MSU, Western Play Home-and-Home
10/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 30, 2008
Michigan State faces off this week against Western Michigan in a home-and-home series, playing Friday night in East Lansing and again on Saturday in Kalamazoo. The hockey team's autograph sessions continue on Friday night, as the sophomore class will be signing in the northeast corner of the concourse at the conclusion of the game against Western Michigan.
the particulars
Date/Time: Fri. Oct. 31, 7:05 p.m., Munn Ice Arena/ Sat. Nov. 1, 7:35 p.m., Lawson Ice Arena.
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series history
The Spartans own a 58-27-7 record in the all-time series, which includes a 32-5-6 mark in games played in East Lansing and a 23-20-1 record on the Broncos' home sheet. Rick Comley owns a 44-20-4 mark all-time against Western Michigan.
recent history
MSU and snapped a three-game losing streak to the Broncos by sweeping last year's season series. Last year's 4-2 victory at Lawson Arena snapped a four-game losing streak at the Broncos' home arena.
gaining ground
Rick Comley owns a 742-562-96 (.564) career overall coaching record. He needs three wins to surpass Bob Peters for fourth place on the all-time wins list. Peters, who coached from 1964-2001 at North Dakota and Bemidji State, has 744 victories. Comley needs eight wins to reach 750, and would become just the fourth Division I coach in history to reach the 750-win plateau.
Former MSU coach and athletic director Ron Mason finished his career behind the bench in 2002 with 924 wins, while Jerry York of Boston College has 805 and Jack Parker of Boston University has 784.
compete with the east
The Spartans opened the 2008-09 season with four straight games against Hockey East competition: the Spartans went 1-1 at the season-opening Icebreaker Tournament, as MSU defeated Massachusetts, 3-1, in the season-opening game, then fell to host Boston University, 2-1, in the championship tilt. In the season's second weekend, the Spartans split a home series against UMass-Lowell.
... and its on
This weekend serves as the first full weekend of CCHA action, as all 12 teams will tangle with conference opponents. Ohio State, Miami, and Northern Michigan have all played four conference games, while eight other schools (including Michigan State) have played two. Only one team - Nebraska-Omaha - has not played a conference game yet this season.
This weekend's series include UNO at Bowling Green, Notre Dame at Northern Michigan, Alaska at Miami, Lake Superior at Ferris, and Ohio State at Michigan.
ccha outlook
The Spartans, who finished third in the 2007-08 season, are projected fifth in the CCHA's preseason coaches poll (96 points), while the media surveyed had MSU third, with two first-place votes and 776 points. The groups were split on their decisions - the coaches selected Notre Dame (128 pts., eight first-place votes) as the favorite, followed by Michigan (122 points, three first-place votes), Miami (108 points, one first-place vote), Northern Michigan (102 points), and the Spartans. From the media poll, the Wolverines were selected as the front-runner (945 points, 43 first-place votes), then Notre Dame (915 points, 35 first-place votes) and the Spartans. In the media poll, Miami was fourth (746 points, two first place votes) and Northern Michigan fifth (700 points, one first-place vote). Ferris State was the consensus sixth-place finisher.
they're honored
The Spartans were well-represented on the pre-season All-CCHA teams. Senior netminder Jeff Lerg, a First-Team All-CCHA selection as a junior, was a first team pick in the preseason as well. Also getting first-team nods were forwards Erik Condra (Notre Dame), Aaron Palushaj (Michigan) and Justin Mercier (Miami) and defensemen Mark Mitera (Michigan) and Kyle Lawson (Notre Dame). Spartan alternate captains Tim Crowder and Jeff Petry are both second-team preseason picks. Crowder was selected along with fellow forwards Carter Camper (Miami), Mark Olver (Northern Michigan) and Ryan Thang (Notre Dame), while Petry and Ian Cole (Notre Dame) are the blueline selections. Michigan's Billy Sauer is the second-team goaltender.
law of averages
MSU's roster averages: 6-0, 175 lbs., and the average age is 20 years, six months. Among CCHA schools, MSU is one of seven that averages 6-0, the Spartans are the lightest team on average, and are tied with Notre Dame as the second-youngest. (Michigan's roster averages 20 years, five months.)
if it was baseball, we'd win the cy young
MSU has won 20+ games in 16 consecutive seasons, and has won at least 25 in three straight.
simply the best
Michigan State finished the pre-playoff portion of its schedule in 2007-08 with a 23-9-5 record, the most regular-season victories in the Rick Comley era.
big picture
The Spartans made their 26th NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008 - their third straight selection to the field - with a 25-12-5 overall record and finished third in the CCHA regular-season behind Michigan and Miami. MSU advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals for the third straight season. Just three programs have been in an NCAA regional final in each of the last three seasons - Michigan State, North Dakota, and Boston College.
we've got this going for us
The Spartans were the first defending champion in three years to qualify for the tournament the year after winning the championship: both the Denver Pioneers (2005 champions) and Wisconsin Badgers (2006 titleists) failed to qualify for the 16-team field the season following their title.
milestone
The 2008 NCAA West Regional Semifinal was the 250th game behind the Michigan State bench for head coach Rick Comley. He owns a 144-87-24 (.614) mark in his six-year tenure as the head coach of MSU.
