Michigan State University Athletics
Hockey Looks To Sweep UAF
2/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 19, 2000
#8 SPARTAN HOCKEY VS.
ALASKA FAIRBANKS
Date February 19, 2000
Site Munn Ice Arena (6,470)
Time 7:35 p.m.
Storyline Michigan State looks to for a sweep against Alaska Fairbanks to set up next weekend's showdown with first-place Michigan.
Last Night The Spartans were 2-for-6 on the power play and killed off all seven of their short-handed situations, as special teams keyed a 3-1 win. MSU outshot UAF, 44-19, its second-highest shot total of the year. Damon Whitten, John-Michael Liles and Brian Maloney had goals for MSU, while Rustyn Dolyny had three assists to give him 101 career points.
The Records
MSU: 21-9-2 (16-7-1 CCHA)
UAF: 5-22-2 (3-21-1 CCHA)
The Coaches
MSU: Ron Mason -- Overall: 858-363-72 (34th), MSU: 569-254-58 (21st)
UAF: Guy Gadowsky -- Overall: 5-22-2 (first), UAF: same
On the air All Spartan games can be heard on WVFN-AM 730, with Scott Moore calling the play-by-play. Volunteer assistant coach Jim Mullin provides analysis. That broadcast is also available free of charge on the web at http://www.msuspartans. com
Note of the Night
Who means most? -- Michigan State senior center and Hobey Baker candidate Shawn Horcoff has had a hand in 49.0 percent of MSU's goals (48 of 98). That's a significantly bigger percentage than anyone else in college hockey. We looked at the nation's top 25 point-scorers - among those, here are the top-five contributors to their teams' offense:
Name, School Points/Team's goals Percentage 1. Shawn Horcoff, MSU 48/98 49.0% 2. David Gove, Western Michigan 38/85 44.7% 3. Steve Reinprecht, Wisconsin 53/124 42.7% 4. Brad Tapper, Rensselaer 41/101 40.6% 5. Doug Sheppard, Providence 36/89 40.4%
Five More Horcoff Notes No Media Person Should Be Without
Since Guy Gadowsky called Shawn Horcoff "a one-man wrecking crew on the penalty kill" and said "he beat us because of how hard he worked," we thought we'd give you some more Horcoff morsels.
1. Turning 50 -- Horcoff is third in the nation with 48 points and first with 38 assists. In the eight seasons since 1992-93, only six MSU players have recorded 50 points in a season (Bryan Smolinski, Rem Murray, Steve Guolla, Anson Carter, Mike York and Sean Berens). Five of those players are currently in the National Hockey League.
2. PP machine -- Horcoff assisted on both of MSU's power-play goals last night and has had a hand in 22 of the Spartans' 37 PPGs on the year (59.5 percent).
3. Climbing the charts -- Horcoff ranks tied for 31st in career assists at MSU with 89 (one behind Bob Boyd in 30th) and is 38th in career points at MSU with 135 (six behind Craig Simpson in 37th).
4. A real winner -- Horcoff has had a hand in 12 of MSU's 21 game-winning goals.
5. Good numbers off the ice as well -- Horcoff has a 3.41 GPA in marketing and was a member of the CCHA All-Academic Team last year. Joe Blackburn (3.45 in special education) and Adam Hall (3.43, no-preference major) also have GPAs over 3.40.
Post-it Notes
Scoreboard watching -- Michigan State could pull within one point of first place with a win tonight and a Northern Michigan win over Michigan. A MSU win and a U-M win would leave MSU three points behind the Wolverines entering next Friday's game at Yost.
Y ask y? -- Last night junior right wing Rustyn Dolyny became the 56th Spartan to record 100 career points as he tied his career high with three assists. He has 48 goals and 53 assists (101 points) in just over two and a half seasons with the Spartans.
A special team -- MSU, which leads the CCHA with a 90.5 penalty killing percentage (93.5 percent in CCHA games), has killed off 50 of its last 52 short-handed situations (96.2 percent). MSU is second in the conference in overall power play (20.8 percent) and have one power-play goal in each of their last six games and eight of their last nine.
