Tag: lssu

Alaska: 10-12-0

LSSU: 7-18-1

Bearing Down on the Standings

It’s been no secret over the last few seasons that the Fairbanks based Alaska Nanooks have had some consistency issues over the last few seasons, usually dwelling in the middle to low-mid of the standings, but still usually making playoffs. This year, however, they are proving themselves this year, sweeping or splitting with some tough opponents: Starting out conference play by sweeping Michigan Tech in Houghton, shutting out then #9 Penn State in Happy Valley, taking another win from Tech in Alaska.

The Nanooks are currently sitting in the #4 spot in the WCHA, which is also the last home playoff spot.

They are led in scoring by a trio of junior forwards, Max Newton (6-8-14), Justin Young (7-6-13) and Steven Jandric (5-8-13). In net they are leaning heavily on Anton Martinsson, the senior out of Klippan, Sweden. They have played sophomore Gustavs Grigals, out of Latvia, having played in 9 games with the same tally of wins.

Bailing Water

The Lakers are sitting just 3 points ahead of Ferris who currently own the final playoff spot, and just 4 points ahead of Alaska Anchorage, who they will face again in two weeks at Abel Arena. This is a far cry from the success the team had last season, but certainly seems closer to what we as Laker fans have come to expect in recent years.

The one bright spot on the team has been Max Humitz, who is currently sitting at 97 career points. Humitz is leading the team in both overall points and goals by quite a bit, with 21 points and 14 goals. Junior center Hampus Eriksson is second in scoring with 16 points. Pierre-Luc Veilette is second in goals with 6.

Goaltending has been pretty much Mareks Mitens exclusively, playing in 25 games, with a 7-16-1 record. Roman Bengert has appeared in 3 games, going 0-2-0. Freshman Seth Eisele has yet to appear in a game.

In other news, it appears some players have left the team at some point. Forwards Owen Guy and Roberts Bluegers, defensemen Bennet Vida have all been removed from LSSU’s roster on their website. It appears Vida is now with Trinity Western University of the BCIHL, playing in 2 games so far with 1 assist. Neither Guy nor Bluegers have updated profiles on Elite Prospects. One would have to guess the reason they left was lack of playing time. We here at LakerHockeyBlog would like to wish them the best with their future endeavors, and also thank them for their time as Lakers.

The Lakers play in Fairbanks Friday and Saturday, puck drops at 7:07 AT, which should be -4 hours from Eastern time, so the game would start at 11:07pm eastern. As always, the game will be on Flohockey.tv for a fee, or you can listen in on 99.5 YesFM locally or on TuneIn.

Bowling Green: 7-4-0 overall

Lake Superior State: 4-10-0

A New Falconer Forces Progress

One big changeup in college hockey this past summer was that there was going to be a change behind the bench for the Falcons. 9-Year bench boss for BG, Chris Bergeron, after a spot opened up in his Alma Mater of Miami (Ohio).  Bergeron was the first coach since Jerry York, whose tenure ran between 1979-1994, to post a positive win percentage for the team.

Now leading the club is Ty Eigner, a 1993 graduate of Bowling Green. He is off to a good start too, posting a 7-4-0 record thus far. The wins come curtasey of Miami (Ohio), a sweep of Western in a home-and-home series (after a loss to them at the Icebreaker), the split with Michigan Tech, a split in an overtime win with Minnesota State-Mankato before finally sweeping Alaska Anchorage.

Bowling Green is led in scoring by senior defenseman Alec Rauhauser who has 12 points, Connor Ford, a junior forward has 11 points and Alex Barber, a sophomore forward follows up with 10 total points. Cameron Wright, a junior forward leads the team with 8 goals. Eric Dop is the go-to goalie this year, playing in 10 of their 11 games. He has a 7-3-0 record, a 2.19 GAA and a .914 Save%.

Lakers Not Weathering Early Storms

Whew this season has been rough. At this point last season, the Lakers were flying high at 6-3-1 record (6-4 if you count the tie as a loss, as it was in 3v3 OT). They started the season winning 7 straight, between 2 on-conference series, an exhibition weekend, and a weekend of WCHA play. It seemed the team morale was high, fans were having fun (and would continue to do so, winning another 8 straight after dropping three in a row).