2008-09 season recap
Michigan State finished third in the CCHA standings, with a 19-6-3 CCHA record. The Spartans were three points behind league champion Michigan and two behind second-place Miami. MSU won five of the last six games of the regular season, and were an impressive 10-3-1 on the road. MSU's only road losses this season came in the curtain-lifter at No. 1 North Dakota, and a sweep at Northern Michigan in Marquette. The Spartans were swept in only two CCHA sets- at home against Miami in November, and at Northern. The Spartans swept Northern Michigan at Munn, Alaska, Lake State, and Ohio State on the road, and took home-and-home series with Ferris State, Bowling Green, and Western Michigan. In addition, MSU posted three-point weekends against Notre Dame, Lake Superior, and Michigan. There were only two weekend splits, and both came in February: against Nebraska-Omaha, and in the home-and-Joe series against Michigan.
pro losses
Three Spartans gave up their remaining eligibility to sign pro deals since the end of the 2007-08 season.
• Justin Abdelkader made his professional debut with the Detroit Red Wings on April 4 and played in two regular-season games. He was a member of the "Black Aces", training and traveling with the team throughout its Stanley Cup run. He had his day with the Cup in August, and brought it back to his high school, Muskegon Mona Shores. He has been assigned to Detroit's AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids as one of the last cuts in the Red Wings' preseason camp.
• Blueliner Michael Ratchuk gave up his final two years of eligibility and signed with Philadelphia in April; he appeared in three games for their AHL affiliate Phantoms. He scored his first professional goal on April 12, and begins the 2008-09 season there as well.
• Tim Kennedy opted to forego his senior year and signed with the Buffalo Sabres over the summer. Kennedy was one of the final six players sent to Buffalo's new AHL affiliate in Portland.
quite the cluster
MSU finished the season tied with Michigan for the most wins in games among its clustermates in 2007-08 with a .708 winning percentage. (Michigan State and Michigan were paired last season with Lake Superior and Northern Michigan). MSU went 7-3-2, while the Wolverines were 7-2-3, Northern Michigan was 4-5-3, and the Lakers went 1-8-3. The cluster of MSU, UM, Northern Michigan and Lake Superior had an overall winning percentage of .584 (77-52-20), and finished third, first, sixth, and 10th respectively in the CCHA standings. Miami (2nd), Ohio State (11th), Nebraska-Omaha (T-7) and Alaska (T-9) went a combined 67-69-14 (.493), while Notre Dame (4th), Bowling Green (T-7), Ferris State (5th) and Western Michigan (12th) were 65-72-12 (.477).
MSU's cluster in 2008-09 features Miami and Ohio State, in addition to Michigan.
strong second halves
During the Rick Comley era, the Spartans have traditionally been a second-half team. The first three months (October, November, December) of his first five seasons (2002-07), the Spartans were a combined 48-43-8 (52.5%), then compiled a 69-33-10 mark in the second half (66.1%). The 2007-08 Spartans had their best first-half record under Comley (12-5-2, 68.4%), and were 13-7-3 in the 2008 portion of the schedule (63%).
roadies
The Spartans played 23 of their 42 games at home last season, and owned a 11-3-1 mark in 15 road contests, which includes a 3-1 win over Colorado College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on the Tigers' home ice. Nine of the 11 road victories came as part of CCHA sweeps - at Alaska, Lake Superior, and Ohio State and in home-and-home series with Ferris State, Western Michigan, and Bowling Green. The Spartans earned their road tie at Notre Dame (Jan. 13), and defeated Michigan at Yost in a three-point weekend. The Spartans went 0-4 in neutral-site games, three of which were played at Joe Louis Arena. Michigan State snapped its losing streak in neutral-site games with its 3-1 victory over Massachusetts in the first game of the 2008-09 season.
strong starts
MSU scored the first goal of the game in 19 of its final 28 games a year ago and in 25 games overall. The Spartans owned a 22-1-2 record when scoring the game's opening tally, and were 3-11-3 when letting their opponent get on the board first. MSU's only loss when netting the first goal of the game came against Providence in the GLI (Dec. 29). MSU got the first tally of the game against UMass, but has allowed its opponent to get on the board first in four of its last five games.
