Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Host Wilfrid Laurier in Preseason Exhibition
10/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 6, 2006
East Lansing, Mich. - Michigan State lifts the curtain on the 2006-07 hockey season - its 66th varsity season overall - with an exhibition game against Wilfrid Laurier tonight at Munn Ice Arena.
The 2006-07 season is one of great promise for the Spartan program, and there are plenty of ways to follow all the action this season. Each home game can be followed on Gametracker; and this year, All-Access subscribers can watch most games from the comforts of home as we'll bring you a live web stream from Munn Arena. The video will feature the audio call from WJIM AM 1240, featuring Scott Moore on the play-by-play and volunteer assistant coach Rob Woodward providing analysis.
The webcast of Friday's exhibition game will be available for free, while 13 of the 17 total home dates will be available via webstream as part of the All-Access package.
All-Access Link (Webstream)
• Michigan State will welcome Western Michigan to Munn Ice Arena next Friday evening for the first CCHA game of the 2006-07 season. At that game, the hockey program will honor the National Championship teams of 1966 and 1986.
• The Spartans have been recognized as one of the most promising teams in the CCHA for the upcoming season. MSU earned the first-place nod in the CCHA coaches' poll, earning seven first-place votes. 38 members of the CCHA media had MSU first on their ballots, but the Spartans were one point behind Michigan in the media poll and were second.
• On the national front, in the first USCHO.com national poll released last week, Michigan State was selected fifth behind Wisconsin, Boston College, Minnesota, and Boston University. In the USA Today/ USA Hockey Magazine poll released on Monday, the Spartans are fourth - trailing Boston College, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
• Head Coach Rick Comley brings a 688-536-87 record into his 34th season as a collegiate head coach, and is third among active head coaches in career victories.
• The Spartans entertained fans on Tuesday evening with the annual Green & White game. Freshman Jay Sprague scored for the White team, while classmate Ryan Turek tallied the only goal for the Greens in a 1-1 regulation tie. Each member of the squad participated in a shootout, which the White team won, 5-2.
• The Golden Hawks of Wilfrid Laurier come to town for the Spartans' first action and final tuneup before the CCHA season begins next week. Located in Waterloo, Ontario, Wilfrid Laurier has played three games this season, and is off to a 1-2 start, with both losses coming by a single goal. Chris Di Ubaldo has netted four goals in the three games, while Nick Vergeer has a goal and four assists and team captain Matt Grennier has posted three assists. Jeff McDougald owns a .909 save percentage to lead the goaltending corps. The Golden Hawk power play has converted on nine of its 36 chances so far this season (.250), while the penalty kill has clicked at an 88% success rate (30 of 34). The squad averages 30 penalty minutes per game. • Just as the team will be trying out a few things in exhibition play, so too will the officiating crews from the CCHA. This year's exhibition games will feature a two-referee, two-linesman system, as well as auditioning a no-icing-when-shorthanded rule. In addition, the NCAA has made it permissible for coaches to dress more players than usually allowed for exhibition games, so don't be surprised to see either a fifth line or fourth defensive pair during tonight's action. It's a situation for the coaches to try new things in a game situation, so the experimentation will likely last much of the evening. More information on the new and experimental rules can be found on the next page.
• Six NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago are the highlight of the 2006-07 Spartan schedule, which includes 15 home games, three at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, and non-conference opponents from the WCHA, ECAC, and Atlantic Hockey will be featured on the Spartans' docket for the upcoming season. The traditional four games against Michigan, the College Hockey Showcase against Minnesota and Wisconsin, and annual appearance in the Great Lakes Invitational are once again the marquee games on the schedule. The Spartans will play one of their games against the Wolverines at Joe Louis Arena, and will face off against ECAC champion Harvard in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Invitational. In all, Michigan State will play 11 games against teams which earned spots in last year's NCAA Tournament, including the defending National Champion Badgers.
• Sophomore goaltender Jeff Lerg (first team) and senior defenseman Tyler Howells (second team) were recognized as Preseason All-CCHA selections. Lerg is the league's reigning Rookie of the Year, as well as the CCHA Tournament MVP from 2006.
• The Spartans bring two lines into the season which saw significant action together during the 2005-06 campaign. Comley refers to them as his "1A" and "1B" lines. The first is a trio of juniors - Bryan Lerg, Jim McKenzie and Chris Mueller, and the other all sophomores - Justin Abdelkader, Tim Crowder, and Tim Kennedy. The all-sophomore "09 Line" were honorable mention selections to the 2005-06 CCHA All-Rookie Team.
