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LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Bill Crawford is the best in the business, hands down. Big win for the good ship Laker against Brown, and the third shutout for Nick Kossoff.

Kossoff caps Catamount Cup with 3-0 shutout over Brown

In their second game of the Catamount Cup on Wednesday evening, a rejuvenated Lake Superior State hockey team was able to shake off the holiday rust that plagued them in a 1-0 loss to tournament-host Vermont the night before. In fact, the Lakers (7-11-4) captured the 3-0 shutout victory by defeating ECAC opponent Brown University in their final nonconference game of the regular season.

Freshman goaltender Nick Kossoff (3-3-1) closed the door on the Bears (3-8-3) with 28 saves in 60 minutes of shutout effort. The shutout was the third for Kossoff, who has earned a shutout in each of his three career victories.

Kossoff was able to out-duel junior goaltender Tim Ernst, who allowed a pair of goals and made 20 saves in the loss.

Freshman forward Gage Torrel (4-7--11) scored his fourth goal of the season and became the second Laker to reach 10 points this season with a power-play goal with 5:03 remaining in the first period. Mitch Hults (4-6--10) and Gus Correale (5-6--11) also reached double digits in points with the assists on the opening goal by Torrel.

After the first period, the Lakers held a 1-0 lead and had 52 seconds remaining on their second power-play attempt of the evening. The Bears led 11-8 in the shot column.

With 10:20 remaining in the middle frame Anthony Nellis (3-6--9) netted his third career goal to put the Lakers up 2-0. Nellis was sprung by a nifty pass by the Lakers leading scorer J.T. Henke (6-7--13) and sophomore defenseman James Roll (1-6--7).

Kossoff made 21 saves through the first two periods and helped propel the Lakers to a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.

The Lakers power play, although successful just once in four tries, looked sharp and moved the puck well throughout the contest. Late in the third period the Lakers, attempting to pad their lead, had an impressive power-play opportunity in which they took five shots and hit the posts three times.

Correale eventually gave the Lakers the insurance goal they were seeking with 1:28 remaining in regulation and Ernst pulled in favor of the extra attacker.

The empty net goal by Correale was setup by Torrel's quick reaction on the defensive end as the freshman forward brought the puck up ice but was cut off from scoring his second goal of the contest by a Bears defenseman. Torrel was able to get the puck up to Correale, however and the junior from Prince George, B.C. was able to deliver the final blow of the game.

The Lakers return to Taffy Abel Arena to resume Western Collegiate Hockey Association play on Jan. 8-9 against Bowling Green State University. The Lakers are tied for sixth in the WCHA standings with a league record of 4-4-4.

Ringy Dingy!
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Check out www.hockeynewsnorth.com and www.saultthisweek.com Randy Russon, with his latest article about the LSSU Lakers and their big win last night against Brown.

3 wins, 3 shoutouts for Laker goalie

Another win, another shutout for freshman goalie Nick Kossoff of the Lake Superior State Lakers.

Playing in their second of two games at the Catamount Cup in Burlington, Vermont on Wednesday, Lake Superior State got 28 saves from Kossoff to blank the Brown University Bears 3-0.

The win gave the Lakers an even 1-1 record at the annual Catamount Cup event. Lake Superior State had dropped its Catamount Cup opener, losing 1-0 to tournament-host University of Vermont Catamounts on Tuesday.

The two games mark the final non-conference matches of the season for the Lakers, who will now concentrate on Western Collegiate Hockey Association league play for the balance of the 2015-2016 campaign.

As for Kossoff, his third shutout of the season was also his third victory of the campaign.

To be sure, Kossoff has sparkling numbers with a 1.74 goals against average and .931 save percentage to go with a record of 3-3-1 as a Laker freshman.

The lanky puck-stopper, who stands in at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds and has a 1996 birth date, has made a quick adjustment to the Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association level at Lake Superior State after playing a single season in the North American Hockey League for the erstwhile Keystone Ice Miners.

SECOND HALF

As they eye the second half of the 2015-2016 season, the Lakers have a heavy WCHA schedule that features 16 games — eight at home and eight on the road.

The Lakers will head into conference play in 2016 with a 4-4-4 record from 12 games (they have an overall mark of 7-11-4 in 22 outings) which has them tied for fifth-place in the 10-team WCHA with 12 points.

Tied with Alaska-Anchorage for fifth spot, the Lakers are within two points of fourth place Northern Michigan and have two games in hand on the Wildcats

The Lakers will begin 2016 with four straight games at home — January 8-9 against second-place Bowling Green and January 16-17 against aforementioned Alaska-Anchorage.

