FOR STARTERS
• The Lakers will open 2020 with back-to-back series in Alaska against Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) opponents, with the first pair of games against the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves. The opening game is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 4 at 9:00 p.m. EST and the closing game is set for Sunday, Jan. 5 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Both games will be played at the Seawolf Sports Complex.
• Lake Superior State wrapped up the 2019 portion of the season at the Catamount Cup Tournament in Burlington, Vt. on Saturday, Dec. 28 and Sunday, Dec. 29 against the No. 13/15 Providence College Friars and the Vermont Catamounts. The Lakers fell in overtime to the Friars by a final score of 2-1 and dropped the tournament finale to the host by a 2-0 final score.
• LSSU's record sits at 6-17-1 overall and 4-9-1-1 in WCHA play after opening the season against some of the NCAA's stiffest competition including two games against No. 2 Denver, a pair of road games against the Michigan Wolverines as well as a road series against the No. 4/5 Notre Dame Fighting Irisg, The Lakers opened conference play with two wins against Ferris State on Nov. 1 and 2, and have rotated between home and road WCHA series since, including an away series against No. 1 Minnesota State. In the month of December, five of the six games the Lakers played in were against ranked opponents.
• Lakers Head Coach Damon Whitten is in his sixth season behind the bench in Sault Ste. Marie. Whitten has led the team to a 72-121-20 record, including 23 wins in 2018-19.
• Lake Superior is coming off of the program's best season in 23 years, posting a 23-12-2 overall record and finishing fourth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).
LAST WEEKEND RECAP
• In the first game of the weekend, the Lakers fell in the closing seconds of overtime to Providence. Senior captain Max Humitz scored the lone goal of the game for the Lakers as he netted his team-leading 12th goal and his first power play goal of the season.
• The Laker captain leads the team in goals with 12 and points with 18 this season. Humitz is tied for second in goals among WCHA players and is one of four players in the WCHA with 10 or more goals this season.
• Senior captain Max Humitz leads all current Lakers in career points with 94 (54G, 40A) in 132 career games, which also ranks first among his teammates. The Livonia, Mich. native leads all NCAA players in shots on goal this season with 94.
• Humitz's goal was assisted by freshman forward Louis Boudon, bringing his season total to nine assists and 12 points. Boudon is tied for fourth in freshman scoring in the WCHA.
• Sophomore defenseman Mitchell Oliver, who was named to the Catamount Cup All-Tournament Team, also assisted on the goal. Oliver leads all Laker defensemen in assists this season with six.
• Laker goaltender Mareks Mitens had another strong weekend in net as he stopped 26 shots against Providence and followed with 26 saves against Vermont in the second game. In 122:11 minutes played in the tournament, Mitens allowed three goals on 55 shots for a weekend goals against average of 1.45 and a save percentage of .946.
• Mitens has faced 647 shots this season and made 581 saves this season, which both rank first among all WCHA goaltenders and second in the NCAA. The Laker goalie has played more minutes (1319:25) than any other NCAA goaltender in 2019-20.
• Senior Bryan Basilico played in his 100th career game against Providence, making him the fourth Laker to reach the milestone on the current roster (Humitz, Brayden Gelsinger, Collin Saccoman).
• Junior forward Yuki Miura led the Lakers with seven blocked shots in the Catamount Cup and leads all WCHA forwards in blocked shots this season with 25.
LAKERS VS. ALASKA-ANCHORAGE
• The Lakers will play Alaska-Anchorage for the first of two series between the WCHA opponents this month. The Seawolves will travel to Sault Ste. Marie for a pair of games during the weekend of Jan. 24-25.
• The Lakers lead the all-time series against Alaska-Anchorage 11-5-0, including 5-3-0 in Anchorage. Dating back to the 2017-18 season, the Lakers have won four straight games against the Seawolves and five of the last six games.
• Last season, the teams played each other two times with Lakers won both meetings. The Lakers won the first game by a final score of 5-2 and the series closer by a final score of 3-1.
• Eriksson leads all current Lakers with five points against the Seawolves as he has posted two multi-point games against Alaska-Anchorage. Defenseman Will Riedell leads all current players with three goals against the Seawolves.
• In the two games played in 2018-19, ten current roster players recorded at least a points against Alaska Anchorage (Riedell, Anderson, McKay, Calder, Gamelin, Basilico, Kaelble, Saccoman, Eriksson, and Veillette) and five players had two or more points in the series (Calder, Basilico, Kaelble, Eriksson and McKay).
• Humitz, Basilico and Veillette have each recorded a game winning goal against the Seawolves.
