Lakehead Thunderwolves men's ice hockey

Lakehead Thunderwolves men's ice hockey
University	Lakehead University
Conference	OUA OUA West Division
Head coach	Andrew Wilkins Since 2018–19 season
Assistant coaches	Jeremy Adduono Kari Rikkonen
Arena	Fort William Gardens Thunder Bay, Ontario
Colors	Blue, White, and Yellow
U Sports Tournament appearances
1973, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010
Conference Tournament championships
2006
Conference regular season championships
1973, 2008

The Lakehead Thunderwolves men's ice hockey team (formerly the Lakehead Nor'Westers) is an active ice hockey program representing the Lakehead Thunderwolves athletic department of Lakehead University. The team has been continually active since returning to action in 2002 and is currently a member of the Ontario University Athletics conference under the authority of U Sports. The Thunderwolves play at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

History

After the merger of Lakehead Technical Institute and Lakehead College of Arts, Science, and Technology in 1965, Lakehead University was formed. That first year, the college started its ice hockey team and began play as a founding member of the International Collegiate Hockey Association (ICHA), an NAIA conference composed mostly of American schools. The Nor'Westers shared a league championship in 1967 but were usually a middling team in the conference for much of their tenure. However, Lakehead did make the NAIA tournament in 1971, 1973 and 1975, finishing as runners-up twice.

In 1972, the WCIAA split into two divisions, Canada West and the Great Plains Athletic Association (later renamed Great Plains Athletic Conference). The primary reason that Lakehead had joined an American conference rather than a Canadian one, was the cost of travel. With the formation of the GPAA, the financial burdens were greatly reduced, giving the Nor'Westers the opportunity to play in their first native league. However, this did not prevent the team from continuing on with the ICHA and Lakehead jointly played in both until 1977. During this time the Nor'Westers had the unique distinction of appearing in both an American and Canadian national tournament (in 1973), finishing as runners-up in the NAIA field and fifth in the University Cup. In the early 1980's Lakehead had another flirtation with a second league when they joined the Thunder Bay Hockey League for two seasons. Unfortunately, by then, the rot was beginning to set in for the program.

After the halcyon days of the 70s, Lakehead tumbled to the bottom of the GPAC standings and finished in the bottom two each year after 1978. The conference itself wasn't on sound footing at the time and lost a member in 1984. The next season, Lakehead went winless in 26 games. After the worst season in program history, and with costs mounting, the school suspended the program.

Sixteen years passed before Lakehead returned to the ice. In the interim, the school had joined Ontario University Athletics and changed its moniker to 'Thunderwolves'. The team wasted little time reacclimating itself to college hockey and in just two seasons received a bid to the University Cup. In the succeeding 10 years, Thunderwolves only produced winning seasons and finished as the national runners-up in 2006. However, since 2014, the program has declined and has only one winning record (as of 2024).

