CCHA Releases Annual Polls

Despite a strong showing in the CCHA Playoffs last season media pollsters and coaches have predicted LSSU to finish 9th and 7th respectively in the CCHA this season. Both polls rewarded Miami of Ohio, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Michigan for finishing in the top four of the league last season with each team being put into the preseason polls again this season. Look for a team predicted to finish in the bottom of the league to make their mark this season as Miami and Notre Dame have the past two seasons. "We're excited about our cluster. The last 11 or 12 years, we've had a deal with Joe Louis to play a home game here. This season we'll have Michigan and Michigan State and Northern Michigan in our building. Our season tickets have more than doubled from last season as of today so a lot of people are excited about getting some good opponents in our rink. Our goal is just to improve on last year. I think if we can just continue to build every year to get better and better and better I think good things will happen. The goals never change; probably for everybody here we want to get to Joe Louis. It just starts with working hard everyday and hopefully good things will work out at the end of the year. We have a couple big losses in Jeff Jakaitis in net and Derek A. Smith on defense. I think we have some guys that are ready to emerge and take that opportunity. We've been blessed at Lake State with great goaltending for a lot of years and I expect that to continue. The only other issue I've got is we have one senior on scholarship so we're a little young. I'm just hoping for some leadership to emerge over the first three weeks and the next couple of months to really solidify our team. I thought a key reason why we had some success at the end last year was our leadership." Head Coach Jim Roque was quoted as saying by CCHA.com. No Lakers where selected to the Preseason All CCHA teams this season. Coaches Poll 1. Miami (5) 114 2. Michigan State (6) 113 3. Notre Dame (1) 105 4. Michigan 92 5. Ohio State 77 6. Nebraska-Omaha 68 7. Lake Superior 52 8. Northern Michigan 48 9. Ferris State 44 10. Western Michigan 41 11. Alaska 25 12. Bowling Green 13 Media Poll 1. Michigan State (25) 701 2. Miami (21) 667 3. Notre Dame (13) 656 4. Michigan (4) 596 5. Ohio State 414 6. Nebraska-Omaha 412 7. Western Michigan 352 8. Ferris State 279 9. Lake Superior State 270 10. Northern Michigan 248 11. Alaska 212 12. Bowling Green 108 REDHAWKS AND SPARTANS SHARE TOP BILLING Media and Coaches Agree to Disagree Again FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – For the second straight year, the coaches and media disagree over who should hold down the No. 1 position in the CCHA’s annual preseason polls. The conference’s 12 head coaches ranked Miami first while the media voted for defending NCAA champion Michigan State. Defending regular-season and playoff champion Notre Dame placed third in each category. The RedHawks edged out the Spartans for top honors in the coaches poll despite finishing with one fewer first-place vote (five) compared to Michigan State (six). The Irish are the only other team picked by a coach to finish on top. For the second consecutive year, the Spartans garnered the most first-place votes in both rankings as they are also the top choice of 25 media members. Notre Dame attracted 13 first-place votes in media balloting with Michigan rounding out selections with the remaining four. The RedHawks, guided by three-time CCHA Coach-of-the-Year Enrico Blasi, have 20 players returning, including both starting goaltenders, all eight defensemen who suited up last season for the team with the third-best defensive numbers in the conference, and impact senior forwards Ryan Jones and Nathan Davis. Jones, a 2004 draft pick of the Minnesota Wild, is the league’s top returning goal scorer after having notched 18 in conference action and 29 in overall games last season. Davis, selected by Chicago in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, was one of just nine players in the nation in 2006-07 to reach the 50-point plateau (21-29-50). The Spartans also bring back 20 players from a squad that captured the school’s third national championship, and the eighth won by a CCHA member, on April 7 in St. Louis. Michigan State is backstopped by junior goaltender Jeff Lerg, who is 5-1-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average and .949 save percentage in NCAA Tournament play, and led offensively by the potent all-junior combination of leading scorer Tim Kennedy (18-25-33), Frozen Four winning goal-scorer Justin Abdelkader and Pittsburgh draft pick Tim Crowder. The Irish have 16 lettermen back, including their top five scorers led by Eric Condra (14-34-48) and 2007 All-Rookie Team picks Ryan Thang (20-21-41) and Kevin Deeth (17-22-39). On defense, another All-Rookie Team member, Kyle Lawson, will be joined by freshman Ian Cole, the first, first-round NHL draft choice in school history, who went 18th overall to St. Louis. A total of 63 members of the media ranked the 12 CCHA teams in projected order of finish for the regular season. Points were awarded on a 12-11-10-9, etc., basis. League coaches ranked the CCHA teams, excluding their own school, in the order they predicted the regular season will end. Points in the coaches poll were tallied on a 11-10-9, etc., basis.

