2024–25 Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey season

2024–25 Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey season
Conference	8th CCHA
Home ice	Taffy Abel Arena
Rankings
USCHO	NR
USA Hockey	NR
Record
Overall	12–20–2
Conference	10–15–1
Home	4–10–1
Road	8–9–1
Neutral	0–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Damon Whitten
Assistant coaches	Mike York D. J. Goldstein
Captain(s)	Grant Hindman
Alternate captain(s)	Connor Milburn Dawson Tritt
Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey seasons « 2023–24 2025–26 »

The 2024–25 Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey season was the 59th season of play for the program, the 52nd at the Division I level and the 45th in the CCHA. The Lakers represented Lake Superior State University, played their home games at the Taffy Abel Arena and were coached by Damon Whitten in his 11th season.

Lake Superior State had a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde season. Over the first two months, the Lakers put of solid numbers with both the offense and defense working in tandem on most nights. They sat at the top of the conference standings, however, due to their poor marks in non-conference play, the club was still well outside the picture for the NCAA tournament. However, after getting swept by Minnesota State just before the winter break, albeit in two 1-goal decisions, the wins came few and far between.

After averaging nearly 3 goals per game over the first half of the year, the Lakers' scoring dipped to around 2.3 per game after the break. The modest decrease saw the team switch from one that was hovering around .500 to one of the worst in the CCHA. Lake Superior State went 4–11–1 in the back half of the schedule, losing five 1-goal games to sink down to 8th in the standings. While the Lakers were able to make the postseason, they were forced to travel to face Minnesota State for the quarterfinals. After being largely ineffective in the first match, the Lakers fought back and twice gained the lead in the rematch. Unfortunately, they were unable to either and were swept out of postseason play.

While the mounting losses were bad enough for the program, a worse situation was seen in terms of attendance. By season's end, the team reported and aggregate of just over 15,000 for their 15 home games. That averaged out to approximately 1,034 fans per game, which equated to about 30% capacity.^[1] These numbers put LSSU 56th out of 64 teams in terms of total attendance but second from the bottom for percent capacity. The only team with worse average attendance for the year was American International who, in part because of their woeful attendance, were playing their final season of Division I hockey this year. To make matters worse, attendance appeared to decline as the season went along with many later games falling well below 1,000 attendees. The situation was so poor that on several occasions the team did not even report the crowd sizes for their home games.

With the financial requirements to operate college athletic increasing, largely due to the new NIL rules, these figures do not bode well for the program. If Lake Superior State wants to operate a competitive team, they will need to reverse their declining attendance before it reaches a cataclysmic level. Fortunately, just after the season the school announced that it had received a recurring annual commitment of $1.5 million from an anonymous benefactor.^[2]

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Artyom Borshyov	Defenseman	Belarus	Graduate transfer to Lindenwood
Jeremy Gervais	Defenseman	Canada	Graduation (signed with Huntsville Havoc)
William Håkansson	Goaltender	Sweden	Left program
Cam Kungle	Defenseman	United States	Transferred to Merrimack
Ethan Langenegger	Goaltender	Canada	Graduate transfer to Clarkson
Benito Posa	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with Fort Wayne Komets)
Brett Roloson	Forward	Canada	Transferred to Niagara
Ross Roloson	Defenseman	Canada	Transferred to Niagara
Harrison Roy	Forward	United States	Graduate transfer to Merrimack
Jared Westcott	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with Wheeling Nailers)
Tyler Williams	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with Knoxville Ice Bears)

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
William Ahlrik	Forward	Sweden	21	Tidaholm, SWE
Rorke Applebee	Goaltender	Canada	21	Châteauguay, QC
Adam Barone	Defenseman	Canada	21	Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Mike Brown	Defenseman	United States	23	Belmont, MA; transfer from Merrimack
Wilson Dahlheimer	Goaltender	United States	20	Monticello, MN
Johnny Druskinis	Defenseman	United States	22	Plymouth, MI; transfer from Michigan
Hadley Hudak	Forward	Canada	21	Canton, MI
Blake Humphrey	Forward	United States	22	Syracuse, NY; transfer from Sacred Heart
Everett Pietila	Forward	United States	21	Howell, MI
Grant Riley	Goaltender	United States	21	Rochester, NY; transfer from Northeastern

As of August 14, 2024.^[3]

No.	Nat.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Rorke Applebee	Freshman	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-09-19	Châteauguay, Quebec	West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)	—
2		Bryan Huggins	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-03-26	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Fargo Force (USHL)	—
3		Mike Brown	Junior (RS)	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	2001-04-03	Belmont, Massachusetts	Merrimack (HEA)	—
4		Jacob Conrad	Freshman (RS)	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-05-18	Green Bay, Wisconsin	Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)	—
5		Evan Bushy	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2002-03-26	Mankato, Minnesota	Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL)	—
6		Adam Barone	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2004-05-06	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario	Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL)	—
7		Branden Piku	Sophomore	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2002-08-25	Harrison Township, Michigan	Maryland Black Bears (NAHL)	—
8		Jack Blanchett	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2003-05-12	Monroe, Michigan	Powell River Kings (BCHL)	—
9		Connor Milburn (A)	Junior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-04-11	Kamloops, British Columbia	Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)	—
10		Sasha Teleguine	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-09-17	North Attleborough, Massachusetts	Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)	—
11		Dawson Tritt (A)	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-09-01	Spokane, Washington	Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)	—
12		Reagan Milburn	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2003-02-13	Kamloops, British Columbia	Vernon Vipers (BCHL)	—
13		Wilson Dahlheimer	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	2003-10-09	Monticello, Minnesota	Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)	—
14		Nate Schweitzer	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	2002-02-21	Champlin, Minnesota	Colorado College (NCHC)	—
15		Johnny Druskinis	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-04-10	Plymouth, Michigan	Michigan (Big Ten)	—
16		Blake Humphrey	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	162 lb (73 kg)	2002-01-18	Syracuse, New York	Sacred Heart (AHA)	—
17		Luke Levandowski	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2002-09-26	Rosemount, Minnesota	Wisconsin Windigo (NAHL)	—
18		Everett Pietila	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2003-09-27	Howell, Michigan	Wisconsin Windigo (NAHL)	—
19		Joshua Wildauer	Graduate	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1999-06-16	Dearborn Heights, Michigan	Coquitlam Express (BCHL)	—
20		Grant Hindman (C)	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-05-16	Oakland, Michigan	Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)	—
21		Jordan Venegoni	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-08-16	Livonia, Michigan	Amarillo Bulls (NAHL)	—
22		Timo Bakos	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2000-07-28	Augsburg, Germany	Starbulls Rosenheim (Oberliga)	—
24		William Ahlrik	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2003-09-25	Tidaholm, Sweden	Oklahoma Warriors (NAHL)	—
26		Cole Craft	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-06-29	North Bay, Ontario	Lincoln Stars (USHL)	—
27		Carter Batchelder	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2003-02-25	Savage, Minnesota	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)	—
28		John Herrington	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-04-19	Hudson's Hope, British Columbia	Prince George Spruce Kings (BCHL)	—
29		Hadley Hudak	Freshman	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	2003-06-23	Canton, Michigan	Springfield Jr. Blues (NAHL)	—
30		Easton Hesse	Junior	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-06-28	Beaumont, Alberta	Bonnyville Pontiacs (AJHL)	—
31		Grant Riley	Sophomore (RS)	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-08-28	Rochester, New York	Northeastern (HEA)	—

^[5]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12 or 26.^[6]
Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.