Oct 06, 2023
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) hockey program is set to open their season on the road with a series at Michigan State, the alma mater of both Head Coach Damon Whitten and Associate Head Coach Mike York, with the first puck drop for both games scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
For Starters
- The Lakers will be looking for a fresh start this season. After the departures of key players such as Louis Boudon (Iowa Wild) and Jacob Bengtsson (Boston College), they will be looking toward the likes of Co-captains Harrison Roy (Lakeville, Mass.) and Artyom Borshyov (Vitebsk, Belarus) to lead them back to prominence.
- LSSU added 13 new players to the roster this offseason that included an 11-man freshman class, a class that ranks highly among not only their peers in the CCHA, but nationally as well (14th per Neutral Zone).
- Laker Head Coach Damon Whitten enters his tenth season behind the bench in Sault Ste. Marie in 2023-24. In May 2021, Whitten agreed to terms on a six-year contract, solidifying the program through the 2027-28 season. The Laker head coach has led the team to a 126-176-30 record, with playoff appearances in all but one season. Whitten recorded his 100th career win as a head coach on Oct. 2, 2021 with the Lakers 4-3 victory over No. 17 Omaha, and he led the Lakers to the WCHA Tournament Championship and first NCAA Tournament appearance in 25 years in 2021.
Series Preview
- Former CCHA rivals LSSU and MSU face off for the first time since the 2018 Great Lakes Invitational semifinals where the Lakers came away with a 4-3 overtime victory before going on to win the GLI the following day.
- Michigan State leads the all time series with the Lakers 73-38-14.
- Laker Head Coach Damon Whitten and Associate Head Coach Mike York are MSU alumni with York having been named to the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015 and currently ranks 12th in the program's history in scoring with 210 career points (79G, 122A) in 158 games.
- Spartan Head Coach Adam Nightingale played hockey for LSSU from 1999-02 before transfering to Michigan State, and during Nightingale's final season as a collegiate player at MSU, Whitten served as a volunteer graduate assistant for the Spartans.
- Michigan State enters the season ranked No. 9 in both the USCHO and the USA Hockey/The Rink Live preseason polls.
- Laker Captain Borshyov and Spartan freshman Aryom Levshunov are the only two players in NCAA DI hockey from the country of Belarus.
- The ice surface at the Clarence L. "Biggie" Munn Ice Arena will be officially dedicated in honor of the legendary hockey coach and LSSU hockey alum, Ron Mason, prior to Saturday's game. Mason is one of only a handful of coaches to have won national championships at multiple programs, winning the 1972 NAIA national championship with the Lakers before later leading MSU to the NCAA national title in 1986.
- The Spartans enter opening weekend ranked No. 9 in both the USCHO and USA Hockey/The Rink Live preseason polls.
Point Producers
- The Lakers return their leading goal-scorer from a year ago in co-captain Roy (12), and his seven power play goals last season ranked second in the CCHA.
- Assistant captain Dawson Tritt (Spokane, Wash.) posted nine goals and eight assists for 17 points last season, and he is the top returning point-producer from a year ago.
Welcome Back
- The Lakers return 11 forwards (Timo Bakos (Augsburg, Germany), Cole Craft (North Bay, Ont.), Connor Milburn (Kamloops, B.C.), Benito Posa (Flint, Mich.), Brett Roloson (Worcester, Mass.), Roy, Tritt, Jordan Venegoni (Livonia, Mich.), Jared Westcott (Imperial, Mo.), Joshua Wildauer (Dearborn Heights, Mich.), and Tyler Williams (South Lyon, Mich.)), four defensemen (Borshyov, Jeremy Gervais (Prince George, B.C.), Grant Hindman (Oakland, Mich.), and Bryan Huggins (Grand Rapids, Mich.)), and two goaltenders (Ethan Langenegger (Kamloops, B.C.) and Easton Hesse (Beaumont, Alb.)) from last season's roster.
- Lake Superior's skaters will return 60.6% of last season's goal scoring (43 of 71 total goals), and 48.2% of the total points recorded (92 of 191 total points).
- Four of the Lakers top seven point scorers from last season are back this season (Tritt, Roy, Bakos, Westcott) and three of the team's top five goal scorers (Roy, Tritt, Bakos).
- Last season the Lakers had eight players record 10 or more points with four of those skaters returning this season (Tritt, Roy, Bakos, Westcott).
- Five returners for the Lakers scored at least one game winning goal last season (Roy, Tritt, Borshyov, Posa, Westcott).
- Goaltender Langenegger posted a 6-15-2 record last season, but he proved to be one of the top goaltenders in the CCHA in the second half of the season, leading the league in save percentage during the stretch of Jan. 14 to the end of the regular season.
"Fresh" Faces
- The Lakers welcome 11 freshmen to the program this season (Carter Batchelder (Savage, Minn.), Jack Blanchett (Monroe, Mich.), Evan Bushy (Thief River Falls, Minn.), Jacob Conrad (Green Bay, Wis.), William Hakansson (Oskarshamn, Sweden), John Herrington (Hudson's Hope, B.C.), Cam Kungle (Red Deer, Alb.), Luke Levandowski (Rosemount, Minn.), Reagan Milburn (Kamloops, B.C.), Branden Piku (Harrison Twp., Mich.), and Ross Roloson (Woodburn, Minn.)).
