Lakers fall to Gee Gee's in OT in Laker Hockey debut

Lakers goalie Kyle Cantlin gets ready for a Gee Gee's shot. Photo by Chris Dawson.

Matt Methot finished off his hat trick as the Gee Gee's forward ripped a snap shot underneath the cross bar past Lakers goalie Matt Hache 1:08 into overtime to give the Ottawa Gee Gee's a 3-2 overtime victory over the Nipissing Lakers in the first CIS game for the new Nipissing University franchise.

Ryan Maunu and Andrew Marcoux scored goals for the Lakers in regulation. Lakers head coach Mike McParland would have liked the 2 points but he's happy to see how well his newly assembled players came together in real game action.

“I think we were nervous all day because we have really had nothing to measure ourselves with," said McParland.

"Tonight was for sure a step higher in intensity and I think we came through with pretty good colors and I think we might have added to our fan base I hope.”

Ryan Maunu became part of history when he jammed home a rebound during a 2nd period power play to score the Lakers first ever goal. Not a bad feeling for the former Soo Thunderbird who didn't have the fans behind him during his NOJHL career.

"It the felt good just to get it off our shoulders and get the adrenalin stopped - get guys to settle down and play our game,” said the Sault Ste. Marie product.

"I always liked to play here for the Thunderbirds because they always had a good crowd and now being on their side with all the fans here it was great."

Methot's OT winner ended an amazing night that felt very much like the 2007 Hockeyville game as more than 3500 fans crammed into Memorial Gardens to watch the new, fast paced brand of hockey.

However, the loss was frustrating as the Lakers outplayed the vistitors and outshot them 48-14 on the night. Gee Gee's goalie Riley Whitlock made a number of great stops keeping his club in the game.

“We had the chances," admitted McParland.

"We missed 2 or 3 great opportunities and you can see why they consider their goalie (Whitlock) one of their top players."

The Charity

The Lakers players wore pink jerseys in the pre-season opener as part of the Breast Cancer Awareness Family Night event on Saturday night. The unique jerseys were auctioned off at the end of the game, with portions of hte proceeds going to Breast Cancer research.