It was something new and unknown, and roughly two years in the making.
In the end, it went as well as they could have hoped it would as the Lake Superior State Lakers played their first game north of the International Bridge last weekend.
Playing a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest against the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers, the Lakers picked up a 4-1 win at the GFL Memorial Gardens in front of an announced crowd of well over 3,000 at the facility.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” said Lakers coach Damon Whitten said. “We weren’t quite sure what to expect but it went really well. It was a really good event.”
The attendance for the game was something that also pleased Whitten as well as the Lake State staff.
“The attendance was strong for its first year and not a lot of people knowing our product,” Whitten said, adding that a sizeable contingent of Laker fans from the Michigan Sault made the trip over the bridge for the game as well.
With a heavy student presence at the game as well, it added to what Whitten called the “college atmosphere.”
“You get a little bit of a feel for that college atmosphere,” Whitten said. “We’ve heard some comments that it’s a different feel with the student section and fight songs and things like that. It was a really strong event and for the first year, it went really well.”
Whitten also noted the combination of the Lakers fans mixed in with fans from the Canadian Sault taking in a different hockey product, it made for a different feel to the typical college hockey game.
“A college game is so unique because of a fight song and the cheers and the student section,” Whitten said. “It’s just a really different atmosphere. I give the (Sault, Ont.) fans a ton of credit. They’re a very educated base over there. They know the game extremely well.”
“Our players really enjoyed the event,” Whitten also said.
Whitten hopes this is something the school wants to do again in the future and potentially on a larger scale and include other teams in the twin-Sault area.
“Just in a couple of days (since the game), there’s no reason that this can’t grow into an even larger event,’ Whitten said. “I still think we can do an unbelievable job on a hockey day in the Sault type of thing and celebrate the twin-Saults.”
“Looking at year one, we definitely feel like there’s a good future for this event and build and grow on what happened in year one,” Whitten added. “I think people saw that this works, and it works well.”
For players on both teams from Ontario, it was a unique opportunity to play in front of family as well.
“I saw a group of Alabama-Huntsville parents as they were loading up and getting ready to go. They had eight Ontario kids on their roster so there was a strong Ontario-contingent,” Whitten said. “Most of their families – parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas – were there and they were blown away. To have their kids play college hockey in their home province and home country, it meant a lot to their families, just like it did for ours as well.”
Whitten added that Chargers coach Mike Corbett commented to him following the game on the experience, saying “this was awesome.”
“They really enjoyed it,” Whitten also said. “It’s challenging with a long road trip and dealing with the bridge ad international papers that you would never deal with in NCAA hockey. There were a lot of extra hurdles that they had to be open to. He thought it was a great event to be a part of. Their whole staff said they had never been a part of something like this in many years of college hockey and they really enjoyed it.”
Lake Superior State director of athletics, Dr. David Paitson expressed his gratitude in a letter released to the local media on Wednesday.
“We are thankful to the hockey fans of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. for giving our event a look; for our area alumni who demonstrated strong support, for our student body who shared their spirit with the audience in attendance, and for our tried and true Laker hockey fans who had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time,” Paitson wrote. “I’d like to also thank Soo Greyhounds owner and Lake State alumni Tim Lukenda and GFL Memorial Gardens general manager Rob Santa Maria and their team for their hospitality and assistance with the event. Finally, a big thank you to Lakers head coach Damon Whitten and the Lakers hockey team for enthusiastically embracing the event concept from day one.”