Fort Frances Lakers head coach Tyler Miller is coming up on a year in the job and he has seen progress in the team which has the lowest average age in the Superior International Junior Hockey League.
Last season around this time the team was 5-19-0-0, new head coach Paul MacLean was fired and Miller took over as the interim coach at that time. This season they’re 5-17-2-1 but Miller feels like they’re on a better track and games have been much closer.
“Myself and Brandon Bodnar took over in January then we got Cody (Mosbeck) and Luke (Judson) involved in February,” Miller said. “We’ve grown as an organization in the community and on the ice we’ve definitely developed and grown. Obviously we’re not happy with five wins and where we’re at right now in the standings, but as a coach the main goal is to develop players that can be successful in the long run.”
The Lakers currently sit seventh of eight teams in the league, ahead of only the expansion Kenora Islanders with a record of 1-20-0-1. The Wisconsin Lumber Jacks are in sixth place at 9-12-3-1. The Sioux Lookout bombers lead the league with a 20-5-1-1 record.
Last weekend the Lakers dropped a 3-2 game in Overtime at home to the Lumberjacks and then the next night in Spooner, WI
Miller is optimistic about the second half of the season, saying the beginning of the season doesn’t dictate the end of the season.
“I’ve never seen a championship won in September, October, November or December,” Miller said. “You want to develop your players throughout the year, so they’re ready for those playoff games. In this league everyone gets into the playoffs so that’s when we want to be ready. Our development has been great, it’s come a long way, we’re a lot closer in games now.”
Miller says one of the things the team is working on is their discipline on the bench. The Lakers have struggled at times taking unnecessary penalties which have cost them valuable points.
“Our discipline factor and our attitude on the bench has played a key role at times we’ve struggled,” Miller said. “That just comes from the development of the team. We’ve got to have guys believing and in the past month and a half we believed, we’re big believers and that’s why games have been closer. We’re happy with where we’re at development-wise, now we need to turn that development into wins, so we’re going to be asking a little more of our players.”
The development piece has been necessary given the youth on the team. Unlike most teams in the league, the Lakers have mostly younger players with just three 20 year-olds. Compared to the league-leading Kam River Walleye who have nine 20 year-old players.
With a trade freeze in place until after the Christmas break which began following the Lakers game in Wisconsin on Saturday, rosters will be finalized for the rest of the season as of January 10.
“Come January 10 that will be the final roster for the year that we’re going to develop and that’s going to the playoffs and we’ll be pushing for an upset,” Miller said. “I think of the LA Kings when they snuck into the playoffs in eighth place (in 2012). The dressing room was good there, the guys were happy in LA, they snuck in and they won the cup. That’s where I am as a coach, I and our coaching staff, we believe we see it and now the kids are starting to see it and they’re starting to believe. That’s the biggest thing in the dressing room, you gotta get all 25 of them buying in and believing and to come from where they were last year to where they are now that belief has started to happen, so that’s good.
To this point the Lakers have had a rough go especially with their early schedule playing top teams in the league like Sioux Lookout, Kam River and Red Lake more than middle or lower tier teams like Thunder Bay, Wisconsin and Kenora. The standings have changed slightly since the Times spoke to Miller but the sentiment in the following quote remains.
“You know that we had to be ready to roll. Our first seven games were against top-three teams in the league,” Miller said. “We played Dryden, Kam River, and Sioux Lookout in our first seven games.” (Dryden has since dropped to fourth place). “It would have been nice to come in a little more ready to go, but we obviously have to do development here and get our players ready during the session. But those guys that need to work on skills to have the opportunity to play some division three, ECG or NCAA (Collegiate level hockey). The odd guy might develop the skills throughout the next two years here they might have an opportunity at Division One, who knows? Our biggest goal and our mission is to develop players here and I think we’ve come a long way with that.”
Miller is also pleased with how the team has developed off the ice.
“Another philosophy we wanted was good people, good players, meaning not good hockey players, meaning good people,” Miller said. “I think the (University of) Michigan slogan is ‘Good Dudes (only)’ and our’s is ‘good people.’ That’s what we want in the dressing room, that’s what you want on the ice, and you know what, every one of those kids in the dressing room is a good person, and we’re going the right way. So it’s easy to coach when you have that type of group.”
During the festive season Lakers players could be seen at the various Salvation Army kettles throughout Fort Frances on Wednesday mornings throughout the kettle campaign. The organization also held a toy drive at their Dec. 9 game for the United Native Friendship Centre’s Christmas programming.
The Lakers resume regular season play on January fifth with the Thunder Bay North Stars in town to take on the Lakers at Ice For Kids Arena.
