{"id":132575,"date":"2022-02-16T06:00:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T12:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwproxy.uscho.com\/?p=132575"},"modified":"2022-02-15T14:30:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T20:30:10","slug":"this-week-in-ccha-hockey-with-home-ice-in-sight-for-playoffs-lake-superior-state-getting-back-on-track-at-the-right-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwproxy.uscho.com\/2022\/02\/16\/this-week-in-ccha-hockey-with-home-ice-in-sight-for-playoffs-lake-superior-state-getting-back-on-track-at-the-right-time\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in CCHA Hockey: With home ice in sight for playoffs, Lake Superior State getting back on track at right time of season"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Lake Superior State defenseman Jake Willets led the Laker blueliners this past weekend with four points in a weekend sweep against his former team, Ferris State (photo: Lake Superior State Athletics).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s safe to say this season hasn\u2019t gone the way Damon Whitten might have hoped.<\/p>\n

After finishing a surprise second place in the WCHA last season, winning the conference tournament and making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1996, the Lake Superior State head coach was hoping this would be the season the Lakers could take the next step. Perhaps they could challenge Minnesota State and win the first league title in the new CCHA.<\/p>\n

Instead, the season has been a little more difficult. The Lakers are 14-15-1 and instead of battling Minnesota State for a league title, they are currently trying to overcome Bowling Green for the fourth and final home-ice slot in the upcoming playoffs.<\/p>\n

Whitten said during a phone interview Tuesday that although he thought his team had the ability to compete for a league title, he also knew it was going to be a challenge with some new faces joining the program this year. It took this new-look edition of the Lakers a little while to gel but he thinks the team is coming together at the right time.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year was such a great year, with second place and having home ice (and making the NCAA tournament),\u201d Whitten said. \u201cWe wanted to be back, and we wanted to knock off Manakto and try and compete for first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe disappointment is we\u2019re not where we want to be, but we also knew we were losing a lot and there would be some new pieces being plugged in and we had to see how guys would do, so we were willing to be a little patient there. Now, it\u2019s good to see guys have stuck with it and that patience is starting to pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lakers had a good start to the season, going 6-3-1 against solid nonconference opposition, but two long winless stretches (a five-game losing streak that lasted most of November and a four-game skid at the start of January) left the Lakers playing catchup in the CCHA standings. Part of that was due to not having quite enough healthy bodies \u2013 Whitten said last week was the first time in three months the Lakers have had even close to a full team available for games and practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got as close to a full team as we\u2019ve had for the first time in two, maybe three months,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been hard to find consistency but I don’t fault the players, I think they\u2019ve done a good job through what\u2019s been a challenging season. It\u2019s good to get some good results, guys are playing well and our competition levels are way back up because we have more healthy bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent results have been encouraging \u2013 the Lakers snapped their January losing skid with a split against Northern Michigan, which included a 6-1 win on Jan. 28. Last weekend, they managed to sweep Ferris State at home with 5-3 and 4-0 victories.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting contributions from throughout our lineup,\u201d Whitten said of LSSU\u2019s recent success, noting that with only four seniors, it\u2019s been nice to see the freshmen get on the scoreboard. \u201cSaturday night our freshmen in particular had their best games of the year. They\u2019ve been playing a lot in critical situations and played well, so that was great to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

But leading the way for the Lakers on the weekend were the team\u2019s stars. Junior forward Louis Boudon had two goals and three assists in the series, while defenseman Jake Willets had a hat trick against his former team on Saturday night and Miroslav Mucha had a five-point weekend with five assists.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoudon is still playing at a very high level, I think Miroslav Mucha is playing his best hockey for us that he\u2019s played in his career,\u201d Whitten said. \u201cAnd Willets, I was surprised to find out that Saturday night was the first time a Laker defenseman had a hat trick in our school\u2019s history, so that was a pretty great night for him and a great night for our program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boudon, the team\u2019s leading scorer, has 13 goals and 20 assists on the year while Mucha, who has at least a point in each of LSSU\u2019s last four games, has eight goals and 20 assists.<\/p>\n

The two wins against the Bulldogs were also extremely important for the Lakers in the standings: the sweep allowed the Lakers to leapfrog idle Northern Michigan into fifth place and give them some much-needed breathing room in the standings. They are four points ahead of NMU and seven points ahead of FSU with four games to play in the regular season. Now, instead of battling for Ferris for sixth and seventh they find themselves in the thick of a race for home ice with Bowling Green.<\/p>\n

The Lakers travel to St. Paul this weekend to take on last-place St. Thomas; if they can sweep the Tommies on the road, they can return to Sault Ste. Marie for a final series against the Falcons.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve given ourselves a good chance now,\u201d Whitten said. \u201cFriday\u2019s the biggest game of the year. We have to keep handling our own business and if we do that, we can control our own destiny at the end of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s safe to say this season hasn\u2019t gone the way Damon Whitten might have hoped. After finishing a surprise second place in the WCHA last season, winning the conference tournament and making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1996, the Lake Superior State head coach was hoping this would be the season the Lakers could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":132576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[854],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in CCHA Hockey: With home ice in sight for playoffs, Lake Superior State getting back on track at right time of season - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s safe to say this season hasn\u2019t gone the way Damon Whitten might have hoped. 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