"The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

[FRICKER]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Developing a well-rounded coaching staff is probably more important at a school like Lake State than a Michigan, MSU, or even Notre Dame. Thoses schools have an easier job based on their reputation. Michigan also has the added advantage of being just down the street from the USA Hockey development program. A well rounded staff should include at least one assistant with good recruiting expertise. For example, both Brian McCloskey and Scott Borek had great connections in Western Canada when the helped Bob Gaudet re-build Brown's program years ago. Establishing a "pipe-line" with a succession of sucessful recruits can off-set advantages of other schools. Another very important trait of an effective assistant coach is to be the liason with the student portion of the student/athlete. Keeping up with the players academics and addressing issues BEFORE they become problems is critical to keep players eligible to play. Other programs rely on their assistants for the PP & PK units, another very important part of a sucessful team. In selection of assistants, the head coach must take these factors into consideration, and compliment his own strengths with the first assistant he selects, than round it out with the traits of his second assistant. I don't
know the Laker assistants to make any comment on how they fit this model. Anyone out there in a better position? I do know that Jeff Jackson has raved about the job Ron Rolston & Jim Roque did in recruiting the talent they did that resulted in thier Championship run. (having Brian Rolston as a younger brother didn't hurt, either. I was at the Michigan-Michigan State game just before Rolly committed to Lake State, and the atmosphere was electric. I was amazed/impressed that he was so well grounded that it didn't impact his final decision!).

 

[Boot_Jim_Roque]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Bill is one of the many knowledgable regulars on this thread, attacking the credibility of any of the "regulars" isn't going to conivnce anyone that you're right about what your saying, you're only making yourself look silly. I can guarantee that all of the Laker fans that participate on this thread would prefer to see the Laker program be more successful than it has been recently and a complaint here or a "venting" post there is to be expected after a bad series or stretch of play for the Lakers...but to just consistently say the same thing over and over and over is so pointless, do I think Roque is the right guy for the job? Probably not but the bottom line here is that neither I or anyone else on this thread have the power to make that change so why not just talk about the season and Laker team at hand instead of writing how much of a moron you think Roque is 10 times a week?

This is an open internet thread. The "regulars" do not hold any rights to said thread. And as for "Bill" I have found his posts over the years to be incredibly smug and condescending.

 

[sm2pk]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

What is Roque not doing ? Is he lacking in cardio exercise,strength building ? Does he not spend enough time on going over mistakes,working on game plans,working on an offense ? Is he to easy on the team and not enough discipline ? As for assistant coaches out of Lake State. Jackson is the only one as far as I am concerned who became a success at head coach. I think the reason for that is he learned from Anzalone and kept the success of his system and didn't keep Franks personaility as a coach. To bad no one else learned much from Anzalone or Jackson.

 

[Truth Serum]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

I am sure everything will be answered tonight on the Laker Hockey Show, as the hard hitting questions will be asked and the leader of this regime will be critical of those players not performing, as always, make the necessary tactical adjustments, including game preparation and conditioning, and look forward to a weekend sweep and tackling the CCHA schedule and a top 5 finish. Come on guys!

 

[Boot_Jim_Roque]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

I am sure everything will be answered tonight on the Laker Hockey Show, as the hard hitting questions will be asked and the leader of this regime will be critical of those players not performing, as always, make the necessary tactical adjustments, including game preparation and conditioning, and look forward to a weekend sweep and tackling the CCHA schedule and a top 5 finish. Come on guys!

Theirs a better chance of Tyson Hobbins beating Apolo Ohno in a ice skating race then Crawford asking any hard hitting questions. The Lame Show, I mean the Laker Show, is just a propaganda voice for Jimbo and his golfing partner Crawford. Those two will stoop to any level to try to convince people everything is hunky dorey. Unfortunately you must really be able to **** down the necks of the powers that be at the university and tell them it's raining. Glad Jimbo and his Propaganda Minister Crawford can fool somebody.

 

[EupNews]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

As someone who remembers as one of his early memories of college hockey watching Lake State dismantle BU in the 94 title game, what is the consensus for why LSSU has fallen into such despair? It's too bad MTU and LSSU can't reclaim past glory as it is fun to see the small schools do well. That is one of the great things about college hockey. I mean what would happen if MTU, LSSU, NMU, UMD, Merrimack, Clarkson, St. Lawrence, etc played Notre Dame in college football or Michigan State in college hoops, but in hockey, they all have a shot and some of these small schools would be favorites against the big boys.

