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LSSU Laker Hockey

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Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

MeridianStreet said:
The attendance looked to be correct from my viewpoint. I don't get too wacked out over the first round attendance. The students are gone and there are always those season tic holders who don't want to pony up for 2/3 more games. It's not only LSSU that has this problem. NMU did also. Remember a couple of years ago when we played at Western in the first round? It went three games and the total for three nights was barely 2,000.

As far as Roque leaving or staying - I see him coming back - just a hunch.

As for getting a coach from the USHL, would he be taking a pay cut to come here? A previous poster mentioned Blashill at WMU and he's making $150,000. That's over 50% more than LSSU can afford. I would bet that Bergeon at BG is about the same and the new guy at OSU is probably making more. . If there is to be a coaching change, I would bet on an assistant at another DI program. He wouldn't get much of a pay hike but would have the chance to be a head coach and run his own program. Afterall, that's the goal of most assistants.
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Although I suppose it's easy to try and spend other people's money hypothetically, It would be nice if the donor of the Norris Center project could kick in some money when the time comes for a new LSSU coach to make money not an issue in the process of choosing a candidate...not to suggest that we overpay for a coach but a donation to kick up Lake Stae's offer to a competitive level would certainly help....I would assume that someone with deep enough pockets to donate 5 million should be able to afford kicking in an extra 50-70 grand or so per year but then again I am doing nothing but speculating....
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

MeridianStreet said:
The attendance looked to be correct from my viewpoint. I don't get too wacked out over the first round attendance. The students are gone and there are always those season tic holders who don't want to pony up for 2/3 more games. It's not only LSSU that has this problem. NMU did also. Remember a couple of years ago when we played at Western in the first round? It went three games and the total for three nights was barely 2,000.


As a Laker season ticket holder i know for a fact that the first round playoff tickets are included in the package. At the end of the season if the Lakers do not earn home ice for the first round we get a refund for the three games.
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Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

AnchorsAway said:
I'm right there with you, I don't want him back either but I'm going to stick by the Lakers until the very end...if/when Roque gets fired a junior coach isn't a bad idea, especially if we could possibly lure someone from the USHL...that would help recruiting and would probably be the best bet for a quick turnaround. The double edged sword of getting a coach from the USHL is that you're likely getting a great coach but...you're likely getting a great coach, i.e. he probably won't stick around for a decade, especially if he has success early on... the USHL is fertile ground for coaching as much as it is for the players, look at how much Blashill has turned around Western in just one year, if he keeps it up I'd be pretty surprised if he didn't take a "better" job whether it be hockey or the minors within the next 5 years...

USHL coaches are the rising stars and just like the players they coach, many have NHL dreams, last year Jon Cooper went from coaching in the USHL at Green Bay to the head coach of the Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning's AHL affiliate...it would be a huge boon to LSSU if they could grab one of these rising stars on their way "up" if only for a few years...again using Western as an example, say they remain a top 6 team for the next 4 years and Blashill leaves for a better job, granted they would be losing the guy that got them consistently better finishes in the standings, but on the strength of those stronger finishes they would be looking at a much larger pool of quality candidates who are willing to go there that would not have been had they remained at or near the cellar like they had been prior to Blashill..the biggest question would be how likely we are to get a quality USHL coach to come here...
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All great points. Hypothetically if we were able to get a junior league coach on the rise and he did manage to improve the team to the point where it was a good enough improvement to step up to the next level...perhaps it would be enough to set the tone for the future. Get another coach from the juniors or perhaps have an assitant step up. A good coach might be more likely to take a job like LSSU if he feels a good tone of success has been set. A few good seasons will set that tone and hopefully increase fan involvement, recruitment possibilities etc. which may help to attract better players and better coaching.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

MeridianStreet said:
The attendance looked to be correct from my viewpoint. I don't get too wacked out over the first round attendance. The students are gone and there are always those season tic holders who don't want to pony up for 2/3 more games. It's not only LSSU that has this problem. NMU did also. Remember a couple of years ago when we played at Western in the first round? It went three games and the total for three nights was barely 2,000.
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I think the problem is that a team hosting in the first round, for lack of a better way to put it, had a meh season. I think Michigan includes two playoff games as part of their season ticket package and refunds on the off chance that they don't host any games (which happens once, what, every couple decades?), but <strike>everyone else has general sales when the playoffs start. By the end of a so-so season, there's probably a chunk of the season ticket fanbase that debates, and decides early in the week "Eh, not going to shell out $30-40-50 for this weekend's games. I'll just listen on the radio" </strike> STH still may not show up, depending , which could affect counts depending on how each school does it.

Edit: Ninja'd by Perky below.

There seems to be more of a vibe this year in Kalamazoo of people getting tickets for round 2, and there's an extra week worth of sales time as well. I could be wrong and will walk into a Lawson with 983 other people Friday, of course.

