The Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team will be hosting the seventh annual TBaytel Varsity Cup tournament running this month from Dec. 27th to the 30th at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
This years very deep and competitive field consists of the host CIS No. 7 Wolves, the No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies of Canada West, the No. 5 Laurier Golden Hawks from the OUA Far West, and the defending tourney champion Manitoba Bisons of Canada West. All three visiting teams will hope that the Varsity Cup will act as a dress rehearsal for a possible return to the Gardens this coming March when Lakehead hosts the CIS National Championships.
This will be Manitobas third appearance at the Varsity Cup (one title; 2007), Lauriers second (one tourney finals appearance; 2006), and Saskatchewans first.
Lakehead enters the tourney with an 11-3-2 OUA record (13-6-2 overall); good for second place in the OUA Far West Division and third overall in the OUA behind UQTR and Laurier. Saskatchewan has a 11-4-1 Canada West mark (13-5-1-1); good for a first place tie with Alberta. Laurier has a 12-2-1 OUA record (15-3-1 overall); good for first in the OUA Far West; and second overall in the OUA behind UQTR. Manitoba has a 7-7-4 Canada West mark (10-13-4 overall); good for third in the conference.
Lakehead Head Coach Don McKee said the Varsity Cup will be a great event for the teams and for Lakehead hockey fans. Tourney Coordinator John Payetta has done a huge favour for Lakehead Hockey fans and also for Laurier and Saskatchewan by bringing them to Thunder Bay for this competition. Both highly ranked teams will be telling their teams that this is a dress rehearsal for the Nationals. Manitoba, last years champions, is extremely well coached and will be focused on becoming back-to-back winners. Lakehead fans will be treated to outstanding hockey and there is no doubt this will be the best Varsity Cup ever.
Saskatchewan Head Coach Dave Adolph said his team expects a very tough tourney. The University of Saskatchewan Huskies are very excited about their invitation to play in the 2008 TBaytel Varsity Cup. This is our first visit to the tournament; however, we have had the opportunity to play the Thunderwolves five times in the past few years! All of the games have been extremely competitive and highly entertaining so we expect the same from this outstanding group of teams participating over Christmas this year. Our team is a young team this year (11 freshmen) and we hope this experience will give our studentathletes a taste of what they need to develop and work on to get back to Thunder Bay in March for the national championships. We know hockey is important in the T Bay area and we are looking forward to the experience!!! Have a great but short Christmas holidays!! See ya on the 27th!
We are very proud to be invited back to defend the TBayTel Varsity Cup in Thunder Bay, stated Bison mens hockey head coach Don MacGillivray. Last season was a special experience when we won the tournament title in overtime. We know this year will be another top-notch tournament as we will have to face number three ranked Saskatchewan, number five ranked Wilfrid Laurier plus the number seventh ranked and host team Lakehead. Manitoba looks forward to hard-fought and competitive hockey games throughout the tournament schedule.
Laurier Head Coach Kelly Nobes said the Hawks will be ready to play. The Golden Hawks are looking forward to competing in the 2008 TBay Tel Varsity Cup. We played in the 2006 version and felt that it really helped prepare us for the second half of the season. This years tournament has a very impressive field and we expect tough games against all three teams. Many thanks to the organizing committee for the invite and to the knowledgeable fans of Thunder Bay for their support of CIS hockey.
Forfull tournament andteam previews; CLICK HERE.
To watch Video Report of Skate With Wolves holiday charity event; CLICK HERE
Tournament Schedule: (All Times Eastern Standard Time)
Dec. 27: Wilfrid Laurier University vs. University of Manitoba 4:00 PM
Dec. 27: University of Saskatchewan vs. Lakehead University 7:30 PM
Dec. 28: University of Manitoba vs. University of Saskatchewan 4:00 PM
Dec. 28: Wilfrid Laurier University vs. Lakehead University 7:30 PM
Dec. 29: University of Saskatchewan vs. Wilfrid Laurier University 4:00 PM
Dec. 29: University of Manitoba vs. Lakehead University 7:30 PM
Dec. 30: Championship Game: Teams TBD 7:30 PM
Past Tournament Champions:
2007: University of Manitoba Bisons
2006: University of Toronto Varsity Blues
2005: University of Calgary Dinos
2004: University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds
2003: University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds
2002: Lakehead University Thunderwolves
All games will be videowebcast live with ordering information available at http://events.news-cast.com/events/Lakehead. Viewers will need hi speed internet and Windows Media Player to watch the broadcasts. Rock 94 FM Sports Director Bryan Wyatt and Argus Campus Sports Editor Mike St. Jean will be calling all the action for the night games with the Wolves. Lakehead Sports Information Director Mike Aylward and Sports Info Assistant Matt Prokopchuk will call the late afternoon games.
Head to Head:
Lakehead is 18-12 all time vs. Laurier; 12-7 in regular season play, 2-1 in non-conference play, and 4-4 in the playoffs. Lakehead outscored Laurier 114-88 in those 30 games. The teams split their first OUA regular season series in Thunder Bay in the first half of this season.
The Wolves have a record of 1 win, 3 losses, and a tie vs. Saskatchewan. Lakeheads only win against the Huskies came in the CIS national championships in 2006. Saskatchewan has outscored Lakehead 22-19 in those five games.
Lakehead and Manitoba always play each other tough and the Wolves have a record of 5 wins, 3 losses, and 1 tie against Manitoba. Goals are dead even at 33 apiece in those 9 games. Their last meeting was in last years TBayTel Varsity Cup final; a 7-6 OT comeback win for the Bisons.
History will be made at the Varsity Cup as this will be the first ever meeting between Manitoba and Laurier. Saskatchewan is 1-0-0 vs. Laurier having beaten the Golden Hawks 10-1 in the 1982-83 CIS University Cup championships in Moncton, NB.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan have met twice this season with each team earning a win in the other teams barn. The teams have met a total of 194 times in Canada West Hockey conference and playoff games between 1919-20 and 2008-09. Saskatchewan leads the all-time series with a record of 113-70-11 in 194 games for a .611 winning percentage. Sask is 113 wins -70 losses -11 ties overall (.611 winning percentage; not including n/c games); 98-66-11 in regular season game play (.591 winning percentage) and 15-4-0 in playoff games (.789 winnning percentage).