Michigan State University Athletics
Hockey Eyes Third Straight CCHA Title
9/29/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Sept. 29, 1999
Michigan State kicks off its 1999-2000 hockey season with the Green & White Game on Friday, Oct. 1, beginning at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are just $3 and are available at the MSU Athletic Ticket Office or dozens of locations around Lansing.
Michigan State has enjoyed a two-year run from 1997-99 which has included two CCHA regular-season championships, two Great Lakes Invitational titles, a pair of first-round byes in the NCAA tournament and the program?s first trip to the NCAA Frozen Four since 1992. It has been a period which brings to mind the years of powerhouse Spartan teams in the 1980s, when MSU made nine straight NCAA tournament appearances.
The challenge for head coach Ron Mason and his staff now is to maintain that kind of success with a much younger ? but still talented ? group of players. In 1999-2000 the Spartans will look to win a third straight CCHA regular-season championship for the first time in school history and to run their active NCAA tournament streak to seven appearances.
?I don?t think our goals should be limited to anything but being at the top,? head coach Ron Mason says. ?We have had two great years, and although some of our key players are gone, we still have a good group which knows what it takes to have that kind of success. Our goal is always to finish in the top four in the league, but we would especially like to be able to defend the title.?
Nine lettermen from last year?s team have departed, foremost among them the CCHA Player of the Year, Mike York. York, now in the New York Rangers? organization, led the Spartans in scoring each of the last three years and leaves both an offensive and defensive void which no one player will be able to replace.
?I really think up front our team is going to take on a different dimension because of the Mike York factor alone,? Mason said. ?He was the other team?s obvious key to beating Michigan State. That?s not going to be there, and that should allow some of our other players to step in and have bigger opportunities to contribute offensively.?
Also gone are last year?s second-leading goal scorer, Bryan Adams, and a pair of reliable, physical defensemen in Chris Bogas and Jeff Kozakowski.
Despite the losses, reason for optimism exists. MSU brings back 15 letterwinners, including a talented offensive leader in Shawn Horcoff, four veteran defensemen and, with Joe Blackburn, a goaltender who rewrote school and conference record books in his first season as a starter.
With 11 newcomers, it will be a younger Spartan team in 1999-2000. But Mason expects several of the talented freshmen to contribute immediately as Michigan State hopes to maintain the success of the past two years and make another run at the CCHA championship.
FORWARDS
Senior center Shawn Horcoff has spent the first three years of his Michigan State career quietly contributing and improving behind outstanding Spartan centermen Mike York and Sean Berens. This season, Horcoff will have a chance to showcase his skills on MSU?s top line.
?Each year here Shawn Horcoff has made great strides,? Mason said, ?and I think he will make additional strides this year. You have to like having a senior like Shawn who is your captain and also a very, very hard worker on the ice. He will set a standard in practice and in games.?
Horcoff tied for second on the team in scoring last season, registering 12 goals and 25 assists (37 points) in 39 games. He finished 11th in the CCHA in points in league games (30), good for sixth among returning players. He was a member of the Great Lakes Invitational All-Tournament Team and a first-team CCHA All-Academic selection.
Michigan State has the luxury of two other proven offensive threats returning on the right side in junior Rustyn Dolyny and sophomore Adam Hall. Those two combined for 34 goals between them last year and will be counted on for continued production.
?Dolyny and Hall are two guys we expect to help us offensively,? Mason said. ?They have both had big impacts early in their careers here, which bodes well for their futures.?
Dolyny is Michigan State?s top returning goal scorer after totalling 18 goals and 15 assists (33 points) in 41 games. An assistant captain, he finished fourth on the team in scoring and trails only Horcoff among returning players. Dolyny has scored 38 goals in his first two seasons at MSU, second-best in the last two years among players still in the CCHA.
Hall had a tremendous freshman season which only got better as time moved along. He finished with 16 goals and seven assists (23 points) in 36 games, highlighted by six goals and two assists (eight points) in five games of the CCHA and NCAA tournaments. He led the CCHA in postseason goals, with no other player scoring more than four. Further evidence of his skill in clutch situations were his six game-winning goals, leading the team and ranking second-best in the CCHA.
Beyond Horcoff, Dolyny and Hall the talent up front is a little more unknown, but Mason is confident players will step up in the absence of York and Adams.
?I really look for some of our returning players to build upon their abilities,? Mason said. ?With experience and a better understanding of the game, they are all going to be that much more important to us this year.?
Foremost among the potential scorers are a trio of juniors who have skated together for two years: center Andrew Bogle, right wing John Nail and left wing Damon Whitten. The unit hasn?t fully blossomed offensively to this point ? although Whitten had nine goals last year ? but the potential is there, whether still playing together or split up. Perhaps most encouraging was their effort in the NCAA Frozen Four, when they played what might have been their best game of the year.
?I think you will see quite a bit of improvement out of Andrew Bogle and John Nail, who both got much better as the year went on,? Mason said. ?Damon Whitten has already shown the ability to score big goals. We won?t ask them to come in and be offensive machines, but I expect them to come in and play well consistently.
?Especially now, you don?t score a lot in college hockey,? Mason added. ?Each player has to be able to contribute in some way, and for some that won?t be on the offensive side of the puck because it?s so difficult to score now. I think it?s up to me to make sure that guys understand that they find a way to play this game without being reinforced in the scorebook.?
Several other returnees could step up and provide offense, or fill vital defensive roles up front. Junior wing Sean Patchell had a sub-par year last year, but Mason believes he has the skills to be a weapon for MSU. He also adds a physical presence, as he led the Spartans in penalties last year with 37 (82 minutes). Talented sophomore left wing Joe Goodenow skated with Horcoff as a rookie and posted three goals and 10 assists (13 points) in 36 games. He offers speed and skill and should improve with a year of experience.
