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Thunderwolves' hockey chemists hope to repeat results

Matt Caria, Ryan McDonald and Adam Sergerie were a three-man wrecking crew last weekend.
Matt Caria, Ryan McDonald and Adam Sergerie were a three-man wrecking crew last weekend.

With 16 points combined in two lopsided non-conference wins over the visiting Ottawa Gee-Gees, the Lakehead Thunderwolves trio made believers out of the Fort William Garden crowd, but more importantly they made believers out of themselves.

Not that there was much doubt in their individual abilities. It’s just when you throw new linemates together, chemistry sometimes takes awhile to click.

Not with these three.

Caria, who joined the Wolves last Christmas, along with Prince Albert, Sask. native McDonald, is possibly the best player in the OUA. In just 12 games in 2009-10 he posted 22 points. McDonald, playing in a defensive role, still managed to score seven times and add seven assists in a dozen outings, while Thunder Bay’s Sergerie, the veteran of the group with two full and one red-shirt seasons under his belt, had 20 points in 26 games.

It felt like they’d been together for years, McDonald said.

“It’s pretty easy when you’re going to play with two guys like that,” he said. “Matty sees the ice so well and skates so well and the same with Serge. He’s such a phenomenal passer. He came into camp in such good shape this year that he was a really good fit on our line.”

For McDonald, it’s a bit of a different role he’s facing this season.

Joined with Kris Hogg and Andrew Wilkins last year on the Wolves shut-down line, in his sophomore season it’s McDonald other teams’ coaches will looking to smother.

He knows his new identity – one he was familiar with as a former 37-goal scorer in the Western Hockey League – and relishes it.

“I like to think that I’m the shooter on the line. I think if it wasn’t our first game together, no offence to the Ottawa Gee-Gees, but we probably could have scored 10 goals,” he said.

Caria scored 12 points in 14 ECHL games last year before deciding to put his education first in Thunder Bay and spent the better part of September with the Carolina Hurricanes organization, getting a look-see from the NHL club.

In the end he decided it was more important to pursue his degree, knowing the pro game will be there when he graduates.

The 22-year-old said his time with the Hurricanes really taught him a lot. If anything, he thinks it made him a better player.

“It was a big experience for me. It was a chance to showcase my talent and live the pro life for a bit and see how the pros prepare and what they do before and after a game,” said Caria, who scored three times and added four assists against Ottawa last weekend.

“It was an eye-opener and a learning experience. I changed my game and (my routine in) the gym and brought a couple of things to my game back, so it was a good experience.”

Not even LU coach Joel Scherban, who brought the three players together, expected this much so fast from what looks like it has the making of a dominant No. 1 line that will be feared throughout the league.

“They had a great first weekend,” said Scherban, whose troops begin OUA play this weekend with a crucial home-ice set against the Waterloo Warriors, a team that stopped the Wolves twice in two meetings last fall.

“I think Adam Sergerie and Matt Caria have come back into our team this fall in the best shape they’ve ever been in. Adam Sergerie is a player who had all kinds of offensive potential. He had a great junior career, but he really hasn’t had an opportunity here.

“He made the most of that in his first weekend on that line. Matt Caria obviously is one of the most skilled players, if not the most skilled player, in the OUA. He’s come in here determined and he wants to help lead this team to a championship. Then Ryan McDonald was another big-time scorer in junior who last year played a little bit more of a defensive role playing with Wilkins and Hogg. He stepped up nicely that first weekend as well.”




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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