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Soo pipeline a boon for Thunderwolves
By Reuben Villagracia
Friday, November 27, 2009

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Jordan Smith couldn‘t play university hockey in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie. He‘s doing the next best thing – helping bring the best of the Soo to his current home at Lakehead University.
The Thunderwolves defenceman and captain was instrumental in convincing the team‘s latest acquisition, former OHL 30-goal scorer Matt Caria, to commit to the program over the summer. Caria announced this week he‘s leaving pro ranks to play for Lakehead after Christmas.
Caria joins fellow Sault Ste. Marie native Matt Dias and Arron Alphonso, a former Soo Greyhound, on the team.
“It‘s good to keep it within Northern Ontario,” Smith said with a smile before practice at Fort William Gardens on Thursday as the Thunderwolves (9-3-2) get set to travel to Guelph this weekend.
Lakehead head coach Joel Scherban, who along with eastern scout Larry Bone made a hard push for the recruits, credited Smith for being the extra attacker on the ice.
Smith, a former second-round NHL draft pick, planted the notion of university hockey to Caria and Dias two summers ago.
“Obviously we want to build our team around northern players if talented players are available,” said Scherban. “Jordan Smith is such a well respected person there and I think a lot of these players who are younger than him and have come up through the same Soo minor hockey system really admire him and look up to him.”
Caria, Dias and Prince Albert, Sask., native Ryan McDonald are expected to be in the lineup, Dec. 29-30 for a pair of non-conference home games against Manitoba.
For now, the No. 10-ranked Thunderwolves (9-3-2) have their hands full on the road with only 18 healthy skaters available. Last week‘s shootout loss to Royal Military College proved costly as leading scorer Brock McPherson (broken collarbone), OUA defencemen points leader Pierre-Marc Guilbault (back), Arron Alphonso (concussion) and Brennan Menard (concussion) all suffered injuries in those games.
Defenceman Bryan Wilson (groin), still not 100 per cent since off-season surgery, will also stay at home.
“When we played York we were down a couple pretty good players and we responded so I‘m expecting they‘ll respond well this weekend,” Scherban said.
Smith wasn‘t pleased with how the Paladins matched them in scoring in regulation of Saturday‘s 5-4 win despite being outshot by a wide margin.
“Right now every little mistake we make ends up in the back of our net,” Smith said “It‘s a trend we‘ve got to work on and we are working on. With time, we‘ll see that happen.”

Big games on tap: As the hockey team completes their conference schedule on the road, Lakehead‘s men‘s basketball squad will vie for the top record in the OUA today when they host the defending-champion Carleton Ravens at C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse.
Both schools are 6-0. The Thunderwolves came within two votes of qualifying for the country‘s top 10 rankings for the first time in 10 years.
“The main job has been to tell the guys the pressure is not on us,” Lakehead coach Scott Morrison said. “We‘re not supposed to beat Carleton. We‘re not the favourites. . . . (But) we want to earn some respect through the country.
“For sure, this is the ideal time for a test.”
Games tip off today with the Lakehead women playing Carleton at 6 p.m. with the men following at 8 p.m. The men and women play the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday.
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