Spartan Seniors Honored in Final Regular-Season Weekend

2/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Feb. 28, 2008

The Spartans, ranked sixth in this week's polls, will take on Bowling Green in a home-and-home series in the final weekend of the regular season. MSU is coming off a split with top-ranked Michgian, while Bowling Green split with Ferris State, each decision a 2-1 final.

Date/Time: Fri. Feb. 29, Munn Arena, East Lansing, Mich..
Sat. March 1, Bowling Green Ice Arena, Bowling Green, Ohio
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series history
MSU owns a 61-28-8 mark against the Falcons all-time, 32-9-3 record in games at Munn Arena, and is 22-16-5 record road tilts.
The teams each ruined the other's senior night last season, when MSU posted a 5-3 win in Bowling Green and the Falcons returned the favor with their 2-1 victory at Munn.
Michigan State and Bowling Green have split each of their last six series, dating back to the start of the 2002-03 season.

"shoot for a cure"
This weekend is the finale of the Spartans' "Shoot for a Cure" initiative to raise money for children's cancer. The "Chuck A Puck" promotion concluded last week, as weekly winners, along with the "Chuck a Puck"contest victor last Friday, received prizes donated by former Spartans in the National Hockey League. The silent auction items will take bids through the second intermission this Friday, with winners announced during the third period. The "Shoot for a Cure" intiative was spearheaded by juniors Justin Abdelkader and Daniel Sturges.
(more info on this initiative can be found on p. 11)
senior salute
The five Spartans seniors - Jeff Dunne, Bryan Lerg, Zak McClellan, Chris Mueller, and Daniel Vukovic - will be honored in a pre-game ceremony on Friday. The senior class has a combined four-year record of 91-51-20 (.623) with two GLI titles, a CCHA Tournament title, and a National Championship on its playing resume.
scouting report
One of the pleasant surprises in the CCHA this season, Bowling Green sits in the four-way tie for fifth place in the CCHA standings, and is looking for some separation from the rest of the pack in that battle for first-round home-ice seeding.
The Falcons are under the tutelage of sixth-year head coach Scott Paluch, and currently sit at 16-16-0 overall with a 13-13-0 mark in the CCHA. BGSU is 9-8-0 on the road this season, 6-6-0 at home, and comes into the weekend having split each of its last four series,
Leading the way for the Falcons in the scoring column is senior forward Derek Whitmore (26-7-33), while freshman forward Jacob Cepis sits just six points back with 12-15-27. On the blue line, the Falcons are led by junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt who has 21 points this season on four goals and 17 assists, while senior Mike Nesdill has 16, and junior Tim Maxwell 15. In net, BG has gotten 14 starts from junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt and 17 from freshman Nick Eno; Spratt owns a .889 save percentage and 2.96 GAA; Eno has a 2.45 GAA and .917 save percentage.
last time out
The Spartans split a pair of 5-2 decisions with top-ranked Michgian last weekend.
Jeff Petry had his first career three-point night, Michigan State had four other players with both a goal and an assist and Hobey Baker candidate Jeff Lerg made 31 saves as MSU posted a convincing victory over on Friday night at Munn Arena. The Spartans struggled to get pucks to the net in the first two frames, but came out with a new intensity and renewed commitment to their cause in the final period, outshooting their archrival 13-6 after UM held a 27-9 edge in the first 40 minutes. While they clung to a 2-1 lead after two periods, MSU exploded for three third-period tallies to put the game out of reach and put a decisive stamp on the victory. Tim Crowder, Bryan Lerg, Tim Kennedy, and Justin Abdelkader all had two-point nights.
Saturday's game followed a different script - Michigan jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead and Michigan State allowed a goal in the final minute of each period to fall, 5-2, at Joe Louis Arena, denying the Spartans an unbeaten regular season against the Wolverines.
