Spartans Prepare for Great Lakes Invitational
12/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 26, 2008
Michigan State participates in the 44th annual Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit, Mich. at Joe Louis Arena. In addition to the Spartans, Michigan Tech and Michigan, North Dakota has been invited to this year's field. MSU will play the Fighting Sioux in the semifinals this season, while the Wolverines and host Huskies will play in Saturday's firsr semifinal.
Date/Time: Dec. 27 vs. North Dakota, 6:35 p.m., Detroit, Mich.; Dec. 28, 3/6:35 p.m., Detroit, Mich.
Audio: Sat: WVFN 730 AM/ Sun.: WJIM 1240 AM. All audio can also be heard at msuspartans.com
Television:Sunday's GLI final will air live on FSN Detroit. A live webstream of the first three games of the GLI will be available on B2Networks
Download MSU Hockey Notes (PDF)
Video: Watch the Rick
history lesson
Michigan State will be looking for its 12th GLI title in 2009, the 34th season in which the Spartans will participate in this holiday tradition. MSU last won the tournament in 2006, and is 41-26-1 (.610) all-time in the event, the highest winning percentage of the three traditional participants.
series history: north dakota
Michigan State and North Dakota will face off in the first round of the GLI in what will serve as the 100th meeting between the teams. UND holds a 61-36-2 advantage in the series. The Sioux hold a 6-3-0 record against MSU in neutral-site contests. The teams last faced off to start the 2007-08 season, when the Sioux hosted MSU in the US Hockey Hall of Fame game. The induction class that year included Aaron Broten, Bobby Carpenter, John Vanbiesbrouck, and former Michigan Tech mentor John MacInnes - one of the founding fathers of the Great Lakes Invitational.
The squads also met in the title game of the 2005-06 Lefty McFadden Invitational, with MSU prevailing, 3-0, for its first shutout of the Sioux in 47 years. Prior to that win, MSU had dropped 11 straight contests with North Dakota, dating back to 1980.
series history: michigan
Michigan State trails the all-time series with the Wolverines by a 119-134-18 margin, however, the series record between the squads now stands in favor of MSU (7-6-1) in GLI games, tipping in favor of the Spartans in 2006 when MSU defeated the Wolverines in the title game, 4-1. (The teams did not meet last season in this event). Should the teams meet in this year's tournament, it would be the third of five meetings of the regular season of the two teams and the first of a possible three at Joe Louis Arena this year.
MSU and Michigan have met 11 times in the finals of the GLI, and U-M owns six victories in those games.
There is a five-game discrepancy between MSU and U-M's all-time series records, all in the early 1920's. The MSU records have four more Wolverine victories and one for the Spartans.
series history: michigan tech
While a rich history exists between the teams, Michigan State and Michigan Tech have met only in this tournament since 1986. The Spartans are 21-4 all-time against Tech in the GLI, but have met 153 times overall in the storied history of the programs. The Spartans own a 77-74-2 mark in the series, but Michigan Tech's 4-1 victory last season in the semifinals snapped MSU's 11-game winning streak against the Huskies.
when we last left our heroes
The Spartans are coming off sweep at the hands of archrival Michigan (Dec. 5-6) that closed out the pre-holiday slate. The Wolverines blew open a fairly tight contest with three third-period scores at Yost Arena in the opener to post a 6-1 victory, then staged a dramatic comeback with three goals in the final 2:30 of regulation to pin a heartbreaking 5-3 loss on the Spartans the next evening at Munn Arena.
recent gli history
MSU has appeared in the GLI final in nine of the last 11 years (and 12 of the last 15), and has won 11 tournament titles, its most recent in 2006. The Spartans have won six of the last 11 titles, with North Dakota (2001), Boston University (2002), Boston College (2003), Colorado College (2005), and Michigan (2007) winning the others.
The Spartans are 7-5 under Rick Comley in the GLI, which included the 2004 and 2006 titles. The Spartans have been in the championship game in four of the the last five seasons.
losing ledgers
MSU had a winless November (0-7-2), its first losing month in more than a year. The last sub-.500 month for Michigan State was in Feb. 2007, going 3-4-2. Incidently, the Spartans were also sub-.500 in November that season as well.
gaining ground
Rick Comley owns a 743-570-97 (.560) 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 812 and Jack Parker of Boston University has 790.
a tough go
At the break, the Spartans stood at 4-11-3, the lowest number of wins at the holiday break since the late 70's. in 1977-78, MSU was 4-12-0 at the holidays, and was 5-13-0 a year later in the 1978-79 season.
family affair
Senior Kurt Kivisto could find himself in an odd situation on Saturday - facing off against younger brother, John, who plays for Michigan Tech. The two - natives of Brighton, Michigan, had never been on opposing teams facing one another.
