Spartans Entertain Ferris State in Midweek Tilt

11/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Nov. 6, 2006

MSU All-Access (Live Game Audio)
PLEASE NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, a live video stream of tonight's game will not be available. We apologize for the inconvenience.

in brief
The Spartans host the first of two games on the schedule this week against CCHA clustermate Ferris State. These two teams will meet four times this season, with the remaining two games to take place in February - on Friday, Feb. 9 at Munn and on the 13th in Big Rapids. Both of the February games will be carried by FSN Detroit

series records
Michigan State owns a 60-24-13 edge in the all-time series. MSU hosts the Bulldogs on Friday, and is 36-14-4 against Ferris in East Lansing. The two teams face off on Friday in Big Rapids, where the Spartans own a 23-9-8 edge.

turning back the clock
Ferris State took three points in the series last year, a 2-2 tie on their home ice and a 2-1 victory from Munn. The Spartans had won six straight in the series prior to the tie last year at Ewigleben.

among the giants
Head coach Rick Comley brings a 692-538-87 record into this week's games, during his 34th season as a collegiate head coach. He is third among active head coaches in career victories and sits fifth on the all-time NCAA list, which is headed by former Spartan mentor Ron Mason (924 victories). With eight wins, he will become the fifth collegiate coach to record 700 hockey coaching victories.
In addition, Comley needs just five wins to reach the 100-victory plateau for his Michigan State tenure.

he'll do it close to home ...
There is a good chance that Rick Comley will be around friends and family when he reaches his 700-victory milestone. He's projected to reach it sometime in December; the Spartans host Ohio State on Dec. 1-2, then MSU is at Northern Michigan on Dec. 8-9, where Comley won two national championships and spent 26 seasons as the hockey coach (and several years as the athletic direcor). After that, the Spartans will be just down the road at Joe Louis Arena for the Great Lakes Invitational.

scouting the bulldogs
Ferris State, under the direction of 1982 MSU graduate and 15th-year head coach Bob Daniels, are off to a 3-5-0 start on the year and own a 1-3-0 mark in the CCHA. The Bulldogs were idle last weekend, but come into Tuesday's tilt having lost their last three games - they dropped a pair at Alaska (2-1, 4-2) and lost the back end of a split with Western Michigan (5-3) prior to that.
The Bulldog offense has struggled early this season, averaging just 2.0 goals per game. A trio of sophomores sit at the top of their scoring charts, led by Brendan Connolly with two goals and four assists for six points. Right behind with identical 1-5-6 scoring lines are Dan Reidel and JT Dahlinger. Between the pipes is classmate Mitch O'Keefe, who owns a .897 save percentage and a 2.52 GAA.

ccha implications
This marks the second of two straight weeks of games for Michigan State against teams in its CCHA cluster, and three straight weekends of conference action overall. The Spartans split the home-and-home with Michigan, and after this week's games against Ferris, another home-and-home is on deck the weekend before Thanksgiving with Notre Dame, which has rocketed into the national polls with a 6-1-1 record. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Michigan and Michigan State will play before both teams head for the College Hockey Showcase against Minnesota and Wisconsin.

non-conference success
Since the 2000-01 season, Michigan State has posted a 32-16-4 mark against non-CCHA opponents during the regular season. In the four-plus seasons under Rick Comley, MSU is 20-14-3 against non-CCHA opposition, including a 6-3-1 mark last season.

shoot em up, tex - in the first period
Michigan State has outshot its opponents by a 192-129 margin over its first six games, and only Michigan (33, last Saturday in a 6-2 win) has taken more than 23 in a game. Western Michigan had that previous opponent high in a 3-2 win at Lawson.
In a period-by-period breakdown, the Spartans have come out firing in the opening frame, putting 74 pucks on net, compared to 70 in the second period and 48 in the third.

in the polls
Michigan State's position in both national polls remains unchanged this week after a split with Michigan last weekend - the Spartans are sixth in this week's USCHO.com poll and fifth in the USA Today/USAHockeyMagazine survey.

preseason accolades
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. Thirty-eight 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.
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.

which is which?
The Spartans brought 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.

open tryouts
While his top two lines have been settled since the beginning of training camp, Rick Comley has tried several combinations for the third and fourth units in recent games. Against St. Lawrence, his fourth line of Brandon Warner and Dan Sturges centered by Kurt Kivisto generated the eventual game-winner. It was Kivisto with the tally - and he was appearing in just his third career game. Kivisto has appeared in four straight games, and has seemingly earned a spot on the fourth line.

the law of averages
Six Spartan skaters are averaging at least a point per game: Tim Kennedy, Jay Sprague, Nick Sucharski, Justin Abdelkader, Jim McKenzie, and Tim Crowder.

is this what we were missing last fall?
Tim Kennedy posted a four-point weekend (3-1-4) against Michigan, and is now one goal away from tying his freshman year goal total. Through six games, he has nearly half the points (nine) that he did in his entire injury-shortened freshman season (19).

start out strong
Freshman Jay Sprague's point-scoring streak was extended to five games with the second multiple-point game of his career on Friday (two assists). He was the only Spartan skater to score in each of the team's first five games, but he was held off the board in the loss to Michigan at Yost.

more firsts
Sophomore Matt Schepke scored his first collegiate goal on an outstanding individual effort in the second period of Friday's game against Michigan.

mac's gone streakin'
Jim McKenzie now has the longest active point-scoring streak on the team, with a goal or assist in his last four games.

finding the touch
Sophomore Nick Sucharski, who missed significant time due to illness as a freshman, has four goals on the season through six games after netting only two in his first year. His four goals have come with just eight shots on net. He shares the team lead in goals with Tim Kennedy.

numbers we're just not sure mean anything
• Justin Abdelkader posted the first goal of the 2006-07 campaign, just 1:44 into the opener against Western Michigan. Abdelkader also scored the first goal of the 2005-06 season, at the 2:03 mark of the first period against Wayne State in the Lefty McFadden Invitational in Dayton, Ohio.

