Summer means speculation. Such is life in the world of college hockey, right? Around the country, fans watch for new additions to their favorite team's roster and wonder how those guys will fit in with the group. How quickly can they adjust to the next level? Can they find chemistry with their teammates? Can they deliver the goods and make the difference? What about the veterans? How much did they improve? Can somebody step up and be the difference maker, the guy to lead their team to a glorious destiny?

We can't help but wonder endlessly. It's an endless world of possibility, isn't it? And as the time counts down, we whittle away the weeks, the days, the hours, and then the minutes until we finally get to see those possibilities play out before us.

For Lake Superior State, the results were clear in game one. That wait was well worth it. Job well done.

On opening day, the Lakers (1-0, 0-0 CCHA) beat the Stonehill Skyhawks (0-1) at Warrior Ice Arena in Boston, Massachusetts, 5-3. And that batch of new guys certainly delivered the goods.

Freshman Calem Mangone, a Memorial Cup champion from the OHL's Saginaw Spirit, struck 3:06 into his Laker career. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native combined with senior captain Connor Milburn for the kind of start coaches dream of. Milburn dumped the puck off the end boards and sliced through the slot, drifting off to his left before passing right across the goal mouth. Mangone attacked from the wing with precision. He'd floated along the boards and picked the perfect moment to surge toward the net, driving the puck with power from close range to put the Lakers up 1-0.

And he wasn't done yet. Mangone assisted fellow newcomer Tyson Galloway on the Lakers third goal of the contest. Tied at 2-2 after the second period, Mangone drove over the blue line on the right wing, dropping the puck to John Herrington on a give-and-go. Taking the puck in the corner, Mangone fed a perfect pass through the slot to Galloway at the top of the left circle. The big defender, a former St. Louis Blues draft pick, had plenty of time and space to step up and rifle the puck in to give Lake State a 3-2 lead. While it didn't hold up as the game-winner, Galloway's first Laker goal put the Lakers in front for good.

Cue the next debutante - Hunter Ramos. With blazing speed, he jetted from his own zone up the right wing wall, coolly going coast-to-coast for the score. An electric play from end-to-end, he started from deep in his own zone, showing that he might choose to press the puck against the wall and slow the play down. Instead, he hit the "Nitro" button, the afterburners kicked in and he was off like a rocket to the enemy goal. Ramos' goal stood up as the game-winner.

As for veteran Lakers, call it business as usual. Milburn put in a tremendous effort - the kind Laker fans have grown used to seeing from the co-captain. So did his younger brother Reagan Milburn. And sophomore William Ahlrik caught the eye with a pair of assists. The younger Milburn fed a gorgeous pass through traffic up to the Skyhawks blueline in the first period. Ahlrik drove the lane, creating a two-on-one, feathered a pass to his right, and fellow sophomore Wilson Dahlheimer sent his first career Laker goal sizzling past the Stonehill goaltender. It was a lovely piece of end-to-end play, with two tremendous setting up the angles and soft hands by Ahlrik and Dahlheimer capitalizing to put the Lakers up 2-0 early in the first.

Rorke Applebee drew the start in net for LSSU, stopping 40 shots. He was outstanding, especially in a 20 save second period. Time and again, the Lakers sophomore goaltender has proven that he's a high-level competitor, who brings his best when the opposition does, too.

Carter Batchelder scored the Lakers' final goal of the game, a powerplay tally midway through the third. He fired in a lethal wrister from the slot off an offensive zone faceoff win. Wriggling through to the slot, he zipped in his first of the season to salt the game away for LSSU.

Cole Melady, Pat Murphy and Evan Orr scored the Skyhawks goals. Despite outshooting the Lakers 43-23, they spent just 5:10 of the game tied, including the 0-0 start and never led. The Lakers always felt more in control of the pace of the game, with their excellent passing and crisp breakouts posing a threat every time on the puck.

The two teams square off again at Warrior Ice Arena, the practice facility of the Boston Bruins, on Sunday at 3:00 PM. See the game on NEC Network's broadcast service, NEC Front Row, or listen locally on 99.5 YES FM. The Lakers head home to play Lindenwood next weekend in the home opener at Taffy Abel Arena. Get your tickets now.

Saturday's game showed that it is, indeed, worth the wait.