I've always preferred http://www.google.com/search?q=glasgow+is+the+*+capital+of+europe to demonstrate this feature.

Personally I've found that LTS in Ubuntu terms = Long term security patches. Things like updated hardware support get completely ignored.
As for openssh, if you're installing any number of machines you should set something like the following in your preseed file:
d-i pkgsel/install-pattern string ~t^ubuntu-minimal$|~n^ssh$
Likewise you should be able to preseed your kernel using one of the options from base-installer/kernel. Probably base-installer/kernel/image or base-installer/kernel/override-image. Install debconf-utils and check out `debconf-get-selections' and `debconf-get-selections --installer' for options, including ones to script lvm and md during install.