The nature of junior hockey is usually cyclical.
Rosters are generally constructed with specific timelines in mind. Teams with players who have more experience, generally 19- and 20-year-olds who have accrued multiple years in the league, are the most likely to contend. Others without that level of experience are usually building towards it – accumulating younger players with an eye on a championship bid in the next year or two.
And once a team does make a few long playoff runs, they usually take a step back, refocusing on developing their younger players for the next contention window. Bouncing between the contending and rebuilding phases is generally how most teams in the USHL operate.
For a select few, the reloads aren’t as pronounced. Sometimes they’re completely unnoticeable. The elite of the elite always seem to be able to tip the scales with high-end talent, who can help accelerate timelines and deliver results ahead of schedule.
Making that jump is exactly what the Muskegon Lumberjacks have set out to do in 2023-24.
Build it, and they will come
“We want to be the elite,” said Lumberjacks president of hockey operations Steve Lowe. “We want to drive to that as an organization and make sure we attract players.”
The USHL has been a strong NHL pipeline for decades, and in recent years, USHL players have appeared at the top of the draft with increasing frequency. The likes of Owen Power, Adam Fantilli and potential 2024 top pick Macklin Celebrini each sought out the Chicago Steel for their development, while USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program has seen the likes of Jack Hughes, Matty Beniers, Logan Cooley and Will Smith go in the top-five following their time in Plymouth.
The more that potential high-end NHL players come through the USHL, the more future players will want to follow that same development path. The Lumberjacks know that a winning culture is important, but more is needed to land the best of the best.
“Everything is competition,” Lowe said. “You have to be recruiting…we’re going after kids with special talents, we’re trying to attract them to our program. It’s really important to have the culture that we have now, but we also need the facilities to attract that.”
Lowe, beginning his fifth season with Muskegon, detailed several projects in the works around the Lumberjacks’ home of Trinity Health Arena that the organization hopes will help them attract high-end talent, more effectively develop the players already in the system and improve the fan experience.
Among the upgrades on the way are a dressing room renovation that will add a players’ lounge, improve the team medical rooms, and introduce a few other bells and whistles – including a golf simulator. For the fans, a new merchandise store is planned, and Lowe hopes to emphasize off-ice efforts to show appreciation for the Muskegon hockey community.
“We have three pillars: community, culture and development,” Lowe said. “That’s what we’re going to always strive to be here. Winning, scoring goals and [getting players drafted into the NHL] – that’s a byproduct of those three pillars. That’s where we’ll be.”
Lowe detailed new initiatives to connect fans to the players and staff, like scheduled post-game skates for fans to join their favorite players on the ice. The Lumberjacks changed ownership during the 2022-23 campaign, and Lowe several times credited ownership for the willingness to invest in the team – including an attention-grabbing display of team passion in an unexpected location.
“It’s led by Pete Herms,” Lowe said. “I can’t tell you how excited he is about the Muskegon Lumberjacks. [He has] the largest Muskegon flag I’ve ever seen in my life flying on the Jersey Shore. That’s how proud he is to be the owner of the Lumberjacks. He wants to be part of the community, he’s going to be part of the community.”
Setting the stage for the future
No one in Lumberjacks management – nor head coach Parker Burgess or the team’s returning players – are waiting around for the renovations to put a worthy product on the ice. While the Lumberjacks missed the playoffs last season, they were a young team that will boast up to 14 returning players.
“I’m really excited about our group this year,” Lowe said. “We have a group of players with a lot of different skillsets. One common denominator is they’re all highly-competitive individuals. I truly believe the competition will help us hopefully have some great results this year.
“I can’t tell you how happy we are with Parker Burgess,” Lowe continued. “He’s done an excellent job communicating with our players this summer. He really engulfs the culture and the identity, with who he is as a human being, and how I want our players to be treated.”
Burgess was named the team’s head coach during the middle of last season and valued the opportunity to better get to know his players over an offseason and fill out the remainder of his coaching staff. He noted that while last season was “a whirlwind” between staffing changes and midseason roster moves, he believes that management had provided them with talented players who are eager to learn.
“There’s a lot to be excited about in the future with the plans for the facility and the locker room,” Burgess said. “From a coach’s perspective, we’re excited just to come here every day and work together with our athletes to make Muskegon, the community, ownership and all of our fans proud.”
Burgess emphasized the importance of the team’s returning experience. Players enter the USHL from a variety of different levels – some from Tier 1 15O/16U/18, others from prep schools or high schools – and face the difficult task of taking a regular shift against 20-year-olds who are ready to step into college lineups, or the aforementioned prospective top NHL draft picks. Muskegon was able to get some of their young players a brief taste of the USHL before last season ended in hopes of better preparing them for a full season.
“Having [players with] 5-10 games of experience and building that confidence just takes away from the guesswork,” Burgess said. “They can visualize and know what to expect when there’s a home game in Youngstown or when you go play [the NTDP] in Plymouth. They’ll be better for it this year because they’ve had that experience.”
Among the talk of recruiting elite talent, both Lowe and Burgess each reiterated that they have full confidence in this season’s roster, but the team’s focus on off-ice improvements is a way to “bring opportunities to us, better opportunities, more selection,” according to Lowe. Muskegon may see one of their own walk across the stage during the first round of the NHL Draft as soon as this season, as center Sacha Boisvert is currently ranked No. 30 on Daily Faceoff’s 2024 draft rankings. He said he’s embracing the pressure that comes with those projections.
“There’s always some pressure, but you have to play with that,” said Boisvert, who could be the first Lumberjack ever taken in the first round – although current Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov was taken second overall in the 2018 Draft after spending the 2016-17 season with Muskegon.
“When you have pressure on you, you feel like you have to make big plays,” Boisvert continued. “As a player, that’s really what drives me to be better and to work harder every day.”
Although the renovations will take time to complete and some current players may not be around when they finish, the Lumberjacks haven’t wasted any time elevating the players’ off-ice experience. Each player who spoke at the team’s preseason media day raved about their time so far in Muskegon – and how the Lumberjacks’ fanbase embraces the team.
“We get treated pretty much like kings, so it’s pretty nice being around here,” said Ethan Whitcomb, a returning forward who led the team in points in 2022-23. “The staff is really awesome around here, they do a lot for us.”
“It’s going to be my second year playing in front of a good amount of people,” Boisvert said. “I wasn’t used to that and now you get here, and you have all these people cheering for you. That’s really fun. We get treated like professionals here.”
The Lumberjacks will begin the 2023-24 season with a pair of games at the USHL Fall Classic on Sept. 23-24 before holding their home opener against the NTDP Under-18 Team on Sept. 29.
