Lakers Impressive at Badger Showdown

Lake Superior State forward Fred Cassiani was named Central Collegiate Hockey Association Rookie of the Week, while senior forward Troy Schwab, junior forward Zac MacVoy and junior defenseman Simon Gysbers made the all-tournament team following the Lakers' runner-up finish at the 20th annual Badger Showdown. Cassiani, a 5-10, 172-pound forward from Toronto, Ont., contributed a goal and two assists for the weekend. He is currently tied for fifth in overall scoring among CCHA freshmen with 8-5--13. MacVoy and Cassiani lead the Lakers in goals scored with eight each. MacVoy, a 6-2, 205-pounder from Livonia, Mich., and Schwab, a 5-8, 183-pounder from Kindersley, Sask., both had a goal and three assists as the Lakers defeated Harvard 6-2 Saturday and tied Wisconsin 1-1 Sunday at the Badger Showdown. The Lakers' top-scoring line that includes Schwab at left wing, Cassiani at center and MacVoy at right wing played a role in five of the seven goals LSSU scored during the tournament. MacVoy, with 8-10--18, is tied for eighth in points in the CCHA, while Schwab is tied for 10th with 8-9--17. Gysbers, a 6-2, 192-pounder from Richmond Hill, Ont., scored a goal against Harvard to improve his season totals to 3-7--10. He is 10th in points among CCHA defensemen. The Badger Showdown All-Tournament Team also included Wisconsin forward John Mitchell, defenseman Jamie McBain and goaltender Shane Connelly, who was also named Most-Outstanding Player.

Lakers Drop Pair to Nebraska-Omaha

Friday night The University of Nebraska-Omaha too the lead with a goal in the first period at 7:40, to give UNO a 1-0 lead. LSSU battled back early in the second period to tie game up at 1-1 with Fred Cassiani scoring his sixth goal of the season just over two minutes into the game, 2:23, with Josh Sim and Troy Schwab assisting. LSSU took the lead 1-2 on a Troy Schwab goal at the 13:38 mark of the period with Rick Schofield and Chad Nehring assisting. LSSU was unable to maintain the lead, surrendering a game tying goal to UNO’s Nick Fanto just over a minute later, at 14:53, and a the eventual game winning goal on the power play at 16:49 of the second period. LSSU goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson recorded 24 saves in the game while the Lakers put 24 shots on the UNO net, UNO was 1-for-4 with the extraman while LSSU’s power play continued to struggle going 0-for-6. After a scoreless first period Saturday night UNO’s Dan Charleston scored his 8th goal of the season at 8:16 of the period, the first goal that Pat Inglis allowed since November 1st. Lake Superior’s Fred Cassiani tied the game up at 1-1 for the Lakers 3:19 into the third period with Kyle Haines assisting. Nebraska-Omaha scored the game winning goal at 9:13 of the period to drop the Lakers to 3-6-5-1 in CCHA play. LSSU was 0-for-5 with the power play, 0-for-11 on the weekend; LSSU has gone 1-for-45 on the power play since going 2-for-5 with the extra man against Notre Dame on November 14th. UNO was 0-for-5 on the power play 1-for-9 on the weekend.

