Spartans Prepare for GLI
12/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
No. 13 Michgian State vs. Michigan Tech (Tues.) 4:05 p.m.; Consolation/Championship (Wed.) 4:05/7:35 p.m.
Audio: Tues.: WJIM 1240 AM/Wed.: WVFN 730 AM; all audio can also be heard at www.spartansportsnetwork.com
Television:only Wednesday's Championship game will be televised; will air live on FSN Detroit at 7:35 p.m.
Download MSU Hockey Notes (PDF)
Podcasts: Rick | Corey | Nick
N 13 prepares to compete in the 45th annual Great Lakes Invitational. The Spartans tangle with tournament host Michigan Tech in the semifinals on Tuesday, then will play either Michigan or Rensselaer on Wednesday.
state of the union
MSU has rebounded from an 0-3-1 stretch at the end of November to go 3-1 in the first two weekends of December. The Spartans are 12-6-2 overall and sit in second place in the CCHA standings with a 9-3-2-0 conference record.
history lesson
Michigan State will be looking for its 12th GLI title in 2009, the 35th season in which the Spartans will participate in this holiday tradition. MSU last won the tournament in 2006, and is 42-27-1 (.607) all-time in the event, the highest winning percentage of the three traditional participants.
looking back
MSU snapped an 11-game winless streak with a 2-1 victory over North Dakota in the semifinals of last year's Great Lakes Invitational, but fell to Michigan, 5-1, in the final. Matt Schepke scored all three MSU goals in the two games to be named to the All-Tournament team.
recent gli history
MSU has appeared in the GLI final in 10 of the last 12 years (and 13 of the last 16), and has won 11 tournament titles, its most recent in 2006. The Spartans have won six of the last 12 titles, with North Dakota (2001), Boston University (2002), Boston College (2003), Colorado College (2005), and Michigan (2007, 2008) winning the others.
The Spartans are 8-6 under Rick Comley in the GLI, which included the 2004 and 2006 titles. The Spartans have been in the championship game in five of the the last six seasons.
series history - michigan tech
While a rich history exists between the teams, Michigan State and Michigan Tech have met exclusively in this tournament since 1986. The Spartans are 21-4 all-time against Tech in the GLI, but have met 153 times overall in the storied history of the programs. The Spartans own a 73-77-2 mark in the series, but Michigan Tech's 4-1 victory in the 2007 semifinals snapped MSU's 11-game winning streak against the Huskies. The teams did not meet in this tournament a year ago.
series history - rensselaer
The Spartans have only met the Engineers on the ice five times, which includes a 1985 GLI meeting - an 8-3 Michigan State win in the Championship game. This will be RPI's second all-time visit to Joe Louis Arena for this tournament.
The teams last met in a two-game series in January of 2000 in East Lansing, when the teams skated to a 2-2 tie in game one and the Spartans took a 4-1 decision in game two.
series history - michigan
Michigan State trails the all-time series with the Wolverines by a 121-137-18 margin, but the series record in GLI games between the squads now stands in in a 7-7-1 deadlock after last year's Michigan victory in the finals. Should the teams meet in this year's tournament, it would be the third of five meetings of the regular season of the two teams and the first of a possible three at Joe Louis Arena this year.
MSU and Michigan have met 12 times in the finals of the GLI, and the Wolverines own seven victories in those games.
These archrivals met earlier this fall, with MSU sweeping a home-and-home series from their CCHA partner. It was the first time that MSU had won both ends of a weekend set against the Wolverines since the 1997-98 season.
always a footnote
There is a five-game discrepancy between MSU and U-M's all-time series records, all in the early 1920's. The MSU records have four more Wolverine victories and one for the Spartans.
recapping the action
The Spartans polished off pre-holiday action with a sweep of a home-and-home series against Bowling Green on Dec. 11-12. The Spartans trailed by a 2-0 margin at the second intermission in the first game before rallying for a pair of third-period goals (from blueliner Zach Josepher and the equalizer from Corey Tropp) before Torey Krug's first collegiate tally gave MSU the victory just 35 seconds into the overtime period. Bobby Jarosz made 29 saves for his third road win and fourth victory overall on the season.