I would say this analogy is broken, look at some of the small Basketball schools that make in into March Madness.

The reason those players choose to go to a small school over a large school? I will let you think that one through.

 

[EupNews]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

You hit the nail on the head with your predictions. How about predicting wins next weekend?

Haha, well I was pretty close, one goal off. I also called the Eagles beating the T-birds this weekend, which they did 2x.

I will probably just say beginners luck . Most likely will do a prediction for this weekend, Colgate only has one game played so it might be hard to judge.

http://www.eupnews.com

 

[Boot_Jim_Roque]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Developing a well-rounded coaching staff is probably more important at a school like Lake State than a Michigan, MSU, or even Notre Dame. Thoses schools have an easier job based on their reputation. Michigan also has the added advantage of being just down the street from the USA Hockey development program. A well rounded staff should include at least one assistant with good recruiting expertise. For example, both Brian McCloskey and Scott Borek had great connections in Western Canada when the helped Bob Gaudet re-build Brown's program years ago. Establishing a "pipe-line" with a succession of sucessful recruits can off-set advantages of other schools. Another very important trait of an effective assistant coach is to be the liason with the student portion of the student/athlete. Keeping up with the players academics and addressing issues BEFORE they become problems is critical to keep players eligible to play. Other programs rely on their assistants for the PP & PK units, another very important part of a sucessful team. In selection of assistants, the head coach must take these factors into consideration, and compliment his own strengths with the first assistant he selects, than round it out with the traits of his second assistant. I don't
know the Laker assistants to make any comment on how they fit this model. Anyone out there in a better position? I do know that Jeff Jackson has raved about the job Ron Rolston & Jim Roque did in recruiting the talent they did that resulted in thier Championship run. (having Brian Rolston as a younger brother didn't hurt, either. I was at the Michigan-Michigan State game just before Rolly committed to Lake State, and the atmosphere was electric. I was amazed/impressed that he was so well grounded that it didn't impact his final decision!).

Earth to Fricker. Come in Fricker. What on Earth does this post have to do with anything. Or maybe your not of this planet

 

[Truth Serum]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Theirs a better chance of Tyson Hobbins beating Apolo Ohno in a ice skating race then Crawford asking any hard hitting questions. The Lame Show, I mean the Laker Show, is just a propaganda voice for Jimbo and his golfing partner Crawford. Those two will stoop to any level to try to convince people everything is hunky dorey. Unfortunately you must really be able to **** down the necks of the powers that be at the university and tell them it's raining. Glad Jimbo and his Propaganda Minister Crawford can fool somebody.

I think that the show this year allows callers to call in and ask the Coach a question. So this is a good chance with many of you that hate the Lakers to call in and get on the air. Boot, sm2bk and all the rest of you Coach Roque haters what would be the question or questions that you would ask the Coach.

You wait and see how wrong you are going to being proved by one of the best coaches in the conference as well as gentleman of the game of hockey. These guys will turn it around and finish top 5 in the CCHA.

 

[LSSULaker889294]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Jim Roque has less wins in his first five years than Scott Borek. I just found that out a few days ago when looking at the 2010-2011 Laker media guide (which has a lot of errors btw). If wonder if the Lakers didn't make it to the Joe in 2007 if Roque would be fired?

 

[Boot_Jim_Roque]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

I think that the show this year allows callers to call in and ask the Coach a question. So this is a good chance with many of you that hate the Lakers to call in and get on the air. Boot, sm2bk and all the rest of you Coach Roque haters what would be the question or questions that you would ask the Coach.

You wait and see how wrong you are going to being proved by one of the best coaches in the conference as well as gentleman of the game of hockey. These guys will turn it around and finish top 5 in the CCHA.

I would ask Jimbo A. Do you have a brain? B. Does any of your staff have a brain? C. If you or your staff have a brain do you plan on using it this year? D. If you or your staff don't have a brain then will you please step down because the powers that be at the university don't have one either or else you would have been canned a while ago. Thank you.

 

[Bill]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

As someone who remembers as one of his early memories of college hockey watching Lake State dismantle BU in the 94 title game, what is the consensus for why LSSU has fallen into such despair? It's too bad MTU and LSSU can't reclaim past glory as it is fun to see the small schools do well. That is one of the great things about college hockey. I mean what would happen if MTU, LSSU, NMU, UMD, Merrimack, Clarkson, St. Lawrence, etc played Notre Dame in college football or Michigan State in college hoops, but in hockey, they all have a shot and some of these small schools would be favorites against the big boys.

