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LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

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  • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

    Randy Russon says it best, "Damon Whitten has had four full seasons to reverse the sad state of the Division 1 men’s hockey program at Lake Superior State University. But Whitten has not even come close to making the Lakers a winner. The numbers clearly show that Whitten has done a sub-par job as head coach of the Lakers, who failed to qualify for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs this 2017-2018 season. To be sure, Whitten’s record as bench boss of the Lakers is not pretty, regardless of any excuses that he or his backers may have. It has been four losing seasons in a row for the Lakers under Whitten with uninspiring, respective records of 8-28-2, 14-22-5, 11-18-7 and 10-22-4. Do the grade school arithmetic and Whitten’s four-year, overall record as the Lakers head coach stands at 43-90-18. Which is not even close to a passing grade. In fact, in going from 8 wins in 2014-2015 up to 14 in 2015-2016 and then back down to 11 in 2016-2017 and further down to 10 in 2017-2018, it can be stated that the Laker program is going backward instead of forward under Whitten."

    Spin in any way you want, man, and, most on here do that , but the numbers don't lie.

    The good ship Laker is being steered vastly off course under Whitten and methinks the next four years could steer them to even lower levels and divisions.

    Tune-in, if you like, to the Hockey North Show, with Randy Russon, on ESPN 1400 tonite on ESPN 1400 http://stream.sovcomm.net:8001/espn1400
    Last edited by Truth Serum; 03-20-2018, 01:44 PM.

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    • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

      I am not sure who is at fault on the Lakers. I am not sure if it is a lack of talent or a lack of coaching talent or a combination of both. I do know it is the coaches job to figure out if it is their coaching methods that are not working or players talent or lack of that is hurting the program. Whatever it is,the coaches best get their act together and decide who really needs to be fixed.

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      • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

        Northern has to wonder if their new coach is going to try and get the MN job now that they are needing a new coach .

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        • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

          Originally posted by sm2pk View Post
          Northern has to wonder if their new coach is going to try and get the MN job now that they are needing a new coach .
          It's certainly a possibility, one I wouldn't rule out. But who knows how dry the well is for Minnesota recruits, maybe Poultny thinks NMU has the better prospects over the next few years. Still, I've got to imagine Minnesota would be paying better than NMU if that's what he's after.

          As for your previous post, looks like both Kyle Chatham and James Roll both had ECHL contracts, but were let go after 3 games with their respective clubs (Reading & Indy Fuel). I'm guessing they were on ATOs, which seems to be common to use near the end of the season. Neither scored in their games, so that's likely why they were released.

          In other news, I'm suprised that none of his fanboys have posted about it yet: Owen Headrick signed an ATO with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL since his OHL eligibility was up.
          LSSU Alumni & Fan.

          Still a work in progress, but please join us at the (unofficial) Laker Hockey Blog

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          • Originally posted by Deman View Post
            It's certainly a possibility, one I wouldn't rule out. But who knows how dry the well is for Minnesota recruits, maybe Poultny thinks NMU has the better prospects over the next few years. Still, I've got to imagine Minnesota would be paying better than NMU if that's what he's after.

            As for your previous post, looks like both Kyle Chatham and James Roll both had ECHL contracts, but were let go after 3 games with their respective clubs (Reading & Indy Fuel). I'm guessing they were on ATOs, which seems to be common to use near the end of the season. Neither scored in their games, so that's likely why they were released.

            In other news, I'm suprised that none of his fanboys have posted about it yet: Owen Headrick signed an ATO with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL since his OHL eligibility was up.
            As one of many Whitten apologists on here, methinks your term “fanboy” is a bit self serving, man.

            Congrats to Owen Headrick, the smooth skating defenceman from Garden River, Ontario. A class act all the way from a great family.

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            • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

              Headrick made a huge mistake in leaving .

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              • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

                Originally posted by sm2pk View Post
                Headrick made a huge mistake in leaving .
                May have to wait and see how he pans out in the ECHL. He had good offensive numbers (13G, 33A, 46 pts in 64 games) but was also -23. Not only that, but those numbers came against 16 and 17 year olds. How he'll fare against older talent is another story.

                Originally posted by Truth Serum View Post
                As one of many Whitten apologists on here, methinks your term “fanboy” is a bit self serving, man.
                At least he/she isn't proclaiming "Year number XX under 'insert Coach's name here' will be the best one yet."
                Last edited by jsmithe; 03-21-2018, 10:52 PM.
                Go Lakers!

                Check out the Laker Hockey Blog, it's good for you! http://lakerhockeyblog.com

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                • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

                  Originally posted by sm2pk View Post
                  Headrick made a huge mistake in leaving .
                  Like jsmithe said: He had good offensive numbers, which would certainly help build confidence, I'd think, but yeah, it was against younger kids. Some may be more talented than some rosters in the NCAA, but still younger & generally smaller.

                  I'm not worried about him in the ECHL, at least for the rest of this season. Wheeling isn't likely to make the playoffs this year, so Headrick will probably have a few games this season then be dropped. I'll be watching the camps during the summer & start of next season to see if 1) He's at an NHL camp, and 2) Where he ends up after that.