Season-by-season results

American Collegiate

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points

U Sports Champion

U Sports Semifinalist

Conference regular season champions

Conference Division Champions

Conference Playoff Champions

Season	Conference	Regular Season													Conference Tournament Results	National Tournament Results
		Conference								Overall
		GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	Pts*	Finish	GP	W	L	T	%
1965–66	ICHA	6	1	5	0	–	–	2	3rd	6	1	5	0	.167
1966–67	ICHA	12	10	2	0	–	–	20	T–1st	12	10	2	0	.833
1967–68	ICHA	16	9	7	0	–	–	18	3rd	16	9	7	0	.563
1968–69	ICHA	16	8	7	1	–	–	17	3rd	16	8	7	1	.531
1969–70	ICHA	12	4	8	0	–	–	8	3rd	12	4	8	0	.333
1970–71	ICHA	12	7	4	1	–	–	15	2nd	14	8	5	1	.607		Won Semifinal, 6–5 (Gustavus Adolphus) Lost Championship, 2–6 (Bemidji State)
1971–72	ICHA	12	5	6	1	–	–	11	T–2nd	12	5	6	1	.458
1972–73	ICHA	12	4	8	0	–	–	8	3rd	15	6	9	0	.400		Won First Round, 8–7 (Augsburg) Won Semifinal, 8–4 (Lake Superior State) Lost Championship, 2–3 (OT) (Bemidji State)
1973–74	ICHA	12	6	5	1	–	–	13	3rd	12	6	5	1	.542
1974–75	ICHA	12	8	4	0	–	–	16	2nd	13	8	5	0	.615		Lost First Round, 4–8 (St. Thomas)
1975–76	ICHA	12	5	7	0	–	–	10	3rd	12	5	7	0	.417
1976–77	ICHA	12	6	5	1	–	–	13	T–2nd	12	6	5	1	.542
Totals										GP	W	L	T/SOL	%	Championships
Regular Season										147	74	68	5	.520	1 ICHA Championship
Conference Post-season										0	0	0	0	–
NAIA Postseason										6	3	3	0	.500	3 National Tournament appearances
Regular Season and Postseason Record										153	77	71	5	.520