Lake Superior State adds Metro as Volunteer Coach

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich, native Rich Metro recently retired from professional hockey and joined the LSSU coaching staff as a volunteer coach. After winning two national championships with Sault Michigan Hockey Association teams, Metro played for the Soo Hawks and the Marquette Electricians AAA midget teams, and Waterloo Blawkhawks of the United States Hockey League. He went on to play collegiate hockey at Northern Michigan University, where he was the Wildcats' rookie of the year and a two-year co-captain. He totaled 24-35-59 at NMU from 1995-99. After professional stints in the Central Hockey League (Columbus Cottonmouths) and the East Hockey League (Pee-Dee Pride),, and United Hockey League (Ashille Smoke) Metro played six seasons with Villard de Lans, France, and won two League Magnus French Hockey Championships. He was the team's all-time leading scorer. Metro married his wife, Elodie, in December, 2006. He is the son of Con and Grace Metro. His father played on the original Laker Hockey team coached by Ron Mason in 1966-67. His brother, Terry, was a goaltender at Wisconsin-Stout.

MARLIES SIGN G JEFF JAKAITIS

Mike Penny, General Manager of the Toronto Marlies, announced Tuesday that the club has signed goaltender Jeff Jakaitis to a standard player’s contract. In keeping with club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed. Jakaitis, 24, has spent the past four seasons playing for Lake Superior State University of the NCAA’s Central Collegiate Hockey Association. A native of Rochester, Minnesota, the free agent netminder registered a 16-16-3 record and a 2.31 goals against average while appearing in 35 of 43 games for the Lakers last season. His 16 victories ranked fourth in the 12-team CCHA while his three shutout wins helped him earn a tie for third in that statistical category. In four NCAA seasons, all with the Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan-based Lakers, Jakaitis has accumulated a record of 40-58-18 in 123 appearances and has ten career shutouts. He set career highs in 2005-06 with four shutouts and a 2.22 goals against average. He established a new high of 16 victories the following year. The Marlies will open their third season in Toronto when they host the Rochester Americans – AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres & Florida Panthers – on Saturday, October 6 at Ricoh Coliseum at 4:30 p.m. For ticket information, including season ticket packages and priority seating, visit

