LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

[jnacc]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Well, that's a kick in the nuts.

Probably true...but a kick in the nuts nonetheless

He is stating the obvious and we all know, or at least should know, that the finances for Laker Athletics are in a perilous state (despite a certain poster coming on here claiming to be some big wig in the accounting department and saying everything's gravy) and the program is balancing on the head of a needle. Where I disagree with the author is that a coaching change will have a minimal impact as he is missing the obvious himself. A new fresh face coaching staff, positively engaging the community and getting even just 2 more wins next season compared to this will go a loooooong way in bringing back fans which means more money which means the program can have the dollars to compete and compete well in the WCHA.

 

[sm2pk]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

I am sure that article could have been written for every team in the Atlantic conference and teams in the other leagues as well. Attendance at a lot of games hover around 2000 if not below.

 

[davyd83]

Jeff Blashill would love to come home to Soo.

Ron Rolston belongs in college hockey. Soo would be great.

Danton Cole would be good too.

Eric Rud at CC a great canidate.

Derek Lalonde coach of the Green Bay Gamblers.

Yeah, Blashill sure wants to come. If his dream is to coach in the NHL, he's far closer in Grand Rapids. His assistants at Western made more than LSSU paid the head coach. LaLonde would have to take a big pay cut too And he's used to having all the resources he needs to win. Maybe if you give him a raise from Green Bay, good salaries for 2 assistants and a recruiting budget near the top of the league and comparable travel arrangements he might give it a look.

The Soo is a great hockey town with a passionate fan base. Give the program what it needs to build a winner and seats will be tough to come by.

 

[LSSULaker889294]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Jim Roque was one of the best choices after Frank got rightfully fired in 2005. I was happy with the choice and so were others. Unfortunately it didn't work out.

 

[AnchorsAway]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

He is stating the obvious and we all know, or at least should know, that the finances for Laker Athletics are in a perilous state (despite a certain poster coming on here claiming to be some big wig in the accounting department and saying everything's gravy) and the program is balancing on the head of a needle. Where I disagree with the author is that a coaching change will have a minimal impact as he is missing the obvious himself. A new fresh face coaching staff, positively engaging the community and getting even just 2 more wins next season compared to this will go a loooooong way in bringing back fans which means more money which means the program can have the dollars to compete and compete well in the WCHA.

Not to say that much of what is in that article isn't true, but I'm a little skeptical, that seems a little bit of a bite-back piece on the behalf of Roque...they make it sound like the LSSU program just recently went down the tubes and the school rushed to throw someone's head out onto a platter, which is not the case, this program has been perpetually treading water for an entire decade with the same man at the helm. Now maybe JR didnt have many resources at his disposal, and that is disappointing, but in the same instance it shouldn't be used as a reason to let him stay for 25 years...eventually a change had to be made regardless of the resources situation, although you would hope it would improve. Also the point about JR being a fantastic recruiter was supposed to be a complement but it serves to degrade his coaching ability, because he was unable to mine team success from what was an increasing level of talent.

 

[davyd83]

Not to say that much of what is in that article isn't true, but I'm a little skeptical, that seems a little bit of a bite-back piece on the behalf of Roque...they make it sound like the LSSU program just recently went down the tubes and the school rushed to throw someone's head out onto a platter, which is not the case, this program has been perpetually treading water for an entire decade with the same man at the helm. Now maybe JR didnt have many resources at his disposal, and that is disappointing, but in the same instance it shouldn't be used as a reason to let him stay for 25 years...eventually a change had to be made regardless of the resources situation, although you would hope it would improve. Also the point about JR being a fantastic recruiter was supposed to be a complement but it serves to degrade his coaching ability, because he was unable to mine team success from what was an increasing level of talent.

I don't think it sounded like the program just went down. The struggles under Borek and Frank 2.0 were noted.

 

[jnacc]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Not to say that much of what is in that article isn't true, but I'm a little skeptical, that seems a little bit of a bite-back piece on the behalf of Roque...they make it sound like the LSSU program just recently went down the tubes and the school rushed to throw someone's head out onto a platter, which is not the case, this program has been perpetually treading water for an entire decade with the same man at the helm. Now maybe JR didnt have many resources at his disposal, and that is disappointing, but in the same instance it shouldn't be used as a reason to let him stay for 25 years...eventually a change had to be made regardless of the resources situation, although you would hope it would improve. Also the point about JR being a fantastic recruiter was supposed to be a complement but it serves to degrade his coaching ability, because he was unable to mine team success from what was an increasing level of talent.

