Icers Look to Snap Skid at UNO
11/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 19, 2008
Michigan State travels to Nebraska to take on Nebraska-Omaha this weekend.
Date/Time: Nov. 21-22, 8:05 p.m.EDT, Qwest Center, Omaha, Neb.
Audio: (F) WJIM 1240 AM/ (S) WVFN 730 AM. All audio can also be heard at msuspartans.com
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series history
The Spartans own an 18-9-1 all-time mark in the series since the Mavericks joined the CCHA; the margin is much closer in Omaha, where UNO owns a 3-4-1 record against the Spartans on its home sheet.
Last season, the teams split their series at Munn Arena. UNO took the first game by a 5-4 margin in overtime, before the Spartans rebounded with a 4-2 regulation victory the next night.
recent history
MSU is coming off of a pair of sweeps at the hands of Ohio State (0-3, 1-3) and Miami (1-5, 1-3), who are in the Spartans' cluster this season.
its been a while
Michigan State has lost four consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 19-Feb. 1, 1991 when MSU dropped a game to Lake Superior, a series to Western Michigan, and a single game at Ferris State.
The Spartans are winless in their last five games overall, which includes a tie (and eventual shootout victory) at Western Michigan on Nov. 1.
gaining ground
Rick Comley owns a 743-564-97 (.564) career overall coaching record. He needs two 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.
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 808 and Jack Parker of Boston University has 786.
traveling road show
Michigan State is in a rather daunting stretch of the schedule - between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31, the Spartans will play 21 games - and only five of them will be played at home. This does not include the Dec. 16 exhibition against the US National Team Development Program.
... and its on
MSU-UNO is one of five conference series on tap this weekend in the CCHA. In other action, Alaska is at Ferris State, Bowling Green is at Notre Dame, Ohio State is at Northern Michgian, and Michigan is at Miami. Western Michigan is idle, and Lake Superior hosts a non-conference series this weekend against Robert Morris.
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.
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.
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.
national prominence
The Spartans made their 26th NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008 - their third straight selection to the field - and 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.
quite the cluster
Michigan State and Michigan are paired with Miami and Ohio State in the 2008-09 season as clustermates; the schools will all play four times, and face off with the remaining eight schools in the conference twice.
Michigan, Miami, and Michigan State were the top three teams in the CCHA a year ago, and combined for a 91-26-10 record overall; MSU and Miami reached NCAA regional finals, and Michigan advanced to the Frozen Four. Both MSU and Michigan were eliminated in the NCAA Tournament by Notre Dame.
Currently, Miami leads the CCHA with 15 points, Michigan is tied for second, while MSU and Ohio State are in a four-team deadlock for sixth place with eight points.
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%).
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 is 3-1-0 this season when netting the game's first goal, and 1-5-2 when allowing its opponent the first strike. Its lone loss when opening the game's scoring came on Nov. 14 against Miami.
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
Michigan State has been outshot in seven of its 12games this season, with its largest shot disparity coming in the Nov. 7 game at Ohio State. The Buckeyes had 49 shots and limited MSU to 21 in the contest. Jeff Lerg made a season-best 46 saves as the Spartans lost the game, 3-0.
a hiccup
The Spartans gave up eight goals last weekend, a season high in a series; Michigan State had previously allowed just 18 goals in its first 10 games combined.
seeing the spectrum
MSU ranks 19th nationally in team defense, averaging 2.17 goals per game. However, MSU's offensive average of 1.50 goals per game ranks 12th in the CCHA and 56th nationally.
specialties
Michigan State's penalty kill is 18th in the latest NCAA statistics, extinguishing 56 of 63 chances against on the season (.889). The Spartans were in the top 10 in all previous weeks of the season, but MSU allowed three PPG in 10 chances against vs. Miami. The Spartans have been perfect on the penalty kill in eight of 12 games this season.
pk success is continued success
The Spartans have allowed just seven power-play strikes in 12 games, and has allowed more than one in a game just three times in 38 games dating back to last season. MSU's kill was 7-for-10 in last weekend's games against Miami.
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 (17 games), MSU has killed off 88 of 96 power-play chances against (.917).
early returns
Despite several new faces in the lineup, Michigan State has continued to hold on with a third-period advantage. This season, MSU is 3-2-2 when entering the final period tied or leading the game.
Last season, the Spartans were 22-0-2 if they led at the second intermission, and were 2-3-2 when tied entering the final frame.
scoring woes
Michigan State has scored just three goals in its last four games. The last time its offense struggled this mightily over a four-game span was back in the 1952-53 season, when the Spartans lost two series to Michigan and Minnesota, and lost by a combined 24-3 margin. The Spartans have never scored fewer than three goals in a four-game stretch.
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).
Four times in its first 12 games has MSU been whistled for more penalties, and five other times the teams have been called for the same number of infractions.
block party
On the season, MSU has blocked 248 shots, compared to 149 for its opponents. Leading the way in this category for MSU are defensemen Tim Buttery (27) and Ryan Turek (23 each), while Brock Shelgren and Brandon Gentile are tied for second with 18. Among forwards, Kurt Kivisto leads the way with 15.