Kennedy and Chris Mueller scored second-period goals for the Spartans, who battled back from a 3-0 deficit after a period to cut the lead to 3-2. MSU allowed another backbreaker in the final minute of the second frame for Michigan to take a 4-2 lead into the third period, then the Wolverines got an empty-netter in the final minute of the third period for the final 5-2 margin.
he's honored
Freshman Jeff Petry has been named the CCHA Defensive Player of the Week, the first weekly conference award of his career.
Petry was the game's first star on Friday, when the blueliner put up a three-point (1g, 2a) performance. Petry added an assist on Saturday, and now has his third three-game point streak of the season.
Petry is the sixth MSU player to earn CCHA weekly honors this season - fellow blueliners Michael Ratchuk (Jan. 7) and Daniel Vukovic (Nov. 5) earned Defensive Player of the Week honors, Tim Crowder (Dec. 10) and Bryan Lerg (Dec. 3, Feb. 4) have earned Offensive Player of the Week nods, and Jeff Lerg has earned the Goaltender of the Week honor six times, the most of any netminder this season in the CCHA.
what we know now
The CCHA playoff picture has started to take shape. All four bye spots have been decided: Miami clinched no worse than second place in the CCHA standings with its victory over Ohio State on Tuesday, locking MSU into the third spot. Michigan holds a one-point lead in the overall standings with two games remaining, while the Red Hawks have just one game on Friday. Notre Dame has clinched fourth.
There is a logjam in the middle of the standings, with four teams tied for fifth place (Bowling Green, Northern Michigan, Ferris State, and Nebraska-Omaha). Alaska, Lake Superior, Ohio State, and Western Michigan will be on the road for the first round of playoffs next week, and playoff seeding will likely not be known until the end of the final game on Saturday night.
Both Alaska and UNO have completed their conference schedules, so cannot help their own causes this weekend - Omaha has the fewest wins of anyone in that four-team jumble currently in fifth place, while Alaska holds on to ninth place (20 points) with Lake Superior in 10th with 17 and two games in hand.
sister-kissers
MSU has five ties this season, tied for the third-most all-time in the Spartan annals. The school record of eight was set in 1991-92 and tied in 2005-06.
blankings
With the Jan. 19 win at Ohio State (4-0) and the 1-0 victory at Michigan on Jan. 25, MSU recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time since Feb. 20-21 2004, (vs. Nebraska-Omaha, (3-0, 5-0). MSU posted its third shutout of the year at home against Western Michigan on Feb. 15.
MSU was shut out for the second time this season on Feb. 9 at Northern Michigan. Two of MSU's three road losses this season have been shutouts - the first was opening night at North Dakota (Oct. 13), 6-0.
bonus hockey
The Spartans had their 20-game undefeated streak in overtime games (6-0-14), snapped on Feb. 1 when they dropped a 5-4 decision to Nebraska-Omaha. The Mavericks had been the last team to defeat MSU in the extra period, back on Nov. 12, 2005 (3-2).
Michigan State is 0-1-5 in overtime games this season, and has played overtime games in four of their seven CCHA series in 2008.
law of averages
MSU's roster averages: 6-0, 188 lbs., and the average age is 20 years, 11 months.
quite the cluster
MSU will finish the season tied with Michigan for the most wins in cluster games among its clustermates this season with a .708 winning percentage. (Michigan State and Michigan are paired this season with Lake Superior and Northern Michigan). MSU owns a 7-3-2 record, while the Wolverines are 7-2-3, Northern Michigan is 4-4-2, and the Lakers are 0-9-1. The Wildcats and LSSU face off for a two-game set to conclude the regular season.
january gems
The Spartans finished the month of January unbeaten (5-0-3) - their first unbeaten regular-season month since February of 2006 (6-0-1). MSU was also unbeaten in April 2007 (2-0).
february flats
MSU has nearly half (four of nine) of its losses this season in the month of February.
superlatives
MSU is ranked seventh nationally in winning percentage (67.1%).
