LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

[Deman]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

BSU had four goalies last year, two seniors, Bitzer as a junior and a freshman. They red shirted the freshman and it will be Bitzer and him along with a new one coming in.

I always forget about redshirts.

[CKrouth]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

That's the big question. Yes, we now tentatively have 4 goalies for next season; Kossoff, Lukenda, Bengert, and Mitens. Makes you wonder if maybe Bengert is having problems with the Clearing House. If he isn't, then I don't know how the coaches are going to keep all 4 goalies happy. It seems very possible that a goalie could leave, if not now then maybe after another season. They must have wanted Mitens very bad and just couldn't pass up the opportunity to land him. He does have great stats.

Another way to look at this is that Mitens could very well be taken by the NHL next year if he has a good season with the Lakers and then we would be back to 3 goalies if the other guys all stick around.

Bengert did not have a very good postseason from the sounds of it. I'm not so sure Lukenda was expected to play a whole lot and his injury last year probably set him back a bit. He would be the logical man out, however, they could certainly redshirt someone as well. Better to have options than none at all!

Bengert was named the MJHL Goaltender of the Year and Mitens is having a record year in the NAHL and should win Goaltender of the Year.

[Bill]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

Bengert did not have a very good postseason from the sounds of it. I'm not so sure Lukenda was expected to play a whole lot and his injury last year probably set him back a bit. He would be the logical man out, however, they could certainly redshirt someone as well. Better to have options than none at all!

Bengert was named the MJHL Goaltender of the Year and Mitens is having a record year in the NAHL and should win Goaltender of the Year.

Bengert would be the logical one to redshirt if he's agreeable to that. I think Mitens is now the odds on favorite to be the #1 goalie going in to next season.

[MaizeRage]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

The two played together when Kris was in Aston before coming to Lake State. The coaches seemed pretty excited about this kid.

He never overlapped with Bindulis at Aston. Mitens is legit, he should be really good next year.

[Bill]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

The University of Illinois Master plan calls for the building of a hockey arena somewhere down the line. No specific timetable given, but it could pave the way for them to go Div 1 at some point and join the B1G.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/loc...ster-plan.html

[LSSULaker889294]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

Outstanding stats:

11 shutouts in 31 games,
1.63 GAA
.925 save%.

It'll be interesting to see what happens over the summer with this goalie situation. I've got to guess that either Kossoff or Lukenda will be leaving the team, possibly either to just focus on school, or to get some consistent playing time, possibly in D3. I just can't imagine us having all 4 goalies at the start of the season.

I wonder if Garrett Nieto will even play for the Lakers? This might be another Tyler Marble situation .

[Bill]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

I wonder if Garrett Nieto will even play for the Lakers? This might be another Tyler Marble situation .

I've been increasingly thinking that he may no longer be in the picture. He had injury (concussion I think) problems early this season at Wenatchee (BCHL), didn't play well when he came back, was traded to Springfield (NAHL), didn't play all that great there, was released, and finished the season playing for Vermont (EHL). His numbers were better there, especially his save %, but he didn't play in a lot of games. Still, he's a 98 birth date so he can play another 2 years in juniors and try and show he's ready to play Div 1 hockey, whether it's at LSSU or elsewhere. This past season was definitely a retrogression for him. I wish him the best, but concussion problems have ended/shortened hockey for a lot of guys.

[CKrouth]

He never overlapped with Bindulis at Aston. Mitens is legit, he should be really good next year.

Yep, however they did play together for the Latvia U-20 team in 2014-15. Mitens also played for Latvia on a few occasions with LSSU recruit Roberts Bleuger.

[Deman]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

He never overlapped with Bindulis at Aston. Mitens is legit, he should be really good next year.

Woops. Apparently I read something wrong. My bad.

[Deman]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

The University of Illinois Master plan calls for the building of a hockey arena somewhere down the line. No specific timetable given, but it could pave the way for them to go Div 1 at some point and join the B1G.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/loc...ster-plan.html

I was just reading a few articles talking about hockey in Illinois, how when UoI-Chicago had a team, the Hawks were not doing great, and the sport wasn't popular in the state, but that's changed now.

More teams can't be a bad thing, right? And while I wasn't a fan of how the B1G came onto the scene & blew up the western conferences, if it helps bring more teams into the fold, I'm for it.

[sm2pk]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

Sounds as if they are bringing in top of the line goalies . Defense killed the Lakers this past season and rebuilding from the goalie out is always a plus .

[RapidsCity]

Bengert would be the logical one to redshirt if he's agreeable to that. I think Mitens is now the odds on favorite to be the #1 goalie going in to next season.

I wouldn't bet the ranch on a 96 from the Manitoba JHL. It's not exactly known for its wealth of talent!

[Bill]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

I wouldn't bet the ranch on a 96 from the Manitoba JHL. It's not exactly known for its wealth of talent!

True in terms of number of players going D1 from the MJHL. On the other hand, North Dakota does occasionally pull some good players out of there as does Bemidji.

[TovarishchLisa]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

We have a new goalie recruit:

http://www.astonrebels.com/mitens-ma...superior-state

He was terrific at the WJC. (Yeah, his numbers don't back it up, but it's Latvia and they were playing in a group with the US, Canada, and Russia, AKA all the medalists)

[Bill]

Re: LSSU Lakers 2017 off-season thread

NMU is supposed to announce who has been selected as their new coach tomorrow morning.