last time out
This will be Lakeheads first game since coming up one game short of qualifying for the CIS Nationals after a 7-4 loss to the Carleton Ravens in the OUA bronze medal game in Ottawa last March.
Mount Royal hosted the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) for a pair of games last weekend and won both contests by scores of 4-1 on the Friday and 5-4 on Saturday.
Fresh faces
Lakehead will have a lot of new faces in the line-up this weekend, most of them up front. Of the eight new players on the roster this season, seven of them are forwards and one a defenceman.
About the Cougars
Located in Calgary, the Mount Royal Cougars play in the tough Canada West Conference and finished last season in fifth place in the eight-team league.
The Cougars are led by first-year bench boss Bert Gilling, who spent the last 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Bemidji State of the NCAA.
Mount Royal is a fairly young team, with a total of ten freshmen on the squad. Cody Cartier and Matt Brown are the Cougars top returning scoring threats, while Scott McKay anchors the Mount Royal blue line. Senior goaltender Dalyn Flette was a mainstay in the Cougars net last season.