LSSU Hockey 2007-08 Season Preview

Questions abound as the Lake Superior State University Lakers get set to start the 2007-08 season. After losing 12 seniors following the 2005-06 season the Lakers where not expected to make much of an impact during the 2006-07 season, LSSU went on to surprise the college hockey critics making it to the CCHA final four at the Joe Louis Arena eventually falling to Michigan State University, who went on to win the national championship, on a controversial overtime power play goal after rallying to tie the game in the final two minutes of regulation. Playing a difficult schedule last season LSSU went 5-12-0 against teams that made it to the NCAA playoffs but went 14-5-1 against sub-.500 teams, winning games that they should win, a key to the sign of a great team. The schedule doesn’t get any easier this season with LSSU finding themselves in a cluster with Northern Michigan, Michigan State, and the University of Michigan, playing 14 games in total against teams that made the NCAA playoffs. Also new this year is Rodney Lowman who will take over as LSSU’s 6th president in early October. Offense. Scoring this season will be a question mark for the Lakers as it has been for the past 10 years or so. Key returnees include Josh Sim and Nathan Perkovich who led the Lakers with 15 goals each last season, and Troy Schwab (tied for the team lead with 30 points, buoyed by a team leading 24 assists) who could be named team captain as a junior this season. Losses on the offensive side of the ice include defenseman Derek A. Smith and forwards Trent Campbell who lead the Lakers with 30 points last season and Jeff Rainville who posted 13 goals and 15 assists to finish off his LSSU career. Key returners to the power play this season are Perkovich, Sim, Schwab and Simon Gysbers. Look for transfers Carter Lee, and Zach MacVoy, as well as freshman Will Acton, Tyson Hobbins, Richard Schofield, and Chad Nehring to contribute in the attacking zone. LSSU will look to improve on the 2.58 goals per game that they averaged over 43 games last season including just 0.81 power play goals per game, both ranking them near the bottom of the CCHA. Defense. Defensive stalwarts Derek A. Smith and Barnabas Birkeland will be missed on the blue line as will Ryan Baird who has been forced to leave hockey due to persistent shoulder injuries. The defense will be anchored this season by underclassmen Steven Kaunisto, Simon Gysbers, and Steven Oleksy, with incoming players Dillin Stonehouse, Matt Cowie, and Ben Kitzmiller expected to contribute on the blue line immediately. Last season LSSU allowed only 2.56 goals per games good for 4th best in the CCHA, will killing 83.2% of their shorthanded opportunities and scoring 1 shorthanded goal every 22 opportunity while only posting 12.84 penalty minutes per game making them the least penalized team in the CCHA. Goaltending. Gone is LSSU’s all world goaltender Jeff Jakaitis. Sophomore Pat Inglis will compete with incoming freshman Brian Mahoney-Wilson for playing time after Inglis posted a .908 SV% and 2.89 GAA in 10 appearances last season for the Lakers. Last season the combination of Jakaitis and Inglis averaged 30.58 saves per game, the most in the CCHA buoyed by Jakaitis’s three shutouts. The loss of Jakaitis is tremendous in the eyes of most but I once heard that LSSU doesn’t recruit goaltenders they are cloned somewhere in a dark room over in Crawford Hall. With names like Bruce Hoffort, Darrin Madeley, Blaine Lacher, John Grahame, Jayme Platt, and Matt Violin coming to mind along with Jakaitis a big part of me believes in this theory. Look for the CCHA’s annual Media and Coaches polls on the afternoon of September 25, and the annual Blue-White Game on October 6.

LSSU gets First Commitment for 2008-09 Season

The Lake Superior State University hockey program has received a verbal commitment from Daniel Barczuk of the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets of the United States Hockey League. The 6’-1”, 185 pound Livonia Michigan native plays left wing for the Blue Jackets posting 9 goals and 22 points in 56 games after having posted 2 goals in 4 games for Lincoln earlier in the season. Barczuk was fourth on the team in scoring finishing behind current Laker Zac MacVoy. In 2005-06 he posted 1 goal and 10 penalty minutes in 10 games for Cedar Rapids also of the USHL.

Worlds Greatest Hockey Player to visit one of College Hockey’s Greatest Programs.

Laker Hockey fans, the great Gordie Howe will be visiting the Laker Hockey Program next Tuesday, 11 September. This is your opportunity to meet a living legend and tomorrow’s legends in your 2007-08 Laker hockey team. The LSSU hockey players will participate in a skills challenge at the Taffy Abel Arena from 5:30-6:00 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer session with Gordie Howe hosted by the Voice of Laker Hockey, Bill Crawford, at 6 p.m. All public, LSSU student, loft-holder, faculty/staff and Friday-only/Saturday-only season-ticket holders are invited to the Q&A. Also included in the evening will be a Laker Athletics Garage Sale, a great opportunity to pick up some authentic Laker gear. This will be your first opportunity to see Lake Superior State’s newest faces with Will Acton, Zach MacVoy, Tyson Hobbins, Richard Schofield, Dillin Stonehouse, Chad Nehring, Matt Cowie, Brian Mahoney-Wilson, and Ben Kitzmiller donning the anchor for the first time. Laker hockey season tickets are $156 if purchased before Sept. 11, and the package includes the first round of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Playoffs. Season tickets for students (18-and-under) are $85. The Friday-only package is $74 and includes one playoff game, and the Saturday-only package is $82 and includes one playoff game. Walk-up prices are $10 adults and $5 for students. If the Lakers don’t play host to a CCHA Playoffs first-round series, refunds must be claimed by May 15, 2008. To order tickets, call 906-635-2602 or visit www.lssulakers.cstv.com/tickets/lasu-tickets.html.