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 returned to the roster this season: senior Nick Sucharski who won 176-of-332 (53.0%) a year ago.
This season, MSU has won 323 of 700 faceoffs (44.7 percent).
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.
He's No. 1
Jeff Lerg became Michigan State's all-time saves leader at MSU on Oct. 31. Lerg broke Dave Versical's career record of 3,108 set from 1975-78. Versical and Lerg are the only goaltenders to ever serve as captains of the Spartans.
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. MSU is one of two teams to have a pair of shootouts already (Western Michigan), and is the only team to have won more than one. MSU has won each of its two shootouts by a 2-1 margin.
Kurt Kivisto and Matt Schepke have each scored two shootout goals for Michigan State, and Jeff Lerg and Drew Palmisano each have a shootout victory on their resume this season.
picking up where he left off
Jeff Lerg has earned CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors twice so far this season, in the first four 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.
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 (122 GP), Lerg has 11 shutouts, and 30 games in which he has allowed a single goal. He has allowed just two goals on another 34 occasions - a grand total of 75 of 122 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 ten of MSU's 12 games this season, he still ranks 10th nationally in minutes played (602:34).
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 sixth in the country in saves (284), an average of 28.4 shots faced per game (24 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.
shooting gallery, part deux
Jeff Lerg's 17 third-period saves Nov. 7 was one shy of his record for a single period; hiss 46 in the game is eight shy of his career best (54), which was set on Feb. 10, 2007 against Michigan. It was his most saves in an MSU loss in his career.
Lerg ranks 17th nationally in save percentage (.931) and is 24th in GAA (2.09).
a lot of actual miles
Jeff Lerg collected his 70th career victory on Oct. 31, and he is just three behind Ryan Miller in fourth place in the all-time victories list. Chad Alban (88) is the career leader.
Lerg's 124 career games is seven shy of tying Alban's school record in that category.
a peek beyond the present
Michgian State is feeling very confident about its goaltending, with perhaps the best netminder in the nation (Jeff Lerg) and the top first-year baskstop in Drew Palmisano, according to InsideCollegeHockey's preseason rankings.
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.
Palmisano drew his second start on Nov. 1 at Western Michigan, and made 32 saves in a 2-2 tie. He also backstopped the Spartans to a victory in the ensuing shootout. (2-1).
in the annals
Jeff Lerg has moved into top-10 positions in several netminding categories at MSU:
Career records:• Wins: 70, fifth (record: 88)• Games Played: 124, third (record: 131)• Consecutive Games Played: 61, first• GAA: 2.21, third (record: 1.54)• Saves: 3,240, first• 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
m.a.s.h. unit
Several Spartan veterans have missed time with injuries this fall. Corey Tropp missed five games with illness, but returned in the Ohio State series. Nick Sucharski missed five games with an arm injury and returned on Nov. 7, but re-injured the arm and will miss at least this weekend's action. Ryan Turek has missed the last three games, also with an arm injury. Andrew Rowe missed three games, but returned to the lineup for the Miami series.
milestones reached
Daultan Leveille was named the CCHA Rookie of the Month for October, as released by the league office on Nov. 5.
Leveille led the Spartans over the course of the month with a 3-2-5 scoring line. He had his first career two-goal game on Oct. 31; two of his three goals on the season have been game-winners, tying him for second in the CCHA in that category.
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.
Jeff Lerg surpassed Dave Versical's school record in career saves on Oct. 31.
more milestones looming
Tim Crowder is currently sitting on 99 career points on 48 goals and 51 assists.
multiplicity
Sophomore Andrew Rowe had his first career two-goal game on Oct. 24, and has three goals through the first eight 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. Eight of the 10 have recorded their first collegiate points, and Andrew Conboy, Daultan Leveille, Ben Warda, and Trevor Nill have recorded their first MSU goals.
Youth on the blueline
Michigan State has three new faces on the blueline for the second straight season, and all three have emerged as solid defenders. Tim Buttery is one of two freshman to dress in every game and shares the team lead in blocked shots with 27. Matt Crandell and Brock Shelgren spent six games paired together - Crandell has recorded a pair of assists, is a +1, and has eight penalty minutes. Shelgren also has two assists - both coming in the Western Michigan series), is a +2, and ranks second on the team with 18 blocked shots.
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).
pro notables
Through the first month of the NHL season, Ryan Miller leads the league in GAA (1.62) and ranks second in saves percentage (.942). He ranks third in both wins (7) and shutouts (2).
Grand Rapids Griffins center Justin Abdelkader has been named the Reebok Edge/AHL Rookie of the Month for October. Abdelkader scored seven goals and added two assists for nine points in seven games for the Griffins.
Tim Kennedy (Portland) leads the American Hockey League rookies in scoring with a 3-9-12 scoring line; he is the only rookie ranked in the top 20 scorers. He is second in the league in assists.
next up
The Spartans take a break from conference play to travel to Wisconsin and Minnesota for the annual College Hockey Showcase. MSU tangles with the Badgers on Friday in Madison, then travels to take on the Golden Gophers on Saturday in Minneapolis. The stretch of Big Ten opponents continues the following week, when Michigan State engages in a home-and-home series with archrival Michigan to close out pre-holiday action.