• Four of MSU's eight power play goals this season have been first-period markers, and seven of the eight have come in either the first or second period.

• The earliest goal MSU has scored in a game this season is 1:44 into the first period. The latest the Spartans have scored (excluding empty-net goals) is 12:30 of the third frame.

who's got next?
Rick Comley has seen the bulk of the scoring come from his sophomore class this year. While the number of sophomore skaters is nearly double to triple the size of the other classes, one can't underestimate the impact the class has had on the team's offensive fortunes. A breakdown, by class - followed by last year's breakdown.

2006-07Class (No.) GP  Goals (pct.)    Points (pct.)Freshman (3)    16  2 (7.4%)    10 (14.5%)Sophomore (9)   42  16 (59.3%)  33 (47.8%)Junior (6)  30  8 (29.6%)   16 (23.1%)Senior (4)  19  1 (3.7%)    8 (11.6%)
2005-06Class (No.) GP  Goals (pct.)    Points (pct.)Freshman (8)    164 35 (25.4%)  78 (20.6%)Sophomore (6)   219 40 (29.0%)  102 (26.9%)Junior (6)  201 35 (25.4%)  102 (26.9%)Senior (5)  175 28 (20.2%)  96 (25.3%)

career years
Defenseman Tyler Howells had his most productive offensive campaign as a junior, with 34 points (10g, 34a) - he had just 24 points in his first two collegiate seasons combined. He led all CCHA defensemen in scoring, and ranked 15th nationally. He was a finalist for the CCHA's Best Offensive Defenseman Award.
Each member of the all-junior line also made significant jumps in statistical categories in their sophomore campaigns. Bryan Lerg finished second on the team in scoring (38 points), and was third in assists (23) and in goals (15). His 38 points more than doubled his freshman year output of 15. He is the team's top returning scorer.
Jim McKenzie had an impressive improvement on his freshman-year totals; he had 11 goals and 17 assists after an 18-point year in 2004-05. His 85 penalty minutes were second on the team.
Chris Mueller went from a two-goal freshman campaign to posting 11 as a sophomore; he went from 18 to 27 points.

keep `em healthy, ace
Tim Kennedy led the 2006 freshmen in assists (13), and had 17 of his 19 points after returning from a hand injury on Dec. 29 (he missed 16 games). Kennedy had seven points in his last six games a year ago. This year, he's picked up right where he left off - he owns the team lead in scoring with nine points (4g, 5a).

it all starts on the goal line
Jeff Lerg made a name for himself on the national scene as a freshman. He was the CCHA Tournament MVP, the CCHA Rookie of the Year, the CCHA/RBC Player of the Month for both January and March, and was named to InsideCollegeHockey.com's national All-Rookie Team. Lerg finished his season with a 1.96 GAA (third nationally) and seventh in save percentage (.928). His single-season GAA ranks seventh in the MSU record book, as he is only the fifth Spartan in school history to post a sub-two goals against average in a season (Ryan Miller posted three). Lerg sits fourth in school history in single-season save percentage, and qualifies for second place on MSU's career list in that category; his 1.96 places him third on the current career list.

schedule capsule
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.

media darlings
Twenty-one Michigan State regular-season hockey games will be aired live in the upcoming hockey season, in addition to one exhibition game. The array of MSU games will be aired on FSN Detroit, College Sports Television (CSTV), ESPNU, and Comcast. In addition, the Michigan State Department of Athletics has announced that 14 of its 17 regular-season home games will be available via live webstream on its official website, www.msuspartans.com. Part of the All-Access package, subscribers will be able to get live video synched with the radio call by Scott Moore and Rob Woodward. Michigan State cannot webcast games which will air live on FSN Detroit.

catching up with ...
Five members of the 2005-06 team are now playing professional hockey. Three - David Booth, Drew Miller, and Jared Nightingale - were on American Hockey League (AHL) rosters, the top developmental league for the NHL. Booth has a 1-4-5 scoring line (+4) in eight games with the Rochester Amerks, the farm club for the Florida Panthers. Miller has two goals and six assists in nine games played for the Portland Pirates, the top affiliate for the Anaheim Ducks. Nightingale, who signed a free agent contract in late March and appeared in 10 games with the Springfield Falcons last spring, was just called up by the Iowa Stars. He had a goal in his first AHL game this season, a win over Omaha on Oct. 27.
Two other members of last year's team are playing in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) - Colton Fretter was named the League's Rookie of the Month on Nov 1, and recently tied the Gwinnett Gladiators team record with four goals in a game. Meanwhile, Corey Potter has a goal and an assist in four games with the Charlotte Checkers.

one (or 12) for the show
A total of 12 former Spartans are currently on NHL rosters: Rod Brind'Amour (Carolina), Anson Carter (Columbus), Adam Hall (NY Rangers), Shawn Horcoff (Edmonton), Andrew Hutchinson (Carolina), Duncan Keith (Chicago), John-Michael Liles (Colorado), Ryan Miller (Buffalo), Jim Slater (Atlanta), Bryan Smolinski (Chicago), Mike Weaver (Los Angeles) and Mike York (NY Islanders).

spartan-on-spartan crime
Last year, Rod Brind'Amour and Andrew Hutchinson won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes, defeating Shawn Horcoff and the Oilers in seven games. The Hurricanes advanced to the finals after defeating Ryan Miller and the Sabres in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games as well.

up next
These two teams will face off on Friday in Big Rapids.