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LSSU Laker Hockey

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Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

AnchorsAway said:
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 ...
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I believe what we are trying to articulate is that simply recruiting a player because he plays in the USHL is no guarantee of success but seeing how the USHL is the premier Junior A circuit, the coaching staff needs to devote far more of their time and resources scouting this league and establishing contacts in order to gain a foothold

Now if we the fans can only get the current coaching staff to see it that way.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Today i was looking at the ushl website and i never realized that 242 players are going to colleges next year on scholarships. 64 players to the ccha. Here's the breakdown--Miami-13, Ohio State-11, Norte Dame-9, Western Mich-8,Mich State-7, Bowling Green-5, Mich-5,Ferris-5, Northern-1; Lssu&Alaska-0.Approx 25% to ccha interesting.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

newt-ski said:
Today i was looking at the ushl website and i never realized that 242 players are going to colleges next year on scholarships. 64 players to the ccha. Here's the breakdown--Miami-13, Ohio State-11, Norte Dame-9, Western Mich-8,Mich State-7, Bowling Green-5, Mich-5,Ferris-5, Northern-1; Lssu&Alaska-0.Approx 25% to ccha interesting.
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Yes, the Lakers won't be bringing in anyone from the USHL next season unless it's a late D pickup like Bruneteau was this past season (or even less likely a late goalie pickup). I'm still not sure what the plans are for Tyler Marble in net. His numbers at Traverse City this season are just so-so; he can still play another year of Juniors. I think he still has to prove himself. The Lakers could bring him in next season as the third goalie, but I'm not sure the coaches feel he is ready yet. They also have another forward who committed verbally over the holidays and whose name hasn't become publically known yet, but I don't believe it's a USHL kid.

The Lakers did have a D from the USHL in for a visit in the Fall and thought he might commit, but from what I heard the kid wanted to see what other offers he might get before making a verbal to the Lakers. I think they got tired of waiting on him and are happy with the way Bruneteau is progressing, and I think they have decided to give that scholarship money to Bruneteau (who I think came in as a recruited walk-on).
 
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Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

newt-ski said:
Today i was looking at the ushl website and i never realized that 242 players are going to colleges next year on scholarships. 64 players to the ccha. Here's the breakdown--Miami-13, Ohio State-11, Norte Dame-9, Western Mich-8,Mich State-7, Bowling Green-5, Mich-5,Ferris-5, Northern-1; Lssu&Alaska-0.Approx 25% to ccha interesting.
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The majority of the USHL kids go to the CCHA or the WCHA for two simple reasons (outside of their elite competitive statuses of course), for one, the backbone of the CCHA is centered around the state of Michigan, and according to the College Hockey News website, the only two geographical entities with more players in D1 college hockey than the state of Michigan is the state of Minnesota and the province of Ontario (MN has like 150 kids or something like that in D1 hockey, Ontario has around 140 kids and Michigan had around 130)...a lot of those Michigan kids play in the USHL and like the idea of playing for a CCHA school (even if it is not necessarily a school in the state) because their parents and friends from back home (many of whom go to schools in Michigan) have an easier opportunity to come and see them play....

The reason for many of the WCHA commitments is that the heart of the USHL is in the WCHA's backyard, the frontier states, so those schools are much closer and have a lot easier time going to watch kids play and make personal visits, it's also less of a burden in terms of traveling for the players to go and visit the schools out there...a sought after kid on Fargo can make the visit to North Dakota or a kid on Green Bay can make a trip to Wisconsin in a days trip if need be without having to miss more than a practice whereas kids out there have to make special trips and risk missing practices and even games to visit schools out in this part of the midwest so they're less inclined to give it a look unless they really are infatuated with a CCHA school. (Fargo with N Dakota and Green Bay with Wisconsin are obviously the most convienient traveling scenarios for USHL teams in relation to the location of WCHA schools, but you get the idea).
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

