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LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Going from a league that had MI,MI State,Notre Dame,Miami,Ohio State to a league that now has no big names but you feel the chance to finish at the top makes for better hockey is not a plus in my book. A step down in league play is never a winning position for TV airing or even recruiting. Bowling Green is holding out as long as possible to see if the chance of going somewhere besides the WCHA is even a remote possibility . If Bowling Green felt the WCHA was a good fit,they would have jumped as fast as Northern,Lake State and Fairbanks did. The CCHA would have been better had Northern and everyone else who have gone to the WCHA had stayed and tried bringing in a few Atlantic teams such as Air Force and Niagra . St. Cloud lasted all a month in the new WCHA . Who else will jump in a year or two?
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

When Lake State made the announcement of a new program to put Lake State back to the top of college hockey,I don't think they meant to compete against a new WCHA league that is pretty much comprised of the bottom feeders of the WCHA and CCHA . If Notre Dame goes to the NCHC and makes it a 9 team league,you best figure the league will want to take it to a 10 team league and my guess is Bemidji will be the team in the WCHA they go after next .
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

PerkyforPrez said:
One week away from the drop of the puck, I hope Bill Crawford makes the trip to Alabama to call the game and give a little insight to the new players along with how the returning players have faired in summer work outs.
Click to expand...

Do you think that there will be a coaches show this Monday?
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

PerkyforPrez said:
One week away from the drop of the puck, I hope Bill Crawford makes the trip to Alabama to call the game and give a little insight to the new players along with how the returning players have faired in summer work outs.
Click to expand...

Here is a link to an article about Trotman as a Bruins prospect. Sounds like he wowed some people at camp with his ability in the weight room.

http://nhlbruins.tumblr.com/post/7418868039/a-very-relevant-mr-irrelevant

Maybe I am being shortsighted, but I'm not really that worried about the loss of St Cloud from the conference. They'd give the conference a bit more visibility in the Twin Cities which might have helped Lake State recruiting there, and they have a bit bigger fan base which might have made for a better gate at a conference tourney. Other than that I don't really care that they left and I definately expected it.

I'm sure that that folks at BSU and MSU-Mankato could see the writing on the wall that St Cloud would be leaving. Though some of their fans grumbled about taking on the CCHA leftovers, in the end they needed us as much (or more) than we needed them.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

I think anytime you go from a power league like the CCHA to a league that will rank third in the west as will the WCHA ,it is not a shining moment in your history.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Sorry, but in my opinion the Lakers are in as good a position as possible. The present leage, in 2013, will feature all three UP schools and both Alaska schools.

The relationship with the CCHA was a joke. The relationship with the two Big Ten teams in the CCHA was terrible. Ohio State and Notre Dame were never draws in the Soo -- regardless of what some people think. Who cares -- really -- about Notre Dame or Ohio State hockey? Lets be honest here, MOST of the people at ND and OSU -- including most of the athletics departments -- could not care less about hockey.

To sit and mourn the loss of a relationship with these programs (UM and MSU -- who both hated LSSU / and ND and OSU -- who cares? / Western -- again, who ares?) is foolish.

Furthermore, the CCHA HAD to die. It was a terrible league. The WCHA's new model, circa 2013, at least will free LSSU and the UP and Alaska schools from being involved in league wherein there was always that myth of big city coverage and support. Nobody in Detroit, or Minneapolis, ever followed the CCHA or the WCHA. They follow the big teams located therein (or close by). Did anyone of you think for one moment that as long as we played SCSU, the St. Paul Pioneer Press was going to start sending beat reporters to the Soo? The Twin Cities media treats SCSU like its on the back side of the moon, if they think about SCSU at all. Don't be fooled.

Come on -- lets be honest -- we in the UP are the bastard step children of the midwest. And the chummy old boys in Detroit and Minneapolis figure everything in UP and Alaska are just remote outposts for rednecks and deep snow.

I have always believed it was long past time for the UP (schools, in particular -- but population in general) to stop looking to Detroit orother locations south for some confirmation about who and what we are.

I don't live my life as some reflection of the Lower Penninsula's prism. Much like Alaskans do not live their life worrying about whether anyone in the Lower 48 thinks they are big enough, cool enough, etc . . .

One of the things that excites me about this league is the chance for the UP schools, and their fans, and their communities, to stand on OUR own two feet. Its OUR league now.

