Lakers Headed to NationalsPublished on: March 1, 2010
Chicago, IL — At the same time the puck dropped in Vancouver to showcase the biggest hockey game North America has seen in eight years, the puck dropped in Chicago as the Grand Valley State University men’s hockey team played its most important games of the season. The Lakers had two options this past weekend at Depaul University: either win two games and continue their season into nationals or lose either and start playing golf. After an 11-1 domination of St. Thomas University on Saturday evening, the Lakers completed their successful weekend on Sunday afternoon by beating the University of Iowa 5-1. The victory gave the Lakers their fourth straight trip to the National Championships. Entering the tournament as the top-seeded team that did not get a free pass to nationals, the Lakers got to play the lowest-ranked teams that remained. GVSU head coach Mike Forbes said though the scores of the game were lopsided, the victories were not a cakewalk. “The scores may indicate it, but it’s not like it was an easy weekend,” he said. “We had the good fortune of playing St. Thomas and played a solid game against them. Iowa had upset the No. 5 seed, and we got to play them. They were a tough team, and they worked hard down the stretch. It was a 4-1 hockey game early, but from there it kind of went back and forth. Have we played tougher opponents? Probably so, but they weren’t easy wins by any stretch of the imagination.” The Lakers qualified for nationals for the fourth time in as many years, something senior goalie Grant Lyon said the team expected to do but is still proud of keeping the streak alive. “The boys are really excited about it,” he said. “We’re expected to go to nationals and we’re expected to compete, so to be a high caliber team like we are right now gives us a good feeling. The camaraderie and togetherness of the team is really prevalent right now. It’s a good time for us, and there’s a good attitude throughout the team.” The National Championship tournament will take place in Simsbury, Conn. The tournament will feature the top 12 Division II club teams in the country. With that in mind, the Lakers know they have plenty of things to work on before the tournament starts on March 17. “We have three weeks to work on things,” said junior forward Ryan Welch. “Taking care of our defensive zone first because once we do that we’re very successful, along with getting the puck past the blue line and going from there. Another thing we continue to work on is our powerplay. We seem to not get enough pressure on the goalie and not get enough shots, so we need to get that straight for the tournament.” With the possibility of a high national finish staring the Lakers in the face, Forbes said the team hasn’t set any specific goals yet. “We don’t set out to say that we want to do this or we want to do that,” he said. “I think we go there with the intention of winning every hockey game and winning every shift. We’ll see what the outcome is from there, but the minute you put the outcome ahead of the process, I think you’re destined for failure.” The Lakers will play this weekend in the GMHL Conference Tournament hosted by Michigan State University. They will then have a week off until nationals in mid-March. 
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