Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Host Nanooks For Weekend Set
12/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 31, 2008
Michigan State has a rare home weekend series, hosting Alaska in a CCHA set. This kicks off the second half of the season for the Spartans, who will look to climb out of 12th place in the league standings.
Date/Time: Jan. 2, 7:35 p.m./ Jan. 3, 7:05 p.m., East Lansing, Mich.
Tickets: A limited number of tickets remain for the weekend. Purchase Tickets
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series history
MSU is 36-10-1 all-time against the Nanooks, and has won six straight in the series (and nine of ten). The Spartans are 22-4-0 all-time against Alaska at Munn Arena.
when we last left our heroes
Michigan State dropped a 5-1 decision to Michigan in the finals of the Great Lakes Invitational on Sunday evening at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The Wolverines denied the Spartans their 12th overall title and second in three seasons.
Jeff Lerg made 49 saves, and Matt Schepke scored the lone goal of the contest for MSU.
The previous evening, MSU got a pair of goals from Schepke, a pair of assists from Corey Tropp, and a 38-save performance by Lerg to post a 2-1 victory over North Dakota. The win snapped an 11-game winless streak for the Spartans,
a tough go
At the end of 2008, the Spartans stand at 5-12-3, 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.
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 744-570-97 (.560) career overall coaching record, tied with Bob Peters for fourth place on the all-time wins list. Peters coached from 1964-2001 at North Dakota and Bemidji State.
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.
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 the Alaska series is the final of five of them which will be played at home. MSU's next home game is Feb. 6 against Ferris State.
around the league
Its a little bit of everything in the first weekend of 2009 for CCHA schools. MSU and Alaska are the only squads in conference play, while Nebraska-Omaha has a single game with Minnesota State and Northern Michigan readies for a two-game set with Wisconsin. Five schools are participating in tournaments: Ferris State is in the Catamount Cup at Vermont with St. Lawrence and Colgate, Western Michgian particpates in the Dodge Holiday Classic with Northeastern and Brown in addition to host Minnesota, and the Ohio Hockey Classic features both Miami and Ohio State in addition to Army and Clarkson. Notre Dame hosts the Shillelagh Tournament with Union, Minnesota-Duluth, and UMass-Lowell in suburban Chicago after moving the tournament from Tampa. Meanwhile, three teams will be idle: Bowling Green, Lake Superior, and 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.
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%). This year, MSU is 5-12-3 (.325), and are gunning for marked improvement as the calendar turns to 2009.
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 4-5-1 this season when netting the game's first goal, and 1-7-2 when allowing its opponent the first strike. MSU has now scored first in five straight games, and Matt Schepke has three of those "first" tallies.
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
Michigan State has been outshot in 14 of its 20 games this season, with its largest shot disparity coming in the Dec. 28 game against Michigan in the GLI final. The Wolverines held a 18-15 shot advantage after one period, but went on to outshoot the Spartans, 54-20, in the game. Jeff Lerg made 49 saves, one off his season-best of 50 set against Wisconsin on Nov. 28.
The Spartans are averaging 24.0 shots per game this season, which ranks 53rd of 58 teams nationally.
seeing the spectrum
MSU now ranks 36th nationally in team defense, averaging 3.0 goals against per game; four weeks (and 42 goals) ago, the Spartans were seventh in the country in team defense.
MSU's offensive average of 1.60 goals per game (32 goals in 20 contests) ranks 12th in the CCHA and 57th nationally.
specialties
Michigan State's penalty kill is 20th in the latest NCAA statistics, extinguishing 89 of 103 chances against on the season (.864). The Spartans have been perfect on the penalty kill in 10 of 20 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. The Spartans allowed nine chances to Michgian on Dec. 28, but allowed two goals to the Wolverines.
pk success is continued success
The Spartans have allowed just 14 power-play strikes in 20 games, and has allowed more than one in a game just five 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 121 of 136 power-play chances against (.80).
scoring woes
MSU's scoring drought - which at its lowest point 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 five games, MSU scored 11 goals combined - but only came out with a 1-3-1 record.
