Spartans Kick Off 2008 With CCHA Set

1/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Jan. 3, 2008

Michigan State returns to conference action by hosting a two-game set with CCHA clustermate Lake Superior State. MSU looks to shake off a tough outcome from the Great Lakes Invitational, where the defending champions finished fourth for just the third time in school history. LSSU looks to shake off the rust of nearly a month without game action.

Date/Time: Jan. 4-5, 2008, East Lansing, Mich..
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series history

MSU is 64-29-10 all-time against Lake Superior State. Comley owns a 49-21-8 mark in his coaching career against his alma mater, which includes a 11-1-2 mark as the head coach of the Spartans.
Michigan State is undefeated in the last 12 matchups against the Lakers (10-0-2), which included the sweep at the begnning of December and three wins last season (3-2 OT and 4-0 in the regular season at Munn, and 7-6 (OT) in the CCHA consolation game).

scouting report

Lake Superor State is amid a nine-game winless streak, but snapped a seven-game losing streak with a pair of ties at Nebraska-Omaha in its final pre-holiday action. The Lakers have been idle for nearly a month - LSSU has not played since Dec. 7-8 against the Mavericks.
Sophomore forward Nathan Perkovich, who has a goal in three of the Lakers' last four games, leads LSSU in points with 10-1-11. He is ranked 10th in the CCHA in average goals per game, tied for sixth in power-play goals with six and second in game-winning goals with five. Senior forward Dan Eves is second on the team in scoring with 4-6-10, while junior forward Troy Schwab, with 1-8-9, leads in assists.
Highlighting LSSU's recent effort is the improved play of sophomore goaltender Pat Inglis. After getting off to a rough start, he has made strong showings in back-to-back games, totaling 36 saves in the 1-1 tie with UNO and 5-2 loss to MSU. He is 1-5-2 with a 3.93 goals-against average. Freshman Brian Mahoney-Wilson, who has been fairly consistent in net all season, is 1-6-1 with a 2.94 gaa.

last time out

Michigan State, the defending Great Lakes Invitational Champions, finished fourth in the 2007 tournament, dropping games to Michigan Tech (4-1) and Providence College (5-3). MSU finished fourth in the GLI for just the third time in 35 all-time appearances (1979, 1990). This was just the 10th time that the Spartans had not appeared in the final.
Tim Kennedy had the only goal for MSU in its game against Tech, which was a 2-1 ballgame entering the final minute of play. The teams had traded goals approximately 90 seconds apart in the opening frame, as Tyler Shelast scored the first of the game at 13:47 and Kennedy followed suit at 15:06. Tech tagged on a second-period tally to take the 2-1 lead, and held on before getting an empty-netter at 19:14 and another at 19:33 of the final frame for the 4-1 margin of victory.
Jeff Lerg made a season-best 40 saves in the consolation game against Providence, but the Spartans allowed four third-period markers to the Friars in a 5-3 loss. Tied 1-1 entering the final frame, Nick Sucharski gave MSU its only lead of the weekend 71 seconds into the period. Providence scored twice in a two-minute span midway through the frame, and then a fourth tally at the 15:54 mark. Michael Ratchuk cut the lead to one (4-3) with under a minute to play in the game, but the Friars got an empty-net tally with nine seconds left to secure the victory.

hottest start

MSU finished the pre-holiday portion of its schedule with a 12-3-2 mark, the best halfway-point record in the Rick Comley era and the best since the 2001-02 team - Ron Mason's last - had an identical record in the pre-GLI schedule.

an early look at the CCHA race

MSU entered the holiday hiatus in fourth place in the CCHA standings, six points behind league-leading Michigan and four behind both Miami and Notre Dame.
MSU has played two fewer conference games than all three of those teams, and has yet to face off against either the Irish or the Wolverines.

roadies

The Spartans have played 11 of their 19 games at home this season, but own a 5-1 mark in six road contests. All five victories have come as part of CCHA sweeps - at Alaska and Lake Superior, and in a home-and-home with Ferris State.

quite the cluster

MSU has played a third of its cluster games, and is 4-0 with sweeps at Lake Superior (3-2, 5-2) and at home against Northern Michigan (5-4, 3-2). Michigan has also swept both upper peninsula schools, and Northern Michigan swept Lake Superior in a home-and-home.

