Big Ten Battles On Tap in College Hockey Showcase

11/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Nov. 23, 2007

Michigan State breaks from CCHA play when it hosts Big Ten and WCHA rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase on Friday and Saturday. MSU owns a 13-12-3 record all-time in the College Hockey Showcase, and is 4-2-2 at Munn Arena against their WCHA rivals in this tournament. Last year, the Spartans fell 5-4 at Minnesota, at the time ranked No. 1 in the country. MSU then fell 2-0 at Wisconsin the following night.

Date/Time: November 23-24, 2007, 7:05 p.m.; East Lansing, Mich..
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Audio: WJIM 1240 AM (Fri.) / WVFN 730 AM (Sat.)/ msuspartans.com
Scott Moore (PBP) and Rob Woodward '00 (Analysis)
Television: (Fri.) Comcast Local; (Sat.) Big Ten Network (Tape Delay, 10 p.m.)
Tape Delay will also air on BTN Sunday (2 a.m. & 1 p.m.); Monday (3 p.m.)
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Download MSU Hockey Notes (PDF)

series histories
Wisconsin has won two straight Showcase games against MSU, while Minnesota is riding a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2) against the Spartans, all in Showcase competition. The last time the Showcase was played in East Lansing (2005-06), MSU fell to the eventual National Champion Badgers, 3-1, and then skated to a 2-2 tie with the Gophers.
Overall, Minnesota holds a 102-40-10 record against Michigan State, and a 43-25-4 record in games played in East Lansing. The Spartans lead the all-time series lead against Wisconsin (46-39-2), with a 23-14-0 edge in games at Munn.

msu and the dub
The Spartans are looking to improve their non-conference record against WCHA teams. The Spartans, who own a 4-1 non-CCHA record, suffered their only non-conference loss at North Dakota in the season opener. MSU will play a total of four WCHA schools this season - the Spartans will face Michigan Tech in the Great Lakes Invitational semifinals. The Spartans were 0-2 against WCHA teams a year ago.

commissioners cup
Saturday's game between MSU and Wisconsin is part of the Commissioner's Cup. Each of the Division I conferences has 10 non-conference games selected which comprises the 30-game schedule. As of Nov. 17, the CCHA is currently 2-3-1 in Commissioner's Cup games (5 points). The WCHA currently leads with six points (3-0-0).
For more information, see p. 7 of the CCHA weekly release.

scouting the gophers
Minnesota is ranked 13/15 in this week's national polls, and is coming off a home split with Anchorage. The Gophers are 17-1-2 in their last 20 games against CCHA opponents, and have won 13 consecutive non-conference games.
Junior Blake Wheeler leads the Gophers with five goals and five assists for 10 points and shares the team goal-scoring lead with Kyle Okposo. Three of Okposo's goals have come on the power play, giving him the team lead in that category. Junior forward Jay Barriball has two goals and seven assists for nine points, while classmate Jeff Frazee boasts a 2.66 GAA and .903 save percentage between the pipes. He recorded his fourth career shutout last Friday at Anchorage.
Minnesota is 16-9-3 all-time in Showcase games, and is 7-0-1 over the last four years in this tournament. The lone tie is against the Spartans the last time they met in East Lansing.

a look at the badgers
Wisconsin owns a 5-5 overall record, and is 2-4 in WCHA contests. The Badgers have dropped three straight contests entering Friday's game at Michgian, including 4-3, 6-1 decisions at Colorado College last weekend.
Superfrosh Kyle Turris leads the offensive attack, with team bests in goals (5), assists (10) and points (15); he ranks second nationally in freshman scoring (1.5 ppg). Junior Ben Sheets, senior Kyle Klubertanz, and sophomore Blake Geoffrion all have four goals on the season - Sheets has added seven assists for 11 points, while the other two each have four helpers and eight points. Junior Shane Connelly has played in nine of the 10 UW games this season, and has posted a .898 save percentage and 2.89 GAA.
The Badgers are 8-19-1 all-time in College Hockey Showcase games, but are 6-2-0 with three wins against both Michigan and Michigan State over the last four years of the event.