Lakers Conclude First Half of CCHA Season with a Series against Mavs

SAULT STE. MARIE – The Lake Superior State hockey team wraps up a stretch of six home games in a four-week period with this weekend’s Central Collegiate Hockey Association series against Nebraska-Omaha. LSSU and UNO play at 7:05 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at Taffy Abel Arena. Both games will be broadcast live on Rock 101 and simulcast on www.rock101.net. A pay-per-view video feed is available on the B2 Network. Santa is making an appearance at Saturday’s game. The third annual Teddy Bear Toss is also Saturday, and fans can throw a stuffed animal on the ice when the Lakers score their first goal. The stuffed animals will be donated to local charities. This is LSSU’s final home series until Jan. 16-17 when they play host to No. 1-ranked Notre Dame. The Lakers (4-6-6 overall, 3-4-5-1 CCHA) are trying to snap their string of three straight ties when they play an opponent against whom, ironically, they tied twice during the 2007-08 regular season. Heading into this weekend’s series, LSSU leads the CCHA in shootouts, but has lost four out of five league tie-breakers. The new CCHA tie-breaker format is sparking plenty of discussion among hockey diehards. So far this season, Notre Dame and Michigan State are 2-0 in league shootouts, while UNO, Alaska and Northern Michigan are 2-1. Ohio State is 1-0, Miami 1-1, Michigan 0-0, Western Michigan 1-3, LSSU 1-4, Bowling Green State 0-1 and Ferris State 0-2. In actuality the shoot out has had little effect on the standings: PTs with shootout PTs without shootout Miami 23 22 Notre Dame 20 18 Alaska 17 15 Nebraska-Omaha 15 13 Michigan 14 14 Ohio State 14 13 Ferris State 14 14 Lake Superior 12 12 Bowling Green 9 9 Northern Michigan 9 7 Michigan State 8 6 Western Michigan 7 6 Nebraska-Omaha (9-4-3 overall, 5-4-3-2 CCHA) also tied both games last weekend while playing host to Alaska. The Mavs and Nanooks deadlocked 0-0 on Dec. 5 and 1-1 on Dec. 6, and they split the shootout decisions to pick up three points each in the league standings. Alaska’s stingy defense held UNO’s usually-potent power play scoreless on eight chances. UNO is ranked third in the CCHA in power-play percentage at .184 and third in penalty killing at .917, but the Mavs have given up a league-high four short-handed goals. This weekend’s series will be a matchup of two of the CCHA’s top-scoring defensemen. UNO junior Eddie Del Grosso leads the league in points by a defenseman with 1-15—16, while LSSU junior Steven Kaunisto is tied for fourth in that category with 1-10—11. High-scoring freshmen John Kemp of UNO and Fred Cassiani of LSSU will also be going head-to-head. They are both ranked among the top 10 in the league in rookie scoring. Senior Tomas Klempa has 8-7—15 to lead the Mavs in goal scoring this season. Both Klempa and teammate Dan Charleston, who is also a senior, have scored four power-play goals. LSSU is led in scoring by junior forward Zac MacVoy (7-7—14), who tallied LSSU’s regulation and shootout goals last Friday against NMU. Senior Troy Schwab scored the game-tying goal last Saturday to improve his totals to 6-5—11. The only other CCHA series of the weekend is a home-and-home matchup between Notre Dame and Bowling Green State. LSSU’s previous five games against Nebraska-Omaha have gone into overtime with the Lakers finishing 1-0-4 in those contests.

Lakers Drop Pair of Shootouts to Northern Michigan

Friday night Lake Superior State University’s men’s hockey team fought back to tie the game up at 1-to-1 with a Zac MacVoy scoring his 7th goal of the season midway (10:11) through the third period with Simon Gysbers assisting. LSSU goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson recorded 30 saves in the game while the Lakers put 30 shots on the NMU net, neither team was able to score on the power play despite each having 4 opportunities in the game. In the shootout LSSU struggled again with MacVoy scoring the Lakers only goal, while Steven Kaunisto and Rick Schofield both where stopped. NMU was 2-for-3 on their chances to record the win. Saturday night LSSU jumped out to an early lead with Pat Aubry scoring his first goal of the season just 2:35 into the game with Tyson Hobbins and Chad Nehring assisting. Lake Superior was unable to hold the lead allowing back to back power play goals to NMU’s Mark Olver at 9:36 of the first period and 7:10 of the second period. Troy Schwab tied the game up for the Lakers with Kaunisto assisting at 15:57 of the third period. After another scoreless overtime period LSSU again fell in the shootout after NMU make 2-of-3 shots against Mahoney-Wilson, while LSSU failed to convert in the two shots they took. LSSU was 0-for-7 with the power play, 0-for-11 on the weekend, mustering 15 of their 29 shots with the extra man. LSSU has gone 1-for-34 on the power play since going 2-for-5 with the extra man against Notre Dame on November 14th. LSSU has now also dropped 4 CCHA shootouts, and one non conference shootout, their lone win this season came against Bowling Green on November 8th.