The next night, the Spartans broke open a 1-1 game late in the second with a natural hat trick by Tropp (who also assisted on the first goal of the night) to post a 4-1 victory.
one of many positive comparisons
Michigan State has tied for the most wins (12) in the first half of the season under Rick Comley. The 2007-08 team had 12 wins at the holiday break, but did not win a game in the Great Lakes Invitational. In addition to 2007-08, the 2000-01 and 2001-02 teams also had 12 victories at the break, while the 1999-2000 squad had 13. Both the 1999-00 and 2000-01 teams won the GLI.
A year ago at the holiday break, the Spartans stood at 4-11-3, the lowest number of wins at the break since the late 70's. in 1977-78, MSU was 4-12-0 at the holidays, and was 5-13-0 a year later in the 1978-79 season.
on the pond
MSU will play four regular-season games on an Olympic ice sheet during the 2009-10 season (200x100) - last weekend's set at Northern Michigan, and the February series at Alaska. MSU went 1-1 in early December at NMU. With the exception of the games at Northern Michigan, the team has played all other 18 games on NHL ice (200x85).
another sign that 2009 was the exception, not the rule
The Spartans secured their 10th victory of the season on Friday Dec. 4 with a 1-0 win over Northern Michigan - a milestone they reached on Feb. 20 last season with a 3-2 win over Bowling Green. MSU owns nine wins against CCHA teams, bettering its conference win total (7) from last season.
around the league
MSU and Michiganare the only teams involved in midweek tilts, as all other games and tournaments are contested over the Jan. 2-4 weekend. Nebraska-Omaha is in the Denver Cup, Ferris is at the Badger Showdown with Yale and Merrimack, Bowling Green and Northern Michigan are at the Dodge Holiday Classic at Minnesota, and Notre Dame hosts the Shillelagh Tournament in Chicago with Niagara, North Dakota, and Merrimack.
Western Michgian and Lake Superior have two-game sets on their slates, as the Broncos take on Bemidji State and the Lakers will tangle with Robert Morris.
non-conference
Michigan State is 3-3 against non-conference competition this season, sweeping Clarkson, splitting a series at Maine, and getting swept in the College Hockey Showcase by Wisconsin and Minnesota. Rick Comley owns a 36-28-5 record in games against non-conference teams since coming to Michigan State prior to the 2002-03 season. (This includes regular-season, tournament, and NCAA Tournament games) Only once has a Comley team been sub-.500 in games against non-conference foes in a season (2003-04), and is 21-14-4 over the last four years (2005-09.)
o captain my captain
Senior Nick Sucharski and junior Jeff Petry were elected by team members as the captains of the 2009-10 Spartans. Corey Tropp and Andrew Rowe will serve as alternate captains.
honorary "c"
Michigan State will take part in honoring its past in its present with the introduction of Honorary Captains. In selected games this season, former MSU skaters will come back to campus to serve as an Honorary Captain for one game. The Honorary Captain will attend pre-game meal with team, address the Spartan squad prior to the contest, and stand on the bench during the game. This allows the program not only to honor former players, but also to share with current team members what donning the Green and White meant to those who came before them.
Oct. 10 - Dave Kelley (1973-77)
Oct. 17 - Ron Clark (1972-75)
Nov. 6 - Kevin Miller (1984-88)
Nov. 28 - Joe Blackburn (1997-01)
represent your state
MSU's 28-man roster represents six US states and two Canadian provences. Half (14) of MSU's players hail from the state of Michigan, while four are from Ontario. The Spartans have three players each from Illinois and British Columbia, and one player each from Colorado, Minnesota, New York, and Wisconsin.
prognosticating
Michigan State was selected ninth by the head coaches and eighth by the league's media in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's annual preseason polls. In two close races, Michigan received enough points from the conference's 12 head coaches and 66 media members to be named the preseason favorite in both surveys. The polls were announced in conjunction with the CCHA's pre-season media conference call with all 12 head coaches, held this season in lieu of a media day in Detroit. MSU garnered 46 points in the survey of conference coaches, and 332 points in the media poll, which included one first-place vote.
what's new?
