Lakers Notebook
Buoyed by a brace of 1-1 ties at hostile Bowling Green State last weekend, the Lake Superior State Lakers return to the home ice of Taffy Abel Arena for Friday-Saturday contests with the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Friday’s game has a slated 7:37 p.m. start and Saturday’s match will begin at 7:07 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on radio station 99.5 YES-FM with Bill Crawford calling the play-by-play.
With an overall record of 2-6-2 and a conference mark of 0-2-2 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, the freshman-sophomore-laden Lakers are showing signs of progress under the leadership of second-year head coach Damon Whitten.
Indeed, the pair of ties at Bowling Green last weekend came against a Falcons squad that had entered the two-game series as the no. 14-ranked team in all of Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association hockey.
POINT PRODUCERS
A sophomore and two freshman forwards represent the Lakers top three scorers to date.
J.T. Henke tops the chart with 5 goals, 2 assists, 7 points while Mitch Hults has 3-2-5 numbers and Gage Torrel stands at 2-3-5.
FLASH GORDON
Laker goalie Gordon Defiel seems to have shrugged off a sluggish start to the 2015-2016 season.
The sophomore puck-stopper, who led the nation in saves as a freshman, turned aside 70 of 72 shots in the two games at Bowling Green to improve his overall record on the season to 1-4-2 with a .900 save percentage and 3.21 goals against average.
OWEN UP TO IT
Despite being the youngest player on the 28-man roster, 1997 birth-year defenseman Owen Headrick has worked his way into the lineup for all 10 games the Lakers have played thus far this season.
The freshman blueliner, who hails from Garden River First Nation, has a goal and an assist in 10 outings as a Laker.
Headrick was a standout the past two seasons for the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
Along with sophomore Kyle Chatham, who also has a goal and an assist, Headrick is tied for the Laker scoring lead among defensemen.
Two other Laker defensemen, sophomores Ryan Renz and James Roll, also have two points apiece, both with a pair of assists.
BYE BYE, BIRD
The Lakers have confirmed that sophomore defenseman Jason Bird has opted to leave the team, effective immediately.
Bird, who appeared in 23 games as a freshman, had not appeared in a single game for the Lakers this season.
PHOTO: Lakers defenseman Owen Headrick, in action at Bowling Green State last weekend. (Photo by Todd Pavlack/BGSUHockey.com.)
Two solid games by the Lakers last weekend against a good Falcon team. I’d like to see them sweep ASU, and hopefully we’ll see a healthy Laker lineup. It is impressive that Headrick has played all ten games. He’s starting to adapt to the speed of the D-1 level. All the best to Bird in his future hockey career.
way to go Owen ! ! ! There is no limit for you as a up and coming star at L.S.S.U.
I heard Jason Bird was enrolling at York University in Toronto and will play hockey there. Good luck to him.