The Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team head to Toronto this weekend for two games against the York Lions on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Lakehead is 6-2 in OUA play (7-5 overall) and are in first place in the dogfight that is OUA Far West Division while York is 3-1-3 in OUA action (4-6 overall) and are in third place in the tough OUA Mid West Division.
Lakehead is coming off a wild two-game consecutive OTS home sweep of the Western Mustangs while York defeated OUIT and lost to Guelph in their last two.
Lakehead Head Coach Don McKee said this road trip will be a very tough challenge for the Wolves. The Thunderwolves make their first crossover to the Mid-West Division when we travel to Toronto to battle the Lions on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Our squad is riding a high of two victories over Western; but we know York, Brock, and Guelph look like they are serious contenders to compete for the overall West Division playoffs. Last year, the Thunderwolves defeated York in the first round of the playoffs in a very tough series so it will be an interesting test to see which team has improved the most through the summer recruiting.
The games can be heard live at 7:30 pm EST on Friday and 2:00 pm EST on Saturday on CKPR 91.5 FM in Thunder Bay and online at www.ckpr.com.
Head to Head:
The Thunderwolves are 15-6 all time vs. the Lions; 8-4 in the regular season, 1-0 in non-conference, and 6-2 in the playoffs. The Wolves have outscored the Lions 89-54 in those 21 games. York has 20 goals for and 20 against in seven OUA league games while Lakehead has scored 31 and allowed 22 in eight games.
Last season the Wolves squeaked by the Lions in the OUA first round playoffs with 4-3 and 3-2 OT victories; with both winners coming from Mike Wehrstedt. In the regular season; the teams split the two games in Toronto; the Lions winning 6-3 and Lakehead winning 4-2.
Lakehead Thunderwolves:
The Thunderwolves will have to rely on the depth of their four lines to be successful on this road trip. York is recognized as having one of the biggest teams in the OUA which may result in the Thunderwolves having to use their speed for offensive success.
The Wolves played solid hockey last weekend against Western though both forwards and defense did give the puck away; something the Wolves will need to cut down on as the season progresses.
Senior netminder Chris Whitley shone in goal last weekend against Western and sports gaudy OUA stats so far this season; 4-0 OUA record, GAA of 1.92 and a SV% of .934. His continued strong play will be key and he is ably backed by freshman Kyle Moir (2-2, GAA 3.26, SV% .896).
Lakeheads early season trend of a very balanced attack continues and the Wolves will look for scoring from Kris Hogg (5 goals, 4 asssists OUA), Dan Speer (4 goals, 5 assists), Brock McPherson (4 goals, 2 assists), Andrew Brown (5 goals, 2 assists), Tobias Whelan (2 goals, 6 assists), Shandor Alphonso (4 goals, 1 assist), Mark Soares (2 goals, 5 assists), and defenseman Andy Zulyniak (1 goal, 4 assists).
Senior forward Mike Wehrstedt (1 goal, 1 assist) seems to be finding his game again as he comes off a nagging injury and his improved play showed last weekend against Western and will be key for the Wolves this weekend and as the season continues. His renewed offensive punch would give even more scoring balance to the Lakehead attack.
Lakehead D-Corps played well against the Mustangs last weekend; only giving up four goals against the top offense in the OUA and they moved the puck up well in Saturdays second game. However, they will need to continue to work on cutting down on giveaways this weekend against the Lions. Pierre-Marc Guillbault (4 assists) was stepping into the offense again well last weekend also.
The Wolves penalty kill continues to shi