Michigan State University Athletics
MSU Hockey Opens Regular Season This Week
10/9/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 9, 2000
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THIS WEEK: The Spartans open the 2000-01 regular season in Anchorage, Alaska as they take part in the Johnson Nissan Classic. MSU plays host Alaska Anchorage from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association on Friday, then faces HOCKEY EAST foe Merrimack on Saturday. Faceoff on Friday is scheduled for roughly midnight Eastern time while Saturday's game is set for an 8 p.m. ET start.
TV/RADIO: This weekend's game, and all MSU home and road games, can be heard live on WVFN-AM 730 "The Fan." Play-by-play man Scott Moore, in his fourth season as the radio voice of MSU hockey, will call the action. Spartan volunteer assistant coach Jim Mullin provides color commentary for the second straight season. Spartan fans can also hear live play-by-play action of MSU hockey via the Internet. Broadcasts can be accessed by logging on to www.msuspartans.com, the official website of Spartan athletics, or www.espn.com. Neither games will be televised in the greater Lansing area.
MSU HEAD COACH RON MASON: MSU head coach Ron Mason (St. Lawrence '64) is in his 22nd season with the Spartans and 35th year as a college hockey mentor. The winningest coach in college hockey history, Mason has piloted the Spartans to a 575-256-60 (.679) mark since taking over for the legendary Amo Bessone in 1979. His overall record currently stands at 864-366-74 (.691). Mason guided MSU to its second NCAA hockey championship in 1986 and his 20 NCAA Tournament appearances are an all-time record. The seven-time Central Collegiate Hockey Association Coach of the Year led the Spartans to league regular-season titles in 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1998 and 1999 and CCHA playoff crowns in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1998 and 2000. Mason, who won the Spencer Penrose Award as national coach of the year in 1992, has coached 19 Spartans to All-American honors and seen 42 of his former MSU skaters move on to the NHL.
ALASKA ANCHORAGE AT A GLANCE
THE COACH: Alaska Anchorage coach Dean Talafous (Wisconsin-River Falls '91) is in his fourth season with the Seawolves. Talafous owns a 43-84-17 (.358) record at UAA and has compiled a 153-168-33 (.479) overall mark in 12 seasons as a head coach at Wisconsin-River Falls and Alaska Anchorage. Last season, Talafous guided the Seawolves to a 15-18-3 overall record and a seventh-place finish in the WCHA with an 11-14-3 league mark.
SCOUTING THE SEAWOLVES: Alaska Anchorage loses just five letterwinners and returns its top five scorers from last year's team. However, the Seawolves ranked next to last in the WCHA in scoring offense, averaging 2.36 goals per game. UAA ranked second among WCHA schools in penalty killing (87-101, .861) but were the league's worst team (12-142, .085) on the power play. The Seawolves were also the WCHA's least penalized team, piling up a scant 296 PIMs in 36 games (8.2 PIMs/game). Junior Steve Cygan paced the Seawolves offensively in 1999-2000 with 14-13--27. Fellow juniors Mike Scott (8-15--23) and Gregg Zaporzan (8-12--20) were the only other UAA players to score 20 or more points on the year. Sophomore Corey Strachan returns in goal after compiling a 9-10-1 mark in addition to a 2.89 GAA and a .887 saves percentage en route to WCHA All-Rookie honors.
THE SERIES VS. THE SEAWOLVES: Michigan State leads the series between the two teams by a 1-0 margin. First Meeting: Dec. 18, 1987. MSU defeated UAA 5-2 in Anchorage in the opening round of the then-Jeep Nissan Classic.
MERRIMACK AT A GLANCE
THE COACH: Merrimack coach Chris Serino (American International '71) is in his third season with the Warriors. Serino owns a 22-43-7 (.354) record as a head coach. Serino led Merrimack to an 11-19-6 overall record last season and a 6-12-6 mark in HOCKEY EAST play, good for a seventh-place conference finish.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS: Merrimack loses 10 letterwinners from last year's team that compiled an 11-19-6 overall record and placed seventh in the HOCKEY EAST standings with a 6-12-6 mark. Among the losses were defenseman Greg Classen, an honorable mention all-conference honoree last season who led the Warriors in scoring with 14-16--30, and fourth-leading scorer Sandy Cohen (14-11--25). Merrimack ranked eighth among HOCKEY EAST teams in scoring last year, averaging 2.42 goals per game Sophomore Anthony Aquino is the team's leading returning scorer from a year ago. Aquino tallied 15-14--29 en route to HOCKEY EAST all-rookie team honors. Senior captain John Pyliotis also returns after posting 6-20--26 last season. Tom Welby is Merrimack's most experienced goaltender. Welby saw action in 19 games last season, compiling a 4-11-2 record and a 3.46 GAA.
THE SERIES VS. THE WARRIORS: Saturday's contest marks the first meeting between the two teams.
SPARTAN INJURY REPORT: MSU senior wing Damon Whitten missed Friday's exhibition finale vs. Western Ontario with a left wrist sprain. The Brighton, Mich., native suffered the injury in MSU's exhibition loss to the USA Development Team last week. Whitten is listed as probable for this weekend's games.