I think there are at least a couple of factors involved. The nature of recruiting has changed quite a bit over the past 15 years. Kids are committing earlier and earlier and I think that makes things tougher for the smaller schools. At younger and more impressionable ages, these kids buy into the hype of the big school programs that are more well known and familiar to them. The earlier commitments and the increased cost of keeping track of kids earlier plus more schools playing Div 1 hockey puts small schools at a disadvantage. This is especially true for small public institutions; I think it's tougher for small private schools also, but even more so for public ones. And the reality is that small schools like LSSU and NMU and Tech don't have the hockey budgets of the big guys. We have to face the fact that hockey is an expensive sport and having a small budget puts you at a big disadvantage. There are others who can probably tell you more about some of the other recruiting changes.

I think it's also tough for smaller schools to hire and hang on to top notch coaches. Even if you can find and hire one, and they make your program very successful, they usually will want to move on to a higher paying job at a bigger school or some other hockey opportunity.

I certainly think it's still possible for a small school to reach the Frozen Four. Bemidji did it two seasons ago. But I think it's much tougher now to sustain a small school program at a very high level (routine NCAA appearances) year in and year out.

 

[sm2pk]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

I never said I hate jim Roque and I actually think he is a good guy. I thought Scott borek was a good guy as well but,and there is always a but. Under Roque or Borek you never saw much improvement in the players or the team effort and players even seemed to go backwards in play as they got more time playing for those coaches. Whay would I asked ? Why does there seem to be very little improvement in player developement as they play each new year. Please don't ever use the word hate about the coaches. I think and have always felt they are great people and nice people to be around. The disappointment is with the coaching and not the person.Remember that.

 

[AnchorsAway]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Developing a well-rounded coaching staff is probably more important at a school like Lake State than a Michigan, MSU, or even Notre Dame. Thoses schools have an easier job based on their reputation. Michigan also has the added advantage of being just down the street from the USA Hockey development program. A well rounded staff should include at least one assistant with good recruiting expertise. For example, both Brian McCloskey and Scott Borek had great connections in Western Canada when the helped Bob Gaudet re-build Brown's program years ago. Establishing a "pipe-line" with a succession of sucessful recruits can off-set advantages of other schools. Another very important trait of an effective assistant coach is to be the liason with the student portion of the student/athlete. Keeping up with the players academics and addressing issues BEFORE they become problems is critical to keep players eligible to play. Other programs rely on their assistants for the PP & PK units, another very important part of a sucessful team. In selection of assistants, the head coach must take these factors into consideration, and compliment his own strengths with the first assistant he selects, than round it out with the traits of his second assistant. I don't
know the Laker assistants to make any comment on how they fit this model. Anyone out there in a better position? I do know that Jeff Jackson has raved about the job Ron Rolston & Jim Roque did in recruiting the talent they did that resulted in thier Championship run. (having Brian Rolston as a younger brother didn't hurt, either. I was at the Michigan-Michigan State game just before Rolly committed to Lake State, and the atmosphere was electric. I was amazed/impressed that he was so well grounded that it didn't impact his final decision!).

This is a very good point, I think people all too often underestimate the impact that the assistants have on a team.... I also agree that small schools like Lake State really needs to have a complete and balanced staff, there are a lot of factors working against us already that are already out of control ( lack of a budget compared to almost every other opponent being a big one) so when it comes to modifiable factors like coaching and work ethic of the team the Laker program really needs to hit those factors "out of the park" if they want to compete on a national level. It is the lack of the latter factors that have so many people frustrated in Laker land.

 

[jnacc]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

As someone who remembers as one of his early memories of college hockey watching Lake State dismantle BU in the 94 title game, what is the consensus for why LSSU has fallen into such despair?.

Everything has changed in the hockey landscape since the days of Laker domination.

There were no Notre Dames and the Ohio States and Miami Universities of the world viewed hockey as a quaint little sport that did not deserve a whole lot of resources directed towards it. Heck even the University of Michigan was mediocre at best in the mid 80's. Needless to say these programs today devote a much larger percentage of their time and money to hockey than they once did.