Last year's semifinal meeting would have been the first time that the pair would have faced off in an organized hockey game - but John was not in the lineup.
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.
around the league
Its a light slate for CCHA teams around the holidays, as just three teams will be in action over the weekend. While both MSU and Michigan will participate in the GLI, Lake Superior will take part in the Badger Showdown, with Harvard and Alabama Huntsville in addition to the host Badgers. Nebraska-Omaha will head east to tangle with Yale (Monday) and Princeton (Tuesday) in the only other CCHA action before the new year.
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.
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 six seasons (2002-07), the Spartans have been a combined 60-48-10 (55%), then compiled a 82-40-13 mark in the second half (66.3%). 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 3-4-1 this season when netting the game's first goal, and 1-7-2 when allowing its opponent the first strike. MSU scored first in each of its last two games against Michigan, but dropped both decisions.
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
Michigan State has been outshot in 12 of its 18 games 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.
The Spartans are averaging 23.9 shots per game this season, which ranks 54th of 58 teams nationally.
seeing the spectrum
MSU now ranks 36th nationally in team defense, averaging 3.0 goals against per game; three weeks (and 36 goals) ago, the Spartans were seventh in the country in team defense. MSU's offensive average of 1.50 goals per game (25 goals in 16 contests) ranks 12th in the CCHA and 57th nationally.
specialties
Michigan State's penalty kill is 17th in the latest NCAA statistics, extinguishing 78 of 89 chances against on the season (.876). The Spartans have been perfect on the penalty kill in 10 of 18 games this season.
playing with fire
MSU allowed (and killed off) a season-high nine power play chances against on Nov. 29 against Wisconsin, bettering its previous single-game high of eight allowed against Miami on Nov. 15.
pk success is continued success
The Spartans have allowed just 11 power-play strikes in 18 games, and has allowed more than one in a game just four times in 44 games dating back to last season.
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 (23 games), MSU has killed off 110 of 122 power-play chances against (.902).
scoring woes
MSU's scoring drought - which had reached six goals over seven games - was the most prolific drought in program history. The previous low was eight goals over six games in the 1950 season. In the last three games before the break, MSU scored eight goals combined - but only came out with two losses and a tie
finally, someone else with a sunburn
Michigan State exploded for a single-game high four goals in a tie with Minnesota on Nov. 29. MSU got a pair of goals from Daultan Leveille in the deadlock.
finally!
Matt Schepke's Dec. 5 shorthanded goal was the first of the season for the team. MSU has surrendered three in its first 18 games - one shy of last year's total of four.
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). Just twice in its last 12 games has MSU been whistled for more penalties, and three times the teams have been called for the same number of infractions.
block party
On the season, MSU has blocked 370 shots, compared to 202 for its opponents. Leading the way in this category for MSU is defensemen Tim Buttery (32), Brandon Gentile has 28 and Brock Shelgren 23. Among forwards, Kurt Kivisto leads the way with 22.
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.
roster shuffles
Head coach Rick Comley has announced two roster changes at the end of the first semester: freshman forward Mike Merrifield will return to junior hockey to play the remainder of the season, while defenseman Ryan Turek has been dismissed from the squad for failure to meet team expectations.
Merrifield will return to junior hockey for the spring semester, and will play for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL. His coach in Green Bay will be John Cooper, who coached Merrifield last season in the North American Hockey League with the St. Louis Bandits. Merrifield will return to the Spartans in the fall of 2009 as a sophomore.
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 (128 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 128 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 14 of MSU's 18 games this season, he still ranks 18th nationally in minutes played (833:22).
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.
golden
Jeff Lerg made a season-high 50 saves for Michigan State in its last outing, a 3-1 loss at Wisconsin. The 50 saves ties the single-game high in Division I hockey this season: Andrew Loewen of Canisius did it first on Oct. 10 vs. Ferris State, and Jerry Kuhn of Western Michigan duplicated the feat on Oct. 18 vs. Minnesota-Duluth. Lerg just missed his career high of 54 saves, set on Feb. 10, 2007 vs. Michigan. Earlier this season, Lerg made 46 saves in a loss at Ohio State (Nov. 7).
shooting gallery
Jeff Lerg currently ranks 13th in the country in saves (413), an average of 29.5 shots faced per game (eighth 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
Michigan State allowed 18 first-period shots to Wisconsin on Nov. 28, the most surrendered in the opening frame this season. It tied Jeff Lerg's career record for saves in a period, tied last on Feb. 10, 2007, against Michigan. In that game, Lerg made his career-best 54 saves.
