Hockey: Wolves have something to prove against Golden Hawks

Posted November 22, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Sports | No comments yet

If it wasn’t for Ryan Daniels and the Laurier Golden Hawks, the Lakehead Thunderwolves would be on a 12-game winning streak.
Don’t think for a second the Wolves don’t want a little revenge.

“For sure,” said forward Trevor Gamache, who is second on the team to Adam Sergerie with eight goals this season.

“Winning 11 of our last 12 games, with Laurier being the only glitch in there, we’re going to go into this weekend to prove something. It doesn’t mean anything, the standings. They have a great team and we’re going have to give it all we’ve got.”

They’ll have to.

Though they might be just 4-8-0 as the OUA hockey schedule gets set for the Christmas break, the Golden Hawks have shown they can play with the West Division’s best, having beaten Waterloo, Brock, Lakehead and Western, a 5-4 thriller that handed the Mustangs their first regulation loss of the campaign.

Dainiels has been the key to the hot streak, said LU coach Joel Scherban, whose team this week jumped up a notch in the national rankings, coming in at eighth in the country. Daniels’s numbers (3.54, .919, 4-7-0) might not be as stellar as Lakehead’s Alex Dupuis’s – who will make a fifth straight start on Friday – but he’s been getting the job done when it counts.

“We know it’s going to be tough,” said Scherban. “Ryan Daniels is on a huge hot streak right now, so we need to find ways to generate offense on him. “We’re working hard on it this week in practice, working at getting traffic to the net. We’re working at finding rebounds right at the top of the crease and also in the high slot. We’re working at using the back of the net and cut-backs.”

Gamache said the team has noted their place atop the West Division standings, and are proud of what they’ve accomplished, but said neither players nor the coaching staff is letting it go to their head. They’re also not too concerned that Western, who trail the Wolves (11-3-0) by two points, also happen to have a couple of games in the standings.

There’s plenty of hockey left to be played, said Gamache, knowing all-too-well the Wolves have four post-Christmas dates with the rival Mustangs.

“All we’re focusing on is controlling what we can do,” he said. “If we keep winning the games, by the end of the season we’re looking at home-ice advantage. It’s hard for other teams to come in this building and win, so that’s our goal right now is just to keep winning, and everything else will play out.”

LU will be shorthanded once again this weekend, minus scoring star Matt Caria, down with an injured ankle and not expected back until the Carleton non-conference series after Christmas. Also questionable are forwards Jadran Beljo (knee, ankle) and Brennan Menard (concussion) and defencemen Mitch Mauno (knee) and Riley McIntosh, all of whom will be re-evaluated closer to game-time.

It’s just another challenge, said Gamache.

“We’ve been rolling four lines right from the UQTR weekend and it’s starting to pay off now. Everyone’s got their ice time in, everyone’s rolling and we’ve got enough depth up front and on the back to make up for (guys) being out.”
Game time at Fort William Gardens on Friday and Saturday night is the usual 7:30 p.m.

 
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Yocum’s five points lead Hawks to shutout win

Posted October 12, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Sports | No comments yet

Jeremy Yocum fired a hat-trick and added two assists to help pace the Northern Hawks to a 10-0 pasting of the Junior B Stars Tuesday evening in Thunder Bay Junior B Hockey League action the Tournament Centre.

The Hawks would jump out to a four-goal lead after one period of play on a pair of tallies by Justin Tougas while Yocum and Tyler Gillies supplied singles.

They would strike four more times in the middle frame to grab an 8-0 lead after 40 minutes thanks to two by Yocum and solo efforts from Geoff Vaillant and Nick Brimmer.

Josh Elvish, shorthanded, and Andrew Groom would round out the scoring in the third period as the Hawks improved to 3-0 on the year in a game where they scored five power play goals.

Jordy Armiento dished out four helpers to aid the Hawks offensive cause in the rout.

Markus Leikkari made 24 stops to register the shutout for the first place Hawks who fired 45 pucks at Joey Wanzuk and Tyler Randle, who both saw time in the Stars’ net.

League play continues Friday as the 0-2 Stars travel to Nipigon to meet the 2-0 Elks. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
Summary
 
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Hawks settle for tie in Keystone Cup opener

Posted April 15, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Sports | No comments yet

The
Northern Hawks let a two-goal, third period lead slip away as
they settled for a 3-3 tie against the Arborg Ice Dawgs in day
one action at the Keystone Cup Western Canadian Jr. B
Championship in Sherwood Park, Alta.
Thunder Bay Jr. B/Juvenile/AAA Hockey League leading scorer Josh
Elvish would give the Hawks the lead as he buried a shorthanded
marker with four minutes remaining in the opening period.
Elvish would increase the cushion to a pair 4:21 into the middle
frame only to see Arborg’s Brett Barkman answer back a minute
and a half later.
Nathan Spina would restore the Hawks’ two-goal lead as he struck
33 seconds into the final stanza.
Jeff English then beat Thunder Bay netminder Jordan George to
make it 3-2 with 8:59 remaining.
English would then notch the equalizer with just over five
minutes to go to salvage a point for the Manitoba Jr. B
champions.
The Ice Dawgs would out shoot the Northern Hawks by a 47-35
margin with George making 44 saves while Nick Anderson had 32
stops for Arborg.
The Hawks return to the ice twice Friday as they’ll meet the
host Sherwood Park Knights at 11:30 a.m. MT as well as the
Saskatchewan Jr. B champion Pilot Butte Storm at 5:30 p.m. MT.

