Hockey Hosts Western Ontario In Exhibition Contest

Oct. 12, 2005

East Lansing, Mich. - The Michigan State men's hockey team returns to Munn Ice Arena, on Friday, Oct. 14, when it plays host to Western Ontario University. The game marks the second of three exhibition contests for the Green and White and will serve as the final tune-up prior to the CCHA regular season. On Oct. 22, the Spartans will kick off conference play when they travel to Ann Arbor to take on rival Michigan at 7:35 p.m.

LEFTY McFADDEN CHAMPIONS

Michigan State opened the 2005-06 regular season with a win over Wayne State, 5-1, and a 3-0 win over North Dakota to capture the fourth annual Lefty McFadden Invitational tournament title. Forwards Bryan Lerg and David Booth and defenseman Tyler Howells earned all-tournament team honors for their performances. Lerg paced the Spartan offense with a goal and three assists, Booth chipped in a shorthanded goal and a pair of assists, while Howell added two assists from the blueline. MSU junior goaltender Dominic Vicari earned the victory in both contests allowing just one goal on 41 shots for the tournament.

SCOUTING WESTERN ONTARIO

The Mustangs of Western Ontario enter Friday evening's contest at Munn Ice Arena with a 2-3-0 record in exhibition play. Recently, the Mustangs knocked off CCHA member Ferris State, 4-3, at Ewigleben Ice Arena, in Big Rapids. Western goaltender Brad Topping made 49 stops in that game to earn the victory. Western Ontario is located in the city of London and competes in Canada's OUA athletic conference. The Mustangs open their regular season on Oct. 27 vs. Waterloo.

OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT

With a 5-1 win over Wayne State, the Spartans opened the regular season with a win for the first time since the 2001-02 season. MSU had lost three season openers in a row, managing just a 0-3-1 record over the past four years. The Green and White improved to 2-1-0 in series history against Wayne State.

SIOUX STREAK SNAPPED

Sunday's, 3-0, win over North Dakota marked the first time Michigan State has beaten the Sioux since 1979. That season MSU, the last for the Green and White as members of the WCHA, MSU split the season series with North Dakota. It was also the first Spartan shutout of UND since Dec. 5, 1958, a 6-0 Michigan State win in East Lansing.

WELCOME ABOARD

Freshman forward Justin Abdelkader scored the first goal of his career in the first period against Wayne State. Abdelkader, a second round pick of the Detroit Red Wings, collected a rebound at the top of the crease and beat Warrior goalie Matt Kelly. Abdelkader is the first Spartan frosh to score a goal in his debut since the 2003-04 season when Chris Lawrence found the back of the net in a 4-3 loss to Findlay.

HOW YOU DREW'N?

Junior captain Drew Miller picked up his first goal of the season and the 22nd of his career against the Warriors, picking up right where he finished the 2004-05 season; Miller lit the lamp 17 times during his sophomore campaign in East Lansing. He would add an assist in MSU's 3-0 win over North Dakota to raise his career point totals to 22-23--45.

MUELLER? MUELLER? MUELLER?

Sophomore forward Chris Mueller didn't take the day off, on Sunday Oct. 8, vs. the FIghting Sioux. Instead, the West Senaca, N.Y., native potted two goals, matching his season total from the 2004-05 campaign. Last season Mueller had 17 assists to go with his two tallies and finished with 19 points in 41 games.

BOOTH REACHES MILESTONE GAME

Spartan senior forward David Booth skated in his 100th career game Sunday vs. North Dakota. Booth made the most of the milestone scoring a shorthanded goal in a 3-0 win. He also picked up a pair of assists in his 99th game, a 5-1 win against Wayne State, he now has 73 career points on 33 goals and 40 assists.

LERG SPARKS SPARTAN VICTORIES

With 1-2--3 totals in a Saturday Oct. 8 win over Wayne State, sophomore forward Bryan Lerg posted his third career multi-point game. Lerg tallied 3-1--4 on Jan. 8, 2005 vs. Lake Superior and 1-1--2 on Feb. 11 at UAF. Lerg also set a single-game career high with two assists on Saturday and was named the game's number one star. On Sunday, the former US-Under 18 Team product notched his third helper of the season on Booth's shorthanded strike.

SHORT CHANGED

Booth's shorthanded goal against the Fighting Sioux was Michigan State's first man-down tally since January of 2004. Lee Falardeau was the last Spartan to score shorthanded when he struck on Jan. 3, in a 6-5 overtime loss to Northern Michigan.

PITCHING SHUT OUTS

Junior goaltender Dominic Vicari posted five shutouts in 2004-05 to bring his career total to 12. The Clinton Township, Mich., native now ranks tied for second, in career cleansheets at MSU, with former Spartan Chad Alban (1994-98). Ryan Miller (1999-2002) leads all Michigan State goaltenders and set the national standard with 26 career blankings.

YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN

Xenia, Ohio native Ethan Graham, and his Spartan teammates, put on quite a show for his family and friends over the weekend. The junior defenseman logged a ton of minutes on the ice, helping anchor a Michigan State defense that allowed just one goal over the weekend, enroute to a Lefty McFadden Invitational title. Graham was +2, for MSU, over the weekend.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Michigan State's penalty-kill got off to a quick start in 2005-06 stifling all twelve of its opponents chances over the weekend. The Spartans shut down five Warrior power plays on Saturday and held UND scoreless with the extra-attacker on seven chances.