This campaign isn’t as much fun. While we have played against two ranked opponents so far this season, keeping it closer than the score says with then #2 Denver, then a few weeks later at #5 Notre Dame, they were swept by a really bad Michigan team, having won only 3 games this season (the other win coming from a pounding of Western), they have yet to win a conference game and sit at the bottom of the B1G. And save for Saturday night’s game against cross UP rivals Michigan Tech, they have been mostly blown out.

The defense corp needs to figure itself out. There was only one loss in that department after last season, Steven Ruggerio. Ruggerio, as a refresher, was second in the nation with the number of penalties taken  (36), and only scored 11 points on the year, and blocking 57 shots (second to Colin Saccoman). Saccoman already has 9 points on the season. Only two defensemen ended their year with a worse +/-. Anderson and Semandel, but they only played 29 and 17 games respectively, whereas Ruggerio played in all but one. This isn’t trying to say that Steven wasn’t a good player, he was, but losing just guy shouldn’t make the blue line this porous. The goaltending could step it up too, but when the play in front of him is subpar, there’s only so much one man can do.

A split or sweep this weekend would do wonders for this team and it’s fans. Bowling Green is a long time rival of the Lakers, going all the way back to the CCHA days. And save for the playoff series that we don’t talk about, the Lakers always seem to step up their game against the Falcons.

Max Humitz notched another point last week, bringing his career point total to 88.

Puck drops at 7:00pm both Friday and Saturday nights in Bowling Green. Listen to the game locally by tuning your dial to 99.5, or listen through TuneIn or other streaming methods.If you want to view the game, FloHockey is where you need to go. Get every in conference game for one price.

Ferris: 2-3-0 Overall

Lake Superior State: 2-6-0 Overall

First, I would like to apologize for the lack of previews over the last couple of weeks. For the Michigan series, I was still getting over the sickness I got while on vacation. Then last week a stick of RAM decided to die in my PC, which made pretty much anything that I opened became corrupted, and that didn’t get fixed until late Friday. So, let’s get back on track:

Bulldogs In the Doghouse

The start of the Bulldog’s season has been an interesting one. Since starting NCAA play, they’ve beat Colgate in a best-of-one, and split with Miami in Miami before getting swept by conference rivals Northern Michigan on their own ice.

They are led by senior defenseman Nate Kallen with senior forward Dominic Lutz being named as an alternative captain. Bob Daniels also returns for his 28^th season as bench boss. Roni Salmenkangas, the Finnish sophomore goalie looks to be their workhorse, playing in 4 games, with Carter McPhail, a Michigan native having played in two games looking like the backup in the early part of the season, although other than the two wins that Salmenkangas has posted, their stat lines look very similar.

Lake State Heading Toward Dry Dock

While there may  have been a number of fans who though the Lakers were going to come out swinging, starting off where they left off last year, I was not really one of them. Excited to see what would happen? Sure. But losing the likes of Nellis and Cuglietta scoring was going to depend greatly on who could step – would it be sophomore Mucha? One of the Freshman? So far Humitz and Erikson lead the pack with 8 total points, followed closely by Ashton Calder and Collin Saccoman, each of whom have 6 total points.

Looking at the start of this season, it has not been easy on the Lakers. After sweeping Merrimack to start the season, they’ve dropped six straight, all against non-conference opponents and two ranked teams. In those six games, they’ve been outscored 26-13. With this week starting conference play, the rest of the team has to step up and contribute more.

Both games this weekend drop the puck at 7:00pm EST. Bill Crawford will have the call on 99.5 YesFM, both locally and streaming online. WCHA Partner FloHockey will have the livestream from the Taffy Abel Arena if you want to watch the game but can’t make it to the arena.