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 126 career games is five shy of tying Alban's school record in that category.
a peek beyond the present
Michgian State is quite 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 has made four starts, the most recent on Nov. 29 at Minnesota. He owns a 2.56 GAA and .911 save percentage with a 1-1-2 overall record. He owns one shootout victory, over Western Michigan on Nov. 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: 128, third (record: 131)• Consecutive Games Played: 61, first• GAA: 2.29, third (record: 1.54)• Saves: 3,369, first• Save Percentage: .921, 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. Senior Nick Sucharski, who suffered two shoulder injuries this fall, will be taking a medical redshirt this season and will return as a senior next fall to complete his eligibility.
Freshman Andrew Conboy, has missed five of 18 games with injury, including the series against UNO and Michigan. Conboy is expected back for the Great Lakes Invitational.
Corey Tropp missed five games with illness, but returned in the Ohio State series. Andrew Rowe missed three games, but returned to the lineup for the Miami series.
rookie kudos
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.
Leveille's two goals against Minnesota (Nov. 29) were his first scores since a two-goal outing against Western Michigan on Halloween.
worth the wait
Kurt Kivisto's first-period goal against UNO on Nov. 22 was his first of the season and second of his career; he scored the first on Oct. 28, 2006 vs. Sacred Heart at Munn Arena.
Classmate Dan Sturges' first-period goal against Minnesota on Nov. 29 was his first since Dec.29, 2006 against Harvard at the Great Lakes Invitational.
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. His two goals against Michigan on Dec. 6 also tied a career single-game best, first set against Colgate in his second collegiate game.
Jeff Lerg surpassed Dave Versical's school record in career saves on Oct. 31.
Tim Crowder recorded his 100th career point, an assist on a Matt Schepke power-play goal on Nov. 22.
multiplicity
Sophomore Andrew Rowe had his first career two-goal game on Oct. 24, and has four goals through the first 18 games of the year. Rowe had three goals in all of his freshman year. Daultan Leveille has had a pair of two-goal games through the first two months of the season.
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 owns the team lead in blocked shots with 32. Matt Crandell and Brock Shelgren spent six games paired together - Crandell has recorded a pair of assists, and has 14 penalty minutes. Shelgren also has two assists - both coming in the Western Michigan series - and ranks third on the team with 23 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.
graduation comes early
Senior Kurt Kivisto has completed his requirements for his bachelor's degree in civil engineering and graduated in December. He begins graduate work this spring.
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 six players who have been drafted by NHL teams. The upperclassmen are Tim Crowder (Pittsburgh, 2005, 5/126), Nick Sucharski (Columbus, 2006, 5/136), and Corey Tropp (Buffalo, 2007, 3/89)
ten in the show ...
Ten former Spartans are currently on NHL rosters, the second-most in the CCHA behind Michigan. Andrew Hutchinson was traded earlier this season from to Dallas from Tampa. The others 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); and Adam Hall (Tampa).
... and a dozen more in the A
Twelve Spartans are currently on American Hockey League rosters. Jim McKenzie (Binghamton Senators), Justin Abdelkader (Grand Rapids Griffins), Jared Nightingale, Corey Potter and Ethan Graham (Hartford Wolfpack), Drew Miller (Iowa Chops), Chris Mueller (Lake Erie Monsters), Michael Ratchuk (Philadelphia Phantoms), Colton Fretter and Tim Kennedy (Portland Pirates), Bryan Lerg (Springfield Falcons) and Mike York (Syracuse Crunch).
pro notables
• Drew Miller leads the Iowa Chops in scoring with 14 goals and 11 assists. Iowa is the top affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks.
• Tim Kennedy (Portland Pirates) ranks second in the American Hockey League (AHL) in rookie scoring with 27 points, and leads all first-year players in assists with 22. He ranks 29th overall in the league in scoring.
next up
The Spartans will entertain Alaska on Jan 2-3 in its only home series in the month of January. MSU will also have road series at Miami and Lake Superior in addition to a "home-and-Joe" series against Michigan during the month.