LSSU hockey team signs four players including Sault Ste. Marie winger Kyle Jean

Four players, including Sault Ste. Marie native Kyle Jean, have signed a National Letter of Intent to play hockey at Lake Superior State. LSSU has also signed defenseman Zachary Trotman of Novi, Mich., and forwards Benjamin Power of Montreal, Quebec, and Kelin Ainsworth of Thunder Bay, Ont. Jean is a former Soo Indians AAA midget hockey player who is in his second season with the Traverse City North Stars coached by former Lakers Anthony Palumbo and Mike Matteucci. The 6-3, 205-pound left wing was traded from the Marquette Rangers to the North Stars midway through last season and has already surpassed last season’s point total. Jean has six goals and seven assists through 21 games in 2008-09. His totals include one short-handed goal and two game-winning goals as the North Stars are off to a 14-4-3 start in the North American Hockey League. “He is a big, strong kid with skills, and is on the NHL Central Scouting B List for potential draft picks next June,” LSSU hockey coach Jim Roque said. “He is getting his game together, as far as playing college hockey, with the help of Anthony and Mike.” After playing midget hockey in the Detroit area, Trotman is in his first junior A season with the Wichita Falls Wildcats. The 6-2, 200-pound right defenseman has one assist through 17 games with the Wildcats, who are 8-9-3 in the NAHL. “Zach is a big and physical, and more of a stay-at-home type defenseman,” Roque said. “He will help give us a little more grit and toughness on the back end, which we’ve sometimes lacked. And I think he can score at this level. He skates really well.” Power, a 6-0, 175-pound center, played for St. Andrews Prep School in Toronto last season and is currently a first-year junior A player for the Kingston Voyageurs of the Ontario Provincial Hockey League. He leads Kingston in points with 15-18—33 through 30 games. He has eight power-play goals and three game-winning goals. The Voyageurs lead the OPHL Ruddock Division with 20 wins. “He is a clever player and a good replacement for Troy Schwab as far as skill level,” Roque said. “He is having a great first year in junior hockey.” Roque learned of Ainsworth, a 5-11, 175-pound left wing with a 1991 birthday, from former Laker Jamie McDonald (LSSU ’80), who is the director of hockey operations at Rothesay Netherwood Prep School in Rothesay, New Brunswick. After playing three seasons at RNS, Ainsworth returned to Ontario to play for the Fort William North Stars of the Superior International Junior Hockey League. He has six goals and four assists through 18 games for the 15-1-3 North Stars. “He is also very skilled and is coached by the same coach that (former Laker) Ryan Baird played for,” Roque said. “He will probably defer enrollment and play junior hockey for another year.” LSSU’s new recruiting class also includes Kellan Lain of Oakville, Ont., who signed his NLI last spring. Lain, a 6-4, 195-pound forward, has 13-13—26 with three game-winning goals for Oakville, which is currently 23-5 in the OPHL. He helped lead the Blades to the OPHL title and the Royal Bank Cup in 2007-08.