#2 Denver: 2-0-0

LSSU: 2-0-0

Denver Pi(oneering)ning For The Frozen Four

The Denver Pioneers are coming off their 12^th straight NCAA tournament appearance and another Frozen Four appearance. They’re also only two years removed from a national championship.  Denver is lead by second-year head coach David Carle, with assistants Tavis MacMillian, Dallas Ferusona nd Corey Wogtech. Carle, who took over for Jim Montgomery, now with the Dallas Stars, posted a 24-12-5 record in his first season behind the bench.

On the ice, they are captained by senior defenseman Ian Mitchell, and assisted by fellow defenseman Michael Davies and forward Tyson McLellan, both of which are seniors. With two games under his belt, and both wins, it looks like Swedish goaltender Magnus Chrona will be their starter…and at 6’6, he takes up a lot of net.

Great Lake State Wins Weekend

Much like their opponents, the Lakers are coming off of a weekend sweep. Tripling up on Merrimack Saturday night, they won by a single goal Sunday. This weekend marks the 24^th Great Lake State Weekend, which serves as Lake Superior State’s homecoming. There will be events going on all around campus both Friday and Saturday, but we will be focusing on the two games.

The last time these two teams met was two years ago in Denver, where the Lakers nearly spoiled the Pioneers’ championship banner raising, losing in OT, then being crushed 5-1 Saturday. They were also ranked #1.

That Laker team was much different than the current one, both in players and mindset. After the incredible season last year, the team finally has a winning attitude, and hopefully co-captains Max Humitz and Collin Saccoman, with help from their alternates Brendan McKay and Lukas Kaelble can take the momentum the team had last season and come out of the gate swinging. If you are planning on attending the games this weekend, we urge you to go online & reserve your seat ASAP if you have not done so. GLSW weekend is generally the biggest weekend of the season in terms of ticket sales. Friday night’s game starts at 7:30pm, with Saturday’s starting at 7:00pm. The games will be broadcast locally by YesFM, with the Voice of the Lakers Bill Crawford doing as he has done for so long, calling the play-by-play. If you are not able to attend or listen, consider watching the game through FloHockey.

Bemidji State: 15-15-6

#20 Lake Superior State: 21-11-2

Beavers Bouncing Back

First, let me congratulate all the teams that made it to the WCHA tournament this year, from top to bottom. As for Ferris & Anchorage: Better luck next year.

The Beavers from Bemidji has certainly had some interesting series this year: Starting the year at #13 North Dakota and taking the first game of the series, to splitting with Northern Michigan to start a 4-game streak, sweeping Anchorage in the process and taking one against Merrimack. Then: A four game losing skid, starting with Merrimack, heading into a series against #2 St. Cloud State, before splitting with #3 Minnesota State. After this start, we would see them splitting most series.

Going into the post season, they are led in scoring by senior defenseman & co-captain Justin Baudry, with 8-22-30pts. Following him are two forwards: sophomore Charlie Combs (11-10-21) and junior Adam Brady (8-13-21). In addition to Combs, Aaron Miller and Owen Sillinger round out the top 3 goal scorers.

Their goaltending situation is similar to that of the Lakers: Zach Driscoll has been the go-to, with the freshman netminder playing in 25 games & posting a 10-9-4 record with a 2.296 GAA and a .910 Save %. Henry Johnson, a sophomore, has played 14 games, with an overall record of 5-5-2, with a 1.96 GAA and a .916 Save %. Jack Burgart has a single start & posted a loss in that contest.

These two teams have met once before this season, on January 25^th & 26^th, with the Beavers losing Friday night before winning 5-3 Saturday.

Lakers Face Familiar Foes in Familiar Waters

Well, Laker fans, what a turnaround this series has been, eh?

The fans at the Taffy Abel Arena were able to thank the outgoing seniors and wish them off, in what would be their final regular season game…and for the first time in a long time, not their final home game of the year. The Lakers would go to split the weekend, and Senior Night was ruined with the loss Saturday.

Your top scorers and goal-getters are of no surprise: They’ve been the ones we’ve been talking about all season. Co-Captain Diego Cuglietta leads the pack with 23-14-37pts and is currently only 4 points off the century mark. Following him is fellow Senior & Assistant Captain Anthony Nellis, with 14-17-31pts and Max Humitz with 14-16-30pts. Everyone wants to see Diego hit that mark, but I hope the team does not try to feed him this weekend: winning is much more important than an individual record.

