FOR STARTERS
• The Lakers resume play this weekend following their first bye week of the season. Lake State will host the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in a home series on Friday, Jan. 24 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7:00 p.m. at the Taffy Abel Arena.
• The Lakers played against the Seawolves earlier this month in Anchorage and recorded a road split, dropping the first game 2-0 on Saturday night and responding with a 5-3 win on Sunday afternoon.
• In the team's last series, Lake Superior recorded a 2-0 loss against the Alaska Nanooks on Friday night but responded with a 1-1 tie against the Nanooks in Fairbanks on Saturday night in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) series. The Lakers would score in the double overtime period to earn the extra conference point.
• LSSU's record sits at 7-19-2 overall and 5-11-2-2 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 Irish.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 73-123-21 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 series opener against Alaska on Friday, Jan. 10, the Lakers dropped the game by a final score of 2-0. LSSU goaltender Mareks Mitens having a strong night in goal stopping 25 shots, allowing one goal in the game.
● In Saturday's game, sophomore Pete Veillette tied the game at one at 13:21 of the third period with his career-high seventh goal of the season.
● In the second overtime, which counts solely for WCHA purposes, Veillette would score the goal for the Lakers to earn the extra point against the Nanooks. Veillette has proven to be a clutch player for the Lakers as he two game-winning goals this season leads the team.
● Junior defenseman Tyler Anderson and sophomore forward Ashton Calder were credited with the assists on the game tying goal.
● Laker goaltender Mareks Mitens finished the weekend stopping 50 shots by the Nanooks in the pair of games, with 25 saves in each game. The junior allowed two goals and posted a weekend goals against average of 0.97 and a save percentage of .962 - both of which ranked third in the WCHA. Since Dec.1, Mitens ranks fourth among all WCHA netminders with a .930 save percentage and in goals against average (1.99).
● Mitens has faced 747 shots this season and made 674 saves this season, which both rank first among all WCHA goaltenders and second in the NCAA. The Laker goalie has played more minutes (1562:03) than any other NCAA goaltender in 2019-20.
LAKERS VS. ALASKA-ANCHORAGE
• The Lakers will play Alaska-Anchorage for the second time this month as the WCHA opponents played each other the weekend of Jan. 4-5 in Anchorage, Alaska. The team's split the weekend series with the Seawolves winning the first game by a score of 2-0 and the Lakers winning the series closer by a final score of 5-3.
• The Lakers lead the all-time series against Alaska-Anchorage 12-6-0, including 6-4-0 in Anchorage. Dating back to the 2017-18 season, the Lakers have won six of the last eight games against the Seawolves.
• 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.
• Max Humitz and Hampus Eriksson are tied for the lead among all current Lakers with six points against the Seawolves. Eriksson has posted one goal and five assists for six points in as many games and has posted two multi-point games against Alaska-Anchorage. Humitz has four goals and two assists in eight career games, including a career-high three point game in the Lakers 5-3 win on Jan. 5.
• Defenseman Will Riedell ranks second behind Humitz with three career 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 (2) have each recorded a game winning goal against the Seawolves.
• Mareks Mitens has posted a 4-2-0 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.
●This season nine different players have tallied at least a point against the Seawolves and four Lakers recorded multi-point games: Ashton Calder (1G, 1A), Max Humitz (2G, 1A), Pete Veillette (1G, 1A), and Louis Boudon (0G, 3A).
● Among the players with multi-point games, three tied or new single game career highs. Humitz tied his previous single game high in goals (2) and points (3), Veillette tied his single game high in goals (1) and points (2) and Boudon set a new high in single game assists (3) and tied his previous high in single game points (3).
• Lakers Head Coach Damon Whitten spent two seasons (2006-08) as an Assistant Coach at Alaska-Anchorage.
CROSSING THE BORDER
• On Sept. 23, the Lakers announced that a regular season conference game against the University of AlabamaHuntsville will be played in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario at the GFL Memorial Gardens. The game, which will take place on Feb. 15, 2020, is the first regular season WCHA game that the Lakers will play in Canada and the first NCAA game to be played in Canada since 2012.
• On Jan. 21, the Lakers announced that Hockey Hall of Famer and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native Phil Esposito will be in attendance for the game. Freshman forward Niko Esposito-Selivanov is the grandson of the hockey icon.
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.
• Upcoming promotions include the Diane Peppler Center White Out Game Against Violence on Friday, Jan. 24 and the Unsung Hero Night on Sat. Jan. 25.
• 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 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 hold viewing parties at Buffalo Wild Wings on Friday, Feb. 7 and Friday, Feb. 28. 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
Facebook: @lssuhockeyfans