The Lakers relied heavily on the older mature hockey player who usually hailed from a Canadian rural area. These areas have, over the past two decades, experienced a fairly significant decline in population. I know that the registered number of hockey players in Northern Ontario is a far cry from what it was in the mid 80's and early 90's. There are no Anthony Palumbos produced in Soo Ontario anymore, there are no Jim Rouques coming out of Sudbury and there are certainly no Mark Vermettes coming out Cochenour Ontario.

Expansion of college hockey has afforded those previously mature players coveted by the Lakers an earlier shot at the NCAA. Players are no longer willing to accept a 1/2 scholarship when they reach the age of 21 to go and play at Lake State when they can receive a 3/4 scholarship from a school like Mercyhurst or Bentley at the age of 19 or 20.

The majority of players today come from large suburban American cities in leagues that are heavily scouted by the major college powers, leaving slim pickings to small schools such as Lake State. The Lakers do not have the time or resources to devote to such leagues as the USHL. They cannot afford to go and watch a USHLer 3 or 4 times, invite him to tour the school, make him an offer only to have the player commit to an Ohio State. Where a Michigan State has the money and staff to brush aside a recruiting loss and start the hunt for another one, the Laker program would literally have no money left in its budget to start anew.
As a result the Lakers are forced to scour the Tier II Canadian leagues but even here the landscape has been dramatically altered. The expansion of the CHL has made sure that the once mature Canadian players willing to wait and play in the NCAA are a thing of the past. Today what you most often find are players who did not have the ability to play in the OHL as 17 or 18 year olds, hence a far less talented pool of players than once existed.

The vast majority of players today want to play in an environment that they are most familiar with. As few players are from rural areas, they have a difficult time seeing themselves playing in a fairly remote area with few amenities. Yes some may say that Northern Michigan still attracts quality talent but remember, Northern is more than 3 times the size of LSSU and the Marquette area has roughly double the amount of people than the Soo. Players may see Northern as "rural" but they see Lake State as the utter wilderness.

I once blamed Scott Borek for the decline of Laker hockey but long ago I realized that Borek could have done very little to halt the slide of the program......no one could have, not Frank Anzalone, nor Joey Shawhan and not even Jeff Jackson.

 

[klaker07]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Hello everyone. I am a student at LSSU and I just turned in my application for the Soo Blueliners. Since I don't have any info returned in the mail yet, I'm wondering if someone might be able to help me. I am wondering if there is a fan bus going to Ann Arbor, MI for the Nov 19th and Nov 20th games. If so, when will it leave, where does the bus leave from, and how much it costs to ride, etc. I just want to know as soon as possible so that I can order tickets, being from Ann Arbor I know how fast tickets for Yost can go!! Thanks
Kristen

 

[DopeyBaker]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Hello everyone. I am a student at LSSU and I just turned in my application for the Soo Blueliners. Since I don't have any info returned in the mail yet, I'm wondering if someone might be able to help me. I am wondering if there is a fan bus going to Ann Arbor, MI for the Nov 19th and Nov 20th games. If so, when will it leave, where does the bus leave from, and how much it costs to ride, etc. I just want to know as soon as possible so that I can order tickets, being from Ann Arbor I know how fast tickets for Yost can go!! Thanks
Kristen

There is a contact phone number on the web site:

The Soo Blue Liners was founded in 1982 for the specific purpose of supporting Laker Hockey. The organization provided team scholarships, team pictures, locker room decorations and other extras that the coaches desire. Since then, the Blue Liners have sponsored a variety of activities, including a softball game, the Blue and White Game, post game gatherings, cookie committee, 50/50 ticket sales, membership booth, noon pre-game luncheons, Christmas party, golf tournament and awards banquet.

Soo Blue Liners memberships are: $5 college students, $15 single members, $25 couples, $30 families. Membership applications are available at the Norris Center Ticket Office or by calling 906-632-1138.

 

[AnchorsAway]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Everything has changed in the hockey landscape since the days of Laker domination.

There were no Notre Dames and the Ohio States and Miami Universities of the world viewed hockey as a quaint little sport that did not deserve a whole lot of resources directed towards it. Heck even the University of Michigan was mediocre at best in the mid 80's. Needless to say these programs today devote a much larger percentage of their time and money to hockey than they once did.