Kossoff, again, owns the net. Playing in 23 contests, the senior netminder has a 15-6-2 record, with a 2.53 GAA and a .913 Save %. Sophomore Mareks Mittens did not play last weekend, so his 11 games & 6-5-0 record and 2.31 GAA and .919 Save % remain unchanged.

The Lakers will have to play much better than they did the last time they saw Bemidji, and better than we saw for most of Saturday night’s game last week. They also cannot take any stupid penalties; the Beavers are too good of a team to give them any help. Note: The winner of this series will go on to face the winner of the Minnesota State-Alabama-Huntsville series.

Potential Parting Thoughts

Win or lose this weekend, we as fans should be proud of the team, it’s been full of fun little tidbits & records: with 23 goals, Diego has the most goals of any Laker since Joe Blaznek & Jason Sessa had 22 back in 1996-1997 season. Only one player since has even reached 20: Domenic Monardo. Staying with Diego, he is tied for first in most goals in NCAA with Arizona State’s Johnny Walker, & finally he is a Hobey Baker nominee.

With 21 wins on the season, Damon Whitten ties Jim Roque for the most wins in the regular season since Jeff Jackson left the school. Roque did it in 2006-2007, and Jackson posted 30 wins in his final season in 1995-1996

For the first time in program history, the Lakers took home a Great Lakes Invitational win.

They have been ranked every week since January 7^th.

The Lakers have had 17 players be named for either Player of the Week or Player on the month between all categories:

Forwards: Gelsinger, Cuglietta, Humitz (x2), Nellis

Defenseman: Saccoman (x2 week, 2x Month), Ruggerio

Goaltender: Mitens & Kossoff

Rookie: Veillette, Nordqvist (1x week, 1x Month), Calder (x1 Week, x1 Month)

The puck drops at 7:07pm Friday and Saturday nights. If a third game is needed, it will be played at 4:07pm Sunday. Tickets are now available at the box office or online. If you are in the area, or can make to the arena, I implore you to, our boys will need all that energy. If you cannot make it, or are too far away, turn your dials to 99.5 YESfm, or online at yesfm.net, or use the Tunein App to listen to the game. Or you can watch the game online for a fee using FloHockey.tv, which is the official source to view every WCHA game.

Ferris State: 9-22-3

#19 Lake Superior State: 20-10-2

Beaten Bulldogs

Ferris: What happened? Who did this to you? It was only a few years ago that you guys were a nWCHA powerhouse that rocked our world on the regular, and now you’re fighting for a playoff spot? On the outside looking in, Ferris State need some miracles to happen if they want to make the playoffs. First: They need to not lose more than 1 point on the weekend, and Alabama-Huntsville can’t get more than one point (maybe…not sure on the tiebreakers).

They are led in scoring by a pair of defensemen: Freshman Cooper Zech (8-20-28) and Junior Nate Kallen (7-16-23). Rounding out the top three is Senior forward Corey Mackin (7-15-22). Zech also leads the team in +/- with a +4.

In net, expect to see #30, Freshman Roni Salmenkangas, who has appeared in 26 games with a 3.28 GAA and a .886 Save%. Backup goaltender is Junior Justin Kapelmaster, with a 3.52 GAA and a .903 Save% in 12 games.

Senior Weekend

After being swept last weekend by their U.P Rivals, the Northern Michigan University Wildcats, the Lakers look to rebound and maintain home ice going into the playoffs. As it stands now, if LSSU can win at least one game, and Bemidji gets only two on Friday, the Lakers will secure home ice to start the playoffs (as long LSSU wins the tiebreaker, which I think we do). The Lakers could get as high as second place in the WCHA, but with Bowling Green facing off against Alabama-Huntsville, that seems unlikely.