At least some of Michigan State?s five freshman forwards ? Pat Brush, Steve Clark, Troy Ferguson, Kris Koski and Brian Maloney ? will be forced to play key roles in the lineup.
?We are going to be adding some freshmen up front, and where they fit in, time will tell,? Mason said. ?They may not have the impact we have seen in the past two years with Rustyn Dolyny or Adam Hall, but we do expect to see them contribute.?
DEFENSE
The key to Michigan State?s success in the past two seasons has been predicated on defense. Each of the last two years the Spartans have led the nation and set new school records for fewest goals against per game and penalty killing.
This year the focus should be no different after MSU gave up 1.52 goals per game last season. The best defenseman from that team, Mike Weaver, returns as a senior to lead a group of five letterwinners back for 1999-2000.
Weaver, who is an assistant captain this year, was a second-team All-American and first-team All-CCHA selection last season when he finished +23 with a goal and six assists in 42 games. A tireless penalty killer and powerful hitter for his 5-9, 174-pound frame, Weaver was the CCHA?s Best Defensive Defenseman last year, the third straight season that an MSU player earned that honor (after Weaver?s former defense partner, Tyler Harlton, won it twice).
?Mike Weaver is a complete defenseman,? Mason said. ?He?s someone we have complete confidence in when he is on the ice.?
Another senior, Brad Hodgins, joins Weaver on the Spartan blueline. Hodgins has the offensive skills to quarterback the MSU power play, which he has done for each of the last two seasons, and his defensive abilities have improved considerably since he arrived at Munn Ice Arena. He shared the team lead in scoring among defensemen with three goals and 15 assists (18 points) last year.
?In addition to Weaver, it?s great to know that we have a Brad Hodgins coming back,? Mason said. ?That?s another guy who knows how to play back there. They whole key is that he has experience.?
MSU?s next two defensemen ? sophomores Andrew Hutchinson and Jon Insana ? don?t have quite as much experience, but both did play a lot as rookies, and both are U.S. Junior National Team candidates. Hutchinson has a good balance between the offensive and defensive sides of the puck, contributing three goals and 12 assists (15 points) last year while producing a +11 rating. Insana offers the Spartans a physical presence that they will need without Bogas and Kozakowski. He had 20 penalties for 59 minutes last year, including an MSU single-game record 29 at Northern Michigan Jan. 23, 1999.
?We are fortunate that both Hutchinson and Insana played a lot last year,? Mason said. ?That experience should benefit them this season.?
Junior Brody Brandstatter also returns after playing 17 games last year and 28 the year before. The East Lansing native has experience and the talent to contribute on the blue line.
Three freshmen join the fold as well, including two who Mason expects could give Michigan State an added offensive dimension on defense. Brad Fast and John-Michael Liles both boast tremendous speed and puck-handling abilities. Fast is a third-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, while Liles is a U.S. National Junior Team candidate.
?We have two freshmen defensemen with gifted offensive talents,? Mason said. ?These guys will give us a threat from the blue line, but we hope that doesn?t sacrifice too much on the defensive side.?
Also joining MSU is freshman Mike Porter, a Northville, Mich., native who played for the Wexford Raiders last season.
GOALTENDERS
Mason feels much more comfortable about the goaltending position now than he did a year ago. While he thought Joe Blackburn, now a junior, would be solid in his first year as a starter, he certainly did not expect the results of 1998-99.
Blackburn finished the year 21-5-7 with a 1.55 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage. The GAA and save percentage set new MSU records, while his CCHA numbers (1.34, .935) established new marks for league play.
He was an NCAA West first-team All-American, the only non-senior on the first team, and the only one of the four All-America goaltenders returning this season.
?Obviously we feel great about having Joe back in net,? Mason said. ?I always say that you have to build a team from the goal out, and we are as good as anyone in that area.?
Another reason for Mason?s optimism in goal is depth. Senior Mike Gresl returns after a storybook 1998-99 season which saw him earn Great Lakes Invitational MVP honors while subbing for Blackburn, who was at the World Junior Championship.
Gresl won his first eight starts of the year and finished with even better numbers than Blackburn (8-1-0, 1.22, .940). He helped deliver MSU?s second consecutive GLI title and then lifted MSU into first place in the CCHA by backstopping a three-game sweep of Alaska Fairbanks.
Also joining the Spartan goaltending group is heralded freshman Ryan Miller of East Lansing, cousin of Kip, Kevin and Kelly Miller. Miller, a U.S. National Junior Team candidate, was the 1998 Heaton/USA Hockey Goaltender of the Year, the same award that Blackburn won in 1997.
?Ryan Miller is coming in with tremendous upside, and with Mike Gresl we have a goaltender who will play well when called upon,? Mason said. ?I think our depth in goal is as good as it has been since we had (Bob) Essensa and (Norm) Foster (1983-87).?
THE SCHEDULE
As always, Michigan State has a compelling schedule against the best teams in college hockey. The 1999-2000 schedule kicks off in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game at Colorado College and also features top-level non-conference games in the College Hockey Showcase (Wisconsin and Minnesota), the Great Lakes Invitational (Lake Superior, Michigan and Michigan Tech) and a two-game set with Rensselaer. It?s hard to imagine a more challenging non-conference slate of opponents.
In the league, the main change is a schedule cluster format in the CCHA which has MSU facing Alaska Fairbanks, Nebraska-Omaha and Notre Dame four times each, while playing everyone else twice. Each CCHA series will now feature two games against the same team each weekend.
?I like this schedule a lot,? Mason said. ?It?s challenging, and I think the new league format will be interesting.?
