Superior Lakers

The **Superior Lakers** are a team of the Lake Superior Hockey League, where they have played since their (and the league's) inaugural 1923-24 season. Based in Superior, Wisconsin, the Lakers play their home games at the 1,500-seat Wessman Arena on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

## History

The Lakers are named after the numerous Lake Freighters (commonly known as "Lakers") found all over the waters of Lake Superior. They are the first MAHL team to be based outside the state of Minnesota, with Superior located in Wisconsin.

The Lakers have won 2 Kellogg Cups (1949 & 1981), 5 Lake Superior League Titles, and have appeared in 6 Super Series.

### Culture

#### Traditions

The Superior Lakers official team motto is "We Are", in reference to the teams iconic "We Are...Superior" call and answer chant. The term has now grown to be a general term of support with fans calling "We Are" to anyone they think could be a Laker fan, hoping to get a "Superior" in response.

The Lakers use an authentic horn taken from a retired Lake Freighter. The horn blares as the teams take the ice every period, after every period, and after every Superior goal.

#### The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Since its release in. 1973, the Superior Lakers have played Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" during the second intermission of all Superior home games. The song was composed created to memorialize the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald which took place on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975.

It is tradition for Laker fans to stand arm in arm and sway side to side while singing along. The line *"Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin!"* is usually particularly loud and followed by a couple cheers from fans voicing their state pride.

Lyrics:

> *"The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down, Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee, The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead, When the skies of November turn gloomy, With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more, Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty, That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed, When the gales of November came early*
>
>
> *The ship was the pride of the American side, Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin, As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most, With a crew and good captain well seasoned, Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms, When they left fully loaded for Cleveland, And later that night when the ship's bell rang, Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?*
>
>
> *The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound, And a wave broke over the railing, And every man knew, as the captain did too, T'was the witch of November come stealin', The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait, When the gales of November came slashin', When afternoon came it was freezin' rain, In the face of a hurricane west wind*
>
>
> *When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin', "Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya", At seven PM, a main hatchway caved in, he said, "Fellas, it's been good to know ya", The captain wired in he had water comin' in, And the good ship and crew was in peril, And later that night when his lights went outta sight, Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald*
>
>
> *Does any one know where the love of God goes, When the waves turn the minutes to hours?, The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay, If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her, They might have split up or they might have capsized, They may have broke deep and took water, And all that remains is the faces and the names, Of the wives and the sons and the daughters*
>
>
> *Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings, In the rooms of her ice-water mansion, Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams, The islands and bays are for sportsmen, And farther below Lake Ontario, Takes in what Lake Erie can send her, And the iron boats go as the mariners all know, With the gales of November remembered*
>
>
>
> *In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed, In the maritime sailors' cathedral, The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times, For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald, The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down, Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee, Superior, they said, never gives up her dead, When the gales of November come early"*
>
>

### Rivalry Trophies

#### The Anchor

The Lakers compete with their archrivals the Duluth Hornets for The Anchor, awarded to the team which wins their head-to-head series each year (or, if the teams are tied, the one with the higher goal differential).

Currently, the Hornets hold the Anchor, having won it back in 1989. The Lakers lead the all-time trophy series, 9-3.