OK.  My car is finally out of the driveway.  Now I'll take a stab at John
Haeussler's comments:
 
1. Michigan 8, Lake Superior 2.  Never thought I'd see that.  The Wolverines
jumped to the lead early and a throughly intimidated Laker team never got
over the hump to get back in the game.  Goaltending was a major factor in
this game for Lake State.  When Kulick let the first shot in, you could see
the Laker defense begin to implode.  The story was much the opposite the next
night (as anyone in East Lansing can attest).  The Lakers played better with
each save that Kulick made on Saturday.  It (the Michigan game) was IMO the
worst game the Lakers have played in the eight years I have followed the
program (barring the 1992 Ohio State series, which coincidentally, was the
last time Lake State lost a game 8-2).
 
2. Keith Aldridge.  C'mon John.  Try to watch the whole game.  Keith
Aldridge plays a fierce, defensive style of hockey.  He was not getting
much help from his defensive partner (T. Laviolette) who blew his
coverage,  blew clearing passes and basically had the worst game of his
career.  That left Keith on the ice against three of the most-talented
forwards in the conference.  As to the side shenanigans,  I watched
Brendan Morrison intentionally KICK Jason Caster's feet out from under
him.  In a game that's already decided,  there's no need to perform such
an act.  Aldridge was right to come to the defense of his goaltender (we
have already lost one as a result of a crease run).  In reality,
Aldridge played a pretty solid game for a guy that had to cover everyone
else's mistakes.  Brendan Morrison and Co. would do the same should their
goaltender have his feet kicked out for no reason.
 
3. Jason Trzcinski played the game with an injured foot.  He knew he was
brutal,  and he was brutal the next night.  But he's a Laker and a
competitor,  so he stayed out there and worked his tail off.
 
4. The Tallaire's were both there.  In case you didn't notice,  Gerald
set up Darcy George for the game-tying goal in the second period (I
believe George went through Harold Schock like butter),  but the rookie
hit the post.  Sean was playing on an experimental line.  Consider that
experiment over.
 
5. Larry Pedrie on the Bench?  C'mon.  Pedrie's teams do no more
cheap-shotting then anyone else.  If you haven't noticed,  they are way
down in penalty minutes this season.  So,  before you flame a third
party, take a look at the stats.  Jeff Jackson doesn't need a defense.
He's won two NCAA titles,  five CCHA titles and has a .747 winning
percentage.  He doesn't coach a clutch-and-grab style (it's hard to
clutch and grab when YOU have the puck most of the time),  but he does
coach,  in the words of Jack Parker "fierce man-on-man defense".  That's
why he always wins the last meeting of the year with Michigan.
 
6. Thugs?  Wait a minute.  Is this the Central League discussion list?
We watched the replay of that game and kept waiting for one of our guys
to break the eggs they were skating around with. There was less physical
contact in that game then there is at the World Figure Skating
Championship.  Don't go to any NHL games soon.
 
In reality, the Wolverines may have done the Lakers a big favor.  LSSU is
depleted in goal and on defense, although the troops are getting healthy.
The Lakers were sleep-walking through the last six games, unsure of where
they were headed. Well, that game brought that to an end.  I can safely say
that they are awake and alert now.  Hang onto your hat.
 
See you on February 23-24 at the Taffy Abel Arena,  John.
 
Scott Monaghan
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906-635-2601
 
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