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Lake State Hockey 2022-23

Bill said:
Well, I don't have a Flo subscription and I don't live very close to the Soo, but I have made 2 trips up to see them play 4 games this season (against UNO and BG). That's not a lot to go on and I know they had some guys suffering from the flu this past weekend, but what I saw is they weren't able to play at the same pace as UNO and BG. Damon has said that he wants to the team to play with pace and be hard to play against. To me, it looks like they need better/faster skaters and with better hands. I'm not talking just a couple of players more but as a team. We lost a couple of our best skaters off of last seasons team, Nordqvist and Nixon, and it showed. I'm sure the illness factor made it look worse than it was this past weekend, but to me it looks like we've lost ground in the pace of play compared to the past couple of seasons.

Offense has been the biggest struggle. They're hitting a lot of posts so far this season and just don't seem to be able to finish plays off. Defensively they have been turning the puck over far too much in their own end. Henrickson on D has been out with an injury for several games and they definitely miss him. Scoring the 1st goal would help so they aren't always chasing the game.
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How much do you think the transfer portal has hurt LSSU? It seems like they loose some top players each year.
 
Lost_Husky said:
How much do you think the transfer portal has hurt LSSU? It seems like they loose some top players each year.
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It's certainly hurt some. The Lakers have lost more players to the portal than they've gained from it. Some of the players they lost to the portal had received their undergrad degrees and had to move on anyway since LSSU doesn't offer grad degrees. Guys like Will Riedell, Lukas Kaeble, and Jacob Nordqvist. But they've lost some good players up front the past few years who hadn't yet graduated. Ashton Calder, a couple of years ago, and then Josh Nixon and Dustin Manz from last seasons team. Nixon was one of the fastest guys on the team last year and Manz was the best face-off man. The whole portal thing is still fairly new, but I think it's hurt the Lakers more than helped them so far.
 
manurespreader said:
Good luck in the playoffs. I feel like you all are going to make someone very uncomfortable.
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Thanks. The Lakers are playing better lately. We'll be on the road for the playoffs, so getting the first goal of the game will be important; if we don't get the first goal, we better get the second one. Scoring is still somewhat of a struggle so the Lakers can't afford t get down by more than a goal on the road.
 
Lakers have a lot of players to replace going into next season. Probably a minimum of 9 guys and that's assuming they don't lose any underclassmen via the portal. Henrikson, Willets, Jenuwine, Puricelli, Kucharek, Jeffers, Boudon and Eisele are all Seniors. Bengtsson is a Junior and could come back next season, but he's got a lot of pro interest plus I think he is getting his degree this Spring, so its likely he will move on.
 
Wow. That is a lot. Might not be a bad thing considering how this year went.

How do you like their recruits coming in?
 
Lost_Husky said:
Wow. That is a lot. Might not be a bad thing considering how this year went.

How do you like their recruits coming in?
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Hard to say. No obvious blue chippers.

We lose 9 guys. Whether we bring in exactly 9 guys, who knows. A lot will probably depend on the portal, meaning both do we see anyone there we like and can get, and do we lose anyone to the portal other than the 3 grad transfers we have there now. I think the guys most likely to come in are John Herrington (Prince George - BCHL), Brandon Piku (Maryland - NAHL), Cam Kungle (Cranbrook - BCHL), Jacob Conrad (Fairbanks - NAHL), Sasha Teleguine (Chilliwack - BCHL), William Hakansson (Maryland - NAHL), Carter Batchelder (Des Moines - USHL), Libor Nemec (Omaha - USHL), Reagan Milburn (Vernon - BCHL), and Jack Blanchett (Powell River - BCHL). The first 5 have to come in next season since they will age out of Juniors. At least 4 of the other 5 are likely to come on, although portal activity could affect that.