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 are 9-4-3 since the start of 2008 (65.6%).
roadies
The Spartans have played 19 of their 35 games at home this season, but own a 9-3-1 mark in 13 road contests. Eight of the nine victories have come as part of CCHA sweeps - at Alaska, Lake Superior, and Ohio State and in home-and-home series with Ferris State and Western Michigan. The Spartans earned their road tie at Notre Dame (Jan. 13), and defeated Michigan at Yost in a three-point weekend. The Spartans went 0-3 in their only two neutral-site games, all at Joe Louis Arena.
high-yield returns
Michigan State is one of four teams in the CCHA that returned 20 letterwinners this season, the highest number in the CCHA. The Spartans returned 83.9 percent of their goal scoring from a year ago (115 goals), tops in the league. MSU returned 73.9 percent (263) of its points from a year ago, which ranks second in the CCHA behind Miami (81.5%). The Spartans returned five of their top six forwards: seniors Bryan Lerg and Chris Mueller, and juniors Tim Kennedy, Justin Abdelkader, and Tim Crowder.
if it was baseball, we'd win the cy young
MSU has now won 20+ games in 16 consecutive seasons.
early birds
Michigan State earned its 20th victory of the season on Feb. 16 at Western Michigan, the earliest the Spartans have reached 20 victories under Rick Comley. In 2003-04, MSU had earned its 20th victory on Feb. 21 vs. Nebraska-Omaha (5-0).
let's end this streak
The Spartans will look to snap a rather inauspicious streak: neither of the last two NCAA titleists made the tournament the year after they won the championship: both the Denver Pioneers (2005 champions) and Wisconsin Badgers (2006 titleists) failed to qualify for the 16-team field.
home sweet home
In 2007-08, MSU will play 20 regular-season games at Munn Arena, compared to 15 a year ago. Fourteen of the 20 were televised.
the number ones
MSU took five points from No. 1 Michigan in four games this season, snapping a three-game losing streak to teams ranked No. 1 in the national polls. In last year's NCAA Tournament, the Spartans defeated both Notre Dame (2-1) and Boston College (3-1) when they held the top ranking.
Michigan State has nine losses this season, and four were to teams which held the No. 1 ranking at the time of the game (North Dakota, Michigan and twice against Miami).
strong starts
MSU has scored the first goal of the game in 16 of its last 22 games. The Spartans own a 19-1-2 record when scoring the game's opening tally, and are 2-8-3 when letting its 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).
specialties
Michigan State has allowed just six power play goals in its last 17 games, and earlier had a streak of 32 consecutive kills over eight games.
In those 17 games, the Spartans have killed 69 of 75 chances against (92.0%), dating back to the Providence game (Dec. 29). The penalty kill is now at 85.2 percent for the season (124/145).
The MSU power play ranks eighth nationally (41/191, 21.5 percent).
high yield
In its first nine games, MSU scored nearly half (15 of 34) of goals on the power play. That pace has slowed somewhat, as 26 of its last 79 have come with a man advantage.
its hot when we win
MSU has converted 32 of 115 chances on the power play (27.8%) in its 21 victories, while scoring just four times in 51 opportunities (7.8%) in its eight losses.
The penalty kill is at 86.3 percent (82/95) in victories, and just 32-of-41 (78%) in losses.
In its five ties, MSU's power play has connected five times in 26 chances (19.2%) - but has gone 18-for-19 on the penalty kill (94.7%).
peppered
Michigan State's 52 shots on net against Mercyhurst (Nov. 10) was the most since a 52-shot effort against Wayne State in a 7-2 victory on Nov. 21, 2003. The Spartans had their second-highest shot output of the season on Dec. 1 at LSSU (41 shots).
and not
On Jan. 13 at Notre Dame, the Spartans had their fewest shots on net (15) since a 1-0 victory over Michigan on Nov. 4, 2000 in which they had 13 shots.
fast starts
MSU has established a pattern of fast starts - the Spartans hold a 42-23 (+19) scoring edge in the first period this season. MSU has outscored its opponents 33-27 (+6) in the middle frame and holds a 38-34 advantage in the third (+3).
