Icers Tangle with Wildcats This Weekend

Tim Kennedy has eight points in his last 11 games

2/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Feb. 7, 2008

Michigan State, 6-1-3 since Jan. 1, heads to Marquette for its final two-game road trip of the regular season,and will tangle with Northern Michigan. The Spartans are coming off a split with Nebraska-Omaha (4-5 (OT), 4-2), while the Wildcats battled Michigan to a pair of 3-3 ties in Ann Arbor last weekend (both come-from-behind affairs).

Date/Time: Feb. 8-9, 2008; 7:35 p.m.
Location: Marquette, Mich..(Berry Events Center)
Live Statistics: |
Audio: WJIM 1240 AM (Fri.) / WVFN 730 AM (Sat.)/ msuspartans.com
Scott Moore (PBP) and Rob Woodward `00 (Analysis)
Television: none
Live Video Webstream: Northern Michigan Athletics will stream both games via the B2Networks Watch
Download MSU Hockey Notes (PDF)

series history
The Spartans own a 29-18-2 record all-time against their conference rivals, which includes six straight victories in the series. Clustermates this season, the four-game set concludes this weekend - the Spartans took a pair from NMU back in October at Munn, 5-4 and 3-2. In their last meeting in the UP, MSU swept the Wildcats with identical 3-2 decisions last season in Marquette. MSU mentor Rick Comley spent 26 years at Northern Michigan as the head coach of the hockey program - he recorded 538 of his 732 career coaching victories as the head coach of the Wildcats. Since coming to State, Comley is 9-7-0 against his former charges, which includes a 6-1 record at Munn.
wayback machine
The teams met back in October, and MSU took a pair of decisions to start off the conference season 2-0.
In the first game, Tim Kennedy and freshman Corey Tropp each had a goal and an assist, blueliner Daniel Vukovic had a pair of helpers as the Spartans exploded for four goals in the second period - three within a span of 3:41 - to blow the game open and take a 5-1 lead into the second intermission. The Wildcats answered with three third-period scores - two by Ray Kaunisto - to get back in to the game, but MSU held on for a 5-4 victory.
In the second game, all five goals came on the power play in a much tighter affair, as MSU recorded the 3-2 win. Kennedy and Bryan Lerg gave MSU a 2-0 lead after the first period, but Nick Sirota and Jared Brown scored for NMU in the middle frame. Michael Ratchuk got the game-winner for MSU midway through the third period. Jeff Lerg made 33 saves, while Derek Jantzen, who had relieved Brian Stewart on Friday and earned the Saturday start, made 23 stops.
scheduling quirks
This will be the last single-site two-game series of the regular season for the Spartans. Each of MSU's final three regular-season weekends will have games contested at different sites - the Spartans will have a home-and-home with both Western Michigan and Bowling Green, and will tangle with archrival Michigan at home and then at Joe Louis Arena. All remaining home games will be played on Friday nights. MSU's game against Michigan at Joe Louis Arena has been changed to a 7:05 p.m. start time.
scouting report
The Wildcats, under the tutelage of Walt Kyle, skated to a pair of 3-3, come-from-behind ties at Michigan last weekend, and own a 10-15-3 overall mark and 7-11-2 mark in conference games.
Junior Nick Sirota sits atop the NMU stat sheet, with a 13-12-25 stat line. Sirota broke out of a scoring slump with two assists on Friday for his seventh multi-point game of the season. Freshman Mark Olver sits second with 9-11-20, and Matt Butcher's 6-12-18 is third. Freshman Phil Fox is the only player other than Sirota with double-figure goals (10) and he registers with 13 points.
Brian Stewart has earned the starting role between the pipes, with a 2.82 GAA and .906 save percentage in 20 games. He made 41 saves in last Friday's game at Yost, one off his career best.
NMU ranks third natinoally in shorthanded goals, as Butcher potted his first and the team's seventh of the season last Friday.
last time out
The Spartans got a home split with Nebraska-Omaha last weekend - UNO got the overtime victory on Friday (5-4), while the Spartans took Saturday's tilt by a 4-2 margin.
