Spartans, Wolverines Face Off This Weekend
12/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 3, 2008
Michigan State prepares to tangle with archrival Michigan in the first of two weekend sets this season. The teams will play a home-and-home series, with Friday's game in Ann Arbor before playing Saturday in East Lansing.
Date/Time: Dec. 5, 7:35 p.m., Ann Arbor, Mich.; Dec. 6, 7:05 p.m., East Lansing, Mich.
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shoot for a cure
Michigan State hockey's "Shoot for a Cure" initiative will feature two events at the Spartans' game on Saturday at Munn Arena. Saturday's game will feature the first of two "Chuck-a-Puck" games this season, as well as a silent auction and t-shirt sale. More details can be found at msuspartans.com both on this weekend's events and the initiative, founded by former Spartan Justin Abdelkader and current senior Daniel Sturges.
series history
Michigan State trails the all-time series with the Wolverines by a 119-132-18 margin. The Wolverines have a 67-42-4 edge when playing on their home sheet, while MSU holds a 59-45-9 record in games played in East Lansing. MSU took five of a possible eight points in the four meetings of the teams a year ago (2-1-0), which included a 1-0 shutout victory in Ann Arbor, a 5-2 win and 2-2 stalemate at Munn.
Michigan State has not lost to the Wolverines at home since November 2004, a 3-0-2 stretch.
when we last left our heroes
The Spartans are coming off a loss to Wisconsin and a tie against Minnesota in the College Hockey Showcase. MSU and Minnesota skated to a tie for the third straight season in this event. The two previous scores were 2-2 (2007) and 3-3 (2008).
random tidbits
• Michigan has won 132 games in this series, but 41 of those wins came between 1922 and 1957. The Spartans recorded only two victories in that span. • 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.
recent meetings
Over the last six seasons (the tenure of Rick Comley at Michigan State), the series has been remarkably even - the Spartans own a 11-9-8 record against their archrival. The teams have met 15 times in the last three seasons. Seven of the games were decided by three-goal margins (four for MSU, three for U-M). Five of the remaining eight were ties.
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 743-568-97 (.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 789.
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
Five conference series are on tap this weekend, and Ohio State will play a neutral-site non-conference tilt when it takes on Robert Morris at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Conference-wise, its Alaska at Nebraska-Omaha, Northern Michigan at Lake Superior, Notre Dame at Ferris State, and Miami at Western Michigan in addition to the MSU-UM series.
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 19 points, Ohio State is tied for fourth, Michigan is tied for seventh, while MSU holds down 10th 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 3-2-1 this season when netting the game's first goal, and 1-7-2 when allowing its opponent the first strike.
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
Michigan State has been outshot in nine of its 14 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.
a hiccup
The Spartans gave up 25 goals in its last three weekends against Miami, UNO and Minnesota; Michigan State had previously allowed just 18 goals in its first 10 games combined.
seeing the spectrum
MSU now ranks 27th nationally in team defense, averaging 2.69 goals per game; three weeks (and 25 goals )ago, the Spartans were seventh in the country in team defense.
MSU's offensive average of 1.56 goals per game (25 goals in 16 contests) ranks 12th in the CCHA and 56th nationally.
specialties
Michigan State's penalty kill is 17th in the latest NCAA statistics, extinguishing 70 of 79 chances against on the season (.886). 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 10 of 16 games this season.
playing with fire
MSU allowed (and killed off) a season-high nine power play chances against on Friday 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 nine power-play strikes in 16games, and has allowed more than one in a game just three times in 42 games dating back to last season. MSU's kill was 9-for-10 in last weekend's College Hockey Showcase games against Wisconsin and Minnesota.
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 (21 games), MSU has killed off 102 of 112 power-play chances against (.911).
scoring woes
MSU's scoring drought - which had reached six goals over seven games - is the most prolific drought in program history. The previous low was eight goals over six games in the 1950 season.
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 Nov. 22 power play goal was the first man-advantage goal for the Spartans since Oct. 25, and snapped an 0-for-37 streak with a man advantage.
Daultan Leveille had the last PPG for the Spartans in the second period of that game, a 2-0 victory over Northern Michigan.
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 10 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 338 shots, compared to 187 for its opponents. Leading the way in this category for MSU are defensemen Tim Buttery (30) and Ryan Turek (29), while Brandon Gentile has 26 and Brock Shelgren 22. Among forwards, Kurt Kivisto leads the way with 19.
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. Sucharski is out for the remainder of the year.
This season, MSU has won 426 of 969 faceoffs (44 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 (126 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 126 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 12 of MSU's 16 games this season, he still ranks 15th nationally in minutes played (722:34).
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.
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 ninth in the country in saves (357), an average of 29.75 shots faced per game (10th 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 2.40 GAA and .915 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: 126, third (record: 131)• Consecutive Games Played: 61, first• GAA: 2.25, third (record: 1.54)• Saves: 3,313, first• Save Percentage: .922, 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, who also missed the UNO series, will miss this weekend's action. Conboy is expected back for the Great Lakes Invitational. Corey Tropp missed five games with illness, but returned in the Ohio State series. Ryan Turek has missed four the last five games, but the last was due to illness. 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. 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 three goals through the first eight games of the year. Rowe had three goals in all of his freshman season. Daultan Leveille has had a pair of two-goal games through the first two months of the 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 30. Matt Crandell and Brock Shelgren spent six games paired together - Crandell has recorded a pair of assists, and has 10 penalty minutes. Shelgren also has two assists - both coming in the Western Michigan series - and ranks third on the team with 22 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 ...
Ten former Spartans are currently on NHL rosters, the second-most in the CCHA behind Michigan. Andrew Hutchinson was traded this past week to Dallas from Tampa. The ten are: Hutchinson, 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 eleven more in the A
Eleven Spartans are currently 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), Michael Ratchuk (Philadelphia Phantoms), Colton Fretter and Tim Kennedy (Portland Pirates), Bryan Lerg (Springfield Falcons), and Mike York (Syracuse Crunch).
pro notables
Grand Rapids Griffins center Justin Abdelkader was 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, and currently (Dec. 3) ranks ninth in rookie scoring with a 9-6-15 scoring line. His nine goals ranks him tied for third among first-year players.
Tim Kennedy (Portland Pirates) ranks fourth in rookie scoring, and along with linemate (and former Boston College star) Nathan Gerbe, makes up the top-scoring rookie tandem in the American Hockey League. Kennedy ranks second among first-year players in assists with 16, and has added five goals for 21 points.
next up
Michigan State will take a break for final exams, and will entertain the US National Team Development Program on Tuesday, Dec. 16 in its final pre-holiday action. The team returns to action at the Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Dec. 27-28, taking on North Dakota in the opening round.
