2022–23 Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey season explained

The 2022–23 Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey season was the 57th season of play for the program, the 50th at the Division I level and the 43rd in the CCHA conference. The Lakers represented Lake Superior State University and were coached by Damon Whitten, in his 9th season.

Season

With the vast majority of the team returning, there was little reason to think that Lake Superior wouldn't be able to have at least as good a season as they had in 2022. However, from the drop of the puck, nothing seemed to go right for the Lakers. Early on, neither Ethan Langenegger nor Seth Eisele were able to keep the puck out of the goal; Laker Superior averaged nearly 4 goals against per game through their first 8 games. Worse, the offense had dried up. Across the board, players were having a much tougher time getting the puck into the opposing goal. The Lakers scored 36 fewer goals than they had the year before, a full goal less per game. With one of the worse offenses in the nation, the team plummeted to the bottom of the CCHA standings and remained their all season. Lake Superior was at or near the bottom of the national rankings as well, and the team was on pace to post the worst season in program history.

Near the end of January, the defense began to come around. Over their final 7 matches, the Lakers allowed just 2 goals against per game. The offense also saw a modest increase and saw the Lakers go 5–2 in those contests. While they were unable to do anything about their playoff position, the increased level of play did allow the team to avoid posting a historically bad season.^[1]

Lake Superior's opponent for the quarterfinals was Minnesota State. While there was some hope that the improved play would carry over into the postseason, the Mavericks made quick work of the Lakers in the first game. While the final score was better in the rematch, MSU controlled the game, outshooting LSSU 18–40 and end a very disappointing season for the Lakers.^[2]

Departures

Dustin Manz	Forward	Transferred to American International
Miroslav Mucha	Forward	Graduate transfer to Michigan State
Josh Nixon	Forward	Transferred to Union
Jacob Nordqvist	Defenseman	Graduate transfer to Quinnipiac
Mitchell Oliver	Defenseman	Graduation (retired)

Recruiting

Bryan Huggins	Defenseman	20	Grand Rapids, MI
Jared Kucharek	Defenseman	24	Royal Oak, MI graduate transfer from Western Michigan
Connor Milburn	Forward	21	Kamloops, BC

Roster

As of July 30, 2022.^[3]

Schedule and results

Scoring statistics

	36	10	14	24	18
	36	1	22	23	26
	35	9	8	17	4
	32	6	11	17	14
	31	12	4	16	10
	33	6	8	14	2
	32	6	7	13	32
	33	4	8	12	8
	33	2	7	9	25
	35	2	5	7	19
	17	3	3	6	4
	27	3	3	6	37
	34	3	2	5	14
	20	1	3	4	6
	28	2	1	3	18
	30	0	3	3	4
	34	0	2	2	18
	34	0	2	2	4
	17	0	2	2	4
	33	1	1	2	10
	17	0	1	1	8
	25	0	1	1	2
	7	0	1	1	2
	31	0	1	1	36
	9	0	0	0	2
	14	0	0	0	0
	2	0	0	0	0
Total		71	120	191	361

^[4]

Goaltending statistics

	17	753:59	3	9	0	36	376	0	.913	2.86
	27	1318:30	6	15	2	65	654	1	.910	2.96
	8	79:17	0	1	0	7	42	0	.857	5.30
Empty Net	-	27:10	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-
Total	36	2178:56	9	25	2	118	1073	1	.901	3.25

Rankings

See main article: 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings.

Poll	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27 (Final)
USCHO.com	NR	bgcolor=FFFFFF	-	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	bgcolor=FFFFFF	-	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	bgcolor=FFFFFF	-	NR
USA Today	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.^[5]

Notes and References

Web site: U.S. College Hockey Online. Lake Superior Men's Hockey Team History. 1996–2010. November 28, 2010.
Web site: College Hockey Inc. . SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2023 . March 4, 2023 . March 15, 2023.
Web site: Roster . Lake Superior State Athletics . July 17, 2018.
News: Lake Superior State Univ. 2022-2023 Skater Stats . Elite Prospects . July 8, 2020.
Web site: USCHO Division I Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
Web site: Six Are All-CCHA Second Team Selections . CCHA . March 14, 2023 . March 15, 2023.