MSU has allowed multiple third-period goals on eight occasions. The Spartans allowed a season-high four goals to Providence in the third period on Dec. 29, and twice allowed three (Oct. 13 at North Dakota, and Oct. 26 vs. Northern Michigan).
that said
If Michigan State holds a lead entering the final period, its a good bet to finish off the game. The Spartans are 19-0-2 if they lead at the second intermission, and are 2-2-2 when tied entering the final frame.
assert yourself
Only eight times this season has MSU been assessed more penalty minutes in a game than its opponent. MSU was whistled for its season-high in penalties (11) on Jan. 13 at Notre Dame and on Jan. 26 agaisnt Michigan, and its season high for penalty minutes (31) came in the Jan. 19 game against Ohio State and again on Feb. 1 against Nebraska-Omaha.
puttin' on the foil
Northern Michigan was assessed 66 penalty minutes in the Feb. 8-9 series, the most against MSU in a two-game set this season. Miami was whistled for 50 in the Nov. 15-16 set, the previous high.
brooms
Michigan State has registered six CCHA sweeps this season, and have taken at least three points in an additional three series. MSU has been swept just twice - at home against Miami and at Northern Michigan, and earned a split last weekend against Michigan in the home-and-Joe series, and at home against Nebraska-Omaha.
second-half scoring surges
The junior class has accounted for nearly half of the team's scoring since the calendar turned to 2008. In 16 games, the juniors have 67 of MSU's 136 points (49.7 percent) and have 24 of the 49 goals scored (49 percent). Junior netminder Jeff Lerg has posted a 1.96 GAA and .936 save percentage.
Since Jan. 1, Senior Bryan Lerg leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and 10 assists; Justin Abdeklader ranks second in goal-scoring (8) and has eight assists for 16 points. Tim Crowder is second on the team in points (18) with seven goals and 11 assists, while classmate Tim Kennedy also has 11 helpers and 14 points.
hot hands
Bryan Lerg has a point in 11 of the last 12 games, has extended his point-scoring streak to four games. In that 12-game span, he has eight goals and nine assists (+4).
important firsts
Nine of Bryan Lerg's 18 goals this season have been the first goal of the game. MSU is 19-1-2 this season when scoring the first goal.
more hot hands
Junior Tim Crowder has exploded in the second half, with 18 points since Jan. 1. With 31 points on the season (13g, 18a), Crowder has surpassed his previous single-season high (set his freshman year) of 30 points. He had 25 in his sophomore campaign.
milestones
Senior Chris Mueller netted his 100th career point against Michigan at Joe Louis Arena on Feb. 22, a second-period goal on a nifty spin/backhanded move off an assist from fellow Buffalo native Michael Ratchuk. Mueller joins classmate Bryan Lerg as the only current Spartans to surpass 100 career points - Lerg has 66 goals and 57 assists for 123 points.
Three other Spartans are within striking distance: Tim Kennedy (97 points), Tim Crowder (86) and Justin Abdelkader (85).
off the schneide
Tim Kennedy has three goals in his last four games, and he had a three-point weekend against Michigan (Feb. 22-23). Kennedy snapped a 13-game streak without a goal with a score on Feb. 15 against Western Michigan, then had a goal each night against the Wolverines. He now has 97 career points (38g, 59a).
shorties
Tim Kennedy netted his third shorthanded goal of the season in the Feb. 15 game against Western Michigan. Its the third-highest total in the country this year.
to the winners go the spoils
Daniel Vukovic has been on the ice for 14 of 21 game-winning goals this season, and has had a hand in scoring five of them (1g, 4a). Tim Crowder has a hand in eight game-winners (3g, 5a), and has been on the ice for 12 of the 21.
