FOR STARTERS:

• This weekend, Lake Superior State will host No. 2 Denver for the first time in program history for a set of non-conference games at Taffy Abel Arena on Friday, Oct. 11 and Saturday, Oct. 12. 
• The Lakers opened the 2019-20 season last weekend against Merrimack College for the second season in a row, and won both games in consecutive seasons. Lake State recorded a 6-2 win on Saturday night and followed with a 4-3 victory on Sunday.
• With a win in the home opener on Saturday, the Lakers have gone four straight seasons with a win in their first game. In 2018-19, Lake State went undefeated through the first five regular season games. 
• Lake Superior is coming off of the program's best season in 23 years, posting a 23-12-2 record and finishing fourth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). 

LAST WEEKEND REWIND:

• The Lakers offense connected for a total of 10 goals in the pair of games, with six goals in the first game and four in the second game. 
• Leading the offense for Lake State in the first weekend of play was junior Hampus Eriksson as he posted five points (1G, 4A) in the series. Eriksson scored the Lakers second goal during Saturday's game which put the Lakers ahead 2-1. Eriksson would assist on the game winning goal which was scored on the power play as well as the Lakers fourth goal. The Swedish forward would tally two more assists in Sunday's win, including a helper on the game winner.
• Eriksson is tied for first among point leaders in the WCHA and is the only NCAA player to record four assists through the first weekend of play. 
• 13 Lakers notched at least one point against Merrimack, 10 players had two or more points, four players had three points and one had five points. 
• Ashton Calder, Yuki Miura, and Pete Veillette each contributed three points, and they all had at least a point in each game.
• Captain Max Humitz also had three points for the Lakers, and stands as the Lakers goal leader following the first pair of the games with two. Humitz entered the 2019-20 season tied for third among all NCAA players in career goals with 42. 
• Humitz, a senior, has scored a goal in all four home openers that he has played in. 
• Two Lakers registered their first collegiate points last weekend - Mitchell Oliver and Miroslav Mucha. 
• The Lakers defensemen proved to be the same steady force that they were last season with five defensemen all tallying a point against the Warriors and five of them having multi-point weekends. Both game-winning goals were scored by Laker d-men. 
• Sophomore defenseman Jacob Nordqvist, whose goal on Saturday would prove to be the deciding goal, has netted the game winning goal for the Lakers in each of the two home openers that he has played in. 
• Senior captain Collin Saccoman netted his first goal of the season late in the third period of Sunday's match to break a 3-3 tie game to give the Lakers the difference maker to clinch the win. 
• Goaltender Mareks Mitens was solid in net for the Lakers as he stopped 52 of the 57 shots he would face from the Warriors, including a penalty shot save in the first game. It marked the first time in Mitens' career that he has posted back-to-back wins in a weekend series. 
• Mitens posted a 2.50 goals against average against Merrimack and his save percentage sits at .912 following the first two games of the season. Mitens ranks second among WCHA goaltenders in goals against average and his saves percentage puts him in third place among his WCHA counterparts. Mitens is one of two WCHA netminders to win two games following the season's opening weekend.
• Three Lakers made their collegiate debuts in the Merrimack series - sophomore defenseman Mitchell Oliver and freshmen forwards Louis Boudon and Dustin Manz.

LAKERS VS. DENVER

• Lake State has never won a game against the Pioneers in four meetings, registering a 0-3-1 record. The teams last played each other in a two-game series in Denver in October 2017. 
• Among players still on the Lakers roster, Max Humitz (1G, 1A) and Brayden Gelsinger (1G, 1A) each notched two points in two career games played against Denver. Defenseman Will Riedell is the only other player on the team with a point against Denver as he tallied an assist on Oct. 21, 2017. 
• Mareks Mitens posted a career-high 49 saves in his appearance against Denver on Oct. 21, 2017. Mitens faced 54 shots from the Pioneers in the game and despite allowing five goals, the Latvian netminder still posted a .907 save percentage for the Lakers. 
• Eleven Lakers have played in at least one career game against the Pioneers. 
• Since the 1990's both Lake Superior and Denver have each claimed three NCAA National Championships, with Denver winning most recently in 2017. 

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS

• Denver is led by second year Head Coach David Carle, who posted a 24-12-5 record and 11-10-3-3 mark in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). Last season, the Pioneers reached the Frozen Four for the third time in four years.
• The Pioneers are coming off of a two-game sweep against Alaska last weekend and head into the weekend in the No. 2 ranking in both polls. 
• The Pioneers have registered 18th consecutive 20-win seasons and have qualified for the NCAA Tournament for 12 straight years. 
• Denver returns 19 players from the 2018-19 season, including 79% of its goal scoring.  
• Junior Ian Mitchell will captain the squad of seven NHL draft picks alongside senior alternate captains Tyson McLellan and Michael Davies. 
• Through the first two games of the 2019-20 season, junior Liam Finlay leads the Pioneers in points (3) and assists (3). Ryan Barrow leads Denver in goals (2)
• Four freshmen have made their collegiate debuts for the Pioneers this season: Bobby Brink, Justin Lee, Magnus Chrona and Brett Edwards. 
• Freshman goalie Magnus Chrona played both games against Alaska, making 58 saves on 61 shots for a .951 SV% and a 1.50 GAA. He made 28 saves in his first career shutout on Sunday.

• Friday's game against Denver will be the inaugural WCHA Spotlight Game of the Month.
• FloHockey's Tim Rappleye will be on site uploading @FloHockey social content such as locker room speeches, bus arrivals, interviews, WCHA fan mania and all the sights and sounds from each month's Spotlight venue.
• Flo will also have a presence on the game's webcast, as Rappleye will visit with the local announcers to discuss the national impact of that particular Spotlight game.
• The first two Spotlight games have been selected, starting with Denver @ Lake State this Friday, October 11, followed by the much-anticipated WCHA Championship Game rematch, when Bowling Green returns to Minnesota State on Friday, November 1.

NON-CONFERENCE OCTOBER

• The Lakers will compete in four non-conference series to open the season, beginning with the home set of games against Merrimack, followed by another home series against No. 2 Denver on Great Lake State Weekend on Friday, Oct. 11 and Saturday, Oct. 12. LSSU will play back-to-back weekends on the road to close the first month of the season with series against Michigan (Oct. 18 & 19) and Notre Dame (Oct. 25 & 26). 

IN THE POLLS                                                                                               

• In the first two weeks of the USCHO Poll of the 2019-20 season, Lake Superior State received votes. 
• The Lakers were ranked in the USCHO Poll's Top 20 for ten consecutive weeks during the 2018-19 season. 
• In the WCHA Preseason Polls,  Lake Superior State was picked to finish in the sixth spot in both polls, receiving 58 total points in the 2019-20 Mankato Free Press WCHA Preseason Coaches Poll and 57 total points in the 2019-20 WCHA Preseason Media Poll.

TOP 10 MATCHUPS:                                                                                                         

• Based on the current poll rankings, the Lakers will face-off against teams ranked in the top 10 of the USCHO Division I Men's Hockey Poll for back-to-back weekends following the Merrimack series. Denver is currently ranked second overall and Notre Dame is sitting in eighth/ninth place.  

LEADING THE LAKERS                                                                                                                         

• On Sept. 15, Whitten announced that senior forward Max Humitz and senior defenseman Collin Saccoman will serve as the team's captains for the 2019-20 season. Senior forward Brendan McKay and junior defenseman Lukas Kaelble were named alternate captains.

 To purchase tickets, click here or call 906-635-2601.