The CCHA announced that a regulation or overtime victory will be worth three points in the league standings this season, a change from when the shootout was instituted last season. This season, a regulation or sudden-death overtime win will earn a team three points in the standings, a shootout victory will garner two points, a shootout loss will be rewarded by one point, and a loss in regulation or overtime will mean no points. So, any game that goes to a shootout will see the victor credited with a tie and a shootout win in the conference standings, while the loser will receive credit for a tie. This differs from the system utilized in 2008-09, where a regulation/overtime victory or a shootout win meant two points, a shootout loss gave a team one point, and a regulation/overtime loss was awarded no points.
m.a.s.h. unit
In 2008-09, Michigan State had a total 14 players miss time with 16 injuries, totaling 221 practices missed and 108 games lost.
gaining ground
Comley captured his 750th career victory on Friday, Oct. 9 with a 6-1 victory over Clarkson. He now owns a 761-589-101 (.564) career overall coaching record, good for fourth place on the all-time wins list. Former MSU coach and athletic director Ron Mason finished his career behind the bench in 2002 with 924 wins, while Jerry York of Boston College has 829 and Jack Parker of Boston University has 820. The Feb. 7, 2009 victory over Ferris State (1-0) was the 150th victory for Comley at MSU.
law of averages
MSU's current roster averages: 6-0, 181 lbs., and the average age is 20 years, 10 months. Among CCHA schools, MSU was one of 10 schools that averaged 6-0 or taller, the Spartans were the lightest team on average, and were third-youngest. (Michigan's roster averages 20 years, two months, and Notre Dame averages 20 years, nine months.) Compared to last year, MSU's roster is the same average height, but is six pounds heavier and eight months older - despite adding nine freshmen.
youth movement
Michigan State's roster features 18 underclassmen - nine sophomores and nine freshmen. The Spartans have the most first-year players of any conference team, and rank second in sophomore class size behind Alaska (11). Alaska boasts 19 underclassmen, the only league team with more than MSU.
quite the cluster
Michigan State and Michigan will be paired with Bowling Green and Notre Dame for the 2009-10 season as clustermates. The schools will face off four times, and play against the remaining eight schools in the conference twice.
With the first half of the round-robin series in the books, MSU has emerged as the leader of the pack. Thus far in cluster play, MSU is 4-1-1, Notre Dame is 2-2-2, Michigan is 2-4-0, and Bowling Green is 1-4-1.
heft in the schedule
MSU is 4-1-1 against teams ranked in the top ten this season, and 4-3-2 against ranked teams overall.
speaking of rankings ...
The Spartans are the No. 13 (USCHO) and 13 (USA Hockey)-ranked team in the national polls this week. The Nov. 16 ranking of No. 6 was the program's highest ranking since March 10, 2008 when they also held down the No. 6 spot.
undefeated no more
The Spartans knocked off previously-undefeated teams in three straight series early this season - Miami on Oct. 24, Western Michigan on Oct. 30, and Nebraska-Omaha on Nov. 5.
conference streaking
The Spartans had an undefeated streak of eight straight conference games snapped on Nov. 22 against Notre Dame, the longest streak since MSU did not lose (5-0-3) in the month of January 2008.
the floors must be dirty
Against Clarkson, Michigan State recorded its first sweep of a home weekend since Nov. 9-10, 2007 against Mercyhurst. With an abundance of home-and-home series, the Spartans have played only nine two-game home sets since that weekend.
getting a hang of this road game thing
Michigan State won its fifth road game of the season on Dec. 11 at Bowling Green, three more than it won in all of last year.
a pretty good November
MSU had a 6-2-0 mark at the end of October, marginally better than the 4-2-2 mark it owned at the end of October last season. MSU's downward spiral last year began when injuries started to pile up in November - when MSU failed to win a game (0-7-1) and scored just eight goals during the month.
November was not been an easy month for the 2009-10 Spartans, either - it had three straight conference series against ranked teams (No. 10 Nebraska-Omaha, No. 6 Michigan, No. 14 Notre Dame), and wrapped up against Big Ten foes in the College Hockey Showcase against Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Spartans were 3-3-2 in November, then 3-1-0 in December - guaranteeing MSU three straight .500-or-better months.
scoring outbursts ... halted
MSU was limited to just a pair of goals in its two-game set with Notre Dame (Nov. 19/22), its lowest scoring ouput in a weekend this season. The previous low was four, in a split at Miami. MSU has, however, scored 56 goals this season ... more than 75% of its offensive production from a year ago (62).
here's another positive
Michigan State has scored four goals or more in five of its 20 games. MSU only reached the four-goal plateau twice last season.
win `em close
Fifteen of MSU's 20 games this season have been settled by two goals or less, and nine were one-goal affairs. Of the five that were two-goal margins or more, three involved an empty-net goal.
