Road-tested Lakers return home
There is no place quite like home, especially after a long road trip.
Lake Superior State University Lakers return to the friendly confines of Taffy Abel Arena for Friday-Saturday night games versus the Northern Michigan University Wildcats after a two-week road stretch that saw Sault Ste. Marie’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association team log more than 4,000 miles.
The Lakers take a WCHA record of 0-2 and overall mark of 0-6 into the weekend set with their Upper Peninsula rivals from Marquette.
Faceoff times are 7:37 p.m. on Friday and 7:07 p.m. on Saturday and both games will be broadcast live on Sault Ste. Marie radio station 99.5 Yes-FM with the legendary Bill Crawford calling the play-by-play.
Head coach Damon Whitten’s Lakers will be looking for additional scoring from their top forwards as sophomores Alex Globke and Ian Miller lead the team with identical totals of 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points.
Senior Stephen Perfetto is the only Laker to have scored 2 goals through the 6 games to date.
Freshman goalie Gordon Deifel has started in 5 of the Lakers 6 games thus far this 2014-2015 season and is 0-5 with a 3.92 goals-against-average and a very-respectable .906 save percentage.
PHOTO: Laker goal-scoring leader Stephen Perfetto.
Patience is the name of the game for Lakers fans this season. The Lakers are regularly playing 4 or 5 freshmen on D, starting 2 freshmen goalies, have a complete new coaching staff, and are playing a different (for them) style of hockey. The Lakers should get better as the season progresses but there are going to be growing pains.
You are bang on Cookie. The Lakers are a work in progress with the many new faces. Saying that the Upperclassmen need to put the puck in the net more. Leading scorer has 2 Goals – that say’s it all.
Surprized that Deifel has got so much of the work between the pipes as he was brought in late to be the 3rd Goalie. As Randy points out he has a good Save % for some one with a record of 0-and-5. Good for Deifel hats off to him.
I heard Damon Whitten say on one of the Laker Hockey Shows that Defiel came to school in the best shape physically of the goalies and that’s why he has gotten most of the playing time. Damon wants the Lakers to play uptempo, and although that applies primarily to position players, it doesn’t exclude the goalies from working on their strength and stamina also.