1987–88 Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey season

The 1987–88 Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey team represented the Lake Superior State University in college ice hockey. In its 6th year under head coach Frank Anzalone the team compiled a 33–7–6 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the second time.[1] The Lakers defeated St. Lawrence 4–3 in overtime to win the championship game at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York.

1987–88 Lake Superior State Lakers
men's ice hockey season
National champion
CCHA, champion
NCAA tournament, champion
Conference1st CCHA
Home iceNorris Center
Record
Overall33–7–6
Conference22–4–6
Home18–3–2
Road11–3–4
Neutral4–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachFrank Anzalone
Assistant coachesJeff Jackson
Jim Roque
Captain(s)Terry Hossack
Craig Hewson
Alternate captain(s)Anthony Palumbo
Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey seasons
« 1986–87 1988–89 »

Season

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Regular season consistency

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The Lakers had played well ever since Frank Anzalone took over in the middle of the 1982–83 season. With the success of the program he was able to recruit players who had a good chance at playing professionally. Included in the bumper crop of freshmen were goaltender Bruce Hoffort and New Jersey Devils draft pick Jim Dowd. While the newcomers, particularly Hoffort, would make major contributions to the team it was the upper classmen who led the way.

Mark Vermette, who scored only a single goal in his freshman season, exploded out of the gate and helped Lake Superior build an early lead in the conference standings. The Lakers never found themselves on any long winning streaks but they rode Vermette's sudden scoring flurry to wins almost every weekend. The Lakers lost only a single game in each of the first three months of the season and ended 1987 with as many ties as losses (3 each).

The second half of the season was no different with the Lakers continuing to build on their lead in the CCHA, losing only one more conference game the rest of the year and finishing with a massive 10-point lead over second-place Bowling Green. The Lakers won only their second CCHA title (the first in 14 years) and were ranked so highly that it was possible for them to make the NCAA tournament bases solely on their regular season. They had achieved such heights with a combination of scoring and tough, physical play they earned them around 1,000 penalty minutes in just 38 games.[2]

CCHA tournament

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Lake Superior ran through 8th-place Ohio State winning the quarterfinal series handily. For the championship rounds the Lakers headed to Detroit to face Western Michigan, who had given them fits during the season. The semifinal saw no difference as the two teams fought to a 4–4 draw in regulation, leading to the fourth overtime game on the season between the two. This time the Lake State was able to emerge as the victor and head to the conference championship game. The final gamed followed a similar pattern to the semifinal with the Lakers and Bowling Green knotted at 2-all after 60 minutes but the Lakers could not get a second consecutive overtime goal and missed a chance to win their first ever conference tournament.[3]

NCAA tournament

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Despite the loss, Lake Superior had won 30 games by that point, a new program record, and were given the #2 western seed, allowing them to bypass the first round of the tournament and await their opponent at home. After a week off, the Lakers played host to Merrimack, a Division III team who had received the final At-Large bid into the tournament. Despite not much being expected of them, the Warriors had taken down the Hockey East champion in the first round then stunned the Lakers in game 1 of the quarterfinals 3–4. Fortunately for lake Superior, at the time the tournament format had the first two rounds being two-game total-goal series and they could get away with a poor effort in one game. Sure enough Lake Superior rebounded with 5–1 win in the second and took the series to advance to their first Frozen Four.

In the national semifinal Lake State faced its toughest challenge yet, the top-ranked Maine Black Bears. It was, however, the Lakers' tenacity that won out in the end. While Mane came in with the top offense in the country, Lake Superior was able to win the majority of puck battles and double up the vaunted easterners 6–3.

For their first championship appearance, Lake Superior faced an equally unlikely opponent in St. Lawrence who had outlasted western powerhouse Minnesota the night after. The two unheralded teams each tried to play their game and it was St. Lawrence who looked to be the better of the two early. With the Lakers getting into penalty trouble the Saints fired 20 shots on goal in the first period but Hoffort stood tall and turned everything aside. St. Lawrence was finally able to solve Hoffort in the second period, pumping three goals into the net in the middle frame.

