Looking back at an OUA hockey season that started with promise, but fizzled to an abrupt second-round playoff halt, Andrew Wilkins says it still stings.
But rather than get down on themselves, the Lakehead Thunderwolves assistant captain said he considers it a lesson learned, something to grow from moving forward.
"We're just going to use it as motivation for a strong summer and for next year," he said recently, after being named the hockey team's athlete of the month for March, a six-point playoff run the key reasoning behind the call.
The Wolves were 16-3 at one point before stumbling down the stretch to finish 19-9, a period that included four straight losses to Western and an upset loss at the hands of the Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks.
They struggled through the opening round of the playoffs, losing the best-of-three opener on the road before storming back to capture the series in a decisive third game.
LU took its first match against Windsor in Round 2 and appeared headed for another clash with Western, but fate and Parker Van Buskirk, the Lancers goalie, got in the way, derailing their trek to a possible sixth national championship berth.
Though not the only reason for their stumble, the Wolves struggled with on- and off-ice disciplinary issues all season long.
Forward Matt Caria was suspended three times in 2011-12, twice for disciplinary reasons and once for hurling a racial slur at a Western opponent.
All-star defenceman Mike Quesnele was handed a three-game suspension after a kicking incident in Game 1 of the Windsor series and came just three penalty minutes shy of setting a new Thunderwolves single-season record, coming up just short of Sean Stefanski's 2004-05 mark of 144. Caria finished with 16 PIM, while Jake Carrick also topped the century mark with 126.
Wilkins, who benefited with all the shorthanded time, scoring five times while the Wolves were down a man or more, nonetheless said the team has to take a different approach when next season rolls around.
"Absolutely, I completely agree," Wilkins said. "As a captain I hold myself completely responsible for that. Obviously all of our hearts were in the right place, but in the heat of the moment sometimes that happens.
"You've just got to use that as experience for upcoming years and whatever you do, you just can't get rattled like that, myself included. You've just got to stay away from it because in the end it was vital in the outcome of (the Windsor) series."
Coach Joel Scherban preferred the half- glass-full option when asked about his third season behind the Thunderwolves bench.
He impressed with the recruiting class – 11 first-year players made the opening-night roster – but understands with that many rookie, growing pains are bound to work their way to the top at some point.
But they're the building blocks of the program for the next few years, he added.
"Our regular season, I thought we probably exceeded expectations a little bit. You look at our losses and six of them were against Western and McGill, and other than that, we beat the teams we should have beaten," said Scherban, acknowledging the Queen's Cup finalists, both of whom will represent the OUA later this month, along with UQTR, at the University Cup in Fredericton.
"Obviously losing to Windsor leaves a little bit of a sour taste in our mouths. We would have loved to win that series. But I think when you look across the CIS at the parity in every conference now, it's tough to win, no matter who you're playing. I thought the OUA West was deep one through eight this year."
The Wolves only lose Mitch Maunu and Devin Welsh from this year's roster, adding James DeLory who red-shirted this season.
Scherban said he still plans to heavily recruit, despite having eight defencemen, 13 forwards and all three goaltenders indicating they'll be back in the fall.
"It's kind of a unique situation for us this year, where we're not looking to fill holes so much, we're looking to improve and upgrade. There's not one specific skill set or position that we have to go after," Scherban said.
"We're just looking for the best players we can find that can come in and make our team better."
