Sm2pk nearly all division 1 players had great numbers in juniors, thus the reason they found a spot on a division 1 roster, especially at the forward position and especially from the leagues that Lake State usually gets players from....the USHL kids may be a bit different story ( but finding a spot in that league usually serves as somewhat of a validation on its own).
How many kids who only put up 20 or so points in a 60 game or so season from the SJHL do you see in division 1 college hockey? Not many. The fact of the matter is that generally speaking, the prolific scorers in those type of leagues are the only ones in said leagues who have a chance to make a go of it in D1...and even those players usually need time to develop due to the much higer level of competition and truthfully even then there is absolutely no guarantee that they will achieve great numbers, this is why you don't see the Michigans, Denvers, BCs of the college hockey universe getting many kids from those caliber of leagues.
As we have covered on this thread dozens of times, the pure truth of it is that with Lake State's resources, our best bet is to take chances on a lot of these high scoring players from lower level junior leagues and hoping to snag any players from the NAHL and USHL that are willing to come here. Its far from the ideal recruiting situation but its what we are left with. If there is another plausible strategy for recruiting, I certainly don't see it. The only way this cycle will break is if a Laker team overachieves and gains more attention on a national level to snag the attention of higher level recruits or possibly that the new facilties will help draw more recruits. I wouldnt give this freshmen class up for dead yet... they have played very well this season and even though it has not transferred onto the scoresheet much, their class has the highest amount of players on this team and I will glady argue with anyone who disagrees (other than the 3 trolls of course) that this team is the best on-ice product that this university has produced in the last 4 years, so clearly we are onto something. They have beaten good teams, tied great teams and in almost all of their losses have been very competitive, which is a stark contrast to the past when they were getting blown off of the ice by good and great teams and only beating the decent teams once in awhile...This team is making progress and although it is frustrating to wait for this progress, in the real world a small time university has to live with making only small advances at a time.
Aside from this, if you are going to go give the freshmen class a hard time for not scoring, don't start with Campbell because as I mentioned, he has the highest goal total of any freshmen, even though it is only 2...I truly believe that this class is different and that these kids will get their numbers, anyone who has seen this team play a few times can see that these freshmen are not far away..
