LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

[michiganmidge]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

This is long overdue. You seem a bit upset Mister Hockey. I have said for some time that Joe Shawhan should be coaching at LSSU. Even when he was with the Indians. Making a comment that he was dishonest with LSSU the first time around is somewhat comical. Does it really make sense that he could lie to the school that he got his degree from. He was hired as a popular move to offset those that might have been upset that Coach Anzalone was let go. LSSU knew what they were getting and don't forget, Coach Roques best two years were when Joe Shawhan was here.

He did not have a degree from LSSU. He lied about that and was caught - hence the reason he is no longer employed as an assistant coach.

 

[Laker54]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

The firing of Roque has brought out all sorts of new posters to the site; quite a few have been pretty negative about LSSU and the hockey program. I like many of the regular posters are happy to see the university remove Roque and maybe Dunbar should be let go also. I don’t see McClain cleaning house before he leaves, most likely he would leave her fate to the next person coming in.

Many have harped about salaries; Bill made a great comment about some great coaches getting their at Lake State at a lesser salary before moving to larger schools that could pay more. But before they left Lake State’s hockey program did benefit from each of them before they went on to bigger and better things. I’m sure the university understands what salaries are around the WCHA and other conferences and what will needed in the future.

As for a new coach; the program is down at this time but … what an opportunity for a good, young, energetic coach who has experience in building a hockey program. If I were on the search committee I would be scouting/visiting/calling Adrian College.

While names may be gathered in the coming days I would be surprised if anything happens until the Division I or III playoffs are complete when prospective coaches or assistants teams have finished the playoffs.

I for one look forward to seeing what the future brings and look forward to watching the 'new' team this fall.

 

[sm2pk]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Roque had his chance and he had it longer than Borek or Anzalone . It is always the same when changes are needed. You can't fire the team .

 

[Mister Hockey 8]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

The Jimbo attack dogs and apologists are having one last bark and bite. Mr. Raven might be happy to know that Mr. Roque will not be part of the team picture next year, among some others who felt the ire of that man up there.

I hope the A.D. and administration looks at Frank or Francis Anzalone. A proven winner who put your village on the map, and is a lead NHL scout, or an up and coming coach who has a hockey mind, just like his father.

TBA

Pretty sure everybody in the Soo and all of Michigan knows better than to ever consider anyone with the Anzalone name ever again. That's funny though.

 

[jnacc]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Interesting. You are trying to tell one of the University Accountants there is a massive financial problem in Laker Hockey? I think I know more on this subject than you do, unless you are a Vice President.

Whether things are fine in the program from a hockey standpoint are for you guys to decide. It would seem most on here feel its not.

Funny because it is from someone who deals with the shools accounting/budgeting that told me that the program was bleeding red....maybe you should talk to your boss to get clued in. Look, I'm not saying that they are thinking of pulling the plug this year because obviously they are not but the way the program has been operating is not sustainable. Revenues must increase to make this viable. Thankfully the hiring of the right coach and putting the team back on track will go a long way into making this happen. Think about it, they averaged 1700 or so a game this year when so many had become dissatisfied with the Roque administration. Hire a good energetic coach who can build a team that shows promise and lives up to its potential and that attendance average is easily bumped up to 2500-2700 per game and revenues would rise just as fast and no more long term sustainability issues.

 

[Mister Hockey 8]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Too bad you can't - Roque had his best records with his recruits. He has the eye for talent. Darn that Lake State didn't have a private jet for Coach to ge t to games every week. He survived all of his inexperienced assistant coaches recruiting mistakes early on. Now the problem is too many Free Agent signings that depleted the line up. You put Lain and Robinson back in this year's line-up and they have are a home playoff team.

 

[Truth Squad]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Too bad you can't - Roque had his best records with his recruits. He has the eye for talent. Darn that Lake State didn't have a private jet for Coach to ge t to games every week. He survived all of his inexperienced assistant coaches recruiting mistakes early on. Now the problem is too many Free Agent signings that depleted the line up. You put Lain and Robinson back in this year's line-up and they have are a home playoff team.

Ha ha ha ha now that is funny!!!!!

 

[jnacc]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Too bad you can't - Roque had his best records with his recruits. He has the eye for talent. Darn that Lake State didn't have a private jet for Coach to ge t to games every week. He survived all of his inexperienced assistant coaches recruiting mistakes early on. Now the problem is too many Free Agent signings that depleted the line up. You put Lain and Robinson back in this year's line-up and they have are a home playoff team.

