2024-25 Review:

The Lake Superior State University Lakers went 12-22-2 last season before losing to Minnesota State University, Mankato Mavericks 3-2 in the Mason Cup Quarterfinals on March 8.

Key Departures:

The Lakers lost three productive players to professional hockey. German national Timo Bakos heads home, signing with the Nuremberg Ice Tigers of the Deutschland Eishockey League (DEL). Bakos finished with a team second 22 points and 10 goals with a team third 12 assists. Captain Grant Hindman is a shutdown blueliner that headed to the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders for a professional stint after graduation. Hindman accumulated 6 points (3 goals + 3 assists) in 30 games. It appears Hindman has retired from hockey, joining Lineage as a Financial Analyst Associate according to his LinkedIn. Finally, Nate Schweitzer joins the Maine Mariners, also of the ECHL. Schweitzer is an offensive defenseman with an edge, averaging half a point per game through 34 games, and finishing runner up among his mates with 42 penalty minutes.

Next Men Up:

Explosive, skill, and swagger. These are three words that sum up Hunter Ramos’ game. Ramos comes from the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks. Ramos was a ticking time bomb for opponents last season when he touched the ice. He has an innate ability to take seemingly ordinary plays and turn them into scoring chances or goals, something that helped Waterloo reach the 2025 Clark Cup Final after his trade from the Omaha Lancers. Throughout all of it, Ramos plays with exuding confidence as seen in this clip. He could be an asset for Lake Superior State this season. Two 2024 Memorial Cup Champions from the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit bolstered the Lakers going into the season. Calem Mangone is electric when the puck is on his stick. Mangone racked up 83 points (33 goals + 50 assists) in 65 games last year, while winning board battles with a physical edge. Those 83 points were second only to a pair of top ten NHL Draft picks in Michael Misa and Zayne Parekh. His speed should allow him to adjust well to the collegiate game. Netminder Andrew Oke joins the Lakers after playing 50 out of 68 OHL regular season games, earning a 26-21-3 record. With all three goaltenders being underclassmen, the starting job is anyone’s for the taking. 

The Road Ahead:

Lake Superior State has a mixture of returners and newcomers that make this team more offensive than last year. The focus will be on implementing said offense. Hunter Ramos summed up the mentality inside the room to me simply. “We are super excited for the year. The team feels like we have all the tools to succeed, but we need to come out and execute every game.”