last time out
Michigan State dropped a pair of games to CCHA-leading (and national No. 1) Miami at Munn Arena last weekend. Both games were one-goal affairs until late empty-netters sealed victory for the RedHawks, who improved to 11-1 with the sweep.
MSU's eight-game winning streak came to an end on Thursday, as the Spartans suffered a 4-2 loss. The Spartans' top-ranked power play went 0-for-8 on the night against the nation's top-ranked penalty kill, as the Red Hawks got a pair of goals from Justin Mercier and the game-winner less than a minute into the final period by senior Nathan Davis. Tim Kennedy and Corey Tropp scored for MSU, while Jeff Lerg made 30 saves.
The following night followed a similar script, as Miami jumped on the board early with a Mercier power-play goal, added a second tally before the midway point of the period, and held off a late MSU rally to take a 3-1 victory. Miami had a 2-0 lead at 9:25 of the first period on goals by Mercier and Carter Camper, but MSU halved the lead with a Matt Schepke power-play tally at 12:20 in the first. Despite good chances at both ends, both goaltenders were up to the task, with the only other tally coming in the final :30 of play by Ryan Jones with Jeff Lerg pulled for an extra skater.

an early look at the CCHA race
Miami has jumped out to a lead in the CCHA standings, with 18 points (9-1-0). The Red Hawks, along with Northern Michigan, have played the most conference games, however (10). The Spartans, with just six CCHA games under their belts, are in the lower third of the conference in terms of league games played - Alaska and Lake Superior have played just four, while MSU, Western, and Ohio State have played six. Only Michigan, however, has remained unbeaten in CCHA play (8-0).

law of averages
MSU's roster averages: 6-0, 188 lbs., and the average age is 20 years, 11 months.

high-yield returns
Michigan State is one of four teams in the CCHA that returns 20 letterwinners this season, the highest number in the CCHA. The Spartans return 83.9 percent of their goal scoring from a year ago (115 goals), tops in the league. MSU returns 73.9 percent (263) of its points from a year ago, which ranks second in the CCHA behind Miami (81.5%). The Spartans return five of their top six forwards: seniors Bryan Lerg and Chris Mueller and the all-junior line of Tim Kennedy, Justin Abdelkader, and Tim Crowder.

if it was baseball, they'd win the cy young
MSU has won 20+ games in 15 consecutive seasons.

let's end this streak
The Spartans will look to snap a rather inauspicious streak: neither of the last two NCAA titleists made the tournament the year after they won the championship: both the Denver Pioneers (2005 champions) and Wisconsin Badgers (2006 titleists) failed to qualify for the 16-team field.

home sweet home
In 2007-08, MSU will play 20 regular-season games at Munn Arena, compared to 15 a year ago. Fifteen of the 20 will be televised.

the number ones
The opening-game loss to North Dakota snapped a two-game winning streak for the Spartans against teams ranked No. 1 in the national polls. In last year's NCAA Tournament, the Spartans defeated both Notre Dame (2-1) and Boston College (3-1) when they held the top ranking. Michigan State has three losses this season, but all were to teams which held the No. 1 ranking at the time of the game.

home cooking
This weekend's series wraps a streak of six straight home games for Michigan State. Dating back to Oct. 19, Michigan State will have 10 of 12 games in the friendly confines of Munn Ice Arena. The next month brings six games for the Spartans: three on the road, one at home, and two at Joe Louis Arena (Great Lakes Invitational).

oh-so-special
The Spartan power play, which entered last weekend tops in Division I, went just 1-for-15 in the series. At 26.2% (16-for-61), the power play now ranks third nationally.
Only one goal against the Spartans last weekend was 5x5: Miami scored four of its seven goals on the power play, and two were empty-net tallies.
The Miami series snapped a streak of five straight games in which the Spartans had registered multiple power-play tallies, which began with a 3-for-4 effort against Northern Michigan on Oct. 27.