Yeah right....look it, Roque would make an excellent recruiter for a big name school or a very good NHL scout because he can see talent where others may not but he's more than proven that he is not head coaching material and could not work with the talent that he had.

Go look at the record books - get out your media guides. Go back to the 80's and 90's, you will be surprised. Lake State has never had crowds that big for teams without Big 10 names unless it was Great Lake State Weekend or Pink in the Rink. Pink in the Rink had the highest attendance this past season and all the work for Pink in the Rink was coordinated by Coach Roque and his wife. Students were on break for 10 home games this year. That is an astronomical number not to have your students there. Didn't Dunbar realize that the students would be out of town ? It's not hard to check the academic calendar. Lake State students come to games when they are in town but they don't sit in the student section for fear of being singled out by the AD.

Indeed go look, even during Borek's last year attendance averaged around 2700 and drew a crowd of over 3100 against Wayne State...not a big time program! In Anzalone's dismal first year when the team was at its absolute worst they still managed to draw over 2000 to game during Thanksgiving day break when no students were on campus. This year they drew just a little under 1600 during that break. A 400 to 500 bump in attendance is significant for a program like Lake State and a figure that will be reached again when a good coach is finally brought in.

 

[aparch]

...You put Lain and Robinson back in this year's line-up and they have are a home playoff team.

Win just one game at FSU last weekend and Roque would be bussing to face the WCHA champs in Mankato tomorrow morning.

 

[CKrouth]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Funny because it is from someone who deals with the shools accounting/budgeting that told me that the program was bleeding red....maybe you should talk to your boss to get clued in. Look, I'm not saying that they are thinking of pulling the plug this year because obviously they are not but the way the program has been operating is not sustainable. Revenues must increase to make this viable. Thankfully the hiring of the right coach and putting the team back on track will go a long way into making this happen. Think about it, they averaged 1700 or so a game this year when so many had become dissatisfied with the Roque administration. Hire a good energetic coach who can build a team that shows promise and lives up to its potential and that attendance average is easily bumped up to 2500-2700 per game and revenues would rise just as fast and no more long term sustainability issues.

I'm not here to argue with you. People can decide who they want to believe: the guy who can look at the athletic financials or the person who heard something from someone who supposedly works with me.

I will say you are correct on the attendance. Revenue does go up when more people buy tickets. That is a proven fact

.....And with that, I bid you all farewell. Live by the Lakers, Die by the Lakers. Lakers for life!

 

[AnchorsAway]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Go look at the record books - get out your media guides. Go back to the 80's and 90's, you will be surprised. Lake State has never had crowds that big for teams without Big 10 names unless it was Great Lake State Weekend or Pink in the Rink. Pink in the Rink had the highest attendance this past season and all the work for Pink in the Rink was coordinated by Coach Roque and his wife. Students were on break for 10 home games this year. That is an astronomical number not to have your students there. Didn't Dunbar realize that the students would be out of town ? It's not hard to check the academic calendar. Lake State students come to games when they are in town but they don't sit in the student section for fear of being singled out by the AD.

Well we got what we all wanted, Roque got more than enough time to prove his case, and he certainly did a good job bringing quality talent to our campus, but all in all he just wasn't cut out to coach this team, and (Finally!) the administration realized that. As a previous poster said, this is a fantastic opportunity to reboot the program....the Norris Center expansion project was supposed to have done that, but that has gone by the wayside so why not start over from here?

Once the new coach is selected, the school would do well to roll out a new PR campaign to get people talking about LSSU hockey again. The 10 home dates when students were not on campus this past season was ridiculous, and hopefully that can be avoided in the future because it no doubt was one of the reasons (however very likely not the biggest one) that attendance soured this season. Getting more students energized to go to games, and playing the games when they are on campus is a big key to boosting attendance, but in my opinion it's not the biggest part.

Several have mentioned the low student enrollment at LSSU, so the student body can only be counted on for so much, and the entire student body still only makes up a fraction of the population of the greater Soo, MI area...it is just as, if not more, important to appeal to the local residents. I believe I am speaking for all of the "regular" posters by saying that we have all spent time in the Soo, and I think we all know there are a very limited number of avenues of entertainment on a weekend evening, even fewer that are family friendly, but Laker Hockey is a viable option, a new face to the program paired with a new advertising and PR campaign would really help put an LSSU game back onto the radar of many locals as a Friday or Saturday night option; because even though those options are few, the LSSU hockey experience has been literally the same old song and dance for an entire decade...and people aren't stupid, they eventually started deciding to go elsewhere, (or stay home) as an alternative, and I don't blame them....but this is a golden opportunity to get them back. I don't know if any of the movers and shakers on "the hill" read this board but please heed some of the suggestions of alumni and dedicated LSSU followers like myself and do anything in your power to make a concerted effort to re-energize this program and fanbase....nobody is expecting national championships, we just want a competitive program to be proud of!

