Spartans Open Season At Lefty McFadden Invitational

Oct. 7, 2005

DAYTON, Ohio. - The Spartan hockey team opens its 65th season with the Lefty McFadden Invitational at the E.J. Nutter Center hosted by the Miami of Ohio Redhawks on Oct. 8-9. The Spartans faceoff against the Wayne State Warriors Saturday at 4:05 p.m., then close the invite at 2:05 p.m. Sunday against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

THE LEFTY McFADDEN
The Spartans will open the 2005-06 regular season at the fourth annual Lefty McFadden Invitational, hosted by CCHA foe Miami University. The invite, held at the Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University, is named for legendary Dayton-area sports figure Ed `Lefty' McFadden. The host RedHawks won the inaugural competition in 2002 and also captured the crown last season with a 6-2 victory over Northeastern. Two-time defending NCAA champion Denver was the tournament champion in 2003. This year's field features the Spartans and Miami out of the CCHA, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux of the WCHA and Wayne State representing College Hockey America. It is the first appearance for the Spartans in the Lefty McFadden.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Wayne State returns 21 of 22 letterwinners from last season's 14-17-4 squad, including six 20-point scorers. The Warriors finished fourth in the CHA last season with a 7-9-4 conference record. The two teams last met during the 2003-04 season, when they split a pair of games at Munn Ice Arena. The Spartans dropped the opening game, 3-2, in overtime before picking up a 7-2 victory in the second game. 2004-05 leading scorer Stavros Paskaris (12-21-33) returns to anchor the WSU attack, along with 20-goal scorer Jason Bloomingburg. Senior Matt Kelly and junior Will Hooper split the goaltending duties last season for the Warriors; Kelly posted a 2.54 GAA and a .922 Spct., while his counterpart sported a .354 GAA and a .890 Spct.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING SIOUX
North Dakota returns 14 letterwinners from last season's national runners-up team. The Sioux, who dropped a 4-1 decision to WCHA rival Denver in the 2004-05 National Championship game, have just two seniors and nine upperclassmen on their roster. UND will count on junior Drew Stafford (13-25-38), and a pair of sophomores in Travis Zajac (20-19-39) and Ratislav Spirko (16-21-37), to carry the offensive load in 2005-06. Between the pipes, the Sioux return a talented tandem of Jordan Parise and Phillip Lamoureux; the two combined for 2,618 saves last season. North Dakota holds a 61-34-2 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools, including a 13-2-0 record in the last 15 meetings and a 6-2-0 edge in neutral site games.

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.

YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN
Ohio and Dayton-area native Ethan Graham hopes to enjoy a happy homecoming when he takes the ice in the Lefty McFadden Invitational. Graham, a junior from Xenia, Ohio, expects to have plenty of family and friends on hand when thet Spartans take the ice next Saturday and Sunday.

PITCHING SHUT OUTS
Junior goaltender Dominic Vicari posted five shut outs in 2004-05 to bring his career total to 12. The Clinton Township., Mich., native now ranks tied for second, in career clean sheets 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.

CENTURY CLUB
Senior forwards David Booth and Colton Fretter both enter the season in striking distance of the 100 career-point plateau. Booth has posted 32 goals and 38 assists for 70 points, including a 17 goal and 36 point freshman campaign, in his first three years at Michigan State. Fretter, meanwhile, is just 17 points shy of the century mark with 83 career-points on 33 goals and 50 assists. Fretter scored a career-high 20 goals and 44 points in 2004-05.

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.

TAKING THE NEXT STEP
One of the keys to Michigan State's success this season is the continued development of sophomore forwards Bryan Lerg, Jim McKenzie and Chris Mueller. Mueller led all freshman in scoring and assists with a 2-17-19 line, while McKenzie checked in with 11-7-18 and Lerg added 10-5-15.

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 goal scoring 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).

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 663. In 32 seasons, Comley is 663-523-79, good for a .555 winning percentage. He needs just 12 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 Ron Mason. The former Spartan head coach and current MSU athletic director Mason earned 924 victories in his illustrious career.