Tim Kennedy has scored a team-best five of MSU's game-winners, has assisted on two others, and has been on the ice for 11 of 21 game-winners this season. Kennedy has also been on the ice for both of MSU's game-tying goals this season, and had a hand in scoring both - he netted the tying goal against Minnesota (Nov. 23), and assisted on Michael Ratchuk's equalizer in the Lake Superior State deadlock (Jan. 5).
offensive defensemen
Michigan State owns one of the top-scoring defensive units in the country, ranking sixth overall and second in the CCHA. MSU's blueliners average 2.25 points per game (13- 66- 79). North Dakota's defensive corps leads the nation (2.71 ppg), followed by RIT (2.62), Wisconsin (2.47), Miami (2.43) , and Colorado College (2.28).
multiplicity
Tim Kennedy leads the Spartans with 10 multiple-point outings this season, followed by Bryan Lerg and Tim Crowder (9), and Justin Abdelkader (8).
moving up the charts
With 70 saves in the Feb. 22-23 set against Michigan, Jeff Lerg has moved into fifth place in career saves in the MSU annals, now with 2,746. He passed Chad Alban on Saturday (2,735), and Mike Buzak (2,836) is in fourth, 90 ahead of Lerg.
Last Saturday was Lerg's 107th game between the MSU pipes, giving him fifth place in that category - he moved ahead of Ryan Miller and Norm Foster, who both played 106.
tight squeezes
Jeff Lerg is now 6-1 this season in one-goal games, with the only loss coming in overtime. Lerg already has five ties on his ledger this season as well.
In his career (107 GP), Lerg has nine shutouts, and 26 games in which he has allowed a single goal. He has allowed just two goals on another 30 occasions - a grand total of 65 of 107 games that he has allowed two goals or fewer.
whitewashes
Jeff Lerg posted a shutout of Western Michigan on Feb. 15, his third of the season and ninth of his career. Earlier this season, Lerg posted back-to-back shutouts of Ohio State (Jan. 19) and Michigan (Jan. 25), and ran his shutout streak to 190:54 through all or part of 11 periods of hockey. The streak was snapped with a second-period power play tally on Jan. 26 against Michigan.
Lerg's most recent shutout streak reached 95:46, over all or part of six periods - Western Michigan's power-play goal at 8:44 of the second period on Feb. 16 at Lawson snapped that streak after being shut out the night before.
In his career, Lerg has two shutouts against Michigan and has twice posted a 1-0 victory - the first was in the 2006 NCAA East Regional against New Hampshire. Two of Lerg's shutouts this season have come on the road.
what have you done for me lately?
Jeff Lerg has been an intregal part of MSU's success. Since Jan. 1, he boasts a 1.96 GAA and sports a .936 save percentage. In the three series at the end of January, (No. 6 Notre Dame, Ohio State, No. 1 Michigan), Lerg's numbers were beyond outstanding - he boasted a .971 save percentage, and 0.86 GAA.
why not help out offensively, too?
Jeff Lerg recorded an assist on a Tim Kennedy shorthanded goal on Feb. 15, a 3-0 MSU victory. It was the third assist of his collegiate career.
The MSU record for goaltender points in a season is nine (9 a), set by Jason Muzzatti in 1989-90. He finished his career with 18 points, all asssts.
death, taxes, and Jeff Lerg
Jeff Lerg leads all collegiate goaltenders in minutes played, entering the weekend with 2035:55. He ranks sixth in percentage of team minutes played, (96 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.