 

[Lakerblue]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

I'm not here to argue with you. People can decide who they want to believe: the guy who can look at the athletic financials or the person who heard something from someone who supposedly works with me.

I will say you are correct on the attendance. Revenue does go up when more people buy tickets. That is a proven fact

.....And with that, I bid you all farewell. Live by the Lakers, Die by the Lakers. Lakers for life!

Thank you for the insight. Its always good to have a knowledgeable accountant and Soo Blue Liners executive, and real-live LSSU insider help out correct facts in the otherwise fact-free internet zone. Seriously, thanks for coming on here.

This is an exciting and, in some ways, stressful time, for our beloved Laker hockey program.

Jim Roque care(d) deeply for this program and this school. Nobody has given more of themselves and their professional life to LSSU Athletics than Jim. He brought some very talented young players to our school, and his teams generally comported themselves well in public, and in the classroom (at least as far as I can tell). He righted the ship after the free-fall under Frank Part II. But he never pushed the program over that hill. Not even once.

Jim did a generally poor job of connecting with the fans. In my opinion he was always better suited as a Associate Head Coach -- in charge in recruiting and planning and on-ice work. He could be a diffident task master and somewhat cold to the players. He was never really well suited for the PR responsibilities of being a D-I head coach. And he never really connected with the students or the alumni in any meaningful way. He seemed to do a decent job raising money, but the pledges never seemed to match the promises. Ultimately, it seemed as though he was having trouble connecting with the LSSU community.

Of course, none of that matters if the team wins. And in the end, Jim's failure to improve the team each year as the calendar changed over to January crippled and negated any growth possible from a good Fall campaign.

Now, the coaching search is on. I think we can take a very good lesson from UAA's search -- and I think you'll see a search very much in line with UAA' efforts. That will mean a likely younger D-III head coach or younger up-and-coming D-I assistant. I would be surprised if the school goes back to the LSSU stable too deeply. Is LSSU going to open the bank vault for a Mel Pearson-type hire? No. I think the program should probably look for a young coach with energy, a plan, a desire to build a great program. Recall, all you budget hawks, that at one time Ron Mason, Frank Anzalone, and Jeff Jackson were untried rookie coaches. (of course, so was Scott Borek and Jim Roque). Its a crap shoot.

My advise: Love the Lakers. Cheer for our team. Buy tickets. Buy gear. Buy hats. Buy jerseys. E-mail the administration your support. Donate to the school. Put your money where your mouth is. No matter who the school hires, I can predict that I will be absurdly excited come September for the season to begin!

 

[MeridianStreet]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

The ball was in Jim Roque's court. It is no longer and now is in Kris Dunbar's court. She now has the opportunity to show her administrative chops. As has been discussed ad nauseam, Lake State has limited resources for replacing the coach and can't go after any big names. However, there will be many knocks on our door looking for the opportunity to run a D-1 program, despite the lack of a six figure salary.

Neither the AD nor the president are "hockey people" so my hope is that they will seek advice from more than just 2-3 people when making a hiring decision. I'm sure former coaches like Mason, Comley, or Jackson would be happy to talk with Kris or Tony if they called. There are also several locals with good knowledge of the college game. The AD and Pres. have the final say so let's hope they make a good informed decision.

I also agree that better marketing is critical. Not sure, but we may be the smallest PUBLIC university with a D-1 hockey team. Fan support is critical. I don't think that student attendance is that bad (percentage wise) compared to other schools but the ones living on campus should be the easiest to market to.

 

[Lakerblue]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Yeah right....look it, Roque would make an excellent recruiter for a big name school or a very good NHL scout because he can see talent where others may not but he's more than proven that he is not head coaching material and could not work with the talent that he had.



Indeed go look, even during Borek's last year attendance averaged around 2700 and drew a crowd of over 3100 against Wayne State...not a big time program! In Anzalone's dismal first year when the team was at its absolute worst they still managed to draw over 2000 to game during Thanksgiving day break when no students were on campus. This year they drew just a little under 1600 during that break. A 400 to 500 bump in attendance is significant for a program like Lake State and a figure that will be reached again when a good coach is finally brought in.

