The No. 7 Lakehead Thunderwolves won the battle of the packs as they defeated the No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies 4-3 Tuesday night in the championship final of the TBaytel Varsity Cup mens hockey tournament at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario. To watchVideo Game Report; CLICK HERE
The win gives the Wolves their second Varsity Cup and first tourney title since winning the inaugural tourney in 2002.
Tourney Photo Gallery
The crowd of 3,420, the largest in Varsity Cup history and the largest this season, were treated to an excellent game that featured pretty goals, big hits, and some excellent saves by goaltenders Kyle Moir of Lakehead and Russell Monette of Saskatchewan.
Andrew Brown led the Wolves with a goal and an assist with singles coming from Scott Dobben, Mark Soares, and Shandor Alphonso. Saskatchewans goals came from Colin Patterson, Chris Durand, and Steven DaSilva.
As in Monday nights tourney round robin game; the championship rematch again got nasty at times as both teams battled hard to win the Varsity Cup. Lakeheads powerplay was again sharp as they went 3-9 on the powerplay with Saskatchewan going 1-7.
The Molsons Three Stars were:
1)Lakehead: Andrew Brown
2)Lakehead: Kris Hogg
3)Saskatchewan: Colin Patterson
The TBaytel Varsity Cup All Tournament Team:
MVP:
Dan Speer: Lakehead
Forwards:
Brock McPherson: Lakehead
Greg Beller: Manitoba
Colin Patterson: Saskatchewan
Defense:
Bryan Wilson: Lakehead
Stephane Lenoski: Manitoba
Goaltender:
Kyle Moir: Lakehead
Final tourney stats for the TBaytel Varsity Cup championship final (and all games) can be found at http://www.leaguestat.com/tbaytelvc/varsitycup/en/stats/schedule.php
Video game reports for the night games can be found at www.thunderwolves.ca and www.thunderwolveshockey.com
Game Summary:
University of Saskatchewan Huskies 3 at Lakehead University Thunderwolves 4
Dec 30, 2008
1st Period
Scoring - 1. Lakehead U, S. Dobben (1) (A. Brown, K. Hogg) 14:03 PP
Penalties - M. Zimmer Usk (roughing) 4:44, D. Kivell Lku (interference) 7:25, S. Gillen Usk (holding opp. stick) 8:14, M. Hinz Usk (interference) 12:08, C. Greenan Usk (slashing) 12:40
2nd Period
Scoring
2. U of Saskatchewan, C. Durand (2) (C. Greenan, C. Patterson) 0:32
3. Lakehead U, S. Alphonso (1) (B. Wilson, A. Zulyniak) 12:45 PP
4. U of Saskatchewan, S. DaSilva (1) (S. Gillen, S. Vey) 18:13 PP
Penalties - M. Soares Lku (boarding) 3:36, S. Vey Usk (roughing) 4:44, K. Hogg Lku (roughing) 4:44, R. Molenaar Lku (hooking) 10:20, M. Kaye Usk (cross checking) 10:41, C. Greenan Usk (tripping) 12:39, D. Linsley Usk (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct) 13:19, D. Speer Lku (slashing) 17:18, R. Molenaar Lku (checking from behind, game misconduct) 18:30
3rd Period
Scoring
5. Lakehead U, A. Brown (1) (D. Speer, R. Baird) 4:19
6. Lakehead U, M. Soares (1) (K. Hogg, S. Dobben) 15:25 PP
7. U of Saskatchewan, C. Patterson (3) (J. Zetariuk, C. Durand) 19:29
Penalties - C. Durand Usk (hooking) 0:29, J. Dowhay Usk (checking from behind, game misconduct) 11:56, J. Zetariuk Usk (high sticking) 13:55, K. Hogg Lku (high sticking) 15:25, M. Kaye Usk (roughing) 19:58, D. Kivell Lku (cross checking) 19:58, B. McPherson Lku (roughing) 19:58
USK Shots: 4 16 9 TOTAL: 29
LKU Shots: 10 12 14 TOTAL: 36
Power Play Conversion
University of Saskatchewan Huskies 1-7
Lakehead University Thunderwolves 3-9
Goaltenders
University of Saskatchewan Huskies
Monette 1-1-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:58 SV: 32 GA: 4 [L]
Lakehead University Thunderwolves
Moir 2-0-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:58 SV: 26 GA: 3 [W]