Michael Gillespie is lifting the Lakers to new heights

OSWEGO, N.Y. — Coming into this year, Oswego State’s offensive output looked bleak. After graduating 12 seniors featuring several members of the 100-point-club,  coach Ed Gosek wasn’t sure who were going to be the primary scorers, let alone the secondary and tertiary ones.

Michael Gillespie had stops at both Ohio State and the USHL, one of the top junior hockey leagues in the country before landing in Oswego.

After his first Laker goal in the CCHL Exhibition game (vs a collection of some of the best youth talents in hockey), Gillespie has been inserted into top line with captain Mitch Hurlihey and Josh Zizek. Gillespie sits at third on the team in points with 10-11-21 in 21 career games, working out to exactly one point a game.

Gillespie is currently in the midst of an 8 game point streak and has scored in 5 of his last 6 games.

Coach Ed Gosek posited that the reason for Gillespie’s scorching scoring pace is “comfort.”

“Pucks are starting to go in for him. He doesn’t feel the need to score or get on the sheet,” Gosek said.

Gillespie’s old role with the team was simply to throw pucks on the net and let others bulldoze their way to a goal. Now that he’s finally opening up his offense, he’s found himself on the top line on a nationally ranked team.

“Early on I was kinda just doing the right thing just to stay in the lineup,” Gillespie said. “Then, I started to just play my game, and I could do a little bit more and trust myself out there.  I rely on my speed and passing ability now and can make more plays.”

Oswego is in action Friday night against the Geneseo Knights — a battle between the top two seeds in the SUNYAC. A win for the Lakers will likely lock up home-ice advantage for the playoffs.