Lakehead Thunderwolves captain Jordan Smith said last weekend’s results were nothing short of embarrassing.
The Wolves dropped 5-1 and 3-0 road decisions to the Windsor Lancers, a team that had not swept Lakehead on the road since 2004-05, where the school owned an 11-4-1 all-time mark heading into last weekend’s play.
Smith, one of three Wolves held without a point so far this season, said the team did not envision a 1-2-1 OUA record when training camp broke at the end of September.
“We expect ourselves to be the top team in the nation, let alone Ontario. We definitely haven’t shown it so far,” said Smith.
He does, however, see a silver lining in their slow start.
“I like the fact that we’re figuring these things out early, and not in January or February.”
One goal weekends have to stop, Smith added.
“You can’t win games when you only score one goal in two games. Yeah, we graduated a lot of goals, but I believe that we still have potential in the lineup, and we just have to find a way to tap that,” Smith said.
Assistant captain Brock McPherson, author of the Wolves lone goal of the weekend, said a goal-heavy pair of exhibitions against Ottawa might have given the team a little too much confidence out of the gate.
“We kind of realize now that we’re going to be in a battle every weekend and we’ve got to pick up our socks here,” McPherson said. “I think some nights it’s work ethics and some nights it’s bounces. We saw that both nights this past weekend here. We’ve got realize we’ve got to come out and play 60 minutes every night and our talent is not just going to win games. We’ve got to work hard too.”
Lakehead coach Joel Scherban, mild-mannered most days, isn’t pleased with his team’s performance, with Guelph (2-2-0), a team he thinks could be the best in the division, headed to Thunder Bay for a pair of games this weekend.
Unless something changes, trouble could lie ahead.
“I think goals came too easy at the beginning of the year and some guys forgot that you have to pay a price and do the little things right, the fundamentals, to score goals,” Scherban said.
It’s early though, and like Smith, he’d rather learn lessons now – even though the team is already losing ground in the ultra-competitive OUA Western Conference.
Scherban said the turnaround starts in practice.
“We’re back to fundamentals today, to make sure we have the out-front battles and make sure we’ve got guys attacking off the rush and going hard to the net and putting pucks on the net. You put building blocks in place and you have to keep building as you go on.”
The Wolves dropped 5-1 and 3-0 road decisions to the Windsor Lancers, a team that had not swept Lakehead on the road since 2004-05, where the school owned an 11-4-1 all-time mark heading into last weekend’s play.
Smith, one of three Wolves held without a point so far this season, said the team did not envision a 1-2-1 OUA record when training camp broke at the end of September.
“We expect ourselves to be the top team in the nation, let alone Ontario. We definitely haven’t shown it so far,” said Smith.
He does, however, see a silver lining in their slow start.
“I like the fact that we’re figuring these things out early, and not in January or February.”
One goal weekends have to stop, Smith added.
“You can’t win games when you only score one goal in two games. Yeah, we graduated a lot of goals, but I believe that we still have potential in the lineup, and we just have to find a way to tap that,” Smith said.
Assistant captain Brock McPherson, author of the Wolves lone goal of the weekend, said a goal-heavy pair of exhibitions against Ottawa might have given the team a little too much confidence out of the gate.
“We kind of realize now that we’re going to be in a battle every weekend and we’ve got to pick up our socks here,” McPherson said. “I think some nights it’s work ethics and some nights it’s bounces. We saw that both nights this past weekend here. We’ve got realize we’ve got to come out and play 60 minutes every night and our talent is not just going to win games. We’ve got to work hard too.”
Lakehead coach Joel Scherban, mild-mannered most days, isn’t pleased with his team’s performance, with Guelph (2-2-0), a team he thinks could be the best in the division, headed to Thunder Bay for a pair of games this weekend.
Unless something changes, trouble could lie ahead.
“I think goals came too easy at the beginning of the year and some guys forgot that you have to pay a price and do the little things right, the fundamentals, to score goals,” Scherban said.
It’s early though, and like Smith, he’d rather learn lessons now – even though the team is already losing ground in the ultra-competitive OUA Western Conference.
Scherban said the turnaround starts in practice.
“We’re back to fundamentals today, to make sure we have the out-front battles and make sure we’ve got guys attacking off the rush and going hard to the net and putting pucks on the net. You put building blocks in place and you have to keep building as you go on.”