Its OURS.

And what do we want out of OUR league?

Do we curl in a ball and wring our hands, waiting for Red Berensen to toss us a bone so we can live another day? Do we beg and plead for Notre Dame -- crappy, hardly-ever-good, choke artists, ugly Joyce Center Notre Dame -- with ZERO hockey tradition -- to toss us a bone, too?

Darn it -- we in the UP need to stand up and be counted. Its OUR league now. The CCHA and its Lansing offices, its Ann Arbor lust, and its tepid Detroit relationship is DEAD.

The WCHA, as it was, dominated by media lovies the goofers and the Sioux, is DEAD.

Do we take pride in being Yoopers, and being Alaskan, and filling our stadiums, reveling in our own rivalries?

Why can't a league with heated games between NMU, LSSU, and MTU be just as hot and passionate as Michigan-Michigan State?

I have always taken a rather draconian position that the UP was my home State -- not Michigan. Our capital is basically Marquette. The Soo and Houghton are our two next larger cities.

You can sit on the sidelines and quiver with fear that the simps down below won't apy attention to us.

Here is a hint: They NEVER paid attention to us. So why are you worried?

Nope, my friends, this break is long past due. With the UP and Alaska joined with Bemidji, (and Ferris), we now have OUR league, with which we can dictate OUR future, with OUR own hands.

Sorry to be so preachy and probably too passionate, but I really hate the slovenly misdirected belief in the midwest that says "Only Big Ten Schools are Allowed to Dictate Their Destiny."

Horse apples.

Lets have OUR league, in OUR state (UP and Alaska). And when they meet us in the NCAAs, let them look around the rink at the passionate screaming fans who are cheering for MORE than just a hockey team. Let them look at the players on the ice, names from obscure hockey towns the pretty-boys in Ann Arbor can't even find on a map -- and let them see the passion of the players who KNOW they are carrying the flag for the Great Last Frontiers. And let the media in the press box scratch their heads and wonder why they had never heard of these kids. They did it a few years ago when Bemdji ran to the Final Four. They used to ask us LSSU people who we were? What is LSSU? In places like Albany and Milwaukee the fans and media would stand in slack-jawed awe at the marching army of Blue and Gold coming, en masse through the streets, to the satdium.

Its OUR league. Its OUR schools. Its OUR homes.

And if the Detroit News doesn't like it? And if the Ann Arbor select and elite players don't like it? Tough. Deal with it. I have had enough of being whipped and abused and taunted and tossed-scraps by the Lower Penninsula and their suburban hockey.

Sorry -- stand up, or move to Royal Oak.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Losing St. Cloud was not a plus and dropping down to a weaker league isn't something anyone should be excited about. Yes,when the Lakers were a powerhouse in the late 80s and through the mid 90s ,Detroit news stations did call them the best college hockey program in the whole nation.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Have heard the Hockey Show may be moved to tuesdays this year. Nothing concrete yet but it is supposed to be podcast again and possibly a different wrinkle to the show. Have to wait and see monday or tuesday.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Thanks Lakerchum for the info and please post if you hear any mores news on the Hockey Show.

Mogerfan I'm not distraught about SCSU not being in the Western when we join I would have liked to have them with us for the stability. I still think the new WCHA is going to be the best place for the Lakers, after all rumors has it the 4 eastern teams didn't want to be in a conference with us anyway. We are just winding down a conference that has teams that do not want us. It's good to be wanted.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

sm2pk said:
Losing St. Cloud was not a plus and dropping down to a weaker league isn't something anyone should be excited about. Yes,when the Lakers were a powerhouse in the late 80s and through the mid 90s ,Detroit news stations did call them the best college hockey program in the whole nation.
Click to expand...

Even in the glory years, Laker Hockey was never the center of the CCHA in terms of media coverage and representation but they had to give us some coverage, even through the dismal period of the late 90's and early 00's, simply because we were part of the CCHA. It may not have been often, and certainly not nearly as much as we would have liked, but Laker hockey was on Fox Sports Detroit, they were regularly featured on CCHA weekly, garnered exposure in Canada by being shown on Leafs TV and their game results were printed in both the Detroit News and Free Press. The CCHA gave the Lakers exposure to a much wider audience and that in turn helped in the recruiting process.