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
Michigan State has been outshot in 13 of its 20 games thus far, but on the season, is only being outshot by one shots total (562-561). MSU is averaging 28.0 shots per game, and allowing an average of 28.1.
In 2008-09, the Spartans averaged 23.97 shots per game, which ranked last of 58 teams nationally. The Spartans allowed 35.32 per game, which was the second-highest total in the country behind Brown. In shot margin, MSU ranked 57th (-11.34), behind only Brown (-14.85).
scoring drought ... corrected
The Spartans averaged just 1.63 goals per game a year ago, not only the lowest average in Division I hockey, but also a program low for scoring output in a season.
This year has started with a stark contrast - MSU has averaged 2.8 goals over 20 games.
sloppy seconds
Michigan State has allowed the first goal of the game to its opponent in six of the last eight contests, and is 3-4-1 in that stretch.
specialties
Michigan State snapped a streak of 17 power-play chances without a score with Jeff Petry's first period extra-man marker against Bowling Green on Dec. 12. Previously, the Spartans had a 23-power play scoreless streak before scoring twice against Wisconsin with a man advantage. MSU's power play was 15-for-59 in the first 10 games (25.9%), but has since gone 4-for-52 (in 10 games) and is now 19-for-108 overall on the season (17.6%)
While MSU's power play has cooled off, the penalty kill has gotten significantly better. Through the first 10 games, the Spartans killed off 51 of 64 chances against, (.796), while in the last 10 games have allowed just five PPG in 37 chances - a kill success rate of 86.5%. Overall MSU's kill is 82 OF 100 on the season (82%).
Also of note - MSU has taken significantly fewer penalties in the last 10 games in comparison to its first ten. In the first 10 games, MSU averaged 7.3 penalties and 17.9 PIM per game. In the 10 games since, MSU has averaged 4.2 penalties and 8.7 PIM/gm.
multiples
Two of MSU's scores against Wisconsin (Nov. 27) came on the power play in the second period, the first time MSU had multiple power-play goals in a game since the Nov. 5 game vs. Nebraska Omaha. MSU also went 2-for-6 on Dec. 12 against Bowling Green.
compete with the east
MSU took on two eastern teams - Clarkson and Maine - to open the 2009-10 season. MSU compiled a 3-1 record in the four games played, and is 5-3 over the last two years against Eastern competition.
MSU's WCHA stretch comes in November and December, when it has Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan Tech on the schedule. One more eastern team (Rensselaer) is a possible opponent in the Great Lakes Invitational.
strong second halves
During the Rick Comley era, the Spartans have traditionally been a second-half team. The first three months (October, November, December) of his eight seasons in East Lansing, the Spartans have been a combined 77-65-15 (538%), then compiled a 82-40-13 mark in the second half (61.6%). (This does not include fall 2009). The 2007-08 Spartans had their best first-half record under Comley (12-5-2, 68.4%), and were 13-7-3 in the 2008 portion of the schedule (63%).
With MSU's sweep of Bowling Green, it has tied the best first-semester start under Comley, with an additional two games to play in the GLI.
the young ones
Michigan State's lineup has a youthful look for sure - the Spartans have dressed 14 freshmen (9) and sophomores (5) each weekend.
free hockey
Michigan State has played five overtimes this season with an official record of 2-1-2. In the two ties, MSU has lost the shootout (to UNO and Notre Dame).
MSU's overtime victory on Oct. 24 at Miami was its first in an extra session since the CCHA Tournament consolation game in 2007, a wild 7-6 victory over Lake Superior on March 17, 2007. Between overtime victories, MSU played 12 games that went to an extra session, and owned an 0-2-10 mark in those contests. Five of those ties were last year, with the shootout rule - MSU won the shootouts in three the four conference tilts that required an extra session. The Spartans went to overtime in the back-to-back games on Dec. 5 against Northern Michigan (3-2 L) and then again on Dec. 11 at Bowling Green (3-2 W). MSU has tied last year's total of five overtime contests. All three of MSU's overtime games that did not end in a tie have been decided by 3-2 margins.
league kudos
Corey Tropp has twice been named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week this season, on Oct. 26 and again on Dec. 14.