octane "o"'s
Michigan State's scoring offense - currently at 3.36 goals per game - ranks third in the CCHA and ninth nationally. Wisconsin's 3.70 goals per game leads the Showcase field, but also ranks them sixth nationally and second in the WCHA.

peppered
Michigan State's 52 shots on net against Mercyhurst (Nov. 10) was the most since a 52-shot effort against Wayne State in a 7-2 victory on Nov. 21, 2003.

tough thirds
The third period is the only one in which MSU does not hold a scoring advantage - the Spartans hold a 15-10 edge in the first period and 14-6 in the middle frame, but have been outscored 13-8 in the final frame.
MSU surrendered eight of those 13 third-period markers in their first four games, and an additional two were empty-netters last weekend. In that opening four-game span, the Spartans twice gave up three goals in the third- at North Dakota on Oct. 13, and at home against Northern Michigan on Oct. 26 - and gave up two to Colgate in the final frame on Nov. 19.

choir boys?
Only once this season - the Nov. 3 game at Alaska - has MSU been assessed more penalty minutes in a game than its opponent. In last Thursday's game against Miami, MSU was whistled for season-highs in both penalties (10) and penalty minutes (28)

class system
Which class is the most productive for the Spartans? The eight-member junior class has an average of 0.7 points per game. The overall breakdown:

Seniors (5) 50  6-19-25 0.50Juniors (8) 73  22-29-51    0.70Sophomores(4)   32  1-9-10  0.31Freshmen (6)    43  8-12-20 0.47

offensive outburst
Tim Kennedy scored a goal in a career-best eight straight games before his streak ended last Friday. He leads the country in both power play (7) and game-winning goals (4), ranks 11th in the country in points per game (1.36), and fourth in goals per game (0.91). His 10 goals on the year is the third-highest total in Division I - behind Kevin Porter of Michigan (13) and Derek Whitmore of Bowling Green (12); he's tied with Justin Mercier of Miami and Nick Sirota of Northern Michgian.

offensive stay-at-home defenseman?
Senior Daniel Vukovic registered his 11th point of the season on Nov. 20 against Mercyhurst, and is one shy of tying his single-season career best of 12, set last year. Vukovic ranks in a tie for third nationally in points per game by a defenseman (1.00).

offensive D, part 2
Sophomore Michael Ratchuk was the only player to register a point in each of the two games against Miami, posting an assist each night. Ratchuk has six assists this season, one off his freshman-year total of seven.

play the percentages
Kennedy has exactly half of the Spartans' game-winning goals, and nearly half (44%) of MSU's total power play tallies.

No. 1s are a streak killer
Kennedy recently had an eight-game point-scoring streak, his career best. Kennedy had scored in seven straight games to end the 2007 season (3/10/07 vs. Nebraska-Omaha - 4/7/07 vs. Boston College;), and had registered 5-5-10 during that streak. His streak was halted by the North Dakota shutout of the Spartans in the season opener, but Kennedy rebounded in the second game of the Colgate series and went on to put up 10-5-15 in the next eight games. He has 15 goals and 10 assists in his last 18 games.

multiplicity
Kennedy leads the Spartans with five multiple-point outings this season, followed by Daniel Vukovic with three. Four MSU players have two: Justin Abdelkader, Bryan Lerg, Matt Schepke, and Michael Ratchuk. Vukovic entered his senior campaign with two career multiple-point games, which he has already surpassed this year. Ratchuk had two as a freshman, and has tied that total in 11 games.

after the seventh game, he rested
Jeff Lerg recently set the school record for consecutive goaltender appearances and games started, (63). The previous mark was held by Joe Selinger from Jan. 15, 1957-March 14, 1959. Lerg's streak ranks second all-time in the NCAA annals for consecutive starts and third in consecutive games played.
Lerg played in the first seven games of the year, and made his 63rd consecutive start on Nov. 9 against Mercyhurst. The next night, Lerg was relegated to door duty as sophomore Bobby Jarosz got his first collegiate start, and made 24 saves.