Canadian Collegiate

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points

U Sports Champion

U Sports Semifinalist

Conference regular season champions

Conference Division Champions

Conference Playoff Champions

Season	Conference	Regular Season													Conference Tournament Results	National Tournament Results
		Conference								Overall
		GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	Pts*	Finish	GP	W	L	T	%
1972–73	GPAA	12	9	3	0	–	–	18	1st	14	9	5	0	.643		Lost West Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Alberta)
1973–74	GPAC	18	6	12	0	–	–	12	4th	18	6	12	0	.333
1974–75	GPAC	17	7	9	1	–	–	22	3rd	17	7	9	1	.441
1975–76	GPAC	18	8	10	0	–	–	16	3rd	18	8	10	0	.444
1976–77	GPAC	22	9	12	1	–	–	19	T–3rd	22	9	12	1	.432
1977–78	GPAC	22	16	6	0	–	–	26	2nd	25	17	8	0	.680	Lost Championship series, 1–2 (Regina)
1978–79	GPAC	22	7	14	1	–	–	15	4th	22	7	14	1	.341
1979–80	GPAC	20	5	15	0	–	–	10	4th	20	5	15	0	.250
1980–81	GPAC	24	2	22	0	–	–	4	5th	24	2	22	0	.083
1981–82	GPAC	24	7	15	2	–	–	16	4th	24	7	15	2	.333
1982–83	GPAC	24	10	14	0	–	–	20	4th	24	10	14	0	.417
1983–84	GPAC	24	9	14	1	–	–	19	4th	24	9	14	1	.396
1984–85	GPAC	24	0	24	0	–	–	0	4th	26	0	26	0	.000	Lost Semifinal series, 0–2 (Regina)
Program suspended
2001–02	OUA	24	13	8	3	–	–	29	5th	29	16	10	3	.603	Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (Windsor) Lost Division Final series, 1–2 (Western Ontario)
2002–03	OUA	24	18	6	0	–	–	36	3rd	32	23	9	0	.719	Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (Windsor) Won Division Final series, 2–0 (Western Ontario) Lost Semifinal, 1–4 (York) Won Bronze Medal Game, 6–5 (Toronto)	Lost Pool B Round-Robin, 1–2 (Quebec–Trois-Rivières), 3–4 (New Brunswick)
2003–04	OUA	24	18	4	2	0	–	38	2nd	30	22	6	2	.767	Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (Waterloo) Won Division Final series, 2–1 (Western Ontario) Lost Semifinal, 2–3 (York)
2004–05	OUA	24	15	8	1	0	–	31	4th	31	20	10	1	.661	Won Division Quarterfinal series, 2–0 (Guelph) Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (York) Lost Division Final series, 1–2 (Western Ontario)
2005–06	OUA	24	13	9	2	0	–	28	7th	36	22	12	2	.639	Won Division Quarterfinal series, 2–0 (York) Won Division Semifinal series, 2–1 (Waterloo) Won Division Final series, 2–1 (Wilfrid Laurier) Won Championship, 4–0 (McGill)	Won Pool B Round-robin, 4–3 (Acadia), 4–2 (Saskatchewan) Lost Championship, 2–3 (Alberta)
2006–07	OUA	28	13	10	3	2	–	31	T–7th	32	15	14	3	.516	Won Division Quarterfinal series, 2–0 (York) Lost Division Semifinal series, 0–2 (Wilfrid Laurier)
2007–08	OUA	28	23	4	–	0	1	47	1st	34	26	7	1	.779	Won Division Semifinal series, 2–1 (Wilfrid Laurier) Lost Division Final series, 1–2 (Brock)
2008–09	OUA	28	18	8	–	1	1	31	T–5th	35	21	13	1	.614	Won Division Quarterfinal series, 2–0 (Waterloo) Lost Division Semifinal series, 1–2 (Wilfrid Laurier)	Lost Pool A Round-Robin, 1–3 (Alberta), 1–2 (New Brunswick)
2009–10	OUA	28	19	7	–	0	2	40	5th	38	26	10	2	.711	Won Division Quarterfinal series, 2–1 (York) Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (Guelph) Won Division Final series, 2–0 (Western Ontario) Lost Championship, 1–3 (McGill)	Lost Pool A Round-Robin, 7–2 (Quebec–Trois-Rivières), 3–5 (Alberta)
2010–11	OUA	28	16	9	–	3	0	35	7th	30	16	14	0	.533	Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Waterloo)
2011–12	OUA	28	19	9	–	0	0	38	4th	34	22	12	0	.647	Won Division Quarterfinal series, 2–1 (Guelph) Lost Division Semifinal series, 1–2 (Windsor)
2012–13	OUA	28	17	9	–	1	1	36	T–6th	30	17	12	1	.583	Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Waterloo)
2013–14	OUA	28	17	8	–	2	1	37	6th	35	21	13	1	.614	Won Division Quarterfinal series, 2–0 (York) Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (Ryerson) Lost Division Final series, 0–2 (Windsor) Lost Third Place Game, 4–7 (Carleton)
2014–15	OUA	27	10	14	–	3	0	23	13th	31	12	19	0	.387	Won Division Quarterfinal series, 2–0 (Western Ontario) Lost Division Semifinal series, 0–2 (Windsor)
2015–16	OUA	28	8	16	–	3	1	19	T–16th	28	8	19	1	.304
2016–17	OUA	28	13	13	–	2	0	28	T–13th	30	13	17	0	.433	Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (York)
2017–18	OUA	28	11	12	–	3	2	27	T–13th	31	12	17	2	.419	Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 1–2 (York)
2018–19	OUA	28	12	15	–	0	1	25	T–16th	28	12	15	1	.446
2019–20	OUA	28	13	12	–	3	0	29	T–11th	30	13	17	0	.433	Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Ryerson)
2020–21	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22	OUA	16	6	9	–	0	1	.406	16th	16	6	9	1	.406
2022–23	OUA	27	18	6	–	2	1	39	T–3rd	34	21	12	1	.632	Won Division Semifinal series, 2–1 (Toronto) Lost Division Final series, 1–2 (Windsor) Lost Bronze Medal Game, 0–4 (Concordia)
2023–24	OUA	28	14	12	–	2	0	30	11th	30	14	16	0	.467	Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Windsor)
Totals										GP	W	L	T/SOL	%	Championships
Regular Season										853	419	405	29	.508	1 GPAA Championship, 1 OUA Championship, 1 Far West Division Title, 1 West Division Title
Conference Post-season										98	52	46	0	.531	1 OUA Championship
U Sports Postseason										11	3	8	0	.273	5 National Tournament appearances
Regular Season and Postseason Record										962	474	459	29	.508

Note: Totals include senior collegiate play only.

External links

• Official website