(tl;dr: Root for Alabama, Minnesota State & Michigan Tech..assuming we go to sweep the weekend that is)

Seeing as this is also Senior Weekend for our outgoing seniors, it seems fitting that two of them are on top of the scoring list, those being Diego Cuglietta (20-14-34) and Anthony Nellis(14-16-30), with Junior Max Humitz(14-16-30) bringing up third. Diego had a bit of a slump last weekend, not getting any points against the Wildcats, so he is still 7 points out of being a 100 point scorer. Luckily, he’ll have at least 4 more games to get there.

The last few weeks have seen a goalie rotation. I would expect to see Senior Nick Kossoff out there at least Saturday night, for Senior Night, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if he played the whole weekend. At this point in the year, both Kossoff and Mitens have similar Save %, but Mitens eeks ou ta slightly better GAA (but that is to be expected).

Rounding out our seniors this year is Steven Ruggerio, former US Gold Medalist for World Juniors, Providence Friar and current Anaheim Ducks draft pick. He has totaled 10 points thus far for the Lakers, and also leads the team in penalties, with 32 total penalties for 64 minutes.

And I can’t forget about Gage Torrel, though when the original article went up, I did. Right out of the gate anyone could see Gage was going to be something special for this team, and he was. Gage, Diego and Anthony were all on track to potentially get to that 100 point mark this season, but after being snakebitten for most of last season, Gage slowly fell out of that race, though he has posted an impressive 24 points this season.

Senior Night is always hard. Having watched most of these guys over the last four years, it can be hard to say goodbye, especially this year’s batch with and the talent that is leaving this team. Each and every one deserves the applause they’ll get during the ceremonies. Most years it is bitter sweet, however. Either because the team missed the playoffs, or because they’re headed to Mankato where we hadn’t won at, ever.

But this year is different. This year hope is in the air. We are looking to have home ice for the first time in years, and it feels like we can win a round too. We have a win against every team in the WCHA, so that locker room knows they can beat anybody. If I dare peek ahead, playoff wins also count towards Pairwise, so there’s still an outside shot that the Laker could make their first NCAA appearance in over 20 years even without a playoff championship, seeing as they are still #20 in the Pairwise. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, as we have to take each weekend one night a time – it just feels good to be optimistic.

As always, the puck drops at 7:07pm both Friday and Saturday nights. Senior night will also be held Saturday before the game. 99.5 YesFM will carry the game locally, as will their stream on  Yesfm.net, or through the TuneIn App. Flohockey.tv is your source for WCHA hockey this season, so those of you who can’t make it to the arena can watch the game live there.

Updated: Senior night celebrations are before the game Saturday night. Also included Gage Torrel as part of the senior crew since I somehow missed him last night.

#18 Lake Superior State: 20-8-2

Northern Michigan: 15-14-2

Father Cappo’s Cup Part Deux

This is the second part of the annual Cappo Cup series between Northern Michigan and LSSU. Going into this series, hosted in Marquette, the series is tied 1-1, with a +1-goal differential going to LSSU.

This year’s Wildcat team has gotten a lot of help from their blue line in scoring, as their top scorer is junior defenseman Philip Beaulieu, who in 30 games has amassed 5 goals and 23 assists for 28 points. Close behind him is senior Troy Loggins (15g 12a for 27tp) then by Adam Rockwood, another senior forward with 5 goals, 16 assists and 21 points.

The net has been owned by the excellent senior Finnish netminder Atte Tolvanen, who has played in every game this season, earning their 15-14-2 record, with a 2.31 GAA and .915 Save%. Freshman backup Nolan Kent has appeared in 2 games, but looks like mostly in relief as no wins or losses are attributed to him.

After last year’s run, this year has certainly been a disappointment to Wildcat fans, and there are certainly some questions concerning the future progress of the team, especially in net. Tolvanen has played very well in spite of some of the play in front of him over the years, even managing to score a goal this season. With the workhorse leaving after this season, I hope for the sake of their fans they have another workhorse or two coming in next season.

Cappo Cup 2: Electric Boogaloo

What can be said about this team that hasn’t already been said across the College Hockey world this last week? I’ll for sure be doing a writeup at some point as a retrospective on the season, but needless to say it’s been one for the ages. I can’t imagine what this year must be like for longtime fans, who’ve seen some of the worst seasons the Lakers have had.

