The Lakehead Thunderwolves men's ice hockey team (formerly the Lakehead Nor'Westers) is an 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 Lakehead University was formed by the merger of Lakehead Technical Institute and Lakehead College of Arts, Science, and Technology in 1965. That year, the college began its ice hockey team as a founding member of the International Collegiate Hockey Association (ICHA), an National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) conference composed mostly of American schools. The Nor'Westers shared a league championship in 1967. Lakehead reached the NAIA championship tournament in 1971, 1973 and 1975, finishing as runners-up twice.

In 1972, the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WCIAA) split into two divisions, Canada West and the Great Plains Athletic Association (GPAA). The primary reason that Lakehead had joined an American conference 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. The team continued 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 1980s, Lakehead joined the Thunder Bay Hockey League for two seasons.

Lakehead finished near the bottom of the GPAC standings each year after 1978. 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'. After two season, the team 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 semifinalistConference regular season championsConference division championsConference playoff champions SeasonConferenceRegular seasonConference tournament resultsNational tournament results Conference OverallGPWLTOTLSOLPts*FinishGPWLT%1965–66ICHA6150––23rd6150 1966–67ICHA121020––20T–1st121020 1967–68ICHA16970––183rd16970 1968–69ICHA16871––173rd16871 1969–70ICHA12480––83rd12480 1970–71ICHA12741––152nd14851 Won semifinal, 6–5 (Gustavus Adolphus)Lost championship, 2–6 (Bemidji State)1971–72ICHA12561––11T–2nd12561 1972–73ICHA12480––83rd15690 Won first round, 8–7 (Augsburg)Won semifinal, 8–4 (Lake Superior State)Lost championship, 2–3 (OT) (Bemidji State)1973–74ICHA12651––133rd12651 1974–75ICHA12840––162nd13850 Lost first round, 4–8 (St. Thomas)1975–76ICHA12570––103rd12570 1976–77ICHA12651––13T–2nd12651 Totals GP W L T/SOL %ChampionshipsRegular season 147 74 68 5 1 ICHA ChampionshipConference postseason 0 0 0 0 NAIA postseason 6 3 3 0 3 National tournament appearancesRegular season and postseason record 153 77 71 5

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 semifinalistConference regular season championsConference division championsConference playoff champions SeasonConferenceRegular seasonConference tournament resultsNational tournament results Conference OverallGPWLTOTLSOLPts*FinishGPWLT%1972–73GPAA12930––181st14950 Lost West quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Alberta)1973–74GPAC186120––124th186120 1974–75GPAC17791––223rd17791 1975–76GPAC188100––163rd188100 1976–77GPAC229121––19T–3rd229121 1977–78GPAC221660––262nd251780 Lost Championship series, 1–2 (Regina) 1978–79GPAC227141––154th227141 1979–80GPAC205150––104th205150 1980–81GPAC242220––45th242220 1981–82GPAC247152––164th247152 1982–83GPAC2410140––204th2410140 1983–84GPAC249141––194th249141 1984–85GPAC240240––04th260260 Lost semifinal series, 0–2 (Regina) Program suspended2001–02OUA241383––295th2916103 Won division semifinal series, 2–0 (Windsor)Lost division final series, 1–2 (Western Ontario) 2002–03OUA241860––363rd322390 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)2003–04OUA2418420–382nd302262 Won division semifinal series, 2–0 (Waterloo)Won division final series, 2–1 (Western Ontario)Lost semifinal, 2–3 (York) 2004–05OUA2415810–314th3120101 Won division quarterfinal series, 2–0 (Guelph)Won division semifinal series, 2–0 (York)Lost division final series, 1–2 (Western Ontario) 2005–06OUA2413920–287th3622122 Won division quarterfinal series, 2–0 (York)Won division semifinal series, 2–1 (Waterloo)Won fivision 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)2006–07OUA28131032–31T–7th3215143 Won division quarterfinal series, 2–0 (York)Lost division semifinal series, 0–2 (Wilfrid Laurier) 2007–08OUA28234–01471st342671 Won division semifinal series, 2–1 (Wilfrid Laurier)Lost division final series, 1–2 (Brock) 2008–09OUA28188–1131T–5th3521131 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)2009–10OUA28197–02405th3826102 Won division quarterfinal series, 2–1 (York)Won sivision 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)2010–11OUA28169–30357th3016140 Lost division quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Waterloo) 2011–12OUA28199–00384th3422120 Won division quarterfinal series, 2–1 (Guelph)Lost division semifinal series, 1–2 (Windsor) 2012–13OUA28179–1136T–6th3017121 Lost division quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Waterloo) 2013–14OUA28178–21376th3521131 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) 2014–15OUA271014–302313th3112190 Won division quarterfinal series, 2–0 (Western Ontario)Lost division semifinal series, 0–2 (Windsor) 2015–16OUA28816–3119T–16th288191 2016–17OUA281313–2028T–13th3013170 Lost division quarterfinal series, 0–2 (York) 2017–18OUA281112–3227T–13th3112172 Lost division quarterfinal series, 1–2 (York) 2018–19OUA281215–0125T–16th2812151 2019–20OUA281312–3029T–11th3013170 Lost division quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Ryerson) 2020–21 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic2021–22OUA1669–0116th16691 2022–23OUA27186–2139T–3rd3421121 Won division semifinal series, 2–1 (Toronto)Lost division final series, 1–2 (Windsor)Lost bronze medal game, 0–4 (Concordia) 2023–24OUA281412–203011th3014160 Lost division quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Windsor) Totals GP W L T/SOL %ChampionshipsRegular season 853 419 405 29 1 GPAA championship, 1 OUA championship, 1 Far West Division title, 1 West Division titleConference postseason 98 52 46 0 1 OUA championshipU Sports postseason 11 3 8 0 5 National tournament appearancesRegular season and postseason record 962 474 459 29 Note: Totals include senior collegiate play only.

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