CENTURY CLUB

Senior forwards David Booth and Colton Fretter continue to inch closer to the 100 career-point plateau. Booth has posted 33 goals and 40 assists for 73 points, including a 17 goal and 36 point freshman campaign, in his first three years at Michigan State. Fretter, meanwhile, is just 15 points shy of the century mark with 85 career-points on 34 goals and 51 assists. Fretter scored a career-high 20 goals and 44 points in 2004-05.

ClIMBING THE LADDER

Michigan State head coach Rick Comley enters the season, his fourth at MSU and the 33rd of his legendary career, in sole possession of sixth place on the all-time coaching wins list in Division I hockey, with 665. In 32 seasons, Comley is 665-523-79, good for a .555 winning percentage. He needs just 10 victories to pass former Clarkson and Boston College head coach Len Ceglarski for fifth place all-time, but still has a ways to go to catch the NCAA's all-time winningest bench boss. Former Spartan head coach and current athletic director Ron Mason earned 924 victories in his illustrious career.

CAPTAIN MILLER

Junior forward Drew Miller has been selected to captain the 2005-06 Michigan State hockey team. Miller, an assistant last season, is the 10th member of his family to don the Green and White. The East Lansing, Mich., native has posted a career-line of 21-22-43. Joining Miller for his third season as an assistant captain is senior defenseman Jared Nightingale, along with seniors, defenseman Corey Potter and forward Colton Fretter.

SETTING THE STANDARD

Michigan State continues to set the bar in the CCHA. In 24 seasons of conference play the Spartans boast a league-high .699 winning percentage. MSU is 473-185-64 all-time in league play with seven regular season titles and a league-best 10 CCHA play-off titles.

THE 2005-06 SPARTANS

The Spartans return seven of their top 10 scorers from the 2004-05 season, including double-digit goal scorers Colton Fretter (20-24-44), Drew Miller (17-16-33), Jim McKenzie (11-7-18) and Bryan Lerg (10-5-15). On defense, the talented tandem of Ethan Graham and Corey Potter return and are expected to once again play a lot of minutes on the Spartan blueline in 2005-06. Junior goaltender Dominic Vicari played in 38 games last season for the Green and White, posting a 2.30 GAA and a .923 Spct., while making 1,027 saves. The Spartans finished the 2004-05 season with a record of 20-17-4 (12-13-3 CCHA) and just missed qualifying for the program's 24th NCAA Tournament appearance.

WELCOME ABOARD

The Spartan hockey program welcomes nine newcomers, five forwards, two defensemen and two goaltenders, into the fold for the 2005-06 season. Forwards Justin Abdelkader (Muskegon, Mich.), Tim Crowder (Victoria, B.C.), Tim Kennedy (Buffalo, N.Y.), Kurt Kivisto (Milford, Mich.) and Nick Sucharski (Toronto, ONT.), defensemen Nick Gentile (Clarkston, Mich.) and Matt Shoyneyia (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and goaltenders Jeff Lerg (Livonia, Mich.) and Steve Mnich (Northville, Mich.) should all compete for playing time this season, while adding immediate depth to the MSU lineup.

THE SCHEDULE

Michigan State will face one of the more difficult schedules in the nation in 2005-06. In addition to a CCHA schedule, featuring four games with clustermates Alaska Fairbanks, Michigan and Nebraska-Omaha, the Spartans will face off against 2004-05 national runner-up North Dakota, defending ECAC Champion Cornell, Minnesota and Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase, as well as a potential GLI match-up with Colorado College. MSU will play 18 games at Munn Ice Arena this season.

2004-05 SPARTAN HONORS

Five returning Spartans earned CCHA honors during the 2004-05 season. Goaltender Dominic Vicari was a three-time Goaltender of the Week selection (Nov. 15, Jan. 3, Feb. 7), while senior David Booth was awarded the Offensive Player of the Week award on Jan. 24, Ethan Graham earned the Defensman of the Week award on Jan. 3, and Jim McKenzie was selected Rookie of the Week on Mar. 7. Colton Fretter was the only player to win a monthly award, when he was named RBC Financial Group CCHA Player of the Month in November.

LIKE CLOCKWORK

The 2005-06 season marks the 40th anniversary of the Spartans first national championship in 1966 and the 20th anniversary of the program's 1986 national title. The 1966 team rebounded from a rocky 4-9-0 start to win 12 of its final 16 games to qualify for the national tournament. MSU would defeat Clarkson University, 6-1, behind the goaltending of Gaye Cooley. In 1986, the Green and White rode the goalscoring of senior forward Mike Donnelly; Donnelly scored his 59th goal of the season to lock up the Spartans' second national title, 6-5, over the Harvard Crimson.

DRAFTED SPARTANS

Three Spartans were selected in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft; incoming freshmen Justin Abdelkader, selected in the 2nd round (42 overall) by the Detroit Red Wings, Tim Crowder, chosen in the 5th round (126) by Pittsburgh and Tim Kennedy picked 181st overall by the Washington Capitals, raise the number of drafted Spartans to eight. NHL teams also own the rights of Michigan State forwards Colton Fretter (ATL - 8th round, 2002), Drew Miller (ANA - 6th round, 2003), Jim McKenzie (OTT - 5th round, 2004) and David Booth (FLA - 2nd round, 2004) as well as defenseman Corey Potter (NYR - 4th round, 2003).