Third-period controversy

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With the game tied 3–3 late in the third period, St. Lawrence got the puck near the front of the net and had an opportunity to score when future U.S. Congressman Pete Stauber intentionally knocked the net off of its moorings. This violation would normally cause a penalty shot to be called, but referee Frank Cole only called for a face-off.[4] The building, full of St. Lawrence partisans, booed what they felt was an obvious missed call but the Lakers were able to escape unscathed.

The game headed into overtime and wear and tear of playing back-to-back games started to show on St. Lawrence. Lake Superior attacked the Saints' cage and just before the 5-minute mark, Vermette slid a rebound through a maze of bodies into the net and gave Lake Superior its first national title.

Awards and honors

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Bruce Hoffort's 49-saves in the title game helped him earn the tournament MOP and was joined by Kord Cernich and Mike DeCarle on the All-Tournament team.[5] Mark Vermette led the NCAA in goals, setting a program record with 45 on the season and is the only Laker in history to reach the 40-goal plateau (as of 2019). His goal-scoring frenzy made him a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award but that year it would go to Minnesota's Robb Stauber, Pete's brother. Vermette had to settle for being named an AHCA first-team All-American while head coach Frank Anzalone received the Spencer Penrose Award as the national coach of the year.[6] Hoffort's 2.65 goals against average was also the best for qualifying goalies in the nation.

Vermette was named the CCHA Player of the Year, the first Laker to win the award,[7] while Anzalone won the CCHA Coach of the Year. Vermette and Hoffort were named to the All-CCHA First Team[8] while Cernich and DeCarle made the Second Team.

Standings

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Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Lake Superior State 32 22 4 6 50 163 97 46 33 7 6 233 139
Bowling Green* 32 19 11 2 40 190 144 45 30 13 2 258 188
Michigan State 32 18 11 3 39 151 123 46 27 16 3 222 173
Western Michigan 32 17 12 3 37 152 136 42 22 17 3 208 184
Michigan 32 17 15 0 34 140 131 41 22 19 0 176 171
Illinois-Chicago 32 14 17 1 29 137 138 39 18 20 1 170 169
Ferris State 32 11 17 4 26 118 165 40 15 20 5 155 198
Ohio State 32 7 21 4 18 116 178 40 10 24 6 138 209
Miami 32 7 24 1 15 113 168 38 12 25 1 145 187
Championship: Bowling Green
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

Schedule

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The team's schedule was a s follows:[3]