    NCAA - Consecutive Games Played    Player, Team    Years   Cons. G    David McKee, Cornell     2004-06    102    Brant Nicklin, Duluth   1996-98 76    Jeff Lerg, MSU  2005-07 62
 NCAA  - Consecutive Games Started    Player, Team     Years  Cons. St.    Brant Nicklin, Duluth    1996-98    76    Jeff Lerg, MSU  2005-07 62    Blair Allison, Maine    1994-95 51

back where he belongs
Jeff Lerg has allowed two goals or fewer in five of his last six games. In that span, he boasts a 1.81 GAA and .936 save percentage. It has helped him lower his season GAA a full goal (3.5 to 2.5).

in the annals
Jeff Lerg has moved into the top 10 in several netminding categories at Michigan State: Career wins (50), eighth; career games played (83), 10th; career GAA (2.24), third; career save percentage (.918), third; career shutouts (6), T-fifth; Wins in a season (26), T-fifth; games played, season (42), T-first; saves, season (1,042), fourth.

stopper
Jeff Lerg stopped a second-period penalty shot on an attempt by Colgate's Tyler Burton (Oct. 20) to preserve a 2-1 MSU lead that held up as the final. It was the first time an MSU goalie had stopped a penalty shot since Chad Alban denied Brendan Concannon of UMass-Lowell in the 1996 NCAA West Regional.

at the dot
Michigan State has had significant success this season on faceoffs - three players are well over 50%. Nick Sucharski has won 50 of 82 (61%), Chris Mueller has a 57% success rate (74-of-129), and Justin Abdelkader is at 53.8% (124-of-225).

schep-ping up
Matt Schepke has already bettered his sophomore-year point total (2-3-5) with his 5-3-8 scoring line through 11 games.

collegiate debuts
The freshman class is finding ways to make an impact in the early part of the season. Five of the six MSU freshmen have recorded their first collegiate goal, with blueliners Jeff Petry and AJ Sturges getting their first on Nov. 10 against Mercyhurst. Petry, a regular on the MSU power play, currently leads the class in scoring (1-6-7). Dustin Gazley had an impressive home debut, netting a pair of goals in his first home game (Oct. 19 vs. Colgate). Corey Tropp ranks second among freshmen in scoring (3-3-6) and had a goal last weekend against Miami. Andrew Rowe played in his first game in green and white on Oct. 26 against Northern Michigan, and recorded a goal. Forward Joey Shean has played in three games, and still looks for his first collegiate tally - but has played well in his role when called upon.

double dips
Dustin Gazley and Matt Schepke each had two-goal outings on Oct. 19 vs. Colgate. It was the first time that MSU had two, two-goal scorers in the same game since Dec. 1, 2006 against Ohio State when Tim Kennedy and Chris Mueller each scored twice in a 4-1 victory.

one stops `em, the other puts `em in
Bryan Lerg emerged as one of the most dangerous - and exciting to watch - forwards in the CCHA. Lerg recorded four assists on Oct. 19 against Colgate, tying his career best that he set on Oct. 29, 2005 at Cornell. It also tied his single-game high for points, set in the same game. Lerg has 98 career points (51g, 47 a) in 138 career games, and had a three-game point-scoring streak snapped in the Miami series.

an even dozen
A total of 12 former Spartans are currently on NHL rosters: David Booth (Florida), Rod Brind'Amour (Carolina), Adam Hall (Pittsburgh), Shawn Horcoff (Edmonton), Duncan Keith (Chicago), John-Michael Liles (Colorado), Ryan Miller (Buffalo), Jim Slater (Atlanta), Bryan Smolinski (Montreal), Mike Weaver (Vancouver) and Mike York (Phoenix).

up next
The Spartans take to the highway for the first time since early November for a road trip. MSU will head to Sault Ste. Marie to take on CCHA clustermate Lake Superior in the first of two, two-game series this season.