LSSU Lakers

[Bill]

OK Laker fans, be honest. Speak with your minds and not your hearts. Does anyone think the Lakers will get a sweep before the end of this season?

Is anyone other than sm3pk and myself getting sick and tired of the lack of offense?

I hate to say it, being as its only January, but I'm already starting to look forward to next season.

[sm3pk]

Its also interesting to see that the Lakers have not scored a power play goal in 5 games and 26 tries.You would think just a lucky bounce would get you one if you are throwing the puck at the net.I think it is great they are doing better then they have been and up in standings but, to get that home ice and to get to the Joe there really needs to be a player or two who can step up and start being a threat around the net.I agree with you Bill on next season. I find myself already wondering if the new recruits will have scoring abilities

[Anchor]

The best bet for a sweep appears to be when they play Nebraska-Omaha. The Mavs haven't won on the road since they beat Michigan State in October--although that streak could end tonight in Big Rapids.
I wouldn't give up hope yet. There's a lot for this team to prove. They should hit double-digit victories before the season's over, and its been a while since that has happened at Lake State. And considering all of the parity in the CCHA this year, as long as they avoid Michigan and Ohio State in the first round, I would say they have a good chance to advance to the Joe no matter who and where they play.

[Anchor]

As ugly as that tie looked, it seemed to help our RPI...we're now #31!! And included in the Pairwise!! Albeit, at the bottom, but still, it's progress. Now, if we could only figure out a way to crack the top 16.

[sm3pk]

What a wasted weekend. The rules should be changed that if Lake State gets a power play,the other team has to pull their goalie also.Lake State needs to recruit players who weigh under 180 pounds just to try and have some speed on their team. I think Anzalone was totally out coached this weekend also.He allowed HUntsville to play their game and make his game look totally non-existant. Your CHA teams are teams who for the most part are made up of players that no one else wanted. Somehow though they got better players then what Lake State could recruit. Wayne State would beat the Lakers as well and probably Air Force.Hats off to Ross,he made Anzalone look like a first year coach.

[Bill]

If this doesn't wake them up, nothing will.

[sm3pk]

Bill..it keeps going back to what you and I have been saying. No offense and nothing left to say.At this point you have to wonder if they will win another game this year.

[Bill]

I'm not so sure about the rest of the season, but the way the offense is going right now it's difficult to see them getting any wins on the two upcoming road trips. They have to hope MSU or UAF come out flat once or twice.

Looking at the CCHA standings, things could be worse. They are still in the middle of the pack and have games in hand on the teams below them, so if they can somehow find even the amount of offense they had earlier in the season, which wasn't a lot even then, they have a chance to at least stay in the middle of the pack by season's end. But again, that's IF they can start scoring some goals. They need to at least get 2-3 goals a game on a regular basis to give themselves a chance to get a few more wins. And that's assuming they can continue to play good defense and get good goaltending.

[sm3pk]

Did I hear Crawford correctly when he said Anzalone benched some players between the second and third period and at the end there were only 10 players plus the 2 goalies sitting on the Laker bench. He said Rainville wasnt back out for the third at all. The thing that bothers me also is that Western took both their games with Huntsville and only allowed them 2 goals for their weekend series with them. The Lakers had to many power play chances in a row not to have scored and thats not a good thing this time of the year with games under their belts. But dont worry,I am a sucker for punishment and will be at the State games.

[LakeStateGoose13]

Anzalone needs to go. How can he expect to win when his team has strayed away from its success. On the powerplay, or any zone pressure, the team has success when it is run through Scoran. Where is he on the powerplay, and why is he only playing one shift during powerplays. How does he expect to win when he benches all but 13 players, including the 2 goaltenders for the third period against UAH. Mind you, this list of the benched includes the aforementioned Scoran, along with Rainville, Campbell, Derek A. Smith, Restoule, along with others. That is not the way to motivate a team, that is a way to lose them. You can sense he is feeling sorry for himself, and that he just doesnt care. The players look frustrated, and ready to walk out on him, and quite frankly, I wouldnt blame them.

[sm3pk]

Lets hope we are not seeing a melt down.

[MikeAnderson]

Can someone explain UAH's shorthanded empty net goal at the 8:44 mark of the third period? Just seems like an odd time to pull the goalie. Is it a typo in the box?

