SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) hockey program (9-9-1, 6-6-1 CCHA) is set to open up the 34th annual Ledyard Classic against Dartmouth on Friday before taking on either Maine or RIT the following day. 

• The Lakers are set to become the first program from the state of Michigan to compete at the Ledyard Classic in its 34th installment. 
• LSSU is coming off of a pair of dominant victories with a 6-1 win in their second contest at Bemidji State followed by a 5-1 win at Ferris State on Dec. 16. 
• The Lakers' talented freshmen class has risen to the occasion in the first half of the season, getting better and better as the season has progressed. John Herrington (Hudson's Hope, B.C.) and Cam Kungle (Red Deer, Alta.) having earned CCHA Rookie of the Week honors so far with Herrington having received the award twice.
• Connor Milburn (Kamloops, B.C.) enters the classic leading the CCHA in +/- rating at +10 with Jared Westcott (Imperial, Mo.) in sole posession of second place at +9.
• Westcott is still leading the conference in scoring with 23 points on 12 goals and 11 assists after a dominant first two months of the season that saw him named CCHA Forward of the Month for both October and November as well as garnering Hockey Commissioner's Association National Co-Player of the Month after notching 14 points in November.
• Timo Bakos (Augsburg, Germany) is the reigning CCHA Forward of the Week after recording four assists in one game at Ferris State to take the team-lead in assists (12), the first four-point game by any Laker in over two years. 
• The field of teams at the Ledyard Classic is filled with programs that have all shown significant improvement from a year ago with the Lakers already having matched their season win total from last year, Dartmouth having proven they can hang around and pick up ties against all four opponents that  were ranked at the time the game was played, RIT sitting atop the standings in the Atlantic, and Maine rising to currently stand as a top-three team in the pairwise rankings.
• This will be the first appearance at the Ledyard Classic for three of the four teams with the lone exception being the hosts, Dartmouth, who have competed in the event every year that it has been held since its inception in 1978.
• LSSU will face the host Dartmouth Big Green before taking on either Maine or RIT the following day. 
• The Lakers are 1-0-0 in their only prior meeting with Dartmouth on Dec. 29, 2001 in the championship game of the 2001 Catamount Cup, exactly 22 years prior to facing them in the opening round of the Ledyard Classic.
• The Lakers fell to the RIT Tigers in the only prior meeting between the two programs by a score of 3-1 in the 2011 Catamount Cup championship game on Dec. 30, 2011.
• Maine leads the all-time series against the Lakers 6-3-1, including the 1993 NCAA championship game that saw the Blackbears come out on top by a score of 5-4 in Milwaukee. However, five years prior, the Lakers were able to defeat Maine 6-3 in the Frozen Four semifinals, two days prior to Mark Vermette's infamous game-winner in overtime against St. Lawrence to win the Lakers' first NCAA National Championship.