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
The Spartans finished last Friday's game against Northern Michigan with 37 shots on goal, bettering their previous season high set on Oct. 17 against UMass-Lowell (36). MSU's 37 shots was just eight shy of their season total from its first three games combined (45). Michigan State's average of 1.67 goals per game ranks 12th in the CCHA and 47th nationally.
defensive front
Michigan State ranks seventh nationally in team defense, averaging 1.50 goals per game.
specialties
The Spartans have started strong on special teams. Michigan State's penalty kill was a perfect 10-for-10 in last weekend's action, improving the unit to 34-of-36 on the season (.944), good for third in the CCHA and seventh nationally. The Spartans have been perfect on the penalty kill in five of six games this season. MSU's power play is 17th nationally (5/27, 18.5%). Exactly half of the Spartans' 10 goals this season have come on the man advantage.
pk success is continued success
Michigan State allowed just seven power play goals in its final 24 games a year ago, and earlier in the season had a streak of 32 consecutive kills over eight games. The kill was 9-for-9 in its two NCAA Tournament games. In those 24 games, the Spartans killed 102 of 109 chances against (93.6%). The penalty kill finished at 87.3 percent for the season (165/189) and ranked seventh nationally. The MSU power play ranked 10th nationally (48/230, 20.9 percent). Dating back to last Feb. 29 (13 games), MSU has killed off 66 of 69 power-play chances against.
its been a while
In the Oct. 16 game against UMass-Lowell, the Riverhawks went 2-for-7 on the power play. It was the first time since Dec. 7, 2007 that the Spartans had given up multiple power-play goals in a game, a span of 28 games.
early returns
If Michigan State held a lead in 2007-08 entering the final period, it was a good bet to finish off the game with a win. The Spartans were 22-0-2 if they led at the second intermission, and were 2-3-2 when tied entering the final frame.
nip it in the bud
The Spartans never lost three straight games in 2007-08 - and three of the four times it lost-back-to-back games, MSU rebounded with a victory. That streak continued into this season, when MSU dropped back-to-back games against BU and UMass-Lowell, but rebounded the second night against the Riverhawks with a 2-1 victory.
assert yourself
Only nine times last season was MSU assessed more penalty minutes in a game than its opponent (and was 7-2-0 in those games). MSU was whistled for its season-high in penalties (11) on Jan. 13 at Notre Dame and on Jan. 26 against Michigan, and its season high for penalty minutes (31) came in the Jan. 19 game against Ohio State and again on Feb. 1 against Nebraska-Omaha. Three times in its first six games has MSU been whistled for more penalties, and three other times the teams have been called for the same number of infractions.
block party
Michigan State recorded 61 blocked shots in the two-game series against Northern, compared to 24 for the Wildcats. Leaders this weekend were freshmen defensemen Brock Shelgren (9) and Tim Buttery (7) and senior forward Matt Schepke (7). On the season, MSU has blocked 127 shots, compared to 66 for its opponents.
offensive defensemen
Michigan State owned one of the top-scoring defensive units in the country last year, ranking fifth overall and second in the CCHA. MSU's blueliners averaged 2.26 points per game (16-79-95). RIT's defensive corps led the nation (2.54 ppg), followed by North Dakota's (2.51), Miami (2.50), and Wisconsin (2.36).
shoot out the lights
Michigan State has outshot its opponent in three straight games after being outshot in its first three contests of the year. The Spartans registered a season-best 37 shots on Oct. 24, bettering its season high of 36 set in the Oct. 17 outing against UMass-Lowell.
at the dot
Last year, MSU benefitted from a deep corps of quality centermen who excelled on faceoffs; five pivots had a faceoff winning percentage at or better than 53%. Of the five, only one returns to the roster this season: senior Nick Sucharski who won 176-of-332 (53.0%) a year ago. This season, MSU has won 153 of 364 (42.0 percent); Ben Warda has won 28 of 51 (54.9 percent), and senior Nick Sucharski has won 40 of 82 (.488).
in-season honors
Jeff Lerg and Jeff Petry were named to the Icebreaker All-Tournament Team. They were joined by Darcy Zajac of North Dakota, Alex Berry of Massachusetts, and Nick Bonino and Kevin Shattenkirk of Boston University. BU's Colin Wilson was named Tournament MVP.