Date Opponent# Rank# Site Result Record
Regular Season
October 9 vs. St. Cloud State* Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 8–4  1–0
October 10 vs. St. Cloud State* Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 7–3  2–0
October 16 vs. Ohio State Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan T 4–4 OT 2–0–1 (0–0–1)
October 17 vs. Ohio State Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 9–2  3–0–1 (1–0–1)
October 23 at Bowling Green BGSU Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio W 5–4 OT 4–0–1 (2–0–1)
October 24 at Bowling Green BGSU Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio W 7–3  5–0–1 (3–0–1)
October 30 vs. Ferris State Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 7–5  6–0–1 (4–0–1)
October 31 vs. Ferris State Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan L 7–8 OT 6–1–1 (4–1–1)
November 6 at Miami Goggin Ice ArenaOxford, Ohio W 5–3  7–1–1 (5–1–1)
November 7 at Miami Goggin Ice ArenaOxford, Ohio W 5–1  8–1–1 (6–1–1)
November 13 vs. Western Michigan Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 3–1  9–1–1 (7–1–1)
November 14 vs. Western Michigan Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan L 5–6 OT 9–2–1 (7–2–1)
November 20 at Illinois–Chicago* UIC PavilionChicago, Illinois T 3–3 OT 9–2–2 (7–2–2)
November 21 at Illinois–Chicago* UIC PavilionChicago, Illinois W 5–2  10–2–2 (8–2–2)
November 27 vs. Michigan Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 5–3  11–2–2 (9–2–2)
November 28 vs. Michigan Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 6–3  12–2–2 (10–2–2)
December 4 at Michigan State Munn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, Michigan L 2–4  12–3–2 (10–3–2)
December 5 at Michigan State Munn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, Michigan T 4–4 OT 12–3–3 (10–3–3)
December 11 at Ohio State OSU Ice RinkColumbus, Ohio W 7–0  13–3–3 (11–3–3)
December 12 at Ohio State OSU Ice RinkColumbus, Ohio W 5–2  14–3–3 (12–3–3)
December 28 vs. Northern Michigan* Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 3–2  15–3–3 (12–3–3)
January 3 vs. Michigan Tech* Brown County ArenaAshwaubenon, Wisconsin W 5–2  16–3–3 (12–3–3)
January 8 vs. Bowling Green Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan T 6–6 OT 16–3–4 (12–3–4)
January 9 vs. Bowling Green Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 5–1  17–3–4 (13–3–4)
January 15 at Ferris State Ewigleben ArenaBig Rapids, Michigan W 3–2  18–3–4 (14–3–4)
January 16 at Ferris State Ewigleben ArenaBig Rapids, Michigan L 2–4  18–4–4 (14–4–4)
January 22 vs. Miami Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 10–2 OT 19–4–4 (15–4–4)
January 23 vs. Miami Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 6–2  20–4–4 (16–4–4)
January 29 at Western Michigan Lawson ArenaKalamazoo, Michigan T 5–5 OT 20–4–5 (16–4–5)
January 30 at Western Michigan Lawson ArenaKalamazoo, Michigan T 4–4 OT 20–4–6 (16–4–6)
February 5 vs. Illinois–Chicago Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 5–2  21–4–6 (17–4–6)
February 6 vs. Illinois–Chicago Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 6–2  22–4–6 (18–4–6)
February 12 at Michigan Yost Ice ArenaAnn Arbor, Michigan W 3–2  23–4–6 (19–4–6)
February 13 at Michigan Yost Ice ArenaAnn Arbor, Michigan W 2–0  24–4–6 (20–4–6)
February 19 vs. Michigan State Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 7–3  25–4–6 (21–4–6)
February 20 vs. Michigan State Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan W 5–4  26–4–6 (22–4–6)
February 26 at St. Cloud State* St. Cloud Municipal Athletic ComplexSt. Cloud, Minnesota W 3–1  27–4–6 (22–4–6)
February 27 at St. Cloud State* St. Cloud Municipal Athletic ComplexSt. Cloud, Minnesota L 3–4  27–5–6 (22–4–6)
CCHA tournament
March 4 vs. Ohio State* Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan (CCHA Quarterfinal game 1) W 6–2  28–5–6 (22–4–6)
March 5 vs. Ohio State* Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan (CCHA Quarterfinal game 2) W 4–1  29–5–6 (22–4–6)
Lake Superior State Won Series 2-0
March 11 vs. Western Michigan* Joe Louis ArenaDetroit, Michigan (CCHA Semifinal) W 5–4 OT 30–5–6 (22–4–6)
March 12 vs. Ohio State* Joe Louis ArenaDetroit, Michigan (CCHA championship) L 2–3 OT 30–6–6 (22–4–6)
NCAA tournament
March 25 vs. Merrimack* Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan (National Quarterfinal game 1) L 3–4  30–7–6 (22–4–6)
March 26 vs. Merrimack* Norris CenterSault Ste. Marie, Michigan (National Quarterfinal game 2) W 5–1  31–7–6 (22–4–6)
Lake Superior State Won Series 8-5
March 31 vs. Maine* Olympic CenterLake Placid, New York (National Semifinal) W 6–3  32–7–6 (22–4–6)
April 2 vs. St. Lawrence* Olympic CenterLake Placid, New York (National championship) W 4–3 OT 7,906 33–7–6 (22–4–6)
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll.
Source:

Roster and scoring statistics

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The roster and scoring statistics were as follows:[9][10]

