With the most challenging month of their season on the horizon, the Grand Valley State University Division
II hockey club’s current 20-game winning streak has given the team and fans something the cheer about.

However, these Lakers are showing no signs of slowing down.

It’s difficult to analyze exactly which factors help to create such a streak or tight-knit group, but a lot of it boils down to three things the Lakers have seemed to focus on: leadership, positive mentality and passion.

“I’ve never been on a team where we’ve gotten this many in a row,” said freshman forward Brad Wilhelm, who has recorded 15 goals and nine assists this season. “I think it has a lot to do with leadership. Our older players play really well and they show us how to play well. When we see what they do to step up their game, it’s easy to follow their example and go for the win.”

The Lakers have a strong sense of camaraderie and bonding, and the upperclassmen go out of their way to integrate the young guys to create a superior team, especially during difficult games.

“We have a good mix between vets and rookies,” said junior defender Craig Marrett, who has three goals and 12 assists this season. “No one seems out of place, and everyone works as hard as they can. The veterans have done an excellent job pulling them along and showing them the way, and to their credit, the rookies have really stepped up their game and adapted quite well to the team.”

The Lakers have rarely had a bad game, or even a bad period within a game, and this is because of the shared mind set that the team has, particularly when faced with a mistake or a breakdown.

“Anytime we’ve done a bad job in a period, we’ve recovered well,” said senior forward Brand Keough, who has recorded 16 goals and 12 assists so far. “It just seems like we all realize our mistakes and recognize what we did wrong, so we go out there and fix them. Paying attention to details and uniting around recovering from mistakes is a big factor. We don’t assign blame; we just focus on solving the problem.”

The Lakers hope to continue their streak this weekend, with home games on Friday, Satuday and Sunday, against Ohio State University twice, and then Central Michigan University for the finale.

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