The Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team continue OUA regular season play on the road as they head to Waterloo, Ontario for a two-game series against OUA Far West Division rivals Waterloo Warriors this Friday and Saturday night at the Columbia Icefields Arena.
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Both home games vs. Waterloo will can be heard live on Rock94 FM in Thunder Bay and on the internet at www.rock94.com. Bryan Wyatt will be handling the play by play duties. Broadcasts begin at 7:15 pm EST with faceoff at 7:30 both nights.
Lakehead enters the weekend 1-1 in OUA play and a 3-3 overall record; coming off a home split against the Windsor Lancers.
Waterloo (0-2 OUA, 2-2 overall) is coming off tough losses to Western and Laurier so the Warriors will be looking to bounce back hard against Lakehead this weekend on their home ice.
Lakehead Head Coach Don McKee (longtime former Waterloo Head Coach and Waterloo Athletics Hall of Fame member) said his team is preparing for an intense series. This is Waterloo's first home week-end so we know the 'Battle of Waterloo is about to be re-lived. Both teams are in need of positive results if they want to stay in pace with Laurier and Western. Waterloo is well coached and has great team speed. I believe which ever team plays the best defence will have the best opportunity for a great week end.
Waterloo Head Coach Kevin Bourque said he expects a battle this weekend. Just like all of the games between Far West divisional opponents, this should be a hard fought series. Lakehead was an excellent team last year and they have returned the majority of their line-up and they have added some key recruits. Fans will definitely see great hockey.
Head to Head:
The Thunderwolves are 21-7-2 all time against Waterloo; 19-7-2 in reg. season play; and 2-0 in the playoffs. The Wolves have outscored the Warriors 121-91 in those previous 30 matches.
Lakehead Thunderwolves:
The Thunderwolves split against Windsor last weekend started with a 3-1 loss where the Wolves still couldnt find the back of the net. However, they bounced back with a big 6-1 win with six different players scoring; a hopeful sign of things to come.
Netminders Chris Whitley (1-0, GAA 1.00, SV% .950) played well in the win and is riding a 16-game regular season winning streak spread over two seasons with his last loss coming against Western on Feb. 9, 2007 at the end of the 06-07 season. Kyle Moir (0-1, GAA 2.00, SV% .940) played well in the loss against the Lancers.
Junior forward Scott Dobben looked good against the Lancers and has a goal and an assist in OUA play as does freshman d-man Kalvin Sagert.
The Wolves will again look to Jordan C. Smith and Drew Kivell to anchor the blueline while Pierre-Marc Guilbault (1 assist) and Andy Zulyniak can add some offensive punch from the back. Lakehead will also look for strong play from newcomers Ryan Baird and Bryan Wilson and sophomore Mitch Maunu.
The Wolves will look for scoring from veterans like Dan Speer (1 goal OUA), Mark Soares, Brock McPherson (1 assist), Tobias Whelan (1 assist) and will also look for the same from newcomers like, Andy Hyvarinen, and Arron Alphonso (1 goal, 1 assist). Sophomore Kris Hogg looks like he is in form and also had a goal and an assist vs. Windsor.
Veterans Shandor Alphonso (1 goal), Matt Maisonneuve (1 assist), and Brad Priestlay (1 goal, 1 assist) all played well against the Lancers and will all need to continue this trend against the Warriors.
Lakehead 08-09 Results:
Oct. 5: UMD 6 Lakehead 0
Oct. 4: SMU 2 Lakehead 0
Oct. 3: Lakehead 3 SMU 1
Sep. 27: Carleton 3 Lakehead 2
Sep. 26: Lakehead 3 Carleton 2 (OTS)
Waterloo Warriors:
Last Season:
Regular season record: 18-10
Regular season standings: Third in OUA Far West
Playoff record: 1-2; losing OUA First Round to Laurier
The Warriors return 18 players from last years team and have added key recruits in the off-season.
Players to watch for the Warriors are talented forwards Chris Ray (1 goal, 1 assist), Doug Spooner (1 goal, 1 assist), David Edgeworth (1 goal), Shane Hart (2 goals, 1 assist), Kyle Sonnenburg (3 assists), Sean Moir (2 assists) and Jordan Brenner (1 goal, 1 assist).
Coach Bourque is looking for big things from freshman netminder Aaron Barton (0-2 OUA, GAA 5.3, and SV% .850) in the Warriors goal this season; though hes had a tough start in the early going so far.
Defencemen Steve Whitely (2 assists) and Kealin Wong are two other freshmen that Waterloo is expecting a lot from this season
Waterloo 08-09 Results:
Sat Oct 11 Laurier 5 Waterloo 3
Fri Oct 10 Western 7 Waterloo 6 OT SO
Sun Oct 5 Michigan 3 Waterloo 1 EX
Sat Sep 27 Waterloo 6 McGill 2 NC
Fri Sep 26 Waterloo 6 Ottawa 5 NC