Agreed.

I don't recall any empty seats even for games against Kent or UIC or OSU "back in the day."

I do actually recall camping out playing cards in the Norris Center waiting for the doors to open as a student.

20 years of crappy hockey and some bad PR and certainly rotten scheduling by the AD have depressed the joy in Lakerville.

That can be corrected with good PR, better scheduling, and winning a few games.

 

[Lakerblue]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

The ball was in Jim Roque's court. It is no longer and now is in Kris Dunbar's court. She now has the opportunity to show her administrative chops. As has been discussed ad nauseam, Lake State has limited resources for replacing the coach and can't go after any big names. However, there will be many knocks on our door looking for the opportunity to run a D-1 program, despite the lack of a six figure salary.

Neither the AD nor the president are "hockey people" so my hope is that they will seek advice from more than just 2-3 people when making a hiring decision. I'm sure former coaches like Mason, Comley, or Jackson would be happy to talk with Kris or Tony if they called. There are also several locals with good knowledge of the college game. The AD and Pres. have the final say so let's hope they make a good informed decision.

I also agree that better marketing is critical. Not sure, but we may be the smallest PUBLIC university with a D-1 hockey team. Fan support is critical. I don't think that student attendance is that bad (percentage wise) compared to other schools but the ones living on campus should be the easiest to market to.

Agreed. I think, again, the UAA situation insightful because the UAA hockey community really made some noise.

 

[sm2pk]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Coaches come and go and Roque is a go and a new coach will come.

 

[Mister Hockey 8]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Lake State has no resources. They have had declining enrollment since the 90's and some employees have not had a raise in a decade. Lake State has less than 2200 full time students and less than 800 living on campus with a rink seating capacity of 4200. The enrollment problem is not going away, it could be worse next year.

 

[Mister Hockey 8]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Back when they had bleachers and a capacity of 2000 instead of 4000.
And when Lake State had 3000 students plus. Times have changed for sure.

 

[Mister Hockey 8]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Agreed.

I don't recall any empty seats even for games against Kent or UIC or OSU "back in the day."

I do actually recall camping out playing cards in the Norris Center waiting for the doors to open as a student.

20 years of crappy hockey and some bad PR and certainly rotten scheduling by the AD have depressed the joy in Lakerville.

That can be corrected with good PR, better scheduling, and winning a few games.

The Norris Center bleachers seating 2000 students and the Taffy Abel seating 4200. And back in the day when LSSU had 3000 students plus and many of them on campus. Times have changed.

 

[Bill]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Well we got what we all wanted, Roque got more than enough time to prove his case, and he certainly did a good job bringing quality talent to our campus, but all in all he just wasn't cut out to coach this team, and (Finally!) the administration realized that. As a previous poster said, this is a fantastic opportunity to reboot the program....the Norris Center expansion project was supposed to have done that, but that has gone by the wayside so why not start over from here?

Once the new coach is selected, the school would do well to roll out a new PR campaign to get people talking about LSSU hockey again. The 10 home dates when students were not on campus this past season was ridiculous, and hopefully that can be avoided in the future because it no doubt was one of the reasons (however very likely not the biggest one) that attendance soured this season. Getting more students energized to go to games, and playing the games when they are on campus is a big key to boosting attendance, but in my opinion it's not the biggest part.

Several have mentioned the low student enrollment at LSSU, so the student body can only be counted on for so much, and the entire student body still only makes up a fraction of the population of the greater Soo, MI area...it is just as, if not more, important to appeal to the local residents. I believe I am speaking for all of the "regular" posters by saying that we have all spent time in the Soo, and I think we all know there are a very limited number of avenues of entertainment on a weekend evening, even fewer that are family friendly, but Laker Hockey is a viable option, a new face to the program paired with a new advertising and PR campaign would really help put an LSSU game back onto the radar of many locals as a Friday or Saturday night option; because even though those options are few, the LSSU hockey experience has been literally the same old song and dance for an entire decade...and people aren't stupid, they eventually started deciding to go elsewhere, (or stay home) as an alternative, and I don't blame them....but this is a golden opportunity to get them back. I don't know if any of the movers and shakers on "the hill" read this board but please heed some of the suggestions of alumni and dedicated LSSU followers like myself and do anything in your power to make a concerted effort to re-energize this program and fanbase....nobody is expecting national championships, we just want a competitive program to be proud of!

Good, down to earth post. (Although a few obviously didn't get what they wanted.
.