Herrington is supposed to have a great shot and is a good powerplay guy. Piku is very talented but on the small side and will need to get stronger for he college game. Nemec is from Slovakia and had a very good World Juniors tournament, then came over to play at Des Moines. Blanchett is an offensive minded D-man. Batchelder has missed much of this season dur to injury. Teleguine played at Connecticut last season, then went back to Juniors this season. He is supposed to be a very good skater. Hakansson is supposed to be one of the best goalies in the NAHL. There is another goalie that has committed, Tomas Bolo (St Cloud - NAHL), but his numbers aren't very good this season and I'm not sure what the story will be with him. With 2 goalies coming back plus Hakansson coming in, carrying 4 goalies doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
 
Bill said:
Lakers have a lot of players to replace going into next season. Probably a minimum of 9 guys and that's assuming they don't lose any underclassmen via the portal. Henrikson, Willets, Jenuwine, Puricelli, Kucharek, Jeffers, Boudon and Eisele are all Seniors. Bengtsson is a Junior and could come back next season, but he's got a lot of pro interest plus I think he is getting his degree this Spring, so its likely he will move on.
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Bengtsson is in the portal as are Jenuwine and Willets.
 
Bill said:
Hard to say. No obvious blue chippers.

We lose 9 guys. Whether we bring in exactly 9 guys, who knows. A lot will probably depend on the portal, meaning both do we see anyone there we like and can get, and do we lose anyone to the portal other than the 3 grad transfers we have there now. I think the guys most likely to come in are John Herrington (Prince George - BCHL), Brandon Piku (Maryland - NAHL), Cam Kungle (Cranbrook - BCHL), Jacob Conrad (Fairbanks - NAHL), Sasha Teleguine (Chilliwack - BCHL), William Hakansson (Maryland - NAHL), Carter Batchelder (Des Moines - USHL), Libor Nemec (Omaha - USHL), Reagan Milburn (Vernon - BCHL), and Jack Blanchett (Powell River - BCHL). The first 5 have to come in next season since they will age out of Juniors. At least 4 of the other 5 are likely to come on, although portal activity could affect that.

Herrington is supposed to have a great shot and is a good powerplay guy. Piku is very talented but on the small side and will need to get stronger for he college game. Nemec is from Slovakia and had a very good World Juniors tournament, then came over to play at Des Moines. Blanchett is an offensive minded D-man. Batchelder has missed much of this season dur to injury. Teleguine played at Connecticut last season, then went back to Juniors this season. He is supposed to be a very good skater. Hakansson is supposed to be one of the best goalies in the NAHL. There is another goalie that has committed, Tomas Bolo (St Cloud - NAHL), but his numbers aren't very good this season and I'm not sure what the story will be with him. With 2 goalies coming back plus Hakansson coming in, carrying 4 goalies doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
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Given how this season went, is that a bad thing to have so many players leaving?

In your crystal ball, do you think LSSU will be active in the portal? Will Whitten try to change LSSU's current playing style?
 
Lost_Husky said:
Given how this season went, is that a bad thing to have so many players leaving?

In your crystal ball, do you think LSSU will be active in the portal? Will Whitten try to change LSSU's current playing style?
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The number of players leaving is just the way things worked with class dynamics. Probably not a bad thing this year.

I think they will definitely look at the portal, but I'd be surprised if they picked up more than 1 or 2 guys from it (unless they also lose a couple of underclassmen to it). Maybe they won't pick up anyone from it. I think all the Laker players currently in the portal are getting their degrees this Spring, and LSSU doesn't have graduate programs, so they are looking to move on as grad transfers. There always could be some unexpected additions to the portal from underclassmen.

Whitten has repeatedly said he wants his team to play with pace and be hard to play against. I don't think he will change from that philosophy but will need to tweak it based upon what players he has. I don't subscribe to Flo Hockey but did see the Lakers play in person a half dozen games this season. From what I saw, I didn't think their skating was keeping pace with other teams compared to recent years. They did lose a couple of their best skaters from the previous season and that hurt them. They also turned the puck over way too often, especially in their own end, which I think made things look worse from a skating standpoint. I think they need to upgrade their skating both at forward and at defense.
 
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