It is safe to assume now that we may never see Laker Hockey on Fox Sports or ESPNU again. That is a hit, plain and simple. Losing St Cloud is another hit, as they were our D-1 representation. If B.G. turns down the WCHA, we will be left with no representation at the table and the league will be nothing more than an after-thought, perhaps even less. This will certainly impact recruiting.

Yes it could have been worse, LSSU could have been thrown into the ACHA, losing scholarship positions and a vastly reduced quality on the ice in terms of talent, but let's not kid ourselves, what has transpired over the summer has been in no way shape or form beneficial to Laker Hockey or its fans. We have, for all intent and purposes, been demoted to a lower league.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

jnacc said:
Even in the glory years, Laker Hockey was never the center of the CCHA in terms of media coverage and representation but they had to give us some coverage, even through the dismal period of the late 90's and early 00's, simply because we were part of the CCHA. It may not have been often, and certainly not nearly as much as we would have liked, but Laker hockey was on Fox Sports Detroit, they were regularly featured on CCHA weekly, garnered exposure in Canada by being shown on Leafs TV and their game results were printed in both the Detroit News and Free Press. The CCHA gave the Lakers exposure to a much wider audience and that in turn helped in the recruiting process.

It is safe to assume now that we may never see Laker Hockey on Fox Sports or ESPNU again. That is a hit, plain and simple. Losing St Cloud is another hit, as they were our D-1 representation. If B.G. turns down the WCHA, we will be left with no representation at the table and the league will be nothing more than an after-thought, perhaps even less. This will certainly impact recruiting.

Yes it could have been worse, LSSU could have been thrown into the ACHA, losing scholarship positions and a vastly reduced quality on the ice in terms of talent, but let's not kid ourselves, what has transpired over the summer has been in no way shape or form beneficial to Laker Hockey or its fans. We have, for all intent and purposes, been demoted to a lower league.
Click to expand...

One thing to remember is that the big 10 teams will only have 20 conference games with the realignment. They will be looking to schedule 7 home series throughout the year, because they do not want to play non conference games on the road. This will still lead to some tv coverage.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

CBS Sports came up to the Soo to do a Laker game last season and it seemed to go well. I wouldn't rule it out happening again.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

The WCHA was fighting for survival when they offered all the spots to CCHA teams that were being thrown out with the bath water .
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

There are pluses and minuses to the new situation. Will being in the new-WCHA make recruiting harder? Possibly. It will be a concern for that occasional blue chipper we've been able to get. And TV exposure could go from almost non-existent to even a little more non-existent. I'm not sure how big of a difference that really makes at this point. And if Ohio State and ND didn't draw well in the Soo, at least UM and MSU did. So, there were some pluses to the old-CCHA, even though the league offices were staffed by a bunch of Big10 tools. But that league is gone and done, and for a while there things looked like they could have gotten much, much worse for us. At this point, the new-WCHA looks like a very good spot for us to end up considering everything that is going on. I like the match ups with schools that are similar to LSSU and that come from the same part of the country (I consider the UP and Alaska to be "the same part of the country.") It's a league we have a better chance of being competitive in than in the old-CCHA, so maybe that could help to some extent with recruiting. Too bad St. Cloud is leaving, but I still like how the league looks without them. We've got to worry a bit about future raids from the NCHC, but there is not that much that can be done about that now. With the NCHC being such a geographic mess, who knows what will happen with it 5-10 years down the road. Maybe St. Cloud or Duluth will find out that the grass really wasn't that much greener.

I kind of hope BGSU gets into the NCHC - as unlikely as that is. They aren't one of the schools that created this mess. They were in at least as bad a place as us, and if they can make things work out, then good for them. Other than them, I'm pretty sure any member of the NCHC is now tied with the Weasels for my least favorite college hockey team.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

I have a feeling if Notre Dame goes to the NCHC, Bowling Green goes with them. If that happens, I wonder if the WCHA will add the Atlantic 4 to make 12 teams? Or perhaps 3 of the Atlantic Hockey teams if MSU-Moorhead starts DI hockey and joins the WCHA?
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

RE: TV. Seriously? The CCHA TV coverage was TERRIBLE. It was MSU and UM. LSSU made the program once every two years.