                  I'll be the first to admit that I didn't like the way he left the team, I still think childish & selfish leaving his team high and dry a few days before a weekend series (I mean, why not just leave during the Christmas break? Give them time to find a replacement or come up with a plan), but there certainly isn't any guarantee he'd be any better of a player at the college level, rather than Major Junior. If anything, he should've stuck around so he could at least get an education, since unless he's an AHL regular, it's hard to survive off of an ECHL contract for any length of time, let alone if he falls to the SPHL.
                  LSSU Alumni & Fan.

                  Still a work in progress, but please join us at the (unofficial) Laker Hockey Blog

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                  • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

                    Originally posted by Deman View Post
                    Like jsmithe said: If anything, he should've stuck around so he could at least get an education, since unless he's an AHL regular, it's hard to survive off of an ECHL contract for any length of time, let alone if he falls to the SPHL.
                    Hopefully he won't have to call his brother-in-law at the Chrysler Plant.

                    He should have been like Ned. "Look at Ned. Ned doesn't have to depend on hockey."

                    https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/74de864...a-d5d9eb72c216
                    Last edited by Mogerfan; 03-22-2018, 10:28 AM.

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                    • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

                      Originally posted by Deman View Post
                      I'll be the first to admit that I didn't like the way he left the team, I still think childish & selfish leaving his team high and dry a few days before a weekend series (I mean, why not just leave during the Christmas break?
                      So you know the whole story then, to define his actions as "childish and selfish"?

                      Methinks you might want to get all the facts before making comment or passing judgement. Your “childish and selfish” comments do apply in this situation, (personally I would add whining), just not to a 20 year old athlete in this case, man.
                      Last edited by Truth Serum; 03-22-2018, 05:51 PM.

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                      • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

                        Originally posted by Truth Serum View Post
                        So you know the whole story then, to define his actions as "childish and selfish"?

                        Methinks you might want to get all the facts before making comment or passing judgement. Your “childish and selfish” comments do apply in this situation, (personally I would add whining), just not to a 20 year old athlete in this case, man.
                        Here's what I recall the team & local media presented to us fans leading up to the signing:

                        • He committed to Lake State to play hockey.


                        • Erie had been after him to sign since day 1 - yet he committed to play for LSSU.


                        • Had some moderate success at Lake State.


                        • He gets heavily recruited during the Christmas break - hell, I think your buddy Randy wrote an article about that.


                        • Plays, what, 3 games after the break, and signs with Erie the Wednesday or Thursday (article came out on a Thursday from the school, but who knows what day they knew for sure), right before a home series, giving no time to get someone else prepared for the role, or finding chemistry with his replacement on the blue line.



                        I think it's hard to contest these facts.

                        Now, to reiterate what I've said in the past:

                        If someone commits to play for a team, I'm under the belief that they should at least finish out the year with said team, or else leave when it would effect the team the least. It's the decent thing to do.

                        I also understand wanting to jump off a sinking ship and onto a winning team - nobody wants to lose. But I've said all this before, and it hasn't mattered, so let me use a different analogy:

                        Say you're married. Everything is going fine, you're relatively happy, etc. But then some model shows interest in you and you divorce your wife for her. I think most people, at the very least, would say it was selfish, right? You only care about your own feelings and not the wife's.

                        To me, this situation is largely the same. Maybe I overstepped when I said childish, I'll admit to that, but I do 100% think it was a selfish move by Headrick. If there is more to the story, then there is more to the story, but until that story comes out, I can only go off of what's been printed and what we know about each team involved.

                        Believe me, I'd love to have my mind changed on this matter, really. But I have not seen anything to change it. Sorry, man.
                        LSSU Alumni & Fan.

                        Still a work in progress, but please join us at the (unofficial) Laker Hockey Blog

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                        • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

                          Originally posted by Deman View Post
                          ...I think it's hard to contest these facts.
                          Against logic, there is no armour like ignorance - Laurence J. Peter
                          Go Lakers!

                          Check out the Laker Hockey Blog, it's good for you! http://lakerhockeyblog.com

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                          • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

                            Remember when Ron Fogarty was a finalist for the LSSU job? Then someone made him a good offer? Isn’t that him on TV right now? There’s a perfect example of our commitment to NCAA Division I ice hockey.

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                            • Originally posted by RapidsCity View Post
                              Remember when Ron Fogarty was a finalist for the LSSU job? Then someone made him a good offer? Isn’t that him on TV right now? There’s a perfect example of our commitment to NCAA Division I ice hockey.
                              I don't think "commitment" is the best choice of words. Lack of desired resources is what it really boils down to.

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                              • Re: LSSU Lakers 2018 off-season thread

                                A week from today (April 2) will mark the 30 year anniversary of the Lakers first NCAA National Championship when Mark Vermette scored the game winning goal against St. Lawrence in Lake Placid. I would love to hear Bill Crawford's call on Vermette's overtime winner.
                                LSSU hockey-3 time NCAA champs 1988, 1992, 1994

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