Thunderwolves to close regular season at Laurier and Brock

Looking to gain an edge in the closely contested OUA West Division, head coach Joel Scherban and his Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s hockey team will journey south for its final weekend of regular season play.

Friday, the Wolves take on the Laurier Golden Hawks at Waterloo, Ont., before tackling the Brock Badgers, Saturday at St. Catharines, Ont. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.

CIS No. 8 Lakehead (18-6-2) is tied with Western for second in the division, a point back of No. 7 Waterloo. Laurier (16-7-3) has all but dropped out of the hunt for first place but is fourth and ready to host a first round divisional playoff series.

Last place Brock (9-16-1) looks to turn around a disappointing season and catch UOIT for the final western playoff seed.

Lakehead Thunderwolves team overview
The top ranked offence in the OUA West, Lakehead has been steamrolling opposing defences all season, but has been particularly dangerous since adding freshmen Matt Caria (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.), Matt Dias (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) and Ryan McDonald (Prince Albert, Sask.).

Caria’s nine-game point streak to open his conference schedule with LU was derailed last Saturday against UOIT, but with six goals, 13 assists and 19 points in only 10 games, he has quickly emerged as one of the top attacking players in the nation.

With eight goals, including four on the powerplay, Dias is a sniper to watch and has 14 points overall while McDonald has also exceeded a point-per-game pace with six goals, six assists through his first 10 contests with the team.

Fifth-year senior Dan Speer (Thunder Bay) played well of late, vaulting himself into the Lakehead scoring lead with eight goals, 23 assists and 31 points. Injuries slowed his lofty, early-season scoring pace, but senior Brock McPherson (Brampton, Ont.) is regaining his health as the playoffs approach and with 14 goals, 15 assists will always be a dangerous contributor on the ice.

Centre Scott Dobben (Drayton, Ont.) continues to contribute in various aspects of the game. The Wolves top faceoff man with 312 winning draws and 0.632 faceoff percentage on the year, the fifth-year senior has been a major two-way and special teams contributor and has 14 goals, 15 assists this season.

Also contributing on both ends of the ice has been freshman forward Victor Anilane (Gothenburg, Sweden) who leads Thunderwolves forwards with a plus 15 rating and has 10 goals, 12 assists. Special teams leader Kris Hogg has a plus 13 rating and 13 goals, including two short-handed to lead the pack in that category.

Lakehead expects contributions from fifth-year seniors Mark Soares (Burnaby, BC) and Shandor Alphonso (Orangeville, Ont.), sophomore Adam Sergerie (Thunder Bay), and freshman Andrew Wilkins (Pickering, Ont.), all of whom have been steady difference-makers for the team.

On defence, Pierre-Marc Guilbault (St. Julie, Que.) has been a cold-blooded power-play destroyer and leads all Thunderwolves with seven goals with the man advantage. His 10 goals overall are tops among OUA blueliners.

In his second season with the Wolves, big Kalvin Sagert (Abbotsford, BC) has been the model of consistency and leads LU in plus/minus with a plus 19. His defensive partner, junior Mitch Maunu (Thunder Bay) is rated plus 17 with both players contributing 12 points on the year.
Junior Ryan Baird (Thunder Bay) has three goals and 12 assists, trailing only Guilbault’s 17 points for the scoring lead among Lakehead D-men. Captain Jordan Smith (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) adds muscle to the blueline unit and has 10 points.

In net, junior Kyle Moir (Calgary, Alta.) has played his way to a 16-5-0 record with three shutouts, a 2.93 GAA and a 0.905 save percentage. Lakehead will need a consistent effort from him to come away with two road wins entering the playoffs.