The Lakers played better at home than away, but in the end there was not enough scoring to keep up with the second-place Sioux Lookout Bombers.
Lakers head coach Tyler Miller was optimistic that the team could put up a fight against the Bombers who finished second overall in the league, five points behind the Kam River Walleye.
The Lakers had a rough start to the playoffs going into Sioux Lookout they lost the first game 7-3.
They gave up two power play goals on four penalties in the first period then gave up two shorthanded goals in the second.
“We go up there and we kind of shoot ourselves in the foot Friday night, giving up two shorthanded goals on our powerplay and we gave them two powerplay goals,” Miller said. “When it comes to playoff hockey you want to be going the right way and competing. Special teams killed us. Saturday we just dropped the ball and we weren’t prepared for that game.”
The Saturday game went worse than Friday’s. Because of the number of penalties in the first game, Miller as the head coach was suspended per SIJHL rules after 12 or more penalties in the first game.
In game two, the Lakers took another 11 penalties and gave up three powerplay goals.
“Our compete level wasn’t high,” Miller said. “We didn’t have hard work or anything like that for Saturday night.”
The series was meant to resume after a one-day break but the weather delayed game three until Thursday March 28.
The delay may have helped fill the stands at Ice For Kids Arena. With the following day a holiday more people would have been out on Thursday and Friday nights, rather than the originally scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday games.
The team looked better back on home ice but couldn’t put on the sustained pressure needed to score the goals and match up with the powerhouse of the Bombers.
They managed to put 33 shots on net but Bombers goalie Jack Osmond was up to the task and posted a second consecutive shutout.
Game three also saw a marked decrease in penalties; the Lakers took just five.
Game four looked to be going better again when defenseman Kyle Garland scored with an assist from regular season points leader Clark Scaddan.
The Lakers also came into the playoffs with a bit of a boost as local products Emmerson Evans and Evan Kabel were back in the lineup after being out. Evans injured his ankle in the first game back in January and Kabel had been out since he was sidelined due to an emergency appendectomy on Family Day.
“It’s good to have those guys back in the lineup,” Miller said. “They just bring depth to the lineup and strong work ethic so it was nice to have them back in the lineup, it would have been nice to have them in there without injury, obviously that happens.”
The Lakers will now turn to next season and retooling the team to hopefully improve yet again.
The Lakers have improved this year in several categories over last year.
“We had a lot of one-goal games (games they only lost by one point),” Miller said. “Our goals for and goals against, we brought that down compared to last year. It was just a good year competing and getting the organization back on track and things like that. Our winning percentage was up 50 per cent.”
Attendance was another boost the team saw. Miller says on average they saw about 100 more fans in the arena per game.
This comes on the heels of a concerted effort to change the experience in the arena during Lakers games. This season saw the launch of several different themed nights. The Lakers also successfully lobbied the Town of Fort Frances to allow alcohol sales at the arena during games. They were able to launch sales at the end of the year for the last few games of the season.
Between the Rainy River District and International Falls area, the team had about a dozen local players. Miller says they have 23 players eligible to return next season and they will all be competing for their spots on the team next year if they want to return.
The Lakers are holding a showcase at the end of April with the hopes of attracting new talent but other teams will be at the showcase scouting as well.
Miller says the strategy is to build from the goaltender out. They want to prevent scoring then with good defense comes good defensive zone exits, which then comes better attacking.
“I think the goal is, you work your way out of your zone. The defensive part is so important in hockey if you’re out of your zone quicker, that allows you more offensive opportunities,” Miller said. “That comes from goaltending, defense and forwards, everyone getting back and supporting and trying to get out of your zone as quick as you can because it lessens [the other team’s] opportunity for scoring.”
At this point Miller says the Lakers would like to add five or six new players to make the team more competitive. Scoring is a key aspect they’d like to improve on. The Lakers top point getters in Clark Scaddan and Brady Krentz rank 17 and 18 respectively on the scoring leaderboard for the league for the ‘23-’24 regular season. They both had 46 points while the top five scorers had between 76 and 64 points on the year.
This was the first year for the coaching staff which started midseason last year. Along with Miller are GM and assistant coach Luke Judson, as well as assistant coaches Brandon Bodnar, Jamie and Jordan Davis and Cody Mosbeck.
Miller says this year was the first year of what they’re hoping will be a three-year plan to get the team back to a competitive position following the COVID-19 pandemic and the firing of a former coach now convicted of sexual assault in Sasktachewan. Miller feels that the plan has the team headed in the right direction, but players from this year’s team are not necessarily guaranteed a spot next season.
“It’s difficult when you’re community owned,” Miller said. “Some of these other teams in our league are owned by businesses or individuals and make things a little easier financially with that. Obviously we want to win, that’s the goal for next year. 23 players can return, 23 have a chance to compete and earn their spot. We’re going to be looking for upgrades throughout the summer. Everyone’s got to earn it, you have to have a good summer. We weren’t happy with the points we earned in the standings, we need to be better.”
Miller says there are years when teams feel they should go all in on the team they have and push to make a deep run in the playoffs and challenge for a championship, this wasn’t that kind of year for the Lakers.
“You have to decide, you want to win every year, but you have to put all your marbles in one year and have a good push at it,” Miller said. “It just wasn’t our year for that, it was more of getting our feet on the ground with the organization, getting back into competitive games and we did that this year. We’re proud of our guys, where we started and how we finished. Obviously we want to do better in the playoffs, but that’s a learning curve too. We’re looking to be competitive again, also be back in the win column and pushing our way toward the front of the pack. We’ve moved up one spot and we were close to Wisconsin. We’re looking to move up spots in the standings all next year, so that’s our plan.”
Pierce Gouin outruns a Bomber to move the puck up the ice.