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 returned 20 letterwinners this season, the highest number in the CCHA. The Spartans returned 83.9 percent of their goal scoring from a year ago (115 goals), tops in the league. MSU returned 73.9 percent (263) of its points from a year ago, which ranks second in the CCHA behind Miami (81.5%). The Spartans returned 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. Fourteen 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 five losses this season, and three were to teams which held the No. 1 ranking at the time of the game.

streaking
Michigan State owns a four-game winning streak in CCHA contests.
two-game high
The Spartans allowed nine goals in the two games at the Great Lakes Invitational (two were empty-net tallies). It was the most goals allowed by the Spartans in a weekend this season.
fit to be tied
Michigan State played to a pair of ties in the College Hockey Showcase (Nov. 23-24). The Spartans are undefeated in their last 17 overtime games (6-0-11), and have not dropped an overtime contest since Nov. 12, 2005 against Nebraska-Omaha (3-2).
strong starts
MSU has scored the first goal of the game in six of its last seven games. The Spartans own a 10-1-1 record when scoring the game's opening tally, and are 2-4-1 when letting its opponent get on the board first.
MSU lost for the first time this season when netting the first goal of the game, against Providence.
home cooking?
With a 4-1 victory over Ferris State on Dec. 8, MSU snapped a four-game winless streak at home (0-2-2), its longest streak at Munn since an 0-3-2 streak in November of 2005.
The next month brings eight games for the Spartans: four on the road, and four at home. MSU has this home series against LSSU, a road set at Ohio State, and home-and-home series against Notre Dame and Michigan.
specialties
The MSU power play ranks eighth nationally (22/102, 21.6%), despite going 1-for-17 in its last four games on the man advantage (.059). The Spartans have registered multiple power-play tallies in eight of 19 games this season.
its hot when we win
The Spartans have converted 20 of 66 chances on the power play (30.3%) in its 12 victories, while scoring just once in 25 opportunities (4%) in its six losses.
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. The Spartans had their second-highest shot output of the season on Dec. 1 at LSSU (41 shots).
Jeff Lerg made 40 saves, his season best, against Providence (Dec. 29, 45 shots). It was the second time in four games that MSU has allowed 40 shots - it allowed 40 in the game at Ferris State.
tough thirds
The third period is the only one in which MSU does not hold a scoring advantage - the Spartans hold a 25-14 edge in the first period and 19-14 in the middle frame, but have been outscored 25-20 in the final frame.
MSU has allowed multiple third-period goals on five occasions. The Spartans allowed four goals to Providence in the third period in their last outing, a season high. MSU surrendered eight of the 25 third-period markers in their first four games. 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 and to Wisconsin on Nov. 23.
choir boys?
Only twice this season - the Nov. 3 game at Alaska and the Nov. 30 game at Lake Superior State - has MSU been assessed more penalty minutes in a game than its opponent.
In the Nov. 16 game against Miami, MSU was whistled for season-highs in both penalties (10) and penalty minutes (28).
MSU has been whistled for just six penalties over the last three games, and has allowed just one power-play goal aganst four chances (75%)
class system
Which class is the most productive for the Spartans? The eight-member junior class has an average of 0.65 points per game. The overall breakdown:

