MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS HOCKEY

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Robin Bouchard isn't sure how he'll be received when he skates onto the Walker Arena ice on Friday night for the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

He figures he'll hear a smattering of boos and maybe a few cheers. He's not sure, but then again, he doesn't seem to care. He just wants to play hockey and try to add another championship to the five he's already won.

I'm not sure hockey teams make New Year's resolutions, but I've got a good one for the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Keep the shots down!

I don't care how good your goaltenders are, if they're facing 40-50 shots every night, the chances of winning drop dramatically. In the last seven games, the Lumberjacks have a 3-3-1 record, which is not good. In those seven games, they've been outshot in six and by an average of a whopping 14 per game (46-32). Twice the Lumberjacks have allowed more than 50 shots in a game, one was a loss, the other an overtime loss.

Having Clayton Pool and Chad Woollard finally healthy is good news for the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Both made significant contributions Tuesday night in the Lumberjacks' come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Bloomington Prairie Thunder. The game was witnessed by 3,043 spectators at L.C. Walker Arena.

Boy, what a difference a day can make.

On Saturday night, the Muskegon Lumberjacks played a fundamentally sound 60 minutes of hockey in a victory over the Kalamazoo Wings.

Less than 24 hours later, mental mistakes, turnovers in the neutral zone and undisciplined penalties cost the Lumberjacks dearly in a 5-1 loss to the Fort Wayne Komets. What made the outcome sting a bit more was the fact a season-high crowd of 4,476 turned out to see the IHL contest.

Muskegon Lumberjack coach Bruce Ramsay had some spare time on his hands over the short Christmas break.

Ramsay used part of that layoff to make a few adjustments to his team's struggling power play because as he said, "we have too much talent on this team not to be clicking."

Jamie Lovell's power-play goal with 21 seconds left in overtime gave Port Huron a 6-5 win Friday and spoiled Muskegon Lumberjacks' goalie Clayton Pool's return following a six-week layoff.

The Muskegon Lumberjacks showed off their depth and their firepower Sunday night in Port Huron.

Three goals in the third period erased a 4-3 deficit and lifted the 'Jacks to a 6-4 victory over the host Icehawks.

Host Fort Wayne downed the Muskegon Lumberjacks 6-4 in IHL action Saturday night.