THUNDER BAY - Looking at the Lakehead Thunderwolves first 16 games in a glass-half full kind of way, and the team is in pretty good shape.
They entered the Christmas break at 7-7-2, winning two of their last three with goaltender Nic Renyard on the shelf tending to an undisclosed injury.
But in order to get back to the OUA men’s hockey playoffs, they’re going to need to put in some second-half work.
They’re just three points out of ninth place in the OUA West, with little room for error over the course of the team’s final dozen regular-season games.
There’s plenty of room for improvement, said Daniel Del Paggio, the team’s leading point-getter, with 18, good for a tie for 16th in the league.
“If you look at it from a standings standpoint and statistics, I don’t think you can really read into it much, because I think we’re playing a lot better than our record shows,” Del Paggio said.
“We arguably should have won two games against Windsor, a top 10 team in the country. We definitely could have squeaked one out against Toronto.”
One are the team improved on dramatically was its power play.
The Wolves were just 1-for-36 at one point, but scored eight times in their next 27 man-advantage situations, a rate that would put the atop the OUA this season.
“We just changed out set-up in the offensive zone. The break-out remained the same, the personnel remained the same,” said coach Andrew Wilkins.
“It was something throughout the bye week we talked about as a coaching staff. We only worked on it a couple of times, to be honest with you. I thought maybe it was a little bit of a reset for our guys and some minor adjustments on end-zone set-up. It seemed to help out. It’s one of those things that’s unpredictable.”
Looking ahead, Del Paggio said the team just has to keep doing what’s it’s been doing of late to get the job done in the second half.
“We have to stay consistent,” he said. “We were doing everything right for 55 minutes of the game and we’d have a few lapses where good teams will capitalize. You have to play a full 60 in this league, especially against teams that can score. We’ll do that moving forward here.”
Lakehead coach Andrew Wilkins concurred, saying it’s just a matter of sticking to the plan.
“I think you have to stay process-driven, to stay within you’re doing well and know what needs to be improved upon,” Wilkins said.
“I feel like over our last seven games we’ve played better. We’ve cleaned up a few things, like special teams, and I think our shots against are down as well.”
The Wolves return to the ice on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30 for non-conference games against Laurentian. They resume OUA on Jan. 3 on the road against Guelph.