Class (no.) GP G-A-P PPG
Seniors (5) 90 14-27-41 0.46
Juniors (8) 123 36-50-86 0.70
Sophomores (4) 56 3-17-20 0.36
Freshmen (6) 73 11-22-33 0.45
familiar faces
The all-junior "'09 line" of Tim Kennedy, Justin Abdelkader, and Tim Crowder has skated together in 16 of MSU's 19 games this season, far and away the most frequent line combination. Matt Schepke, Nick Sucharski, and Corey Tropp have skated together seven times, the second-highest on the team.
The '09 line has skated together in 48 of MSU's 61 games since the start of the 2006-07 season.
offensive outburst
Tim Kennedy is among national scoring leaders in several categories: he ranks second in game-winning goals (5), fourth in power-play tallies (7), tied for seventh in shorthanded goals (2), and ranks 11th in goals per game (0.68).
offensive defensemen
Michael Ratchuk and Daniel Vukovic are tied 11th in the country in defenseman scoring (0.74 ppg). Vukovic (2-12-14) registered his 13th point of the season on Nov. 30 against Lake Superior, bettering his single-season high set as a junior. Ratchuk owns a 3-11-14 stat line, bettering his freshman year point total (4-8-12).
green blueliner producing
Jeff Petry had a pair of assists and led all defensemen with a +4 in the two-game sweep of Ferris State prior to break. The freshman has been a standout so far this season on the blueline, and owns a 1-10-11 stat line.
play the percentages
Kennedy has nearly half of the Spartans' game-winning goals (five of 12), and a third (7) of MSU's total power play tallies (22).
multiplicity
Kennedy leads the Spartans with six multiple-point outings this season, followed by Matt Schepke (6), Michael Ratchuk (5), Bryan Lerg, and Tm Crowder (4), and then Daniel Vukovic, Justin Abdelkader, and Nick Sucharski with three each.
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 surpassed that total in 15 games.
tight squeezes
Jeff Lerg is now 5-0 this season in one-goal games - the most recent when he posted a 4-3 win at Ferris State in Big Rapids on Dec. 7, while making a 37 saves.
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.
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.
in the annals

Jeff Lerg has moved into the top 10 in several netminding categories at Michigan State: Career wins (54), eighth; career games played (89), seventh; career GAA (2.29), 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.

milestones
Tim Crowder skated in his 100th career game on Dec. 1 against LSSU, the first junior to reach that milestone. He celebrated with a goal and an assist, which snapped a five-game scoreless streak.
Justin Abdelkader reached the 100th-game plateau against Michigan Tech (Dec. 28), and had an assist on a Tim Kennedy goal.
Several Spartans are closing in on 100 career games: senior Jeff Dunne (92 GP), and juniors Nick Sucharski (96), Jeff Lerg (91), and Tim Kennedy (90).
at the dot
MSU dominated Ferris State in the faceoff circle in its final first-half weekend, winning 79 of 133 draws. On the year, Chris Mueller has won 132 of 235, for a team-best 56.2 percent. Justin Abdelkader has won 224 of 407 (55.0%), while Nick Sucharski is at 53 percent (89 of 168),
schep-ping up
Matt Schepke has already bettered his sophomore-year point total (2-3-5) with his 7-10-15 scoring line through 19 games. He has had two, two-goal games this season - including a pair of goals against Wisconsin (Nov. 24). He has multiple-point efforts in four of his last seven games, and ranks third on the team this season in both goal scoring and assists.
firsts
Sophomore Justin Johnston has appeared in the last four games for the Spartans, and recorded his first collegiate point against Providence, a blast from the left point that set up Dustin Gazley's first-period goal.
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 has a 1-10-11 line. Dustin Gazley had an impressive home debut, netting a pair of goals in his first home game (Oct. 19 vs. Colgate) and currently has three goals and seven assists. Corey Tropp leads freshmen in goal scoring (4-5-9) and is tied for second in points. Andrew Rowe played in his first game in green and white on Oct. 26 against Northern Michigan, and has a pair of goals on the season. Forward Joey Shean has played in five games, and still looks for his first collegiate tally - but has played well in his role when called upon.
career years
Five veterans have already surpassed their single-season bests through the midpoint of the season. Headlining the group is senior blueliner Daniel Vukovic, who recorded a 7-5-12 stat line in what was a breakout junior season. This year, he has two goals and 12 assists for 14 points - the 12 assists betters his career total of nine coming into the season.
In addition, junior Matt Schepke posted 3-2-5 as a sophomore, his first year in Green and White. He has seven goals and ten assists this year for 17 points. Schepke ranks second on the team in points.
A trio of blueliners also finds themselves having their best offensive seasons. Sophomore Michael Ratchuk has bettered his 12 points he recorded as a freshman (3-11-14), while classmate Ryan Turek and junior Brandon Gentile are also already ahead of their totals from a year ago. Turek has three assists this season after just two as a freshman, while Gentile's six helpers betters his total of four last year.
double dips

Dustin Gazley and Matt Schepke each had two-goal outings on Oct. 19, a 6-2 victory over 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. Schepke and Bryan Lerg completed the feat again against Wisconsin (Nov. 23) in a 4-4 tie.

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
Michigan State faces off with Notre Dame in a home-and-home series next weekend, an important series for both teams.