Tropp's first weekly award came after the Miami series, when the winger had a goal and a pair of assists on the split with the Red Hawks (2-1 loss, 3-2 win (OT). Tropp assisted on MSU's lone goal on Friday, then had a goal and an assist in Saturday's win. Defensively, Tropp was not on the ice for any of Miami's four goals against in the two games, and all of his points came with Michigan State skating on the man advantage.
His most recent award came after he had a six-point weekend against Bowling Green, and had a hand in six of MSU's seven goals in the two-game set. In Friday's game at BG, Tropp netted the game-tying goal in the third period and assisted on Torey Krug's game-winner early into the overtime period. On Saturday, Tropp recorded his second hat trick of the season, which included the game-winner, and also had an assist on the game's first goal as the Spartans won 4-1. He was a +4 on the weekend.
Drew Palmisano was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week on Nov. 16. Palmisano limited Michigan to two goals on the weekend and backstopped the Spartans to their second shutout of the season at home on Saturday. Palmisano posted a 1.00 GAA and .960 save percentage over the two-game set and stopped 48 of 50 shots.
quite the month, with a reward at the end
Freshman Derek Grant was named the RBC Financial CCHA Rookie of the Month for October, and earned the national award from the Hockey Commissioner's Association (HCA) later in the week. The top-line winger for the Spartans finished the month tied for the national lead in rookie scoring, goals, and assists with a 4-6-10 scoring line. In the CCHA he ranked second in scoring, and tied for fourth in both goals and assists. His 3-4-7 stats on the power play ranked second in the CCHA, and his three power-play goals is the third-highest total in the country. In addition, he ranked fourth nationally among rookies (appearing in more than one game) in points per game (1.25). Grant opened his MSU career with three-straight multiple-point games, and earned CCHA Rookie of the Week kudos after the Clarkson series (Oct. 12).
quite the month, but no award ...
Corey Tropp, while losing out on RBC Financial October Player of the Month kudos to Alaska goaltender Scott Greenham, had quite the impressive month as well. Through the end of October, the winger was tied for national lead in goals (7) and ranked second in points (13), was the CCHA's leading point (13) and goal scorer, and ranked third in assists (6) . Tropp also led the CCHA in power play goals, assists, and points (4-4-8), and was a +3 He had multiple-point efforts in six of eight games , including his first career hat trick in a road win at Maine. He ranked second nationally in power play goals (4) , tied for third in shorthanded goals (1)m and also tied for second in game-winning goals (2). He was11th nationally in points per game (1.62) and fifth in goals per game (0.88) (among players appearing in more than one game), and through eight contests, was assessed just one minor penalty. He was named the CCHA Player of the Week after the Maine series in which he had four goals and an assist (Oct. 19).
... at the break
Corey Tropp's 27 points are the most for a Spartan team headed into the GLI since Jim Slater had 24 in 18 games back in 2003-04. Jeff Petry's 14 assists is the most since Bryan Lerg had 15 in 2005-06.
he's no. 1
Corey Tropp is the national leader in goals (16) and points (27), and game-winning goals (4).
six to play ... give tropp the puck
Corey Tropp has scored goals with approximately six minutes remaining in each of MSU's last four games. On Dec. 4, he scored the lone goal of the game at 13:53 in a 1-0 win over Northern; a night later, he scored at 13:48 to tie the game at 2-2. On Dec. 11 against Bowling Green, his goal came at 14:20 and tied the game at two to force overtime (he then assisted on Krug's OT game-winner). On Dec. 12, he completed his hat trick at 13:22.
hot hand
Drew Palmisano made a season-high 40 saves in the tough loss to Minnesota on Nov. 28. He owns a .926 sv. percentage and 2.10 GAA, good for 12th and 10th, respectively, in the national rankings. His previous season high in saves was 35, set in a 3-2 overtime win over No. 1 Miami in Oxford.
firsts
Anthony Hayes scored his first collegiate goal and had his first collegiate assist on Oct. 31. His assist set up the first college goal for his linemate, Dean Chelios. The two combined on a Hayes goal in the Nov. 5 game against Nebraska-Omaha.
more firsts
Torey Krug picked an outstanding time to score his first collegiate goal, as he lit the lamp 35 seconds into overtime on Dec. 11 at Bowling Green.
