MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Lumberjacks have been struggling a bit on the ice lately, but definitely not when it comes to home game attendance.

The Jacks have been drawing consistently big crowds to Trinity Health Arena for the past few months, and the last few home games have really topped the chart.

On Friday Jan. 13 against Youngstown, the Jacks drew a nice crowd of 2,445. The next night, in a rematch with the Phantoms, the Jacks drew a huge crowd of 3,133 to the arena, which has a seating capacity of 3,200.

Last Saturday’s game against the Team USA 18-Under squad was also pretty packed, with a crowd of 2,662 turning out for Throwback Night, which honored the various professional Muskegon hockey teams that have played at the arena over the years.

The ironic part is that the big crowds have been coming even as the Jacks have been struggling to find their post-holiday footing. The team has lost four in a row headed into Friday and Saturday’s games in Cedar Rapids.

“I have always said that at this level, it doesn’t necessarily matter how the team is doing – people come out to be entertained,” said Andrea Rose, the Lumberjacks’ President of Business Operations.

“We have definitely changed our marketing strategy. We are promoting our games as theme nights, so people are coming out not only to watch a high-level hockey game, but to be entertained by lights, music, what’s on the video board, and just be with other people.”

Rose credited the hard work of her business office staff – Jaidyn Bozyk, (director of digital media and community engagement), Carly Livingston (director of game presentation), Alex Franczek (director of ticket sales), Mike Sontag (director of corporate partnerships) and Sara Witkowski (director of finance) – for successfully reaching out to the community and exposing more people to the Lumberjacks experience.

“We’ve put in a ton of work to make it to this point,” Rose said. “This is why we do what we do, and it’s the byproduct of a lot of hard work put in by our staff.”

Lumberjacks coach Parker Burgess said the big, enthusiastic crowds are not lost on the team.

“It’s been fantastic,” he said. “That’s a huge credit to our business staff. They’ve put in a lot of work to market and make the game night experience enjoyable and memorable for fans. Everyone loves playing in front of a packed barn.”

Jacks really need a win in Cedar Rapids

The Lumberjacks must be getting a little road weary, because the USHL schedule really has then bouncing around.

Last week they had a rare Thursday game in Youngstown, Ohio, on Friday they played in Plymouth, Michigan against the Team USA 17-Under squad, and on Saturday they hosted the Team USA 18-Under squad.

This weekend they will be playing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa – a seven-hour one-way bus trip – for Friday and Saturday night games against the Roughriders.

As tired of travel as the Jacks may be, getting at least one win in Iowa will be pretty important.

The Lumberjacks are currently 15-17-2 with 32 points in the USHL Eastern Conference standings. They are alone in seventh place in the eight-team conference.

If the playoffs were to begin today – and they are still several months away – the Jacks would not quality. Only the top six teams in each conference make the postseason, and Muskegon is four points (two wins) behind sixth-place Dubuque.

In December and January the Lumberjacks have lost 12 of 17 games, including the last four. Prior to that they were trending upward in the standings, but now staying in playoff range has become the immediate concern.

“We’re excited to not have to play three games in three nights in three different cities,” Burgess said. “Last weekend was not the most productive weekend, but we had a lot to take away from those games, we’ve had a good week of practice and it’s time for us to take a step forward.

“We want to get some momentum going. We’re right about at the halfway point (of the season) and it would be nice to start stringing some wins together. We need points to get a good spot in the playoffs. We recognize the opportunity we have this weekend, and the significance of these games.”

Richard among league’s top 10 scorers

Lumberjacks standout forward Jake Richard has worked his way up to ninth place in the USHL scoring race with 34 points.

The Jacks have a lot of offensive depth and spread the scoring around a lot, so to have a player in the league’s top 10 is pretty significant.

As Burgess put it, the Jacks “are not a top-heavy team. We have four lines and a defensive corps that can score.”

Richard’s stats point to his all-around game. He has 34 points, with 17 coming on goals and 17 on assists.

“Jake can shoot the puck, pick corners, and facilitate and make plays for his linemates,” Burgess said. “He’s a very dynamic offensive player. He makes it hard on the opposition. If they key on him he’s going to find the open guy, and if they play him too passively he’s going to burn you with that lethal shot.”