I understand the reasoning for the setup being what it is (The CCHA taking home $10k per game, so they're definitely not shrinking the playoffs) and having more than 4 teams in Detroit is a disaster based on past Thursday games, but in general, I'd probably prefer the Hockey East setup where the top 8 make it and other wise, too bad. Hell, I think missing the playoff repeatedly would have gotten Culhane out at Western years earlier.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Congrats to K-2! An honor well deserved. I am afraid if Roque does stay we may have seen the best K-2 will be; along with the other Freshmen. A good coach can develope talent and Roque and his staff have shown they are not able to do this. While this past weekend was very exciting and we really enjoyed both games ... it would be a big time mistake to bring him and/or any of his assistants back next year.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

bronconick said:
There seems to be more of a vibe this year in Kalamazoo of people getting tickets for round 2, and there's an extra week worth of sales time as well. I could be wrong and will walk into a Lawson with 983 other people Friday, of course.
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There is a lot more reason to be excited when hosting a round 2 series instead of a round 1 series. A trip to UM or Notre Dame was on the line last weekend. The Lakers are unlikely to beat either team in a best out of 3 series.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Laker54 said:
Congrats to K-2! An honor well deserved. I am afraid if Roque does stay we may have seen the best K-2 will be; along with the other Freshmen. A good coach can develope talent and Roque and his staff have shown they are not able to do this. While this past weekend was very exciting and we really enjoyed both games ... it would be a big time mistake to bring him and/or any of his assistants back next year.
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Right.....he could have the same fate as Jakaitis........he really went downhill.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

MeridianStreet said:
Right.....he could have the same fate as Jakaitis........he really went downhill.
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I would only mention Inglas and BMW. BMW came in as a hot prospect and I don't think he developed like he or others thought he might. I believe there have been other names mentioned here also.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Laker54 said:
I would only mention Inglas and BMW. BMW came in as a hot prospect and I don't think he developed like he or others thought he might. I believe there have been other names mentioned here also.
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It is tough to have a fair analysis on Wilson when he had so much injury trouble. They were in 4th place last year going into February with him as the starter. It was around the start of February last year when Wilson stopped practicing because he was having so much trouble with his hip. It was unfortunate for him that he had the same problem with his other hip at the start of this year.

As far as Inglis goes, he just could not handle the pressure of being the starter every game. The first year when he played, he knew that he was just giving Jakaitis a rest. It is a lot different to go and play a game here and there, then being the starter every night.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Laker54 said:
I would only mention Inglas and BMW. BMW came in as a hot prospect and I don't think he developed like he or others thought he might. I believe there have been other names mentioned here also.
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I'm not sure what a hot prospect BMW, he was drafted, but he was from Boston area, played for CM, which is a huge BU pipeline. His uncle played for Providence. I've always rooted for the small schools (as a Merrimack fan) so I always root for LSSU, NMU, CC, Duluth, MTU, etc. It has saddened me to see Lake Superior's demise. One of my first memories of college hockey was watching LSSU dismantle BU in 94.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

irishfan85 said:
I'm not sure what a hot prospect BMW, he was drafted, but he was from Boston area, played for CM, which is a huge BU pipeline. His uncle played for Providence. I've always rooted for the small schools (as a Merrimack fan) so I always root for LSSU, NMU, CC, Duluth, MTU, etc. It has saddened me to see Lake Superior's demise. One of my first memories of college hockey was watching LSSU dismantle BU in 94.
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mn duluth with enrollment of close to 12000 is real small. do you ever research before you write or do you simply go from thread to thread posting nothing
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

I have a feeling the MI tech coach may be gone after North Dakota beat them 11-1 and if Roque leaves,maybe they both can just switch teams.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

PerkyforPrez said:
MeridianStreet said:
As a Laker season ticket holder i know for a fact that the first round playoff tickets are included in the package. At the end of the season if the Lakers do not earn home ice for the first round we get a refund for the three games.
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It used to be that way, but isn't anymore. I am a season ticket holder, but I haven't bought playoff tickets in many years.
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Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Bill said:
As far as getting more USHL recruits goes, it's more a matter of getting the right recruits from the USHL along with good coaching. Both Western and Bowling Green have had quite a few USHL recruits on their rosters for a number of years but have still languished near the bottom of the CCHA standings. Just having USHL recruits isn't enough in and of itself to guarantee success.
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True.. But also realize that both BG & Western, while languishing near the bottom of the CCHA standings, have placed more players in the NHL in the past 12 years than LSSU has. Even with the terrible coaching situations these schools have had, they have managed to get players that make it to the next level. Now you tell me how either of these schools, with their terrible showings year in & year out, should have been able to out recruit LSSU in the USHL? The USHL is simply a league that LSSU can't keep ignoring to recruit from with the caliber of "Div. 1 ready" talent they continue to produce.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

SmartAxe said:
True.. But also realize that both BG & Western, while languishing near the bottom of the CCHA standings, have placed more players in the NHL in the past 12 years than LSSU has. Even with the terrible coaching situations these schools have had, they have managed to get players that make it to the next level. Now you tell me how either of these schools, with their terrible showings year in & year out, should have been able to out recruit LSSU in the USHL? The USHL is simply a league that LSSU can't keep ignoring to recruit from with the caliber of "Div. 1 ready" talent they continue to produce.
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The USHL is certainly the best Junior A hockey league and I agree that the Lakers need to make more of an effort to get guys from there, but the point I was making is simply that having a bunch of USHL players on your roster doesn't necessarily guarantee a winning team.
 
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Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Agreed, as anybody who regularly reads this thread knows, I am as big of a USHL advocate as anybody but simply having a player from there doesn't guarantee you're getting a stud, as Bill has said in the past it's all about finding the "right" players...The USHL has supplied the Lakers with players who turned out well like Perkovich, Macvoy, and Kaunisto but it has also supplied us with duds like Barczuk and Sellers.... Schofield, Monardo, Trotman, and Acton are our consensus best players I would say and none of them are USHL alumni ...

On another topic, if you go on the CCHA website and find the "10 x 3" feature it lists small questionaires given to different players in the CCHA, there are roughly 25-30 of the player questionaires listed and one of the categories was "3 opponents you fear playing the most" and other than Carl Hagelin, Carter Camper, and Zach Redmond, LSSU's own Rick Schofield showed up the most lists under that question, it's nice to see his play is being recognized by his peers!
 
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