Well I think that we need to come grips with the fact that finances, as of right now, are not enough to properly run a team but much of that has to do with Roque, AD Dunbar and the administration at LSSU. Look it, they knew for at least a few years now that ole boy Roque simply was not good enough to be a head coach but he worked cheap. So they had the attitude of "yeah we know he's a boob but he's our boob and better yet he's our CHEAP boob!" Roque knew this as well and played this to a T, as we've seen from many of his apologists on this site, by saying "Pfftt so what that my team tunes me out by the time January hits, that I have a losing record, that I treat a lot of my players like absolute sh*t and that I walk around here like the God that I am...who else can you get to do this job for the pittance you pay me."
A ton of us knew this was going on, and we became alienated from the program. I was once a season ticket holder, attended every game, even their inter-squad games faithfully year after year. Eventually I gave up my season tickets but still attended 90% + of all games but as year after year ground on under Roque my interest waned. The change in conferences certainly did not help matters either but we can't blame them on that. This year I attended a grand total of 5 home games and to be frank I really couldn't give a crap anymore as to how the Lakers did. Had Roque stayed, like I believed he would, you might of spotted me at 1 or 2 games next year.
Now one fan like me matters little but there are now literally hundreds if not well over a thousand, who share my viewpoint. We got tired of the same old story. We didn't buy the line of "oh how can you call yourself a Laker fan and then not support them just because the coach is an idiot!" To which we said, Yup your right, count me out as a fan then and I'll spend my dollars else where cause if that's the way this school wants to run this once cherished and legendary program then ****** em! Burn her down!
So this year was the breaking point...attendance crashed, the powers that be began to really fret over the athletic budget and were finally backed into a corner and finally dropped the axe. So now they have piqued my interest, a former hard core fan who now has a glimmer of hope returning and with that hope comes my wallet and money. If they do this hire right, a lot of us "former Laker fans" will be willing to part with 12 or 13 dollars every Friday and Saturday night to watch the Lakers play.

 

[Neil Diamond]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

A new fresh face coaching staff, positively engaging the community and getting even just 2 more wins next season compared to this will go a loooooong way in bringing back fans which means more money which means the program can have the dollars to compete and compete well in the WCHA.

I agree. Wodon makes some good points, but he doesn't see the entire situation as it is. He seems to be a good guy, I've interviewed him a few times for radio, and he's a quiet, pull-no-punches guy. His article makes sense as far as it goes.

What he doesn't address, or possibly see, is just what others here have been saying: the Soo is quite capable of putting good attendance numbers up, you just have to give them a reason to go. A quality D1 program is a good enough reason for the knowledgeable hockey fans up here.

Wodon doesn't look at the big picture, which is there is little do to in the EUP during the long winters, and Laker Hockey for many years was the event of choice on weekends for many people. It's not like the 1,500 missing people lately from the Taffy were wooed off by some other weekend event in the EUP. Most just chose staying home and watching TV, probably Hockey Night in Canada, instead of trudging out in the frigid weather to watch a struggling program go through the motions year after year. Who could blame them?

Give the hockey fans in the EUP a reason to travel to the Taffy Friday and Saturday nights and they will.

Will the days of 3,600-3,800 fans at games return? Probably not. But it was always an aberration that Sault Ste. Marie had 1/4 of its entire population at a hockey rink two nights out of the week (I know not every fan lived in the Soo, just making a point). It was a time of an amazing run and some amazing talent. The likes of a Dowd, Weight, Vermette, Maddley, Rolston ever playing at LSSU again are slim. So, no use trying to recreate the late-80s and early-90s; instead, create the new reality for Laker Hockey now: 2,500-2,800 fans each night.

 

[aparch]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Just curious, anyone know how attendance at Soo Greyhounds games have been doing? Could part of the attendance drop be how much of a pain in the * it is to border cross? Or, reverse of that, could Soo MI fans be crossing more often for Greyhounds games?

 

[jnacc]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Just curious, anyone know how attendance at Soo Greyhounds games have been doing? Could part of the attendance drop be how much of a pain in the * it is to border cross? Or, reverse of that, could Soo MI fans be crossing more often for Greyhounds games?

The Hounds routinely draw over 4000 fans per game (lot of games have over 4400). I've seen 7 Hounds games this year and plan on attending at least 1 playoff game. Ive been a huge OHL and Hounds fan for a very long time though and I haven't run into to many Laker fans at those games though so its not like all us "former" Laker fans jumped over to the Hounds. There are very few Canadian that come over to watch Laker hockey anymore.

Not sure where your from aparch but if your ever in the Soo during March or April and Hounds are in the playoffs, make every attempt to go see at least one game....there is no better hockey below the pro level than OHL playoff action.