This year, though, has been a dream. Another dream may be realized over the next few weeks: another 100 point scorer. That player is Diego Cuglietta, who has a total of 93 points heading into this weekend. (34 senior, 23 junior, 25 sophomore,11 freshman). After him looks to be Max Humitz, who has 73 points, of course he should be hitting it next season. Tied with Humitz, for this season’s point total, is Anthony Nellis with 30 points.

Kossoff again owns the net, though Mitens did post a huge win Friday night against rival Michigan Tech. It’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen in net over the weekend, and I’ve been wrong almost every time I’ve guessed this season, so use your imagination.

Puck drops both Friday and Saturday at 7:07 at the Berry Events Center in Marquette, MI. In the Soo, the game will be broadcast on 99.5 YESFm, and can be heard online at yesfm.net and on the TuneIn App. FloHockey.tv will also have the video for the game.

#20 Lake Superior State: 16-8-2

Ferris State: 7-18-1

Festering Ferris Falls Behind

What a season it has been for the Ferris State Bulldogs. Head coach of the Bulldogs is now in his 27^th season with the school and has an overall record of 444-466-101. During his tenure, they’ve had some massive success: making a tournament appearance in 2003, 2012, 2014 & 2016, winning the WCHA tournament in 2016, winning regular season titles in 2002-2003, 2011-12 and 2013-14. Heck, in 2012 they made their lone Frozen Four appearance. You wouldn’t know that if you asked the fanbase how they feel, or by looking at the standings, as they are now 7 points out of the playoffs, sitting above Alaska Anchorage.

With this in mind, they did shut out #9 Bowling Green last Saturday 3-0 after shutout Friday night 2-0. Despite all the above doom and gloom, they do have a bright light on their team, and that’s Freshman Defenseman Cooper Zech, who is tied at #7 in scoring in the conference, alongside LSSU’s own Max Humitz and Jared Spooner, all with 23 points. Another Defenseman, Junior Nate Kallen is second in scoring and senior forward Corey Mackin make up the top 3 Ferris State scorers.

Roni Salmenkangas is the go-to goaltender for the Bulldogs, having played in 20 games, but he does hold a 3.69 Goals Against Average and a .878 Save %. Justin Kapelmaster, a junior, is their backup, playing in 9 games and holding a 2.94 GAA and a .923 Save %.

Whitten’s Wonderful Traveling Circus

This team feels like a mystery wrapped in an enigma this season. They’ve won 12 games on the road (counting the GLI), and have lost 2. At home, in 6 series (12 games), the Lakers have won 4 games, all of them on Friday. This brings up a lot of questions, but that’s probably for another article.

After last weekend’s set of games, Diego Cuglietta is still a point-a-game scorer, with 26 points in 26 games. Close behind him are Anthony Nellis and Max Humitz. Now, Max Humitz has been on one hell of a scoring streak since the Great Lakes Invitational, being within one goal of a hat trick at least twice since the tournament.

The goaltending situation is still a bit muddled. Nick Kossoff had an amazing game last Friday night, but would probably want to forget his performance Saturday night (though, the rest of the team may follow suit). We’ll see if Whitten & Co will split the net this weekend, but I expect Nick to start at least Friday night.

Puck drops at 7:07 at the Robert L. Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids both Friday and Saturday nights, for those who are travelling to the game or who are in the area. Bill Crawford will have the call on 99.5 YESFm, or through YESFM streaming online on their website or on TuneIn. You can also watch the game through Flohockey.tv. For those in the Sault this weekend, the school will be hosting a viewing party Friday night at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Bemidji State: 12-11-3

#18 Lake Superior State: 15-7-2

Beavers Bouncing Back

After an on-and-off start to the season, the Beavers of Bemidji has strung some big-time wins together, having split their weekend series at Bowling Green and sweeping Michigan Tech outside on Lake Bemidji last weekend, albeit with some extra time Friday night.

In an interesting turn, the Beavers are led in scoring by senior defenseman Justin Baudry with 19 points, though their leading goal scorers are a pair of sophomore forwards Aaron Miller (10g) and Charlie Combs (9g) .