picking up where he left off
Jeff Lerg has earned CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors twice so far this season, in the three weeks that the conference has awarded weekly honors. his first weekly honor came on Oct. 13. He posted a .955 save percentage and 1.50 GAA in the weekend tournament; Lerg's 63 saves (on 66 shots) was the second-most of any goaltender on opening weekend (Juliano Pagliero of Niagara had 68). He won the award again on Oct. 27, stopping 52 of 54 shots in a four-point weekend against Northern Michigan. He had 24 saves in a 2-2 tie on Friday, but won the subsequent shootout with two saves. On Saturday, he recorded his 11th career shutout (2-0) over the Wildcats.
he's kind of a big deal
Jeff Lerg's junior season accolades escalated him to a status of the most decorated players in school history, and perhaps the most-honored active player in all of college hockey. He was named a second-team All-American, the CCHA First-Team goaltender and the CCHA Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition, he was a Hobey Baker Finalist, one of five finalists for the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award, and one of three finalists for CCHA Player of the Year. He was also named the Michigan College Athlete of the Year. In addition, he has won MSU's Alderton Award as the top male athlete of the year the last two years. This year, he is a pre-season First Team All-CCHA pick and is one of three returning Hobey Baker finalists from a year ago (Colin Wilson of BU and Princeton's Lee Jubinville are the others).
tight squeezes
On Oct. 25, Jeff Lerg recorded his 11th career shutout. He remains in fourth place in MSU's record book behind Ryan Miller (26), Dominic Vicari (16) and Chad Alban (12). In his career (119 GP), Lerg has 11 shutouts, and 29 games in which he has allowed a single goal. He has allowed just two goals on another 33 occasions - a grand total of 73 of 119 games that he has allowed two goals or fewer.
death, taxes, and Jeff Lerg
Jeff Lerg is consistently a workhorse for the Spartans, and has been for his two previous seasons as the full-time starter. Despite playing in only five of MSU's six games this season, he still ranks ninth nationally in minutes played (304:34), and 20th in percentage of minutes played (83.4%). He ranked fourth in the nation in minutes played a year ago (2464:14), and ranked sixth in percentage of team minutes played, (96.3 percent). In 2006-07, Lerg logged 96.9% of available minutes for MSU (2465:06), which ranked second only to Boston College's Cory Schneider.
shooting gallery
Jeff Lerg currently ranks 10th in the country in saves (142), an average of 28.4 shots faced per game (22nd nationally). Last year, he ranked second among all Division I goaltenders in saves (1,136) and faced an average of 27.7 shots per game, the second-most of any CCHA netminder and 13th nationally. Last year, only three goalies ranked in the top 15 in saves per game played for teams that are better than .500: Lerg, Alex Kangas of Minnesota, and Kevin Regan of New Hampshire.
little big man
Jeff Lerg's 41 saves against Colorado College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament was not only his season high, but also his best in an NCAA Tournament game. His previous NCAA high (36) came against New Hampshire in the first round in 2006, a 1-0 victory over New Hampshire. Jeff Lerg's game-by-game NCAA Tournament stats:
NCAA Game GA/Svs3/25/06 New Hampshire 0 /363/26/06 Maine 4/ 293/23/07 Boston University 1 /273/24/07 Notre Dame 1 /194/5/07 Maine 2 /294/7/07 Boston College 1 /293/28/08 Colorado College 1 /413/29/08 Notre Dame 3 /23_____________________________________ 13 GA 233 svsTOTALS 1.62 GAA .947 Sv%
moving up the charts
In his NCAA Tournament career (eight games), Jeff Lerg owns a 1.62 GAA, sixth-best in the NCAA record book; his career save percentage of .947 in tournament games ranks fifth, and his six career tournament wins is the fourth highest total all-time and tied for the most among MSU goalies. Lerg is one of only three Michigan State netminders to win NCAA Tournament games three consecutive seasons - Norm Foster won NCAA contests in 1984, 1985, and an NCAA title in 1986, and shares the MSU record of six NCAA Tournament victories with Lerg and Jason Muzzatti, who won six games from 1988-90.
a peek beyond the present
Drew Palmisano won his first collegiate start on Oct. 17, a 2-1 victory over UMass-Lowell. Palmisano, who had 21 saves, is the 14th netminder (of 20) since 1980 to win his first start at Michigan State. All three of MSU's current goaltenders have won their debut: Jeff Lerg had 22 saves against Cornell (a 4-3 victory) in October of 2005, Bobby Jarosz had 24 saves in a 5-2 win over Mercyhurst a year ago.
