LAKER NOTES: Alaska visits for battle of age and youth

Lake Superior State, with its 12-member senior class, will be taking on one of the youngest teams in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association during this weekend’s series with Alaska Fairbanks.

The Nanooks’ roster includes 20 underclassmen and only one senior, Kelly Czuy. LSSU’s big senior class dominates a roster that includes 19 upperclassmen and 10 underclassmen.

Other than that, the two teams have plenty in common, including the fact that they are nearly even in the standings, team offense, power play success and penalty killing. Parity was also evident last season as LSSU and UAF split a November series in Sault Ste. Marie and skated to back-to-back ties during a January series in Fairbanks.

The Lakers (6-5-3 overall, 3-5-2 CCHA) and Nanooks (6-4-2 overall, 4-3-1 CCHA) play Friday at 7:35 p.m. and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Taffy Abel Arena. LSSU will be wrapping up a busy first semester of home games and won’t be at home again until early January.

Saturday is “Youth Hockey Night,” and youth players of all ages will be admitted free as long as they are wearing their team jerseys. Teams should contact the Norris Center Ticket Office, 906-635-2601, for group seating. Youngsters are encouraged to be accompanied by an adult.

LSSU beat Robert Morris 3-0 and 4-3 in overtime last weekend for its first home sweep since Oct. 18-19, 2002. Despite playing a non-conference opponent, several CCHA teams still have games in hand on the Lakers. They are currently tied for sixth in the standings with Northern Michigan with eight points.

UAF, which is one point ahead of the Lakers in the league standings, split a league series with NMU last weekend, winning 3-1 on Friday and losing 4-1 on Saturday. Fairbanks coach Tavis MacMillan had the quote of the weekend when describing his team’s inability to cash in on its scoring chances – a fate that LSSU has endured all too often.

“We’re a lot more Swedish than we are Finnish,” he said. Both teams make up for occasional scoring woes with solid defense.

The Nanooks, who are ranked seventh in the CCHA in penalty killing at .831, held NMU’s power play scoreless for its first shutout weekend of the season.

The Lakers, who are sixth in penalty killing at .838, have not allowed a power-play goal in five of their last eight games. The Lakers are ranked second in the CCHA and seventh nationally in goals allowed at 2.14.

LSSU coach Jim Roque used the RMU series as a chance to rest a few players who are nursing minor injuries and to give junior goaltender Jeff Jakaitis a break. Jakaitis recorded his fifth career shutout last Friday and sat out on Saturday, allowing freshman goaltender Vince Wheeler to pick up his first career victory.

Freshmen Marty Gurnoe and Troy Schwab, and senior Mark Adamek are all expected to return to the lineup this weekend, while freshman defenseman Matt Wheeler is questionable.

*** LAKERS SIGN FOUR RECRUITS INCLUDING SJHL SCORING LEADER:

For the second straight year, the Lake Superior State hockey program has signed the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's leading scorer.

Current SJHL scoring leader Michael George of the Battleford North Stars is among the recruits who signed a National Letter of Intent to play hockey at LSSU next season. Other fall recruiting period signees include Stouffville Spirit defenseman Simon Gysbers, Fort Williams North Stars defenseman Ryan Baird and Chicago Steel forward Nathan Perkovich.

George, a 6-1, 190-pound left wing from Battleford, Sask., has 20 goals, including three short-handed goals, and 23 assists through 28 games this season. The 20-5-1 North Stars currently lead the SJHL's Itech Division. George finished second in the league in scoring last year behind Troy Schwab, who is currently the Lakers' top scorer.

Perkovich, a 6-5, 180-pound forward from Canton, Mich., was drafted in the eighth round (250th overall) by New Jersey during the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, but missed a year of hockey due to a knee injury. He played midget hockey in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and always hoped to return as an LSSU player. This season, he is 14th in the United States Hockey League in scoring with nine goals and seven assists in 19 games.

"We are losing guys like Colin Nicholson, Steve McJannet and Nathan Ward up front - guys who have played a lot," LSSU coach Jim Roque said. "These two forwards will help keep us going in the right direction. They have good size and good skills."

Gysbers, a 6-4, 190-pound defenseman from Richmond Hill, Ont., is an assistant captain for the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League's Stouffville Spirit and has been mentioned as a "B" player on the NHL's Central Scouting Service list of players to watch. He was named the OPJHL's Most-Outstanding Defenseman in 2004-05. This season, he has three goals and 11 assists through 21 games.

Baird, a 5-10, 180-pound defenseman from Thunder Bay, Ont., is 10th overall in scoring in the Superior International Junior Hockey League with eight goals and 21 assists in 20 games. He is the team captain for the Fort Williams North Stars, who are leading the SIJHL with a 19-1-0 record and recently earned a No. 14 Canadian Junior A national ranking. Last season, he was named most-valuable player of the Dudley-Hewitt Cup, which is Ontario's regional qualifier for the Canadian national tournament (Royal Bank Cup).

Baird and Elmira Sugar Kings defenseman Chad Swartzentruber are the top-scoring defensemen in their respective leagues. Swartzentruber, who is playing in the Midwest Junior B League, is on a deferred status after committing to LSSU last spring.

"All three defensemen have real good mobility," Roque said. "They are good puck handlers and are skilled. That type of defenseman is going to be valuable to us now because of the way college hockey is changing. These guys can move well and are good offensively."

*** ROQUE FINED BY CCHA:

The Central Collegiate Hockey Association has reprimanded Lake Superior State University head coach Jim Roque and fined him for a violation of the conference's 'Good Conduct Regulations'.

The Lakers' coach was cited for published comments he made following his team's game at Ohio State University on Nov. 19.

CCHA regulations stipulate, in part, that, 'No employee (e.g., coaches, athletic staff members, etc.) or student-athlete of a member institution shall make derogatory remarks to the press or public about opponents or officials.'

*** LADY LAKERS IMPORVE TO 5-0

No. 21-ranked Lake Superior State battled back from a nine-point deficit early in the first half and a 12-point deficit early in the second half to beat Ashland 70-68 in a women's basketball thriller Thursday at Bud Cooper Gymnasium.

LSSU (5-0 overall, 1-0 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) struggled through 13 first-half turnovers and 0-for-10 shooting from three-point range to beat the Eagles (2-4 overall, 0-1 GLIAC).

Becky Marquardt-King led LSSU with 23 points and six rebounds despite playing only seven minutes in the first half. Jaclyn Armstrong, a rookie, finished with 17 points, and Monica Rehmann had 10.

(Information provided by the LSSU Sports Information Department)