MUSKEGON – The next three weeks and six games will be crucial for the Muskegon Lumberjacks.
The good news is that all of those games will be at home, starting this weekend at Mercy Health Arena.
It will be important for the Jacks to win as many games and secure as many points in the standings as possible during the home stand, because afterward they will head into the final stretch of the regular season, with nine of their final 10 games on the road.
The Lumberjacks are in a three-way battle for first place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference, and where they finish in the standings will be important in the playoffs. The top two teams in the conference will not have to play in the first round, while the third- through sixth-place teams will have to compete right away.
Muskegon is currently in third place with a 25-15-6 record and 56 points in the standings. Red-hot Dubuque is in first place with 63 points while Chicago is second with 62.
It won’t be easy piling victories up at home, because the opponents on the first two weekends of the home stand are very tough indeed.
[1]The elite Team USA 18-Under squad will come to town on Friday and Saturday night, and that’s always a major challenge for any team in the USHL.
The 18-Under squad has a hand-picked roster of some of the best Tier 1 junior players in the world. The team only plays a partial USHL schedule every year, while also competing against college and international teams.
It’s pretty rare for a USHL team to beat the 18-Under squad, but the Jacks have done it this year, stealing an exciting 3-2 win in Plymouth, Michigan on Dec. 15.
Overall Muskegon is 1-1-1 against the 18-Unders, which means one win, one loss and one overtime loss.
“This weekend alone is our focus, and we’re trying to figure out how to be prepared for the 18s,” said Lumberjacks Coach Mike Hamilton.
Hamilton said the players are always pumped up to play the 18s because they know it’s a big test, and the games are played in front of important people from the hockey world.
“There is always a huge group of NHL scouts watching when (the 18-Unders) play, because those guys are going to be the class of the NHL draft,” the coach said. “Our guys are aware of that. They know they are going to be on the main stage when we play them, and they get dialed up to play them. Besides, we knew we will get our butts kicked if we’re not prepared to go.”
The following weekend, on March 18-19, the Jacks will host the Dubuque Fighting Saints, a team that got very hot lately and leapfrogged both Muskegon and Chicago in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Lumberjacks are 2-2 against the Fighting Saints this season. They lost two games to Dubuque in October, then swept a two-game weekend series in November.
Dubuque is 7-3 in its last 10 games while the Lumberjacks, who have been in a bit of a funk since their long hot streak, are 3-5-2.
“They made some trades and they have some talent there,” Hamilton said about Dubuque. “They’ve always been a solid team.”
Tough place to play
It’s been a while since the Lumberjacks have swept a weekend series – the last time was Jan. 15-16 to be exact – but Hamilton said he was satisfied with his team’s split in Cedar Rapids last weekend.
The weekend started on a positive note when Muskegon rallied for a 5-4 win over the Roughriders on Friday night.
The Jacks led 3-1 after one period, then fell behind 4-3 by the closing minutes of third period. Forward Jake Braccini tied the score with a goal with about three minutes left in regulation, then rookie Jake Richard scored the game-winner for Muskegon at the 1:16 mark of overtime.
Things didn’t go as well on Saturday, when Cedar Rapids broke up a tied game with four unanswered goals and beat Muskegon 5-2.
“We were all a little bit disappointed in the game on Saturday,” Hamilton said. “There’s a lot to be learned from that game.
“But Cedar Rapids is the toughest place to go play in the league. They are 15-4 at home. It’s a great atmosphere in that building and they truly have a home-ice advantage. To go there and get a split is something to be proud of.”
[2]Gearing up for the final stretch
The Lumberjacks are headed into the final 15 games of the long regular season, and the playoffs are in sight.
The final game of the regular season will be April 23 at home against Chicago.
The Jacks have been playing for nearly seven months now, if you count preseason games in September, and one might think that the players are feeling a little burnout at this point.
But that’s not the case, according to Hamilton.
“Right now is the time that everybody gets that second breath,” he said. “The guys see the playoffs ahead of them, and the games really start to matter.
“We’ve been playing a little injured lately, it’s that time of year, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The guys are focused and looking forward to the playoffs.”
Hamilton said three players – defenseman Jacob Napier, forward Ethan Whitcomb and goalie Aleksandr Kuleshov – are nursing minor injuries and will not play this weekend.
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