Nanooks' number -- Michigan State has won eight straight against Alaska Fairbanks, outscoring UAF 35-7 in that time. MSU has not allowed more than one goal in seven meetings or two goals in eight.
Like Norelco -- Last night marked Alaska Fairbanks' first two-goal loss since Dec. 4 at Nebraska Omaha. Each of their previous eight losses had been by one goal.
Damon's: the place for wins -- Michigan State is 13-0-1 when junior left wing Damon Whitten has a point, as he did last night with the opening goal. Whitten ended a 10-game goal-less streak last night which dated to Dec. 29 vs. Michigan Tech. MSU is 0-3-0 when Whitten has been out of the lineup.
Blank stare -- Last Saturday night marked the Spartans' seventh shutout of the season (Ryan Miller has six, Joe Blackburn has one). That mark broke the old school record of six shutouts in one season, originally set in 1997-98.
Miller tied the individual school record for shutouts in a season with his sixth, equalling Chad Alban's mark from 1997-98. It was Miller's fifth shutout in CCHA games, tying the conference record originally set by Western Michigan's Marc Magliarditi in 1995-96.
Miller time -- Freshman Ryan Miller has six shutouts in 16 starts this year. In his last six games he has a 4-1-1 record, a 1.15 GAA and a .949 save percentage with two shutouts.
Shooting stars -- Michigan State has outshot each of its last 12 opponents, by an average of 34.8 to 22.3.
Blue line=red light -- Spartan defensemen have combined for 21 goals this season, led by Brad Hodgins with six. MSU defensemen combined for 13 goals all of last year.
INJURY REPORT -- Fr. F Pat Brush (left knee injury, out indefinitely), Fr. D Mike Porter (left shoulder injury, out for the season).
The fries at the bottom of the bag -- MSU is 21-2-2 in games it has led at one point and 3-9-0 in games it has trailed at one point ... the Spartans are outscoring opponents in the first (3-2) and last (6-2) minutes of a period ... MSU is outscoring opponents 8-1 in four-on-four action this year . . . MSU has outscored opponents 24-5 in the first period of its last 18 games (37-17 on the year) . . . 13 different players have combined for MSU's 21 game-winning goals . . . MSU is 19-1-0 when it scores at least three goals and 2-8-2 when it scores fewer than three goals . . . MSU has been in the nation's top 10 for 62 consecutive weeks ... the only other time Michigan State opened the season against Colorado College was 1965-66 (a 4-0 loss), the year MSU won its first national championship ... Adam Hall took MSU's first penalty shot in over five years Nov. 13 vs. Bowling Green and was stopped by BG goaltender Tyler Masters ... Michigan State's last national title came when the Frozen Four was in Providence, R.I., as it is this season.
Say This About Our Players...
2 * Jon Insana (So., D) * a strong defensive defenseman who has played with Mike Weaver for two years * MSU's Most Improved Player a year ago
4 * John-Michael Liles (Fr., D) * leads MSU defensemen with 5-15-20 * selected for the U.S. National Junior Team, but missed the tournament with an injury * has 14 of his 20 points at home * twice this year has had three points in a period, including 10/16 vs. UNO
5 * Mike Weaver (Sr., D) * MSU's top defenseman and penalty killer * 1997 GLI MVP and '99 all-tournament pick * first-team All-CCHA, second-team All-America and CCHA Best Defensive Defenseman last year
7 * Brad Hodgins (Sr., D) * leader among MSU defensemen in career points with 14-51-65 * five of six goals and 10 of 12 points have come at home * tied for 10th in career penalty minutes at MSU with 277
9 * Sean Patchell (Jr., W) * has more than doubled last year's point total (3-2-5) with 5-7-12 through 32 games * 11 of his 12 points have come in the first or second period