No. Name Year Position Hometown S/P/C Games Goals Assists Pts PIM
23 Mark Vermette Junior RW Cochenour, ON   46 45 30 75 154
14 Mike DeCarle Junior RW Covina, CA   43 27 39 66 83
21 Pete Stauber Sophomore F Duluth, MN   45 25 33 58 103
24 Anthony Palumbo Junior C Sault Ste. Marie, ON   44 17 34 51 18
9 Jim Dowd Freshman C Brick, NJ   45 18 27 45 16
20 Brett Barnett Freshman LW Toronto, ON   44 16 23 39 124
3 Kord Cernich Sophomore D Ketchikan, AK   46 16 23 39 78
10 Terry Hossack Senior F Farmington Hills, MI   46 13 17 30 72
15 Jeff Jablonski Sophomore LW Toledo, OH   46 13 12 25 54
27 Dean Dyer Freshman C Sherwood Park, AB   45 6 16 22 38
16 Tim Breslin Freshman LW Downers Grove, IL   38 6 14 20 18
4 Karl Johnston Freshman D Windsor, ON   42 7 13 20 38
8 Tim Harris Freshman RW Uxbridge, ON   43 8 10 18 79
12 Craig Hewson Senior RW Brantford, ON   45 6 12 18 60
22 Dan Keczmer Sophomore D Mount Clemens, MI   41 2 15 17 34
5 Rene Chapdelaine Junior D Weyburn, SK   35 1 9 10 44
18 Doug Laprade Freshman RW Thunder Bay, ON   37 5 4 9 48
6 Ken Martel Junior D Hacienda Heights, CA   46 0 3 3 46
30 Bruce Hoffort Freshman G Estevan, SK   31 0 2 2 2
2 David DiVita Freshman D St. Clair Shores, MI   26 1 0 1 20
35 Brandon Reed Sophomore G Lansing, MI   1 0 0 0 0
19 Dominic Niro Freshman LW Sault Ste. Marie, ON   2 0 0 0 2
26 Brian Corso Freshman D San Diego, CA   4 0 0 0 2
17 Jeff Napierala Freshman RW Muskegon, MI   7 0 0 0 0
11 Drew Famulak Sophomore RW Melville, SK   8 0 0 0 6
1 Mike Greenlay Freshman G Vitória, BRA   19 0 0 0 2
Total 232 336 568 1141

Note: statistical archives record 1 fewer goal than Lake Superior State scored as a team.

Goaltending statistics

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No. Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
30 Bruce Hoffort 31 1787 23 4 3 79 790 2 .909 2.65
1 Mike Greenlay 19 1023 10 3 3 57 0 - 3.34
35 Brandon Reed 1 0 0 0 0
Total 46 33 7 6 139 2

(W2) Lake Superior State vs. (E2) St. Lawrence

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April 2 Lake Superior State 4 – 3 OT St. Lawrence Olympic Center


Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st LSSU Tim Harris 1–0 LSSU
LSSU Kord Cernich 2–0 LSSU
2nd SLU Doug Murray McColgan and Lappin 21:57 2–1 LSSU
SLU Russ Mann 2–2
LSSU Kord Cernich 3–0 LSSU
SLU Brian McColgan Baker and Lappin 3–3
3rd None
1st Overtime LSSU Mark Vermette 64:36 4–3 LSSU
Goaltenders
Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice
SLU Paul Cohen 4
LSSU Bruce Hoffort 49 3

Players drafted into the NHL

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1988 NHL Entry Draft

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The player selected in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft were as follows:[11]

= NHL All-Star team = NHL All-Star[12] = NHL All-Star[12] and NHL All-Star team = Did not play in the NHL
Round Pick Player NHL team
4 75 Dean Dyer Hartford Whalers
6 106 David DiVita Buffalo Sabres
10 191 Paul Constantin Vancouver Canucks
11 217 Doug Laprade Los Angeles Kings

† incoming freshman

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Lake Superior Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  2. ^ "TRULY SUPERIOR LAKERS". Sports Illustrated. April 11, 1988. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Lake Superior State Men's Hockey Record Book" (PDF). Lake Superior State Lakers. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  4. ^ "SLU-LSSU national championship controversy". YouTube. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  5. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  6. ^ "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  7. ^ "CCHA Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  8. ^ "CCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  9. ^ "Lake Superior State Univ. 1987-1988 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  10. ^ "1987-88 Lake Superior State University roster and statistics". Hockey DB. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  11. ^ "1988 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey DB. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  12. ^ a b Players are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career.