LSSU to Play Host to NMU

SAULT STE. MARIE – Lake Superior State is thankful to be back from its arduous trip to Alaska and play its next two hockey series at home. The Lakers’ homestand begins with this weekend’s series against Upper Peninsula rival Northern Michigan and concludes Dec. 12-13 with a series against Nebraska-Omaha. This is the first time since the 1997-98 season and only the second time since 1983-84 that the Lakers and Wildcats won’t play back-to-back games in a home-and-home format. LSSU and NMU play at 7:05 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at Taffy Abel Arena. Both games will be broadcast live on Rock 101 with an audio webcast on www.rock101.net. A pay-per-view video feed is available on the B2 Network via www.lssulakers.com. Both teams are winless in their last three games and working to get back on the winning track. The Lakers (4-6-4 overall, 3-4-3-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) lost 4-1 Friday and tied 1-1 Saturday at Alaska, and dropped to 1-2 in shootouts against CCHA opponents. NMU (3-10-1 overall, 2-9-1 CCHA), which is playing without its Nos. 1 and 2 goaltenders, lost 6-4 and 2-1 at home to Ferris State last weekend. A top-four CCHA finish is a goal for the Lakers and not out of reach. They are currently tied for seventh place in the standings with Michigan, are only four points out of third place and have two games in hand on three of the teams above them in the standings. One of those teams is next week’s opponent, UNO, which takes on the Nanooks and their impressive defense this weekend. Fifth-ranked Miami is currently first in the standings with 19 points, followed by second-ranked Notre Dame with 16. Alaska, Ferris State and Ohio State have 14 points each, and UNO has 12. In addition to the Mavericks, LSSU has games in hand on FSU and OSU. Other CCHA matchups this weekend include Notre Dame at Ferris State, and 10th-place Michigan State vs. Michigan in a home-and-home series. Alaska was the first opponent this season to limit LSSU to less than two goals in a game and less than four goals in a series. Rick Schofield scored his first goal of the season for the Lakers’ only goal on Friday, while Troy Schwab tallied the lone goal Saturday. Josh Sim, who assisted on Schwab’s goal, has at least a point (4-4—8) in seven of the Lakers’ last eight games. LSSU points leader Zac MacVoy (6-7—13), has at least a point in 11 of 14 games. This weekend’s series gives NMU junior forward Ray Kaunisto of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., a chance to play in his hometown rink and take on his cousin, LSSU junior defenseman Steven Kaunisto. Ray Kaunisto is currently tied for fifth in points for the Wildcats with 3-2—5, while Steven Kaunisto has 1-9—10 and is the Lakers’ assist leader. Steven Kaunisto is currently tied for sixth in the CCHA in points by defensemen.

Lakers Travel 5000 Miles for 1 Point

Lake Superior State University’s men’s hockey gets one point in trip to Alaska over Thanksgiving weekend. Friday night LSSU came out flat and fell behind with a University of Alaska Fairbanks goal by Ron Meyers at 13:24 of the first period. The Lakers where outshot 10-to-5 in the first period. UAF added two goals in the second period to mount a 0-3 lead in the game with Derek Klassen (4:26) and Carlo Finucci (16:03) scoring for the Nanooks, with Finucci’s scoring on the powerplay. Lake Superior’s Rick Schofield scored a power play goal for the Lakers at 18:11 of the period with Matt Cowie and Zac MacVoy assisting to drop the UAF lead down to two goals. Laker head coach Jim Roque pulled starting goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson following the second period in favor of Mitch Edmondson, after Mahoney-Wilson allowed 3 goals on 22 UAF shots. Edmondson stopped all 4 shots he faced in the third period. UAF added a fourth goal in the game with Adam Naglich putting a goal into the Lakers empty net at 18:06 of the third period. LSSU went 1-for-4 on the power play, while UAF went 1-for-3 with the power play. On Saturday evening LSSU took the lead Troy Schwab scoring his fifth goal of the season at 9:35 of the first period with Josh Sim and Fred Cassiani assisting. UAF tied the game up at 1-1 with Dustin Molle scoring his first goal of the season at 14:18 of the period. The Lakers and Nanooks played followed up the first period with two scoreless periods and a scoreless 5 minute overtime session. In the shootout LSSU’s trio of Steven Kaunisto, Schofield, and Cassiani all missed on attempts against UAF goaltender Chad Johnson while UAF’s Braden Walls scored on the first attempt for Alaska-Fairbanks to record the win. Lake Superior went 0-for-4 on the power play, 1-for-8 on the weekend, while UAF went 0-for-5 with the extra attacker, 1-for-8 on the weekend. LSSU goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson had a strong Saturday performance mading 24 saves in the game to record the tie, allowing just 1 goal. UAF’s Chad Johnson allowed 1 goal on the 36 LSSU shots he faced.