 

[michiganmidge]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Just curious, anyone know how attendance at Soo Greyhounds games have been doing? Could part of the attendance drop be how much of a pain in the * it is to border cross? Or, reverse of that, could Soo MI fans be crossing more often for Greyhounds games?

Bravo! You're onto something. Considering the competition for the local hockey viewing audience, there are the Greyhounds, the Eagles, Soo Indians, Sault High Blue Devils and the Lakers. How does a small community possibly attend two events at once, and there have been countless weekends that teams play on the same weekend. Plus, coupled with the fact that both the Greyhounds and the Eagles do a ton of marketing ...

 

[LSSULaker889294]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Bravo! You're onto something. Considering the competition for the local hockey viewing audience, there are the Greyhounds, the Eagles, Soo Indians, Sault High Blue Devils and the Lakers. How does a small community possibly attend two events at once, and there have been countless weekends that teams play on the same weekend. Plus, coupled with the fact that both the Greyhounds and the Eagles do a ton of marketing ...

There's also the Soo Firehawks and Soo Thunderbirds as well.

 

[Lakers2Glory]

As far as it goes, maybe. But what it doesn't address is why Roque wasn't able to get more results from an increasingly talented group of players. As Wodon acknowledges in the article, Roque has been landing some good players recently, but there is nothing there questioning why their W-L and conference standings records haven't improved over the early Roque years as coach despite that increasing talent level.

Perfectly said!

 

[sm2pk]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Thinking back on the coaches and program and players , of all the players who came to Lake State,Mark Vermette has to be the player who I think improved the most in his years playing there. We need a coach who improves the players each year .

 

[Lakerblue]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

The Hounds routinely draw over 4000 fans per game (lot of games have over 4400). I've seen 7 Hounds games this year and plan on attending at least 1 playoff game. Ive been a huge OHL and Hounds fan for a very long time though and I haven't run into to many Laker fans at those games though so its not like all us "former" Laker fans jumped over to the Hounds. There are very few Canadian that come over to watch Laker hockey anymore.

Not sure where your from aparch but if your ever in the Soo during March or April and Hounds are in the playoffs, make every attempt to go see at least one game....there is no better hockey below the pro level than OHL playoff action.

FYI:

http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph.php?tmi=7929

 

[Lakerblue]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

More FYI: The Hounds have not made it out of the 1st round of the playoffs since Hartsberg last year in 2008. They are doing great this year, but this is the first decent year really since 2008, have gone through four coaches, and it is clear that attendance has NOT suffered.

What can we learn from this? I have a few guesses.

1. The Bridge crossing is a headache at times.
2. The Essar Centre is downtown -- where the Soo, Ontario Gov't and businesses are working very hard to make it a fun evening out -- dinner, drinks, walk to the game, reasonable ticket prices.
3. The Norris Centre is surrounded by a parking lot, far from the downtown -- and our Soo leaders have not invested in downtown activities in at least 15 years.
4. Drinking beer. At least the Norris could set up a beer garden. This is the UP, for crying out loud. We virtually have beer in church pews.
5. The LSSU product on the ice, and off the ice, has done little to attract fans -- as noted by some very disenchanted fans herein. Roque share a bulk of he blame, the Administration shares the rest.
6. The Police State. LSSU has too many cops, and WAY too many kiddie-cops. It seems that he "security" outnumbers the students on some nights. And obviously, the police and the college have been working overtime for years to crack skulls of students who dare to have a festive party. "Hmmm, what should I do this weekend? Stay on a bone-dry campus and watch a bland hockey team which is lead by a coach who clearly doesn't care about the student interest? Or go home?"
7. The AD. Ms. Dunbar, you don't have to jump into a hockey cheerleader outfit. But you at least have to raise a finger, just a slight twitch of your hand to show you are alive and know that the hockey team is the flagship sports program for LSSU. Compare Ms. Dunbar's efforts to those produced by the Greyhounds. Visit the competing web sites. Which is more interesting? Which has more opportunities? Which has more corporate an local support? Which looks like a top-flight hockey operation, and which looks like a parent-crafted Midget B team facebook page?

 

[Truth Serum]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Year 10 would have been the best one yet for Lake Superior under Jim Roque!!

 

[LSSULaker889294]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Year 10 would have been the best one yet for Lake Superior under Jim Roque!!

This coming October will be the first time since March 2001 that Jim Roque will not be behind the Laker bench, whether it was head coach or assistant coach.

 

[Seawolf Fan]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

This coming October will be the first time since March 2001 that Jim Roque will not be behind the Laker bench, whether it was head coach or assistant coach.


He got a longer run than most. It must have been that unlucky number 13 that got him.

 

[sm2pk]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2014 off season thread

Coaches live and die by wins and losses . It's just the nature of the beast.