(More Jeff Lerg statistical information on page 12-13.)
he's a winner
Jeff Lerg's 5-2 win over No. 1 Michigan Feb. 22 was the 63rd of his career, which puts him seventh in the MSU annals in that category. He's now two wins shy of moving into the top five all-time for Spartan netminders - Ron Scott (64) and Mike Buzak (65) sit above him within striking distance in the remainder of the regular season.
shooting gallery
Jeff Lerg ranks first among all Division I goaltenders in saves (926) and faces an average of 27.2 shots per game, 12th nationally. Only two goalies ranked in the top 12 in saves per game play for teams that are better than .500 - Lerg and Kevin Regan of New Hampshire.
in the annals
Lerg has moved into the top 10 in several netminding categories at Michigan State: Career wins (63), seventh; career games played (107), fifth; career GAA (2.24), third; career save percentage (.921), third; career saves (2,746), fifth; career shutouts (9), fourth; wins in a season (26), T-fifth; games played, season (42), T-first; saves, season (1,042), fourth.
stopper
Jeff Lerg's penalty-shot save on Feb. 2 against Bill Bagron of Nebraska-Omaha was his second of the season, and also of his career. He previously stopped Tyler Burton on Oct.20 in a 2-1 victory over Colgate. He made 37 saves in that win over UNO, tied for his third-highest single-game total of the season. He made 40 against Providence (Dec. 29) and 39 against Michigan at Joe Louis Arena (Feb. 23).
against the big boys
In eight games against the other top three teams in the CCHA (Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame), Jeff Lerg owns a 1.84 GAA and .943 save percentage, with a shutout at No. 1 Michigan on Jan. 25. Those three rank (as of Feb. 24) first, second, and 20th nationally in team offense.
Against the CCHA's top ten overall scorers, Lerg has allowed just eight goals in 10 games, and five of those goals were on the power play. Has allowed just two assists to nation's leading scorer, Michigan's Kevin Porter, in four games; Ryan Jones (Miami) was limited to an empty-net tally.
milestones
Three players reached the 100-games milestone against Nebraska-Omaha: Junior netminder Jeff Lerg played in his 100th career game on Feb. 1, just the seventh MSU netminder to reach that milestone. Senior blueliner Jeff Dunne and junior winger Tim Kennedy reached the 100-game mark on the next evening. Three other juniors reached the milestone earlier this season: Nick Sucharski (at Notre Dame, Jan. 13); Justin Abdelkader (vs. Michigan Tech, Dec. 28); and Tim Crowder (at LSSU, Dec. 1).
Senior Zak McClellan (91 career games) and junior Brandon Gentile, (90) will likely be the next to reach the milestone.
double dips
MSU has boasted two, two-goal scorers three times this season, the most recent Michael Ratchuk and Tim Crowder against Lake Superior State on Jan. 4.
Dustin Gazley and Matt Schepke each had two-goal outings on Oct. 19, a 6-2 victory over Colgate, and Schepke and Bryan Lerg completed the feat again against Wisconsin (Nov. 23) in a 4-4 tie.
double dips, part II
In 42 games last season, there were 15 occasions where an MSU skater recorded two goals in a game. Through 35 games this year, it has already happened 15 times.
at the dot
MSU benefits from a deep corps of quality centermen who excel on faceoffs. Senior Chris Mueller has won 264 of 458 faceoffs, for a team-best 57.6 percent; since Jan. 1, Mueller has won an even more impressive 59.2 percent (132 of 223). Justin Abdelkader has won 384 of 708 (54.2%), Zak McClellan is at 52.6 percent (121 of 230), while Bryan Lerg is at 52.5 percent (279 of 531) and Nick Sucharski has won 141 of 272 (51.8%).
career years
Five veterans have already surpassed their single-season bests through the midpoint of the season. Tim Crowder's 31 points betters his freshman-year total of 30, while classmate Matt Schepke has already bettered his sophomore-year point total (2-3-5) with his 10-14-24 scoring line. He has had two, two-goal games this season. Senior blueliner Daniel Vukovic, who recorded a 7-5-12 stat line in what was a breakout junior season, has three goals and 17 assists for 20 points - the 17 assists betters his career total of nine coming into the season.
