All good things must come to and – and so too the bad.
At least the Lakehead Thunderwolves managed to go out on a winning note, building a 4-1 lead over the playoff hungry Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday night at Fort William Gardens to capture a season-ending 4-3 triumph.
The good news – the Wolves slunk out of last place in the OUA West, leapfrogging a Brock Badgers club that dropped 10 straight to finish the season.
The bad news, ninth place is one position shy of a playoff berth.
With little to play for but pride, the Thunderwolves outgoing trio of goalie Jeff Bosch, captain Luke Maw and forward Kelin Ainsworth all contributed to the win.
Maw drew an assist on Nathan Cull’s opening goal late in the first, Ainsworth a helper on Billy Jenkins’ second-period tally that put Lakehead in front 3-0. Bosch, given the option to make one final start in nets, stopped 32 shots to pick up the win, his first win in 10 decisions in his final season.
“It’s definitely emotional, all the good times in the rink,” said Ainsworth, not ruling out the possibility of a return to the Thunderwolves for one final season, if a hoped-for shot at the professional ranks overseas or south of the border doesn’t work out.
“It’s bittersweet. Obviously we’d like to go a lot further than we did. That’s pretty disappointing, but at the same time, I’ve got to salute the fans and all the support we get, even when things aren’t going good.
Knowing Ainsworth, Bosch and Maw weren’t going to be around any longer definitely spurred the Thunderwolves on Saturday night, said rookie forward Sam Schutt, who scored once and added a pair of assists.
But it was also the thought of spending the offseason with the taste of defeat in their mouths.
“I think every game you go into you want to win, and tonight was just one of those nights. It just happened to be our last game, but it shouldn’t matter, no matter what game it is.”
On a personal note, it showed the Palmer Rapids, Ont. native he can produce at the OUA level. Schutt finished his freshman campaign with five goals and seven assists, playing all 28 games.
“Confidence is a big thing. You want to push yourself every game and tonight it just happened to get together for me pretty good,” Schutt said.
“Obviously I probably want to put a few more points on the board and just have a better season overall. Every year you mature and that’ll bring it to your game.”
The Wolves (8-16-4) finished the first with a flurry, Cull netting his first of the campaign with 3:47 to go. Carson Dubchak, who made it official before the game that he’d be back for a fifth season, one-timed a bullet cross-crease pass to make it 2-0 LU, the goal coming with 50 seconds to go in the first.
Jenkins upped the lead to three early in the second, but Derek Schoenmakers had the answer on the power play a little more than two minutes later. It was the first of three he’d score on the night, the other two coming in the third to draw the Golden Hawks within a goal.
Schutt made it 4-1 Thunderwolves at the 11:54 mark of the second, beating Laurier goalie Vinny Merante.
Lakehead coach Bill McDonald said he was happy with the way the team went out.
“It’s a lot harder to play when there’s nothing to play for in your mind and you’ve got to give these guys a certain amount of credit for doing that. Yeah, it’s always good to win. It probably leaves a little better taste in your mouth throughout the offseason,” McDonald said.
Claw marks: Referee Eric Vastamaki officiated his final OUA contest and sang the national anthem to mark the occasion before the game ... Attendance was 2,084 ... Laurier (14-14-0) will take on second-place Western in the opening round of the OUA playoffs.
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Cull 1 (Schutt, Maw) 16:17. 2. Lakehead, C. Dubchak (Schutt, B. Dubchak) 19:09. Penalties: C. Dubchak LAK (tripping) 4:50, Tetley LAU (interference) 13:02, D’Andrea (tripping) 19:01.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3. Lakehead, Jenkins (Ainsworth, Gray) 6:05. 4. Laurier, Schoenmakers (Mroczkowski, Clutsam) 8:28 pp. 5. Lakehead, Schutt (Cull, Ringuette) 11:54. Penalties: Maw LAK (high sticking) 7:16, C. Dubchak LAK (slashing) 7:48
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 6. Laurier, Schoenmakers (Clutsam, Francyzk) 8:35. 7. Laurier, Schoenmakers (Braid, Cook) 12:54. Penalties: Faust LAK (kneeing) 7:42, Maw LAK (slashing) 14:54.
GAME DATA – SOG – Laurier 12-9-14-35, Lakehead 14-9-8-31; Power plays (goals-chances) – Laurier (1-3), Lakehead (1-2); Goaltenders – Laurier: Vinny Merante, Lakehead: Jeff Bosch; A: 2,084