With Krug's overtime game-winner, only two of MSU's nine freshmen have yet to score a goal. Zach Golembiewski has four assists and Kevin Walrod has three helpers
mad hatter Corey Tropp's Oct. 16 hat trick against Maine was the first for MSU since Justin Abdelkader's against Bowling Green on Feb. 29, 2008, a 6-3 victory. Tropp scored on the power play, shorthanded, and even strength. Tropp added a second hat trick on Dec. 12 against Bowling Green, a natural hat trick in which he scored at 19:17 of the second and at 3:37 and 13:22 of the third.
two sets of hats
Tropp is the first player to have two hat tricks in a season since Mike York had a pair in the 1998-99 campaign (he knocked in three on Dec. 26 against Northern Michigan and Jan. 8 against Miami). The previous season (1997-98), Sean Berens had three hat tricks - agaisnt Alaska-Fairbanks (Jan. 3), against Northern Michigan (Jan. 10) and Michigan (Feb. 20).
leading scorers
Corey Tropp reached the 20-point plateau after 17 games, a total only one MSU player reached last season (Matt Schepke had 24 points). Tropp has a conference-best 12 goals. Derek Grant has 17 points, the same number as Daultan Leveille had as MSU's second-leading scorer as a freshman a year ago.
milestone
Junior Jeff Petry skated in his 100th career game in Green and White on Dec. 12 against Bowling Green, and had a goal and pair of assists. His goal was his first since the third game of the season. He shares the conference lead in defenseman scoring (2-14-16)
block party
Torey Krug (38) is leading the team in blocked shots, followed by Jeff Petry (37), and Brock Shelgren (29) is right behind.
back in green
Last December, then-freshman forward Mike Merrifield returned to junior hockey for the remainder of the season, and played for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL. His coach in Green Bay was John Cooper, who coached Merrifield the previous season in the NAHL with the St. Louis Bandits. In 38 games in Green Bay, Merrifield had 18 goals and 16 assists (34 points), potted 12 points on special teams, and was a +9. Merrifield cracked the lineup in MSU's series at Maine, and scored his first collegiate goal (and point) on a beautiful tic-tac-toe score in the second period of the second game. He has been in the lineup in 16 of 20 games, and has a 2-2-4 scoring line.
an eclipse ...
It took six games for Corey Tropp to eclipse the 11 points he amassed in his sophomore campaign, with 6-6-12 in his first six contests. In 2008-09, he had three goals and eight assists in 21 games. Tropp enters the GLI with 55 career points, 27 of which have come this season. Tropp's 16 goals is his career high, and is almost double the total he had in his first two collegiate seasons combined. Andrew Rowe's seven goals is one more than he had in all of 2008-09 as well. Matt Crandell has met his 2008-09 scoring output as well, as his two assists at Michigan (Nov. 13) gave him five for the season (0-5-5). Jeff Petry (2-14-16) has surpassed his 2008-09 assist total (12) and is has surpassed his point total from a year ago (14). He has 54 points in 100 career games.
...and close
Andrew Rowe (12 points) and Dustin Gazley,(10) are at close to surpassing their scoring output from a year ago (14 points).
multiplicity
Corey Tropp started off his junior season with five multiple-point efforts in the first nine games, and has nine multiple-point efforts in 20 games. He has scored goals in 12 of MSU's 20 contests, including five of the last six.
multiplicity, take two
Derek Grant started his college career with three straight multiple-point games, and has at least a point in 13 of 20 MSU games this season.
Grant had his first multiple-assist game on Nov. 27 against Wisconsin, a season-best three points with a goal and two helpers against Badgers.
multiplicity, take three
Blueliner Matt Crandell had the primary assist on MSU's second and third goals in the win at Michigan (Nov. 13), his first multiple-point game in his career.
streaking
Corey Tropp owns the team's longest point-scoring streak at four games, followed by Torey Krug and Daultan Leveille, who each have three-game point streaks.
among the bretheren
In the CCHA overall statistics, Tropp is first in points (27) and goals (16),12th in assists (11). tied for second in power-play goals (6) and is tied for first in power-play points (13). Grant is tied for fifth in points (19), tied for 14th in goals (7) and sixth in assists (12), and is tied for second in power play points (11) and fifth in power play goals (5). Jeff Petry is tied for first in the conference in assists (14), and is first in defensemen scoring (16 pts). Andrew Rowe is tied with Grant for 14th in goals (7).
rookie kudos
Zach Josepher's four-point collegiate debut vs. Clarkson (Oct. 9) is the most for an MSU freshman in his first game since both Russell Welch and James Cunningham each had a goal and three assists in an 8-1 win over Ohio State on Oct. 22, 1976.