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Hawks hold off Wolves in fourth

Posted January 15, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Sports | 1 comment

Four times the Lakehead Thunderwolves had the opportunity to take a fourth-quarter lead. Four times they rushed the shot, only to see it fall into the hands of the Laurier Golden Hawks. In the end, the steady shooting of OUA all-star Renata Adamczyk and a timely six-point run with the game on the line ensured the women’s basketball Wolves went down to defeat 58-51. Adamczyk, who spent much of the Wolves crucial return from a seven-point deficit in the final quarter on the bench, saddled with four fouls. But like riding a bicycle, Adamcyzk put in behind her quickly when coach Peter Campbell gave her the nod and sent her back in, the game on the line. “I just had to help the team out and encourage the girls who were playing,” she said of her time on the bench. “Most definitely (Lakehead) went on a big run and they tied up the game and we just had to get stops on D and get scoring again and get the momentum back on our end,” said Adamczyk, author of 16 points, tied with Lakehead’s Tasia McKenna for tops in the back-and-forth contest. It was McKenna who keyed the LU comeback, scoring 12 of 15 points scored by the Thunderwolves at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter. Her hot streak began in with 20 seconds to go in the third, when she nailed a three-pointer to make it 45-38 for Laurier heading into the fourth. She dropped another trey to start the fourth, then hit one-of-two from the line, the miss going to Lindsay Druery on the offensive glass. The ball eventually wound up in McKenna’s hands again and buried a third three-pointer, pulling the Wolves to within two at 47-45. Adamczyk re-established a four-point Golden Hawks advantage, but then Sarah Gordon, playing on an injured ankle that earlier in the week threatened to keep her on the sidelines, blasted a three of her own and the Wolves trailed by one. McKenna was awarded a flagrant foul call and went to the line, but could only manage one of two free throws, tying the score 49-49. The Wolves got the ball, but could not take advantage of the opportunity against the stifling Laurier defence, the stingiest in the entire OUA. “Playing against them you’re going to take some poor shots because there’s a shot clock out there,” said LU coach Jon Kreiner. “You only have 24 seconds to take a shot. We talked to the girls about execution. We executed in spurts, but in the second quarter we scored five points, zero points for the first seven minutes. “I give full credit to Laurier for being physical. We didn’t have great position. Our posts scored nine points against them or whatever it was. We never got the position we normally get. They did a great job pushing our posts out of position so we couldn’t get the easy touches inside.” Christa Mancino put the Hawks (9-2) ahead for good with an easy hoop inside. Amber Hills doubled the lead with another easy basket and then Adamcyzk sealed it with a pair of timely free throws as the officials evened things out with a flagrant foul call the other way. Lakehead trailed 20-16 after one quarter and 32-21 at the half. The loss, their third in four games, dropped the Wolves (7-4) into a three-way tie for fourth spot in the OUA West. The two teams will tangle again on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Thunderdome. View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – Sports

Hawks double up Eagles

Posted December 7, 2010 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Sports | 1 comment

The
Northern Hawks tallied twice in each period Sunday en route to
doubling up the
Screaming Eagles 6-3 Sunday evening in
Thunder
Bay Jr. B/Juvenile/AAA Hockey League
action at Delaney Arena.
Nathan Spina, with his league-leading 17th of the season, along
with Will Moore’s
power play effort put the first place Hawks up a pair after one
period of play.
After Travis Tom got the Eagles on the board early in the middle
frame Zac Sentence
would strike twice to put the Hawks up 4-1.
Jarred Sugarhead would cut the deficit before the stanza was out
making it a
two-goal contest after 40 minutes.
Charlie Debungey’s shorthanded goal 6:16 into the third period
brought the
Hawks to within one, but Kyle MacLeod and Sean Cunninghame would
answer back
for the Hawks to round out the scoring.
Markus Leikkari made 21 stops to pick-up the win for the Hawks who
pumped 56
shots on Curtis Barker in the Eagles’ net.
League play resumes Tuesday when the Jr. B Stars host the Nipigon
Elks at the
Tournament Centre. Game time is 8 p.m.
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