10 * Shawn Horcoff (Sr., C) * MSU's top active scorer (46-89-135) * third in nation in points and first in assists, he has a hand in 49.0% of MSU's goals (48 of 98) * has either scored or assisted on 12 of MSU's 21 game-winning goals this year * Hockey News rates him the Edmonton Oilers' No. 4 prospect and a sure-fire NHLer
12 * Steve Jackson (Fr., RW) * joined MSU for the second semester and scored a goal in his second career game
14 * Damon Whitten (Jr., LW) * fifth on team with eight goals * has 17 of his 18 points in the first or second period * MSU is 13-0-1 when he has a point and 0-3-0 without him in the lineup * had his career-best six-game point-scoring streak from Oct. 23 to Nov. 12
16 * Kris Koski (Fr., W) * first career goal was the game-winner in the Great Lakes Invitational title game
17 * Troy Ferguson (Fr., C) * co-captain of U.S. Under-18 Team last year
18 * Adam Hall (So., RW) * Kalamazoo native who is tied for first in the CCHA and ninth nationally with 19 goals * has five goals in last eight games and 25 goals in last 35 games * captained the U.S. National Junior Team * had 11 goals in MSU's 10-game winning streak to start the CCHA season * has scored MSU's first goal five times and the GWG a NCAA-leading six times
19 * Rustyn Dolyny (Jr., C/RW) * last night became the 56th Spartan with 100 career points (48-53-101) * has had 18 of his 24 points and eight of his 10 goals on special teams * has scored six of his 10 goals at home * second on team with 14 first-period points
20 * Brian Maloney (Fr., LW) * leads MSU rookies with 11 goals and tied with 20 points * has three two-goal games (Oct. 15 at UNO, Nov. 13 vs. BGSU, Jan. 13 vs. UNO)
21 * John Nail (Jr., RW) * enjoying best offensive season (3-6-9)
22 * Andrew Bogle (Jr., C) * had 1-1-2 in the Great Lakes Invitational
24 * Andrew Hutchinson (So., D) * has five of his six points since Dec. 28 * ended a streak of 16 games without a point with two against Michigan Tech Dec. 29
26 * Joe Goodenow (So., C) * returned Jan. 29 after a hip injury and scored his first goal in his second game
27 * Brad Fast (Fr., D) * 2nd among MSU defensemen with 4-8-12 * 1-2-3 (including GWG) vs. BGSU Nov. 13 * turns 20 next Monday, Feb. 21
30 * Joe Blackburn (Jr., G) * returning first-team All-American who has split time with rookie Ryan Miller * set CCHA and MSU single-season records in GAA and save percentage last year * owns the best career GAA (1.74) and save percentage (.921) in MSU history * has four career shutouts (one this year)
39 * Ryan Miller (Fr., G) * has split time in net with Blackburn, with a CCHA-leading 1.34 GAA and .937 save pct. * first MSU goalie ever to post three straight shutouts and broke Ron Scott's school-record shutout streak (Miller's record: 191:54) * has tied shutout records for MSU (six) and CCHA (five in league games) * East Lansing native and cousin of Kip, Kevin and Kelly Miller
SERIES INFORMATION vs. ALASKA FAIRBANKS:
* 21st meeting: MSU leads, 16-4-0
* In Munn Ice Arena: MSU leads, 7-3-0
* First meeting: MSU 13, UAF 3 (1/8/85)
* Last meeting: MSU 3, UAF 1 (last night)
* Last UAF win: UAF 6, MSU 4 (1/2/98)
* This year's series: MSU leads, 3-0-0
* PPs this year: MSU 3/14, UAF 1/17
* MSU has won eight in a row and 10 of the last 11 meetings
* MSU has not allowed more than a goal in the last seven meetings and not more than two in the last eight
* MSU is 13-2-0 vs. UAF since UAF became a full member in the CCHA in 1995-96
* MSU has won four in a row at Munn since a 5-2 loss 11/8/96
MSU CAREER LEADERS vs. UAF
Player (Yr., Pos.) GP, StatisticsShawn Horcoff (Sr., C) 11 GP, 6-9-15Rustyn Dolyny (Jr., RW) 9 GP, 5-9-14Damon Whitten (Jr., LW) 9 GP, 4-2-6Sean Patchell (Jr., LW) 9 GP, 3-3-6Mike Gresl (Sr., G) 3-0-0, 0.63, .967Joe Blackburn (Jr., G) 3-0-0, 1.04, .947Ryan Miller (Fr., G) 1-0-0, 0.00, 23 saves