While I agree that the USHL is a fertile recruiting ground I'm starting to think that the Lakers would be better served allocating most resources to the NAHL. It isn't quite on the level of the USHL, but it is still a quality league. As was mentioned in several posts, the USHL is a league that many of the major schools recruit from. The Lakers aren't going to be able to compete for recruits on the same level as those other schools. The NAHL isn't a league that many of the major schools look at; of the "major" schools in college hockey, Michigan has 1 recruit coming in from the NAHL, Notre Dame has 1, and Denver has 2. I think LSSU would have an easier time competing with Ferris, Western, Air Force, etc for top players in the NAHL than trying to unearth overlooked players in the USHL. Air Force has recognized that there is talent in the NAHL and recruits almost exclusively from that league, their current roster has 22 players on it from it. They also have 12 commitments over the next two years heading there. I wouldn't have an issue going as hard at the league as Air Force does, over the past few years they have proven that a roster made up of primarily NAHL players can be competitive in college hockey. They've made the national tournament 3 of the past 4 years and had solid showings in it. 07 a one point loss against Minnesota, 08 a double OT loss against Miami, and 09 a win over Michigan followed by a double OT loss to Vermont on a video review goal. Granted, with Air Force and LSSU it isn't really comparing Apples to Apples because of everything else required of being a cadet there, but I think the point holds true that the NAHL is a solid league that isn't recruited by the major schools because of the quality of player they get out of the USHL.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Buck LeVasseur said:
While I agree that the USHL is a fertile recruiting ground I'm starting to think that the Lakers would be better served allocating most resources to the NAHL. It isn't quite on the level of the USHL, but it is still a quality league. As was mentioned in several posts, the USHL is a league that many of the major schools recruit from. The Lakers aren't going to be able to compete for recruits on the same level as those other schools. The NAHL isn't a league that many of the major schools look at; of the "major" schools in college hockey, Michigan has 1 recruit coming in from the NAHL, Notre Dame has 1, and Denver has 2. I think LSSU would have an easier time competing with Ferris, Western, Air Force, etc for top players in the NAHL than trying to unearth overlooked players in the USHL. Air Force has recognized that there is talent in the NAHL and recruits almost exclusively from that league, their current roster has 22 players on it from it. They also have 12 commitments over the next two years heading there. I wouldn't have an issue going as hard at the league as Air Force does, over the past few years they have proven that a roster made up of primarily NAHL players can be competitive in college hockey. They've made the national tournament 3 of the past 4 years and had solid showings in it. 07 a one point loss against Minnesota, 08 a double OT loss against Miami, and 09 a win over Michigan followed by a double OT loss to Vermont on a video review goal. Granted, with Air Force and LSSU it isn't really comparing Apples to Apples because of everything else required of being a cadet there, but I think the point holds true that the NAHL is a solid league that isn't recruited by the major schools because of the quality of player they get out of the USHL.
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Well we still have one un-named recruit for next year, a forward that committed over the holidays. Who knows, maybe it will turn out that he is from the NAHL. ;)
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Congratulations to Kevin Kapalka for being named USCHO's 2nd star in the nation for last weekend's games! 76 saves on 78 shots and 5 shutout periods, way to go KK!
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Bill said:
Well we still have one un-named recruit for next year, a forward that committed over the holidays. Who knows, maybe it will turn out that he is from the NAHL. ;)
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If he is i hope he is from from one of the top teams in the league. Playing with better players can only make you better. Bill i get the feeling you know more than the rest of us:rolleyes:
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Looks like the Lakers may be without the services of Dan Radtke this weekend at ND, as he and Kyle Jean were involved in a collision at practice today. Jean will be okay.
 