Ringy Dingy!
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Luke Morgan picked up his 10th goal of the season for Cedar Rapids (USHL) last night.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

We could use Luke now.
I think the original plan was for him to be with the Lakers for the 2017-18 season, but he's playing well enough in his first season in the USHL that now it's looking like he will be with the Lakers next season.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Seems the fans on the MI State site have had it with Anastos. Their feeling is the pick for Anastos was all political and his experience should not have gotten him a higher interview than a mid level Division 3 team .
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Seems the fans on the MI State site have had it with Anastos. Their feeling is the pick for Anastos was all political and his experience should not have gotten him a higher interview than a mid level Division 3 team .

I'm mad that they didn't take Danton Cole, but that's largely because he's a friend of mine from his time at UAH.

GFM
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Why take Danton Cole when they had the opportunity to take a guy who didn't have enough experience as a coach to land a division 3 coaching job.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Why take Danton Cole when they had the opportunity to take a guy who didn't have enough experience as a coach to land a division 3 coaching job.

It will be interesting to see if Whitten would go after the State job, should it ever become available.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

It will be interesting to see if Whitten would go after the State job, should it ever become available.
Let's see.
Is that his alma mater?
Would it be a significant pay increase?
The answer to those two questions may slightly influence his decision.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Why take Danton Cole when they had the opportunity to take a guy who didn't have enough experience as a coach to land a division 3 coaching job.

Because Cole already had a job with the USNTDP, and Anastos needed a soft landing spot as the CCHA was cratering.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

It will be interesting to see if Whitten would go after the State job, should it ever become available.

I think some State fans would probably take Whitten right now mid-season. I knew MSU made a mistake once I heard Tom Anastos was hired to replace Comley.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Seems Gus Correale's brother is having a great senior year for New Hampshire . He has 13 goals and 5 assist going into the second half of the season .
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Any injury news on Drapluk and Spratte on the Laker Hockey Show tonight?

Both Drapluk and Headrick were on skates at practice today. No definitive word on Spratte yet; he is currently considered a game time decision for Friday.

Loesch is unfortunately done for the season.

Patterson is currently suspended from the team for violation of team rules, but is expected to be back shortly. Probably safe to assume it wasn't as severe as whatever trouble Sandler got into last year.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Both Drapluk and Headrick were on skates at practice today. No definitive word on Spratte yet; he is currently considered a game time decision for Friday.

Loesch is unfortunately done for the season.

Patterson is currently suspended from the team for violation of team rules, but is expected to be back shortly. Probably safe to assume it wasn't as severe as whatever trouble Sandler got into last year.

Thank you for the information jsmithe. Sad to hear Loesch's Laker Hockey playing days are over.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Great Laker Hockey Show last night, with the Voice of the Lakers, Bill Crawford.

Tune into the Hockey North Show, with Randy Russon, tonite at 5 p.m. on ESPN Radio 1400, for more on the good ship Laker and this weekend's series against Bowling Green State University.

Ringy Dingy!

This weekend marks the start of the second half of the season for most of the teams in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and Lake Superior State begins with a matchup against longtime rival and No. 12-ranked Bowling Green State.

The series, held at Taffy Abel Arena on the campus of LSSU, starts at 7:37 p.m. Friday and culminates with the 160th meeting between the schools at 7:07 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be broadcast live on 99.5 YES FM.

Friday is College Night, and all area college students with valid IDs from any college or university will receive a free ticket to Game 1 of the series. Saturday is Sault High Night, and all Sault Area High School students with a valid student ID will receive a free ticket to Game 2.

The Lakers (7-11-4, 4-4-4 WCHA) enter the series 5-3-2 in their last 10 outings, including a split last week at the Catamount Cup in Burlington, Vt. The Lakers opened the tournament with a 1-0 loss against tournament-host Vermont, before rebounding with a 3-0 victory over Brown in the second game.

Both goaltenders shined for the Lakers at the Catamount Cup as Gordon Defiel (4-8-3) made 29 saves, despite allowing the lone goal in the loss against Vermont, and freshman Nick Kossoff (3-3-1) secured his third victory and third career shutout with a 28-save performance against the Bears the following night.

Kossoff's heroics against Brown helped cap an impressive month in which the freshman netminder from West Des Moines, Iowa produced an undefeated record of 2-0-1, a .962 saves percentage, and a 1.01 goals-against average in December.

