The Lakehead Thunderwolves welcome the Regina Cougars to the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay this Friday and Saturday night. Lakehead enters the weekend with a 2-0 OUA record (2-2 overall); and are coming off two wins on the road over Windsor. The Cougars sport a 0-3-0-1 Canada West mark (1-4-0-1 overall); and are coming off two losses to Manitoba.
Lakehead Head Coach Don McKee said the series will be an important challenge for both teams. Regina will be another big test for the Thunderwolves. Similar to the Wolves; Regina is trying to build a team that will have the talent and depth necessary to take them to being a contender for a Nationals berth representing Canada West. This season, Canada West will have two entries in the National Championship and the Regina coaching staff is optimistic that they can achieve one of those spots. Like Alberta, Regina has a lot of speed with solid defensive systems that will push the Thunderwolves to improve their team play in all categories.
Both games face off at 7:30 pm EST and will be videowebcast live with ordering information available at the Lakehead website at www.thunderwolveshockey.com by clicking on the Broadcast section on the main page.
Head to Head:
Lakehead Thunderwolves vs. Regina Cougars.
Lakehead is 1-0-1 in two non-conference games; outscoring Regina 7-6.
Lakehead Norwesters vs. Regina Cougars (Great Plains Athletic Conference)
Regular season: 10-38-0
Playoffs: 1-4
Lakehead Thunderwolves:
The Thunderwolves fought very hard last weekend to earn to two tough road wins against the Windsor Lancers. Coach McKee credited the team on both occasions for digging in and coming up with the scoring when needed and playing solid overall hockey most of the time.
The big story of last weekends series was the scoring of Shandor Alphonso. He notched three goals (two shorthanded) and played tough and skilled all around hockey for the Wolves in both games. In his previous two seasons; Alphonso had many good scoring opportunities but just seemed snake-bitten. It seems like this could be the year he finally breaks out and adds another offensive weapon to the Wolves arsenal.
Forwards Dan Speer and freshman Kris Hogg each scored two goals against Windsor and their continued production will be key. Hogg also added an assist. Tobias Whelan added 2 assists on the weekend and his playmaking will be crucial against Regina. Sophomore Mark Soares also contributed 2 assists and had plenty of chances against Windsor and Lakehead fans are looking to last years OUA West Rookie of the Year to break through this weekend to rekindle his scoring ways.
Lakehead will need continued strong play from forwards like Andrew Brown (1 goal OUA, 2 overall), Mike Wehrstedt (1 assist), Devin Welsh (2 assists), Brock McPherson (2 assists),, Nathan Breukelman, Matt Maisonneuve, Brad Priestlay (1 assist), and Richard Molenaar.
Another story of last weekends play was freshman goaltender Kyle Moir (2-0, GAA 1.5, SV% .969 in OUA play). He is tied in the OUA for first in wins, first in CIS/OUA in SV%, and third in the CIS and first in OUA in GAA. He was excellent in both games and seemed to play better as the games progressed. Having him, in addition to senior Chris Whitley, should give the Wolves a formidable tandem this weekend and throughout the season.
Lakeheads special teams play, especially on the penalty kill, and faceoffs was very effective against Windsor and Coach McKee is looking for that to continue.
The developing Lakehead defensive corps was another good story from the Windsor series. Players like Pierre-Marc Guillbault, Drew Kivell, Mitch Maunu, played strong two-way hockey while Andy Zulyniak led the team in assists with three against Windsor. Jordan C. Smith and Jordan B. Smith also played very well with the Smiths not