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Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Neil Diamond said:
Looks like the Lakers may be without the services of Dan Radtke this weekend at ND, as he and Kyle Jean were involved in a collision at practice today. Jean will be okay.
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That would be ashame; he really stepped up his game last weekend.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

For anyone that's interested, here are updated regular season stats for next season's recruits. All of these guys have 91 birth dates and so they could play another season of Juniors, although as far as I know at this point they will likely be coming to LSSU next season. The exception is Dommett who has a 90 birth date and will definitely have to come in next season.

Buddy Robinson - 57 games, 20 goals, 42 assists, 62 points (Hamilton - OJHL, and Nepean - CJHL)
Steve Perfetto - 31 games, 16 goals, 17 assists, 33 points (Kingston OJHL)
Kelin Ainsworth - 48 games 25 goals, 21 assists, 46 points (Traverse City - NAHL)
Andrew Dommett - 34 games, 22 goals, 24 assists, 46 points (Kindersley - SJHL)
Kevin Czuczman - 47 games, 4 goals, 19 assists, 23 points (Newmarket - OJHL)

All are forwards except for Czuzcman.

Perfetto missed quite a few games in the first part of the season with a broken ankle. Dommett missed quite a few games early in the season with a broken jaw.

Robinson played over half the season with Hamilton before moving on to Nepean. From what I heard, not too many Hamilton players were happy there. I don't know if it was an owner related problem, or coach related.

Ainsworth didn't do much scoring early in the season for Traverse City, but kind of caught fire after the holidays. I think he played on a line with Radke last season so it may have been a matter of adjusting to new linemates.

The OJHL and SJHL have started playoffs and Perfetto and Dommett have picked up a few additional points in those games.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Rick Schofield got honorable mention in the CCHA All-Conference team. Congrats to him, but Kapalka got robbed. I can't believe he didn't get at least honorable mention.
 
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Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

LSSULaker889294 said:
Rick Schofield got honorable mention in the CCHA All-Conference team. Congrats to him, but Kapalka got robbed. I can't believe he didn't get at least honorable mention.
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Kapalka was extremely close to making the second team. I wouldn't call it "robbery" when his total weighted voting was 12 "votes" and Greenham, who was the second team goalie, had 14. Wedged in between the two was Reichard who had 13. It was really tight voting once you got past Nagle. I think Kapalka should be above Greenham, he had a better GAA, Save%, and win%. But in the same breath, Hunwick (with 11) probably deserved the second team slot more than either of them.

Also, Trotman was 8th in voting amongst defense-men.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

Kapalka is a finalist for CCHA Rookie of the Year and Will Acton is a finalist for CCHA Best Defensive Forward. I doubt either will win though.
 
Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

DopeyBaker said:
PerkyforPrez said:
I do. I have had season tickets for a long time, but the last few years I have not been required to get the playoff tickets. Perhaps it is an option for certain groups (mail-in vs. buy in person vs. online, general public vs. faculty/staff, etc.)?
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For what it's worth, I'm still a season ticket holder (though I'm an out of towner) and 1st round playoff tickets are always included in the package. Then if the Lakers don't host in the first round, the cost of those tickets is refunded. I do pick mine up & pay for them in person though, so if you order yours online then you may be onto something there...


Talking about this weekend's match up with Notre Dame. I kind of like how our Lakers match up against them. It does scare me that ND was idle last week and had a ton of extra time to prepare for this series. Miami had the same extra week before heading to the Sault a couple weeks ago and that didn't turn out so well for us.
Hopefully Roque can get a solid game plan together and get the guys pumped up and ready for a hard fought battle this weekend.

Also, anyone else that appreciated that CBS-College Sports did what FSN & Comcast won't, by broadcasting a game from the Sault, should maybe drop them a line on their website and let them know that you as a Laker fan appreciated it. You never know, spreading good vibes could reap a return trip to the Sault and more TV time for the team someday.
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Re: LSSU Laker Hockey

I think the Lakers can pull off a upset this weekend but they will have to play their best. Kapalka of course is a big key but i think even more inportant is the team playing hard in front of him not letting the Irish to get in to close to him.
 
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