Re: LSSU Hockey 2012-2013
You have implied a couple of times that what the Lakers lack is a 40 point forward. Previously you stated that all the Lakers needed was a 20 goal, 40 point centerman. I am a statistic nut so for the record, every team in the league lacked that guy in fact only two teams in the league had a 40 point man and none of these teams finished in the top three in the league so that guy didn't make the difference you imply. There was no centerman in the league that had 20G and 20A, the closest was Tynan from Notre Dame who scored 13 goals and his team finished below the Lakers in the standings so I am not sure how that comment is a defense for where the Lakers finished. I agree the Lakers have a great goaltender, probably as good as Jeff Jakaitis. I agree we have good forwards and good defenseman. I agree we are competitive every night and that is enough for me to go enjoy a hockey game. That's all I care about. I also know that we started the year something like 9-1 and ended finishing one game over .500. I also know that in non-conference games we were 1-2-0 against RIT and Bemidji who were the top teams we played at 29 and 31 in the country. I also know that we were 4-0-1 against Canisius, Alabama and Vermont who had a combined record of 18-77-6 and were 53, 54 and 57 out of 58 teams in Division I hockey. I like going to Laker games and I think Coach Roque is doing a fine job for the commtment level of the University. The school is getting their moneys worth. I would feel differently if ticket prices increased or if the University were to make a financial commitment to improve the program. Bowling Green, Western, UMinn Mankato, Nebraska, Michigan Tech all made financial commitments to improve and started with a coaching change and significant money put into the programs. As long as we are not heading in that direction, As it stands, I have no problem with where we finish and scheduling weak opponents to keep us locals interested.
To be fair, I was the poster who chimed in regarding LSSU's long-standing-long-missing need for a 40-point center. My intent was to hammer home the long-standing-long-missing need of an impact forward, a "top five in the league" scorer. And my point was probably pretty obvious: If the Lakers had a top-five scorer on their team last season, he would've been an excellent compliment to already-good defense, goaltending, and solid checking of the rest of the team.
I see the point, somewhat, regarding the non-conference record against less-than-the-best NC D-I schools. But for a nasty raging horrible flu empidemic, they would have swept up the teams they SHOULD sweep -- Canisuis (the tie a direct result of the team being quite sick), UAH, and Vermont. The RIT and BSU games are more problematic to me, although a brief glance at BSU's record last year shows them randomly playing very tough against some very tough teams. They were a prototypical WCHA team, which means that on any given night, they can beat anyone. No excuses for LSSU not taking care of business at home. RIT beat LSSU, that is true -- but hey, wait, they beat Ferris (National Runner Up) 3-0 the night before, so RIT was hot for a weekend. So what? LSSU SHOULD have a 5-2-1 record against these teams, and perhaps should have, with some health and a bounce against BSU, been 7-1.
There were 41 players in D-I that scored 40+ points last season. So its not exactly a significant or rare accomplishment. There were 26 D-I players who notched 20+ goals. And its been a long time since the Lakers had a 40-pointer (at least before the 1999-2000 season, which is as far back as the USCHO database goes).
So that was my point. Nothing more than, "Gosh, it sure would be nice to see a top flight scoring forward at LSSU."