The Lakers relied heavily on the older mature hockey player who usually hailed from a Canadian rural area. These areas have, over the past two decades, experienced a fairly significant decline in population. I know that the registered number of hockey players in Northern Ontario is a far cry from what it was in the mid 80's and early 90's. There are no Anthony Palumbos produced in Soo Ontario anymore, there are no Jim Rouques coming out of Sudbury and there are certainly no Mark Vermettes coming out Cochenour Ontario.

The majority of players today come from large suburban American cities in leagues that are heavily scouted by the major college powers, leaving slim pickings to small schools such as Lake State. The Lakers do not have the time or resources to devote to such leagues as the USHL. They cannot afford to go and watch a USHLer 3 or 4 times, invite him to tour the school, make him an offer only to have the player commit to an Ohio State. Where a Michigan State has the money and staff to brush aside a recruiting loss and start the hunt for another one, the Laker program would literally have no money left in its budget to start anew.
As a result the Lakers are forced to scour the Tier II Canadian leagues but even here the landscape has been dramatically altered. The expansion of the CHL has made sure that the once mature Canadian players willing to wait and play in the NCAA are a thing of the past. Today what you most often find are players who did not have the ability to play in the OHL as 17 or 18 year olds, hence a far less talented pool of players than once existed.

The vast majority of players today want to play in an environment that they are most familiar with. As few players are from rural areas, they have a difficult time seeing themselves playing in a fairly remote area with few amenities. Yes some may say that Northern Michigan still attracts quality talent but remember, Northern is more than 3 times the size of LSSU and the Marquette area has roughly double the amount of people than the Soo. Players may see Northern as "rural" but they see Lake State as the utter wilderness.

I once blamed Scott Borek for the decline of Laker hockey but long ago I realized that Borek could have done very little to halt the slide of the program......no one could have, not Frank Anzalone, nor Joey Shawhan and not even Jeff Jackson.

Expansion of college hockey has afforded those previously mature players coveted by the Lakers an earlier shot at the NCAA. Players are no longer willing to accept a 1/2 scholarship when they reach the age of 21 to go and play at Lake State when they can receive a 3/4 scholarship from a school like Mercyhurst or Bentley at the age of 19 or 20.

This is a very accurate assesment, the current landscape of college hockey as it pertains to Lake State is akin to a game of darts, the majority of the schools that Lake State plays have say 10 darts to throw at the board from 8 feet away (darts resembling money, the shorter distance relating to prestige, University name recognition, size of community, etc.) Lake State meanwhile has 3-4 darts to toss at the board from a distance of about 20 feet...Is it possible for Lake State to come out on top? Yes, but it's going to take a great shot from every one of their darts coupled with poor shots from the majority of the opponents darts, not a very likely situation given the circumstances at hand. The only way for the Lakers to succeed is to get multiple "diamonds in the rough" players that for one reason or another escaped the efforts of the larger schools who turn out to be very productive (Rick Schofield is a great example along with Will Acton and Domenic Monardo), and land a few high end recruits every couple of years that turn out to be up to the billing (Zach Trotman) the current version of the Lakers have a few of these but not enough, especially on the defensive end. I consider myself very tolerant of alot of these factors but one of my biggest criticisms of Lake State's program is that we let one of the few modifiable factors slip in conditioning...as we have been discussing, Lake State has enough strikes against them as it is, you would think the coaching staff would at least see to it that they were one of the best conditioned teams in college hockey but that has failed to come to fruition. That is precisely why I have so much respect for Blasi and his staff at Miami, they have tons of talent and still skate and fight to the end of every game regardless of the score..Maybe the new addition of a high end conditioning facility to the Norris Center can address that issue by raising more awareness to the condition of the team..

 

[Truth Serum]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Did anyone listen to the Laker Hockey Show last night? I couldn't find it online and was wondering what the coach had to say about last weekend and if there are any lineup changes or injuries going into this weekend series against Colgate. What were some of the questions that fans called in to ask him and what Crawford asked?

 

[Bill]

Re: "The Lake Show" - LSSU Laker Hockey

Did anyone listen to the Laker Hockey Show last night? I couldn't find it online and was wondering what the coach had to say about last weekend and if there are any lineup changes or injuries going into this weekend series against Colgate. What were some of the questions that fans called in to ask him and what Crawford asked?

It isn't being streamed yet, so those of us not in the Soo area (within the signal of WKNW) aren't able to listen to it live. Hopefully this will be corrected soon, probably when the WKNW Talk Radio website is fixed. The podcast for the show should be available sometime today on the YesFM website.