Sophomore Michael Ratchuk has bettered his 12 points he recorded as a freshman (6-16-22), while classmate Ryan Turek and junior Brandon Gentile are also already ahead of their totals from a year ago. Turek has four assists this season after just two as a freshman, while Gentile's nine helpers betters his total of four last year.
earning their roles
Sophomore Justin Johnston has earned an everyday spot in the MSU defensive corps. He has appeared in 17 of the last 19 games for the Spartans, and has steadily shown growth and improvement this season. Johnston's emergence has not only added another dimension to the defensive corps, but the Spartans have ferquently employed to a seven-defenseman lineup as they did during the 2007 National Championship run.
Freshman Andrew Rowe is making a case for more ice time as well. Playing in just his 10th game of the season, Rowe was inserted into the lineup for the Feb. 2 game against UNO on the second line with Bryan Lerg and Tim Crowder. He responded with a career-best three-point night (1-2-3) and helped MSU earn a split with the Mavericks. Rowe had a hand in all three even-strength tallies on the night, and has stuck on that line in the last three series.
collegiate debuts
The freshman class has found ways to make an impact through the first half of the season. Five of the six MSU freshmen have recorded their first collegiate goal, with blueliners Jeff Petry and AJ Sturges getting their first on Nov. 10 against Mercyhurst. Petry, a regular on the MSU power play, currently has a 2-16-18 line. Dustin Gazley had an impressive home debut, netting a pair of goals in his first home game (Oct. 19 vs. Colgate) and currently has three goals and eight assists. Corey Tropp leads freshmen in goal scoring (6-9-15) and is the leader in freshmen points. Andrew Rowe played in his first game in green and white on Oct. 26 against Northern Michigan, and has a 3-4-7 line on the season. Forward Joey Shean has played in six games, and still looks for his first collegiate tally - but has played well in his role when called upon.
gentleman and a scholar
Senior Jeff Dunne has been honored with a Charles E. and Frances M. Osterman Scholarship. Robert Osterman, past president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, provided this scholarship to the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences in memory of his parents. Dunne, a crop and soil science major, has a cumulative grade point average of 3.771.
in-game, and in-home entertainment
MSUSpartans.com has continued its weekly video content in its All-Access subscribers. "In the Box with Zak McClellan" provides interviews with players and personnel within the MSU hockey program. McClellan's guests have also included the Hanson Brothers, Gary Thorne and Barry Melrose.
McClellan, a Frankenmuth, Mich. native and senior forward for the Spartans, is the three-time winner of the team's Goofus Award, given annually to the team humorist at the team's awards banquet.
In addition, McClellan has added some in-arena entertainment to his resume this season. He headlines "Zak and the Macs", a lip-synch music video series that began as a backdrop for highlight packages. The videos can only be seen in Munn Arena, and a new Zak and the Macs premiered during the home game against Michigan on Feb. 22. In addition, a "Zak and the Macs: Behind the Story" is part of the "In the Box" series.
Also participating as band members in the "Zak and the Macs" videos are Justin Abdelkader, Michael Ratchuk, Kurt Kivisto, Dan Sturges, and Jay Sprague. The "band" premiered Loverboy's "Workin for the Weekend" in late November, rolled out Hall and Oates' "You Make my Dreams" in January, and joined with three MSU football players (Otis Wiley, Ross Weaver, and AJ Jimmerson) to do Run DMC and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."
an even dozen
A total of 12 former Spartans are currently on NHL rosters: David Booth (Florida), Rod Brind'Amour (Carolina), Adam Hall (Pittsburgh), Shawn Horcoff (Edmonton), Duncan Keith (Chicago), John-Michael Liles (Colorado), Drew Miller (Anaheim), Ryan Miller (Buffalo), Jim Slater (Atlanta), Bryan Smolinski (Montreal), Mike Weaver (Vancouver) and Mike York (Phoenix).
up next
The Spartans will enjoy a bye week during the first round of the CCHA tournament, and will host the best-of-three quarterfinal round on March 14-15-16 at Munn Arena.