in the annals
Jeff Lerg has moved into top-10 positions in several netminding categories at MSU:
Career records:• Wins: 69, fifth (record: 88)• Games Played: 119, third (record: 131)• Consecutive Games Played: 61, first• GAA: 2.19, third (record: 1.54)• Saves: 3,098, second (record: 3,108)• Save Percentage: .923, second (record: .941)• Shutouts: 11, fourth (record: 26)*complete goaltending records can be found on pgs. 110-111 of the Michigan State media guide
Single-Season records:• Wins: 26, (2006-07), fifth; 24, (2007-08), eighth• Games: 42, (2006-07), first; 41, (2007-08), third• GAA: 1.96, (2005-06), seventh; 2.22, (2007-08), ninth• Saves: 1,136 (2007-08), third; 1,042 (2006-07), fifth• Save Pct. .928 (2006-06), fourth; .926 (2007-08), sixth
didn't take long
The CCHA has introduced the shootout for the 2008-09 season, and Michigan State jumped right into action, skating to a 2-2 tie with Northern Michigan in its first conference game of the season. The Spartans won the shootout over the Wildcats, 2-1. Kurt Kivisto and Matt Schepke scored the shootout goals for Michigan State, and Jeff Lerg stopped two of three shots against. The Spartans were involved in a shootout for the first time since Oct. 14, 2001 in the Johnson Nissan Classic in Anchorage, Alaska; MSU beat Merrimack in the shootout, 2-0, after a 1-1 regulation tie.
milestones reached
Alternate captain Brandon Gentile reached the 100-career games mark on Oct. 16 vs UMass-Lowell. Dustin Gazley's two assists on Oct. 24 against Northern Michigan tied his single-game career high, set in Nov. 2007 against Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase.
more milestones looming
Jeff Lerg enters the weekend set with Northern Michigan with 3,098 saves, just 10 shy of Dave Versical's school record. Tim Crowder is currently sitting on 95 career points on 47 goals and 48 assists.
multiplicity
Sophomore Andrew Rowe had his first career two-goal game last Friday, and has three goals through the first six games of the year. Rowe had three goals in all of his freshman season.
these go to eleven
All 10 MSU freshmen skaters played at least one game in Boston to open the season, and six recorded points - Daultan Leveille had two assists in his first collegiate game and got his first collegiate goal on Oct. 25 against Northern Michigan. Andrew Conboy recorded his first collegiate tally in the season opener.
First-year centerman Ben Warda got his first collegiate goal on Oct. 17 against UMass-Lowell, the same night freshman goaltender Drew Palmisano got his first career start and earned a 2-1 win with 21 saves.
the young ones
Inside College Hockey has ranked MSU's freshman class fifth nationally, behind Boston College, Minnesota, Boston University, and North Dakota. Daultan Leveille was ranked sixth among incoming freshmen forwards, and Drew Palmisano was the top-ranked freshman goalie recruit.
feeling a draft
Three of Michigan State's freshmen were selected in the last two NHL entry drafts. Forward Daultan Leveille was the only Spartan taken in 2008, but did not wait long to hear his name called as he was selected by Atlanta in the first round, the 29th pick overall. Both Trevor Nill and Andrew Conboy were selected in the 2007 NHL draft - Conboy went to Montreal in the fifth round (pick 142), while Nill was the seventh-round selection (190th overall) of the St. Louis Blues. Overall, the Spartans have seven players who have been drafted by NHL teams. The upperclassmen are Tim Crowder (Pittsburgh, 2005, 5/126), Nick Sucharski (Columbus, 2006, 5/136), Ryan Turek (St. Louis, 2006, 4/94) and Corey Tropp (Buffalo, 2007, 3/89)
nine start in the show ...
Nine former Spartans were on opening-day NHL rosters, the second-most in the CCHA behind Michigan. The nine are: Jim Slater (Atlanta), Ryan Miller (Buffalo), Rod Brind'Amour (Carolina), Duncan Keith (Chicago); John-Michael Liles (Colorado); Shawn Horcoff (Edmonton); David Booth (Florida); Mike Weaver (St. Louis); Adam Hall (Tampa).
... and a dozen more in the A
Twelve Spartans started the season on American Hockey League rosters. Jim McKenzie (Binghamton Senators), Justin Abdelkader (Grand Rapids Griffins), Corey Potter and Ethan Graham (Hartford Wolfpack), Drew Miller (Iowa Chops), Chris Mueller (Lake Erie Monsters), Andrew Hutchinson (Norfolk Admirals), Michael Ratchuk (Philadelphia Phantoms), Colton Fretter and Tim Kennedy (Portland Pirates), Bryan Lerg (Springfield Falcons), and Mike York (Syracuse Crunch).
next up
The Spartans make their first conference road trip of the season, and will take on clustermate Ohio State in Columbus.