Josepher's two-goal outing in the opener was MSU's first since Matt Schepke potted two against North Dakota In the Great Lakes Invitational (Dec. 27, 2008). Josepher recorded MSU's first four-point game since Justin Abdelkader (3g, 1a) against Bowling Green on Feb. 29, 2008.
the reports of our goaltending demise have been greatly exaggerated
The post-Jeff Lerg era showed that both of MSU's top two netminders are capable of winning hockey games. A week after Bobby Jarosz earned his first career shutout with 20 saves in a win at Northern Michigan (Dec. 4), he posted a 29-save victory on Dec. 11 at Bowling Green. He is and is now 4-1 overall and 3-1 in road starts. Drew Palmisano had considerably less work against the Falcons (Dec. 12), but made 15 saves. He ranks eighth nationally in GAA (2.03) and is seventh in save percentage (.927). He ranks fifth in the CCHA in both categories.
penalty shots
Andrew Rowe's penalty shot attempt on Oct. 23 against Miami was the first for the Spartans since March 16, 2007, when Justin Abdelkader had one against Michigan in the CCHA semifinals. Billy Sauer made the save. MSU's last successful penalty shot came on Dec. 9, 2006, when Chris Mueller scored against Western Michigan
goalie u
Thanks to LSJ scribe Neil Koepke for this gem: Since the 1980-81 season, all but one Spartan starting goaltender has earned All-League honors (the Spartans have competed in both the Western Collegiate Hockey Association or Central Collegiate Hockey Association during this stretch). The list reads like a who's who in Spartan hockey - Ron Scott, Bob Essensa, Norm Foster, Jason Muzzatti, Mike Gilmore, Mike Buzak, Chad Alban, Joe Blackburn, Ryan Miller, Dominic Vicari and Jeff Lerg. Scott, Alban, Blackburn, Miller and Lerg were All-Americans. The only starting goalie who didn't make an all-star team or win an award during this stretch was Matt Migliaccio in 2002-03.
the future in the present
Inside College Hockey has placed freshman winger Derek Grant as No. 17 on its list of incoming forwards.
fun facts for a team you don't know well ... yet.
Nick Sucharski, despite being a fifth-year senior, is not the oldest player on the MSU roster - that honor belongs to netminder Bobby Jarosz. Junior Joey Shean is also older than Sucharski, who came to campus in the fall of 2005 as a 17-year-old ... Torey Krug is the youngest player on the Spartan roster with an April 12, 1991 birthdate. He has won two national championships with Detroit Honeybaked (2003) and Indiana Ice (2009) as a teammate of fellow freshman Zach Golembiewski ... The honor of being the tallest Spartan falls to AJ Sturges (6-4), and the, ahem, least tallest is Dustin Gazley (5-8) ... Matt Grassi is the heaviest (and almost the tallest) at 6-3, 215 ... British Columbia is becoming a hotbed of college hockey recruiting, as Grassi, Kevin Walrod, and Derek Grant all hail from the provence - and Zach Josepher and Trevor Nill both played their junior hockey for Penticton in the BCHL ... Gazley was the youngest member of the 2004 US inline team that won a silver medal at World Juniors in London, Ontario and three ... Seven players were multiple-sport athletes in high school - Matt Crandell, Trevor Nill, and Brett Perlini all played soccer, while Nill, Jeff Petry, Brock Shelgren, and Dean Chelios all played baseball. Golembiewski was a scholastic golfer and graduated with his high school record for best round ... Nill is featured in this year's College of Engineering ad in the MSU hockey yearbook ...
next up
MSU will have an exhibition game against the US National Team Development Program on Monday, January 4 before returning to conference play on Jan. 8-9 with a home series against Lake Superior State.
