The Lakehead Thunderwolves welcome the Windsor Lancers to the Fort William Gardens Friday and Saturday in a clash of OUA Far West rivals. The Thunderwolves enter the series with an OUA record of 1-1-0-0 and an overall mark of 7-3-1-1. This will be Windsors first OUA regular season action and the Lancers went 0-5-1-2 in a brutal 8 game pre-season schedule against 8 tough NCAA teams on the road (five ranked in the NCAA Top 15); including defending champs Denver and this seasons No. 1 ranked Michigan.
The Thunderwolves have recorded a 14-1-1 record against the Lancers; but last season saw Windsor notch a win and a tie against Lakehead. Lakehead comes into the series coming off a tough split last weekend against Waterloo. That series saw strong play from Chris Shaffer, Peter Cava, Sean Stefanski, and Joel Scherban as well as excellent goaltending from the duo of Grant McCune and Chris Whitley who allowed only three goals in the two games.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said his squad must turn on the intensity for the Lancers. Coach Stenlund has done a great job in getting his team to play all his non-conference games vs NCAA Division I schools and this will get them ready to play all-out high tempo games. The Windsor Lancers always play us very tough and compete very hard for the full 60 minutes; we expect two classic battles for precious Far West points.
The Lancers look to some positives from their NCAA pre-season experience; 3-2 OT losses to Air Force and Bowling Green and then a 2-2 tie against Harvard to finish their NCAA travels. Although the Lancers had some key losses from last years squad due to graduation like d-man Mike Dumbrewicz and forward Eric Gawant; they have more than made up for it with a great recruiting class including Drew Petkoff and Jason Penner from the OHL and two dangerous playmakers from Thunder Bay; Chris Shane who played with the UHLs Port Huron Beacons and Kody Mintenko of the Portage Terriers of Manitoba Junior League. The Lancers have excellent goaltending in netminders Jay Ewasiuk and Reese Kalleitner. The Lancers have strong offensive players like Jordie Preston and Alex White, and Jason Melo as well as a sturdy defense led by team Captain Kyle Voy. Lakehead fan favourite and dangerous skater B.J. Gaylord is also a player to watch.
Head Coach Vern Stenlund said his team learned a lot during its games against the NCAA teams that will help the Lancers prepare for the regular season. "Our non-conference schedule has been great for our kids in that it has exposed some weaknesses early, but also gave us some confidence as a program. Our theme is simple; improvement day to day, and I believe we are doing just that. Are we at the level of elite programs like Lakehead and Western yet? No. But we want to keep climbing that mountain so that every time we begin a game within the OUA we have the feeling that we can compete. That day is coming!"
Game times Friday and Saturday nights are 7:30 pm EST at the Fort William Gardens.