After being handed their first two-game sweep of the OUA season, the Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team will be looking for valuable points as they host the Windsor Lancers, Friday and Saturday at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. EST on both nights.
Lakehead (11-5-2) sits in fourth place in the OUA West Division, one point back of the Waterloo Warriors with a game in hand. Windsor (7-8-3) is in seventh place but is charging up the standings having gone 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.
Both games will be webcast live on UStream.com.
Head to head
The Thunderwolves have handled the Lancers, building a 28-7-1 all-time record against their divisional foes including a 24-7-1 regular season mark though their southern Ontario rivals have been a stingy opponent in the squads recent contests. LU and Windsor faced off in four games last season with Lancers surprising the Pack by splitting both the Thunder Bay and Windsor-hosted series. Their last meeting saw the Lancers hand the Thunderwolves just their second shutout of 2008-09 in a 3-0 win at the Windsor Arena.
Lakehead has outscored the Lancers 170-80 all-time and 146-74 in OUA regular season play.
Lakehead Thunderwolves
Head coach Joel Scherbans Wolves were humbled last weekend against Western and will need a strong overall effort against the Lancers to claim a top playoff spot in the stacked OUA West Division. The midseason additions of freshmen Ryan McDonald (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan), Matt Caria (Sault Ste. Maria, Ontario) and Matt Dias (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) have given Lakehead more scoring up front with increased competition for playing time giving several players an extra push heading as the team continues the second half of their conference schedule.
McDonald has met his goal of scoring in every game, having built a four-game goal-scoring streak in a Lakehead uniform through the two-game Varsity Cup Challenge against Manitoba, and against Western. In his OUA debut weekend against the Mustangs, the freshman had two goals and one assist. Caria has been a playmaking force and had three assists last weekend, while Dias had an assist for his first point in regular season play.
His broken collarbone healed over the holiday break, senior forward Brock McPherson (Brampton, Ontario) remains the Wolves leading-scorer with 14 goals, 12 assists and 26 points, though fifth-year senior Scott Dobben (Drayton, Ontario) is hot on the trail with 10 goals, 14 assists, and 24 points.
In his fifth year with Lakehead, Dan Speer (Thunder Bay, Ontario) has had a hand in several Wolves goals with 17 assists, adding two goals to his scoring tally while freshman Victor Anilane (Gothenburg, Sweden) has a point per game with nine goals and nine assists.
Sophomore Adam Sergerie (Thunder Bay, Ontario) has elevated his play since his debut year and has six goals, 10 assists and 16 points to easily eclipse his six regular season points from 2008-09.Fifth-year seniors Mark Soares (Burnaby, British Columbia) and Shandor Alphonso (Orangeville, Ontario), and junior Kris Hogg (Sicamous, British Columbia) will be counted on to provide energy and offence for the Wolves.
At defence, junior Mitch Maunu (Thunder Bay, Ontario) has been on a tear with his three goals and seven assists complimenting his physical brand of play. Fellow Thunder Bay junior Ryan Baird matches Maunus stat line and is an agile puck mover on the blueline.
Senior captain Jordan Smith (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) has continued to intimidate opposing forwards with his bone-jarring hits while adding seven points, including six assists to his resume. Fellow senior Andy Zulyniak (Winnipeg) adds experience to the defensive core, while big sophomore Kalvin Sagert (Abbotsford, British Columbia) will be looked to contribute against Windsor.
Junior Kyle Moir (Calgary) has been the usual starter in net for LU, having seen action in 15 games. Both Moir and freshman backup Alex Dupuis (Thunder Bay, Ontario) will need to be ready for the Lancers after Lakehead surrendered 15 goals last weekend at Western.
Windsor Lancers
Now is his second season with the Lancers, reigning OUA Mens Hockey Coach of the Year Kevin Hamlin has orchestrated a significant improvement of the Windsor mens hockey program during his brief tenure. Windsor finished the 2008-09 season with a 13-13-2 conference mark a 15-point turnaround from the previous season. After a rough start to 2009-10, the Lancers have picked up their play of late and are coming off an impressive 5-4 home win over the Waterloo Warriors.
Sophomore forward Mark Thorburn (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) is the offensive leader of a young team built primarily around first and second year players. The right winger has nine goals, seven assists for 16 points. Fellow sophomore winger Brett Oliphant (Woodslee, Ontario) adds more offence with five goals, eight assists and 13 points.
Also in his sophomore year at Windsor, centre Brett Vandehogen (Chatham, Ontario) previously played for coach Hamlin at St. Clair College of the OCAA, one of three Lancer players to have suited up with the Saints along with sophomore defenseman Kyle Lang (Tilbury, Ontario) and sophomore goalie Frank Dayus (Tecumseh, Ontario). Vanhogen leads Windsor in assists with 10, adding three goals for 13 points in conference play.
On the blueline, the aforementioned Lang has been strong in scoring two goals with seven assists for nine points. Another pair of sophomore defensemen has provided Windsor with some offensive punch in Matt McCready (Kingsville, Ontario) and Danny Anger (Woodslee, Ontario). With five goals apiece, Lakehead will need to pay attention to both players. Adding seven assists for 12 points, McCready leads Lancers blueliners in scoring while Anger has 10 points.
In net, junior Jim Watt (Edmonton) is the go-to-guy having played in 17 games, posting a 7-9-1 record with a 3.42 GAA and a 0.899 SV%.