Freshman Zach Driscoll and sophomore Henry Johnson seemed to have split more weekends, with Driscoll starting 15 games, and Johnson starting 13. GAA and Save % are nearly identical, though the freshman does have 2 more wins.

Lakers Leaning Towards the Light

With 10 series left before the post season, the Lakers have positioned themselves to be in the final spot for home ice this season. They have the tie breaker, as of now, on Michigan Tech, and are only a point ahead of their opponents this weekend. Through the USCHO poll, the Lakers are ranked #18, however through the Pairwise rankings, they are at #20. They’ll need to start a good run this weekend in order to break into the top 15, and a chance at an at-large bid.

Our top three scorers are the same as they’ve been for a while – led by captain Diego Cuglietta (17-7-24), Anthony Nellis (11-12-23) and Max Humitz (9-12-21). Diego is officially a point-a-game player, with Nellis being 1 point behind that mark, the same with Humitz going into the weekend. 

The goaltending will be the story in the later half of the year. Nick Kosshoff has played in 16 games, with a record of 11-3-2, and Mareks Mitens following him with 8 games played and a 4-4-0 record, with all 4 of the wins being shutouts. This includes last weekend where Mareks made 29 saves. While I don’t think Nick has lost his net, I think Mareks is certainly lighting the fire – hopefully a bit of competition is a good thing.

Friday night, the Lakers will also try to battle domestic violence, providing a free t-shirt to the first 1000 fans so they can white-out the arena, so do try to come out to the arena this weekend to support your Lakers. However, if you can’t, it will be on over the air on 99.5 YESFm, streaming through Yesfm.net or through the TuneIn app. Flohockey.tv will have the video feed of the game.

LSSU: 14-6-2

MSUM: 18-5-1

Purple Posse

So, we meet again, Mankato. Since the realignment, the Mavericks have had the Lakers number. Of course, Lake State hopes that changes this weekend, but looking at Minnesota State’s record of 18-5-1, and a perfect 11-0-0 at home, that this weekend will be another battle.

Surprisingly, the Maverick’s top scorers are either juniors or sophomores. Junior forwards Marc Michaelis and Parker Tuomie top this list, with 26 and 22 points respectively, followed by sophomore forward Jared Spooner at 21 points.

In net, Freshman Dryden McKay has won the starting role, having played in 17 games with a 11-4-1 record, 2.05 GAA and a .919 Save %. Behind him is senior Mathias Israelsson who has played in 9 games this season, 7-1-0 record, with 1.74 GAA and a .908 Save%.

On a side note, they’ve out of the 12 series they’ve played as part of the regular season, half of them have been against ranked opponents (Ferris x2, Bemidji, UAA, Michigan Tech and Alaska were unranked). They dropped 1 game against any of those opponents, Saturday night at Bemidji.  The only series they were swept in was against the then #12 Bowling Green in December. They also lost against Minnesota Duluth and tied against Arizona State at the Desert Hockey Classic, and then #16 North Dakota early in the season.

Blue Bombshells Bombast the Best

Minnesota State-Mankato: The real test to any season. This season, however, having been ranked on and off throughout the season, becoming the new GLI champions, and being on a 8-game unbeaten streak, Mankato will be the ultimate gut check. Remember: Six of those wins came from opponents #52 or lower in the pairwise. The other two are #30 Michigan State and #31 Michigan Tech.

The top point getters stay the same, except Max Humitz breaks into the top. Diego Cuglietta and Anthony Nellis lead with 23 and 22 points respectively, with Humitz bringing up the rear at 19. Both Cuglietta and Nellis  have also been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award – you can vote for them here (https://www.hobeybaker.com/vote) , and they also have a shot at breaking 100 points, though by my math, Humitz should be the next 100 point scorer next season.

Puck drops at 7:07pm CST, so 8:07 pm both Friday and Saturday nights in Mankato. Locally it can be heard on 99.5 YESFm, or on it’s website stream or on Tunein. You can see the game on FloHockey.tv for a nominal fee.