[sm3pk]

Anzalone does that often if he thinks it might help ....so no..he was pulled early

[MikeAnderson]

Anzalone does that often if he thinks it might help ....so no..he was pulled early
Doesn't seem wise, since (if I remember my rules correctly) the goaltender cannot return until a stoppage in play.

How often does this actually work?

[sm3pk]

Not very ..but Anzalone tries anything and everything if he is behind and feels he has nothing to lose at some point

[FRICKER]

Coaches will pull goalies before the last minute in the game as a last resort to a team not generating offense and being behind by more than a few goals. Oftentimes a team will respond with improved defense (out of fear?) and improved offensive pressure with the extra attacker. It works maybe one out of ten times, with the open net goal the normal result, but when it works and momentum turns, it's awesome to watch. I've seen it works a coupleof times and I know it's worked for Frank in the past. The attitude is you've nothing to lose as the game is almost out of reach anyway.......

[MikeAnderson]

Thanks for the input, guys.

The closest to this that I've seen personally was at a game in Bemidji when the Beavers were able to work with the extra attacker for almost 4 minutes at the end of a game against UAH (the Chargers won 5-3).

[Mogerfan]

Anyone calling for Anzalone's head at this point needs to be reminded that we have played HALF our CCHA schedule and already have 6 CCHA wins compared to 7 CCHA wins ALL OF LAST YEAR.

Sure I am upset about this weekend, but I think it is a case of the team not being mature enough to get up for a game against a non conference opponent between last weeks emotional win over ND and the coming HUGE CCHA road trip. I didn't listen to the whole game, but it sounds like Frank was just trying to make a statement to the guys that you play hard every night, or you will sit and watch.

They can't buy a goal most nights, and the power play is a disaster ("Hey Reg, when you guys gonna stop losin'. You gotta get the power play together"), but we knew this would be the case at the beginning of the season. The only recruits who looked like promising scorers (Kasper, Bahane) bailed on us before the season started, so if we were going to get a go to guy, one of the veterans was going to have to step up. I really thought either Rainville, Campell, Osman or Cheesman would break through and have a huge year, but that didn't happen.

Overall, things could be much worse. Michigan is the only CCHA team to take 4 points from us in a weekend. We have two guys coming in next year who look like small, speedy scores, and the rebuilding will continue. Frank is basically building a team from scatch (which needs to be done defense first) and he hasn't been back 4 full seasons yet. Sure we are all frustrated, but take a look at the standings and have a little patience. It is probably harder for the college students who want to win NOW while they are in school, but for those of us who have been fans for 25 years and will be around forever, the slow steady rebuilding is the way to go.

[thepuck57]

Anzalone needs to go. How can he expect to win when his team has strayed away from its success. On the powerplay, or any zone pressure, the team has success when it is run through Scoran. Where is he on the powerplay, and why is he only playing one shift during powerplays. How does he expect to win when he benches all but 13 players, including the 2 goaltenders for the third period against UAH. Mind you, this list of the benched includes the aforementioned Scoran, along with Rainville, Campbell, Derek A. Smith, Restoule, along with others.
This doesn't make sense. Is Scoran on the powerplay or not? As far as any benchings. Who's the coach? The way they were playing they deserved to have a rest,there are players sitting out that maybe could of put in more effort. ALL players have bad games and usually sit as a result. Give Alabama's team some credit. They played hard,(which some of the Laker's didn't) and their speed killed the Lakers. And there is one thing that stops speed and that's HITTING and there was NONE...........

[LakeStateGoose13]

This doesn't make sense. Is Scoran on the powerplay or not? As far as any benchings. Who's the coach? The way they were playing they deserved to have a rest,there are players sitting out that maybe could of put in more effort. ALL players have bad games and usually sit as a result. Give Alabama's team some credit. They played hard,(which some of the Laker's didn't) and their speed killed the Lakers. And there is one thing that stops speed and that's HITTING and there was NONE...........

Lemme clarify that statement with an example. When UAH was on the PP, they had their top line on the ice for a minute or more. When we were on the powerplay, Scoran would play on the PP, usually for about 15-20 seconds and then taken off the ice. Most teams leave their skilled players on the ice during a powerplay, and I would tend to say Scoran is one of our more offensive players.

I also wonder what kind of message this benching sends. Maybe it will light a fire under them. Or maybe it could lead to some conflict in the dressing room between Coach and the players.