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McDonald on hunt for goalie, scoring after up-and-down season

Bill McDonald has a tough summer ahead.
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Lakehead goalie Jeff Bosch suffered through two concussions last year, leading coach Bill McDonald to start hunting for another goaltender in case he can't return.

Bill McDonald has a tough summer ahead.

Facing the prospect of losing his top two scorers and a top-four defenceman, combined with the uncertainty of starting goaltender Jeff Bosch’s healthy, and the LakeheadThunderwolves coach and his staff will spend plenty of time in the coming months scouring Canada’s junior leagues for talent.

Replacing forwards Mike Hammond and Keith Grondin and blue-liner Mike Quesnele – toss in rugged forward Ryan Magill for good measure – would be tough for any program.

McDonald, whose team squeaked into the playoffs, where they upset second-seeded Western before being swept by top-ranked Windsor in the second round, had a season to forget.

The Wolves, beset by injuries from start to finish, including losing Bosch twice to concussions, struggled defensively. Their 4.13 goals against average was fourth-worst in the league.

Once again the Wolves were plagued by a lack of discipline. They led the league with 543 penalty minutes, the third straight season they’ve finished in the top three in the dubious category.

Still, there were plenty of positives.

Lakehead was the fourth-most prolific offence in the OUA, averaging slightly more than four goals a contest.

Hammond was named the OUA West’s most sportsmanlike player and freshman Brennen Dubchak received all-rookie team honours.

“Maybe we were snake-bitten and maybe there were some games we lost of our own accord,” said McDonald, looking back at his second season at the helm.

“I’m not making excuses with all the injuries. I thought at Christmastime, when we played Western we kind of turned the corner a little bit. We got some guys back and we had the break and other than maybe the one trip when we went to Toronto and Ryerson and lost two hard-fought games, I thought we played pretty well.”

There’s no question back-up goalie Justin McDonald struggled – though not entirely his own fault and he did backstop the team to the first-round upset over the Mustangs.

Bill McDonald, whose team lost 13 one-goal games, said it’s one of the things he plans to address in the off-season, especially with the uncertainty surrounding Bosch and whether or not he’ll return for a fifth and final season.

“Jeff is an unbelievable guy. I love him when he’s good. I love him when he’s healthy. I think everyone’s seen what he can do when he’s healthy. But now we’re walking on the edge. He’s had a few injuries and we’re going to have to watch that. We’re out there looking for a goalie, but they’re not easy to find,” the coach said, adding he plans to carry three full-time goaltenders with the team next season, regardless of Bosch’s status.

Bill McDonald spent time last week scouting the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Portage Terriers in search of offence, and said he’s also looking to land an Ontario Hockey League graduate or two to complement the likes of Nathan Cull and Cody Alcock, one of the Wolves walking wounded this season.

Hammond, the second-leading scorer in the OUA, said he’s weighing options overseas and in the ECHL before deciding whether or not to return for a final campaign in Thunder Bay.

The Victoria-born forward said it wasn’t a great season for the team as a whole, despite his individual honours, and certainly not an ideal finish.

“But we proved to ourselves that we can compete in this league and we’ve got so many young guys and it’s such a bright future for this program.”



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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