- The Lakers' 11 freshman make up the 14th ranked recruiting class and top class among their CCHA peers per neutralzone.net.
- Batchelder participated in three-consecutive Minnesota Class AA State Championships and won the title in 2021 during his senior year in front of over 18,000 fans after leading his team in points with 61 (34G, 27A) and being named an Associated Press All-State honoree and a Minnesota Mr. Hockey finalist.
- Blanchett most recently competed for the Powell River Kings where he led all BCHL defensemen in goals for the 2022-23 regular season with 15.
- Bushy was named the top defenseman for the Trail Smoke Eaters in both seasons competing for the organization before being named the Smoke Eaters' MVP in 2023.
- Conrad improved his production in all three seasons of junior hockey with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs before ultimately being named captain and posting a career-best 38 points (4G, 34A) in his final season as an Ice Dog.
- Hakansson ranked second in the NAHL in wins with 26 in the 2022-23 season. He opened his lone season with the Maryland Black Bears with a 13-game winning streak that resulted in him twice being named the East Division Star of the Week.
- Herrington helped to put his hometown of Hudson's Hope, B.C., a town with less than 1,000 people, on the map after competing for three seasons with the Prince George Spruce Kings where he scored 16 power play goals before being selected as his team's MVP in 2023.
- Kungle notched 32 points (10G, 22A) from the blue line in his final season with the Cranbrook Bucks as he finished the season as a top-15 scoring defenseman in the BCHL before also being honored as his team's Defensive Player of the Year.
- Levandowski averaged over a point per contest in 38 games for the Wisconsin Windigo, and he was named to the 2023 NAHL Top Prospects Midwest Team.
- Milburn joins his older brother Connor at LSSU after leading the Vernon Vipers in scoring with 48 points (19G, 29A), and he was named a BCHL All Star and selected for the BCHL Top Prospects Game.
- Piku is the all-time point leader for the Maryland Black Bears (45-77-122, and he led the NAHL in playoff points in 2023 (15) despite his team falling in the semifinals.
- Roloson joins his brother Brett and father Dwayne at LSSU. He was named an assistant captain for the Surrey Eagles where he helped lead them to a 35-16-3 record in the BCHL with his 26 points (3G, 23A) had him tied for second among Surrey defensemen.
portal pickup
- The Lakers brought in junior Nate Schweitzer (Champlin, Minn.) from Colorado College and sophomore Sasha Teleguine (North Attleborough, Mass.) who spent his true freshman season at UConn in 2021-22 before returning to the Chilliwack Chiefs of the BCHL where he spent last season.
- Teleguine appeared in 20 games for UConn, scoring his first collegiate goal in a 3-2 victory over New Hampshire. He would then return to the BCHL in 2022-23 where he posted 18 points.
- Schweitzer appeared in 42 games for Colorado College. He recorded his first career NCAA points with a goal and an assist in an 8-1 victory over Air Force as a freshman.
Coming Off Career Years
- A number of Lakers have bested their previous season-high totals in various offensive categories last year.
- Senior forward Roy set new career-highs in goals (12) and power play goals (7).
- Senior defenseman Borshyov scored the first goal of his career last season, a game-winner against rival Northern Michigan.
- Alternate captain Hindman earned a career-high in assists a year ago (2).
- Huggins notched two assists as a freshman.
- Milburn produced three goals and two assists in his freshman season.
- Defenseman Roloson had a career-high three assists.
Junior alternate captain Tritt came away with new career-highs in goals (9), assists (8), points (17), shorthanded goals (2), and game-winning goals (2) during his sophomore campaign.
- Venegoni set new career highs in goals (2), assists (1) and points (3).
- Westcott had new career-highs in goals (6), assists (7), points (13), and power play goals (3).
- Williams set new career-highs in points (4) and assists (3).
Keys to Success
- LSSU has posted a 83-86-12 overall record since the start of the 2018-19 season through the close of the 2022-23 season.
- In order to find success this season, the Lakers will need their upperclassmen leadership to step up and fill the void in production after the losses of leading point-procuders Boudon and Bengtsson. They will also depend heavily on the imact of their 13 new faces, including 11 freshmen (tied for the second most in the country).
- Since the start of the 2018-19 season, the Lakers have combined for a 52-12-4 record when scoring the game's first goal.
- Another key to the Lakers success in recent years (since the 2018-19 season) has been the team's ability to preserve a lead as Lake Superior State has posted a 40-5-5 record when leading after the first period and a 54-2-2 record when heading into the third period with the score advantage. Last year, the Lakers recorded a 7-4-1 record when notching the game's opening goal, a 4-2-1 record when leading after one period, and a 4-1-1 record when leading after two periods of play.
Click here for full game notes for the upcoming series.