RE: UP TV: Why do we have to rely upon Fox Sports Detroit? Or Fox Sports North? Why can't the WCHA Game of the Week be for Alaska and the UP? This is my point: we've gotten so used to being slaves and serfs to the loud, pushy SOB's south of the Bridge, we've lost a whole lot of pride and dignity. Why can't there be a WCHA game of the week on TV? I guess I am sooooooo tired of hearing about the dangers and fears of not being associated with Detroit or the TV people down below. We were never more than a foil, the Washington Generals to their Globetrotters -- just some random team with which to showcase UM or MSU.

RE: Lesser League. Only if you want it to be lesser. This is where I will always have admiration for Crazy Frank -- because he refused to accept that the UP could not create and support top flight D-I hockey. John McInnis, same thing. So the league on paper appears less than the NCHC or the Big(6)Ten. What are you going to do about it? Not attend the games? Not support the school? Badmouth the league? Give in to those simps and jackholes in Ann Arbor? We have more tradition between us, Tech, and NMU than most any thre other programs. And UAF and BSU have just as much, if not more, passion.

I am a former hockey player. And nothing disgusts me more than surrendering before you've even started to fight. Our new leagueis only going to second-tier if we, and our schools, let it become second tier.

Lost SCSU? BooHoo.

Now, what are we going to do about it?
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

jnacc said:
Even in the glory years, Laker Hockey was never the center of the CCHA in terms of media coverage and representation but they had to give us some coverage, even through the dismal period of the late 90's and early 00's, simply because we were part of the CCHA. It may not have been often, and certainly not nearly as much as we would have liked, but Laker hockey was on Fox Sports Detroit, they were regularly featured on CCHA weekly, garnered exposure in Canada by being shown on Leafs TV and their game results were printed in both the Detroit News and Free Press. The CCHA gave the Lakers exposure to a much wider audience and that in turn helped in the recruiting process.

It is safe to assume now that we may never see Laker Hockey on Fox Sports or ESPNU again. That is a hit, plain and simple. Losing St Cloud is another hit, as they were our D-1 representation. If B.G. turns down the WCHA, we will be left with no representation at the table and the league will be nothing more than an after-thought, perhaps even less. This will certainly impact recruiting.

Yes it could have been worse, LSSU could have been thrown into the ACHA, losing scholarship positions and a vastly reduced quality on the ice in terms of talent, but let's not kid ourselves, what has transpired over the summer has been in no way shape or form beneficial to Laker Hockey or its fans. We have, for all intent and purposes, been demoted to a lower league.
Click to expand...

Is it a demotion, or is it a natural restructuring?

The fact is, there was nothing natural about a school like LSSU being in a the same league as a UM or MSU. If college hockey is to grow, then the landscape of college hockey had to change.

It just makes sense in many ways that schools like MTU, NMU, LSSU, Bemidji, etc, are grouped together. It makes sense that UM, MSU, Minn, Wisc, etc, are grouped together.

I am glad the Lakers will be grouped with small and medium-sized northern schools. I think it will be a fun and exciting league.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Bill said:
CBS Sports came up to the Soo to do a Laker game last season and it seemed to go well. I wouldn't rule it out happening again.
Click to expand...

The CBS Sports crew was very impressed with the work and dedication the school put forth to ensure a quality broadcast last season. They said it was one of their best experiences.

Now, if it is economically feasible for them to come back to the Soo is a separate question. But as far as convincing the powers-that-be that LSSU is a great place to broadcast a game, that part is a done deal. The only thing they were a bit disappointed in was the small crowd.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

I believe the new WCHA was the BEST situation for LSSU. You will have match ups against the other UP schools and other hockey towns, it should be good intense hockey and LSSU should be able to compete for a league title. The league should have it's own identity with like institutions and towns.

I don't see much WCHA TV because no stations in W towns have the facilities or remote capabilities to produce them. Maybe a CBS college game on occasion. The Big Ten / NCHC have already talked about playing each other non conference for TV purposes, and only the Gophers have committed to playing other state programs from the W. I agree with Blue that FSD and other outlets NEVER would do anything that was not SCum / MSU / ND related (Miami got an occasional shot). So the TV & Press coverage will remain spotty. Hopefully this league will get the various local media pumped up and local coverage (print / radio) will improve.

The blue choppers will play elsewhere, but the talent level within the league should be very competitive. Great games against old & new rivals.......I can live with that!
I do hope that the Atlantic teams / BGSU / UAH do not join the W (maybe a new CCHA) as that would destroy the identity of this new WCHA. I would not really want to be a member of the eastern conference of WCHA which would make a much less attractive schedule.
 
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