So far, in his rookie campaign, Kossoff has produced a .931 saves percentage and a 1.74 goals-against average.

Against the Bears, Gage Torrel scored the game-winning goal for the Lakers on the power play with 5:13 remaining in the first period. Torrel also collected an assist on an empty net goal during the waning moments of the game.

Torrel was the highest scoring freshman in the WCHA during December, tying for a league-high in both goals with two and assists with three. Torrel also tied for an overall league-leading two game-winning goals.

The last time the Lakers and Falcons (12-5-5, 8-2-4 WCHA) met, LSSU escaped the "Madhouse on Mercer" with a pair of 1-1 ties. Since the split, both teams have enjoyed varying success, with the Falcons earning a record of 8-3-2 in that time.

The Lakers are 5-5-2 since the November meeting with BGSU, including a road sweep of Alaska, but boast a 4-2-2 record in WCHA play, propelling them to a tie with Alaska Anchorage for sixth in the league's standings.

The weekend also seemed to jump-start Defiel following a slow start to the season. Defiel saved 70-of-72 shots he faced against the Falcons in the November series and went on to produce a league-leading .956 saves percentage and a 1.52 goals-against average during the month of November.

Defiel, the reliable starting backstop for the Lakers, has a .919 saves percentage and a 2.65 goals against average entering this weekend.

Leading the Lakers in scoring this season is sophomore forward J.T. Henke with six goals and seven assists for 13 points.

Following Henke to lead the Lakers in scoring are Torrel with 4-7--11, junior forward Gus Correale at 5-6--11, freshman forward Mitch Hults at 4-6--10, freshman forward Anthony Nellis at 3-6--9, freshman defenseman Owen Headrick at 3-4--7, sophomore defenseman James Roll at 1-6--7, junior forward Alex Globke at 4-2--6, and freshman forward Diego Cuglietta at 2-4--6.

The freshman class ranks second in the WCHA in points by a class and is the top-producing freshman group with 22-36--58 this season. A number of Lakers rank in the WCHA's top-10 freshman point producers, including Torrel ranking second behind Ferris State's Corey Mackin (7-9--16), Hults in a tie for third, Nellis tying for fifth and Headrick, who ranks eighth and is tied for the league-lead among freshmen defensemen in scoring.

Bowling Green has received a balanced attack from both upper classmen (30 goals) and under-classmen (25 goals) alike to produce an offense that is tied with Alaska Anchorage for third in the WCHA with 2.50 goals per game.

The Falcons are led by junior forward Matt Pohlkamp (5-10--15), junior forward Pierre-Luc Mercier (4-8--12), sophomore defenseman Mark Friedman (3-9--12), and their leading goal scorer, senior forward Mark Cooper (8-4--12).

Kevin Dufour (7-4--11), Ben Murphy (4-6--10) and Brandon Hawkins (4-6--10) round out the group of BGSU players to reach double-digits in points thus far.

Between the pipes, the Falcons have received eye-popping numbers from sophomore goaltender Chris Nell (8-2-5), who matched Defiel toe-to-toe in the November series with 57 saves on 59 shots.

In 17 games this season Nell has produced a .944 saves percentage, 1.42 goals-against average and three shutouts.

However, during a 1-0 loss against Western Michigan, Nell lasted only 22 minutes before an upper-body injury forced him out of action. The Green Bay, Wis. Native was replaced by senior goaltender Tommy Burke (4-3-0), who allowed the Broncos to score later in the second period and was tagged with the loss.

Nell is listed as day-to-day and could potentially return to action this weekend.

Burke started both games against Clarkson last week and helped the Falcons earn a split with a 32-save performance during a 6-3 win on Saturday and an underwhelming 16-save performance in a 3-2 loss on Sunday.

Burke has a 2.88 goals against average and a saves percentage of .896 in six games this season.

Against the Falcons, the Lakers are 69-77-12 in the all-time series dating back to 1970. In games played in Sault Ste. Marie, LSSU leads 38-30-6.

The Lakers and Falcons are both holdovers from the former Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The teams squared off in the 2013 CCHA First Round Playoffs with the Falcons winning the series 2-1 in Sault Ste. Marie. Since the teams joined the WCHA in 2014, the Lakers are 4-2-2 against the Falcons.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Touching story in the Daily Herald remembering former LSSU Laker Tim Breslin. http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20151224/sports/151229391/

Every Christmas Eve, Jami Breslin would line up her three small children and sit with them on the stairs.

One by one, she would carefully lace up their boots, zip up their coats and patiently struggle with mittens, scarves and hats.