• Mareks Mitens has posted a 3-1-0 record against Alaska-Anchorage, including his first career win which came on Nov. 3, 2017 when the Lakers won in overtime, 3-2. Last season, Mitens recorded a 30 save win against the Seawolves last season.
• Lakers Head Coach Damon Whitten spent two seasons (2006-08) as an Assistant Coach at Alaska-Anchorage.
SCOUTING THE SEAWOLVES
• Alaska-Anchorage is led by second year Head Coach Matt Curley. Seawolves Assistant Coach Matt Bruneteau, who is also in his second season, was a four-year member of the Lakers from 2010-14. Bruneteau appeared in 146 career games as a Laker and the defenseman served as captain.
•The Seawolves hold an 2-11-2 overall record and a 2-8-2-0 WCHA record this season. UAA defeated in-state rival Alaska Fairbanks and Alabama-Huntsville to record the pair of conference wins.
• Freshman forward Nick Wicks leads the Seawolves with 12 points this season. Wicks and senior defenseman Tomi Hiekkavirta are tied for the team lead in assists with eight.
• Freshman forward Alex Frye leads Alaska-Anchorage in goals with five this season, including the game winning goal against Alaska Fairbanks.
• Junior goaltender Kris Carlson enters the weekend ranked fifth in the WCHA in save percentage (.921) and tied for ninth in goals against average (2.85). Carlson's season totals include a .918 save percentage and a 2.73 goals against average.
•Alaska Anchorage is the only school with three players ranked in the top-10 in freshman scoring. Nick Wicks is tied for fifth with seven points and Brayden Camrud (2-3-5) and Taylor Lantz (1-4-5) are tied for ninth.
•Alaska-Anchorage has a 14.8% success rate while on the power play this season and the team's penalty kill percentage is at 75.9%.
BALANCED ATTACK
• The Lakers have two players among the top 16 scorers in the WCHA.. The Laker offense has been evenly distributed this season as 22 players have recorded at least a point, 11 players with six or more points, six players with ten or more points and two players recording 15 or more points.
• Among the players with 10 or more points, three have either set new season high totals or tied previous highs. Yuki Miura has set highs in assists (8) and points (10) while tying his previous goal total (2). Hampus Eriksson's 15 points is a new career high while he has tied his previous highs in assists (11) and goals (4). Pete Veillette has set new career highs in goals (5), assists (7) and points (12).
• 15 different players have registered a goal for the Lakers this season and all six game winning goals have been scored by different players.
• In the Lakers first weekend of conference play, 10 different players notched at least a point in the series with eight players recording two or more points during the pair of games.
•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. Nine different players recorded at least one point in the Lakers game against Notre Dame on Oct. 26.
•Last season the Lakers had 13 players record 10 or more points with nine of those players returning this season. Eight players registered at least 22 points and five of them are returning members of the 2019-20 squad.
• The Lakers also return one of three 30-plus point scorers from 2018-19 in Max Humitz (33 points).
• 13 different players netted the game winning goal for the Lakers in 2018-19 - with 10 of those players returning to the lineup this year.
WHAT'S NEXT
• The Lakers will head to Fairbanks for their second half of the back-to-back Alaska series to open the new year. The games are scheduled for 11:00 p.m. EST starts on both Friday, Jan. 10 and Saturday, Jan. 11.
OTHER INFORMATION
• Tickets for home games are $14 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7 for children (under 17). LSSU students receive free admission and must possess a valid student ID. For tickets, call or visit the Norris Center Ticket Office at 906-635-2601.
• Every week Bill Crawford along with head coach Damon Whitten, the assistant coaches and players take a look at the Laker Hockey program. A review of past games, a look ahead to future action and more information and insight on the team and players. The show is live from the Antlers restaurant on East Portage Avenue every Tuesday night starting at 6 p.m. and can be heard on WKNW ESPN Radio 1400.
• Every home game and all road games against conference opponents will be available via live stream hosted by FloSports on WCHA.tv or at Buffalo Wild Wings in Sault Ste. Marie. Radio PxP from the voice of the Lakers, Bill Crawford, will be heard every game on 99.5 YES FM.
• Laker Athletics will announce designated games that will include viewing parties at Buffalo Wild Wings. There will be special deals for any Lake State students that attend the watch party.
• This season, Laker Hockey introduces Soo Brewing as the official pregame and The Wicked Sister as the official postgame spots.
• Follow Laker Hockey on social media all season long for news, updates and behind-the-scenes action.
Twitter: @HockeyLSSU
Instagram: @LSSUHockey
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