The Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team ends regular season play this weekend when they host the CIS No. 6 Western Mustangs Friday and Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The Wolves are 16-8-1-1 in OUA play (22-12-1-1 overall) and are in fourth place in the OUA Far West Division with 34 points; three points behind Waterloo and the Warriors have a game in hand on the Wolves. Lakehead is coming off two tough road losses to Laurier.
Western is 19-6-1 in OUA play and is in second place in the division; four points behind first place Laurier. Western is coming off wins over Windsor and Waterloo and the Stangs are looking to finish the season securely in second place. Lakehead is 5-5 in its last 10 games and have lost 5 games in a row. Western is 9-1 in its last 10 games.
Both teams will be playing hard this weekend as they battle for playoff positions and also to ensure they enter the playoffs on a positive note.
Please note that standings will change as Waterloo has a make-up game vs. Toronto on Wednesday night and Waterloo and Laurier play on Thursday night.
Saturday night will see a special pre-game ceremony honouring seven graduating seniors; fifth-year senior captain Andrew Brown, fifth-year senior goaltender Chris Whitley, fifth-year senior assistant captain Tobias Whelan, fifth-year senior assistant captain Drew Kivell, fifth-year senior forward Richard Molenaar, fifth-year senior forward Matt Maisonneuve, and fifth-year senior forward Brad Priestlay.
Western Head Coach Clark Singer said his squad always enjoys visiting the Gardens. We always look forward to our games in Thunder Bay and our great rivalry with the Thunderwolves. With playoff positioning on the line this weekend, we should have two great games.
Both games face off at 7:30 pm EST and will be videowebcast live with ordering info available at http://events.news-cast.com/events/Lakehead Viewers will need hi speed internet and Windows Media Player to watch the broadcasts. Rock94 FM Sports Director Byran Wyatt will be calling the play live with Argus campus newspaper Sports Editor Mike St. Jean handling the colour.
Head To Head:
The Stangs are the team that Lakehead has played the most in eight seasons of OUA/CIS play and Western is the only OUA West team that Lakehead has a losing record against. Lakehead is 16-27-1 all time vs Western; 8-21-1 in the regular season but 8-6 in the playoffs. Western has outscored Lakehead 165 to 114 in their previous 44 games.
The two teams split their two games early this season in London; a 3-0 Western win and a 5-2 Lakehead victory.
Lakehead is tied for 9th in the CIS in goals for with 3.6 per game while Western is 5th with 4.1 per game. The Wolves are fourth in the nation in goals allowed with 2.5 while the Stangs are tied for 7th with 3 goals per game. Both teams are tied for fifth in CIS winning margin with 1.1.
For Full Preview: CLICK HERE