And then they would go see daddy.

There's something so perfectly romantic about a white Christmas, though it doesn't carry quite the same childlike thrill, not the same soft melody when trudging through the snow in a cemetery. Hardly the ideal Christmas, it's not the postcard you send to family and friends, not how you envisioned your life when you dreamed of marriage and family.

But when your husband dies of cancer at the age of 37, when he leaves in the relative blink of an eye, you do what you have to do to survive and keep alive the memory of your best friend, the best person you've ever known.

"The first couple of years, we would go to Mass on Christmas Eve and then go to the cemetery and say a prayer," Jami remembers. "One year, it was so cold. We were hip deep in snow and I thought, 'This is so sad, Christmas at the cemetery.' I just couldn't accept it. It went against everything I wanted my kids to believe about the holidays.

"I decided we should go on another day. I tried to make up excuses, like it was too cold or there was too much snow. But the kids said, 'No.' They wanted to do it. It was important for them."

A Chicago Wolves legend, Tim Breslin died 10 years ago, only 11 weeks after being diagnosed with appendiceal cancer. Just that quickly, the Addison native left behind tens of thousands who knew him as an earnest player, coach, fundraiser, community leader and friend to all who loved hockey.

Mostly, Tim Breslin thought of himself as a husband and father of three, leaving Jami with Shane, only 6 years old, Paige 3 and Chase 2.

"Shane remembers a lot about his dad," Jami says. "Over time, my little ones have kind of built their memories of him through me, Shane, my family and Tim's family.

"Almost every day I say, 'You know what your dad used to say … ' We end up telling jokes and laughing about daddy. Sometimes the kids get quiet about that. The sadness is still there.

"It's hard to believe it's been 10 years. It feels like yesterday. I think of him every day. For a long time, I would find myself forgetting, thinking he would walk through the door. That doesn't happen anymore.

"How can you not think it's unfair? I think a lot about what my kids have missed, not getting to be with him. It's not like I'm shouting up at the sky, 'Why me?' I just wish my kids had him, you know?"

A single mom raising three small children has been both full-time job and salvation, a light in the darkness showing her the path, giving purpose to getting off the mat and placing one foot in front of the other.

Between three kids' hockey schedules and her job in education with a research and assessment company, Jami hasn't had much time to focus on herself, though her kids try to get her to recognize and reconcile that part of her life.

"We are so busy between my job and the kids' schedules and school, you almost never have time to catch your breath, which is a blessing," she says. "I never slow down long enough to take that time to reflect and think about things."

Better to have loved and lost, we are told almost from the womb. Easier said, of course, if you've never lost.

"It's still hard. There's a hole. There's a gap," Jami says. "But … "

She gathers to compose herself … "Tim set a very high bar. So do the men in both our families. We are surrounded by really good, really strong men."

Jami speaks bravely through the tears, willing to share a story that might bring peace to others.

She counts her blessings, among them that the kids all play hockey, a sport she believes teaches so many life lessons about work ethic and perseverance, something her husband swore by. So revered was Tim by his team that every year the Wolves give out an award to a player -- and a scholarship -- in Tim's name.

"My oldest and youngest play travel hockey and my daughter played with the boys until this year, and now she's on a girls team," Jami says. "I love watching them play and they love the game. It's a great connection to their dad."

She has her family and Tim's, loads of grandparents, uncles and cousins, for which she is eternally thankful. They engage the kids in conversations about hockey and golf, and they all serve to fill the void and help the family, especially around Christmas.

"It's a great time of year," Jami says, voice cracking. "Tim loved the holidays. It's always hard without him. It always will be.

"But as much as those feelings do surface sometimes, I have a tremendous amount of appreciation and gratitude.

"To this day, the one true blessing out of all of this is just how much you appreciate life, from the little things to the important things, like your children and your family.

"I have an endless gratitude for knowing how short life is and how quickly things can change. I am so grateful. I got that from Tim. He was always that way. He was always in awe of our kids and he lived that appreciation for life every day.

"It took some time, but after he died I realized, wow, there's just so much to be grateful for. We are so lucky for what we have."

And through the darkness shines a light this Christmas.
 
Re: LSSU Lakers 2015-16: The 50th season

Gage Torrel is the WCHA Rookie of the Month for December 2015.

GFM
He's played really well for the Lakers even though he's also had to battle the injury bug. He's missed a few games and hasn't been 100% in some of the games he has played. Turned out to be an excellent pickup for the Lakers.
 
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