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 three times in its last 14 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 410 shots, compared to 227 for its opponents. Leading the way in this category for MSU is defensemen Tim Buttery (38), while Brandon Gentile has 33 and Brock Shelgren and Jeff Petry both have 25. Among forwards, Kurt Kivisto leads the way with 25.
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 (130 GP), Lerg has 11 shutouts, and 31 games in which he has allowed a single goal. He has allowed just two goals on another 34 occasions - a grand total of 76 of 130 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 16 of MSU's 20 games this season, he still ranks 13th nationally in minutes played (953:22).
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.
a lot of actual miles
Jeff Lerg collected his 71st career victory on Dec. 27 against North Dakota, and he is just two behind Ryan Miller in fourth place in the all-time victories list. Chad Alban (88) is the career leader.
Lerg's 130 career games is one shy of tying Alban's school record in that category.
another top-five ranking
Jeff Lerg made a season-high 50 saves for Michigan State in a Nov. 28 loss (3-1) 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 owns two of the top five single-game save performances this season: the 50 against Wisconsin and the 49 he made against Michigan on Dec. 28. Earlier this season, Lerg made 46 saves in a loss at Ohio State (Nov. 7) as well.
shooting gallery
Jeff Lerg currently ranks fourth in the country in saves (500), an average of 31.3 shots faced per game (fourth 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 and again to Michigan on Dec. 28, the most surrendered in the opening frame this season.
Jeff Lerg's 18 first-period saves against Wisconsin tied his 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 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: 71, fifth (record: 88)• Games Played: 130, T-second (record: 131)• Consecutive Games Played: 61, first• GAA: 2.30, third (record: 1.54)• Saves: 3,456, first• Save Percentage: .916, 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
a hot hand
Matt Schepke had a pair of goals in MSU's Dec. 27 victory over North Dakota, his first multiple-goal game since Nov. 24, 2007 against Wisconsin. It was his third career two-goal game.
He currently has a four-game goal scoring streak and leads the Spartans with 10 scores. He was MSU's lone representative on the Great Lakes Invitational All-Tournament Team.
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. Sophomore blueliner AJ Sturges is also out for the season.
Freshman Andrew Conboy has missed five games with injury, including the series against UNO and Michigan. Conboy returned to the lineup for the Great Lakes Invitational.
Corey Tropp missed five games with illness, but returned in the Ohio State series. Andrew Rowe missed three games with injury in October.
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.
Joey Shean recorded his first collegiate point on Matt Schepke's first period power-play marker against North Dakota on Dec. 27.
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.
Matt Schepke is the latest with a two-goal effort, scoring twice against North Dakota on Dec. 27.
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 38. Matt Crandell and Brock Shelgren spent 10 of the first 20 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 25 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.
academic kudos
MSU's hockey program recorded a 3.05 cumulative grade-point average in the fall semester, an all-time best. Seventeen players recorded a semester GPA of 3.0 or better, highlighted by a perfect 4.0 semester for first-year blueliner Brock Shelgren.
more kudos for Lerg
Jeff Lerg is among twenty collegiate hockey players who have combined excellence in athletics, academics and community service were announced on Dec. 30 as candidates for the men's hockey division of the 2008-09 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The winner will be announced at the Frozen Four on April 10.
The award is presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports based on achievements in the "Four C's" of classroom, character, community and competition. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.
The Lowe's Senior CLASS Award was launched in 2001 to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who fulfill their entire athletic eligibility and pursue the many rewards of a senior season and complete college education.
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. He made his NHL debut with the Sabres on Dec. 27 against the New York Islanders.
• David Booth's 15 goals lead the Florida Panthers, and he is second in points (29) on the squad.
• John-Michael Liles is the top scoring defenseman (5-14-19) for the Colorado Avalanche, and is second on the team in assists overall.
next up
The Spartans will have a rare bye weekend (Jan. 9-10), and will next play against clustermate Miami on Jan. 16-17 in Oxford.