Michigan State's streak of 20 consecutive overtime games without a loss came to an end on Friday when Nebraska-Omaha's Dan Charleston put the puck past Jeff Lerg at 2:53 of the overtime period to give the visiting Mavericks a 5-4 victory over the Spartans. MSU had gotten a pair of goals in the final 12 minutes of regulation - including an extra-attacker goal from senior captian Bryan Lerg with 1:04 remaining - to battle back from a two-goal deficit. Justin Abdelkader had a pair of goals and an assist, Tim Kennedy had two helpers, and Corey Tropp had the other score for MSU; Dan Charleston got the game-winner for UNO.
The Spartans bounced back on Saturday. Jeff Lerg made 37 saves, including 18 (one on a penalty shot) in the third period, to backstop Michigan State to a 4-2 victory. The Andrew Rowe-Bryan Lerg- Tim Crowder line combined for all four goals and six assists, as the win earned the Spartans a split in the weekend series. Bryan Lerg potted the first goal of the game with just 69 seconds elapsed in the contest, and Rowe and Crowder put goals on the board 27 seconds apart in the first two minutes of the middle frame
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).
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 decicision 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 last five series
honors
Spartan senior captain Bryan Lerg was named the CCHA Player of the Week on Monday. Lerg scored three goals and added two assists in the split with Nebraska-Omaha last weekend. He scored the dramatic extra-attacker goal with 1:04 remaining to send Friday's game to overtime (an eventual 5-4 loss) , then came back with a four-point night (2g, 2a) as the Spartans rebounded with a 4-2 victory on Saturday.
Saturday's output tied his single-game best for points, and he currently owns the team's longest point-scoring streak (six games, 5-5-10).
On Saturday, Lerg tallied his third two-goal game of the season, and first since Dec. 1 at Lake Superior. His six-game point-scoring streak (5g, 5a) is three off his career best.
This was the fifth consecutive week that an MSU player earned weekly awards from the conference. Goaltender Jeff Lerg earned his fourth consecutive CCHA Goaltender of the Week kudos and sixth of the 2007-08 season, and later in the week was named both the RBC Financial CCHA Player of the Month and the Hockey Commissioner's Association (HCA) National Player of the Month.
Lerg is the first goaltender to win the Goaltender of the Week honor four consecutive weeks since the CCHA began a dedicated weekly honor for its netminders in the 2004-05 season, and the first goaltender to win a weekly honor four consecutive weeks since Ferris State's Mike Brown captured four straight Defensive Player of the Week awards from Oct. 14-Nov. 4, 2002.
Lerg was spectacular in both games last weekend against top-ranked Michigan, which came into the weekend with the nation's second-ranked offense (4.12 goals per game). He twice earned first-star honors as he stopped 55 of 57 shots (.965) on the weekend, with a 0.96 GAA in two games. Lerg posted his second consecutive shutout on Friday and made 26 saves in a 1-0 victory, backstopping MSU to its first win (and shutout) at Yost since 2003. He had his shutout streak, which dated back to last weekend's Ohio State series in Columbus, snapped at 190:54 when MSU allowed a second-period power play tally on Saturday, and was victimized by a late own-goal as the Spartans settled on a 2-2 tie at home.
In a 5-0-3 month for the Spartans, Lerg boasted a .959 save percentage and 1.23 goals against average, which included two road shutouts.
law of averages
MSU's roster averages: 6-0, 188 lbs., and the average age is 20 years, 11 months.
the race is on
MSU's two points last weekend against the Mavericks brought MSU (31 points) within three points of first-place Miami (34) and two points behind second-place Michigan (33) in the CCHA standings. Notre Dame is currently occupying the fourth and final bye position in the standings, with 27 points; the Irish are a good bet to hold that position as they outpace fifth-place Nebraska-Omaha by six points (21).
The Spartans have two remaining games on the slate against Michgian - Feb. 22 at Munn Arena, and Feb. 23 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
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).
superlatives
MSU is tied for the second-fewest losses (6) nationally with Boston College - Michigan and Miami lead the nation with three.
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 6-1-3 since the start of 2008 (75%).
roadies
The Spartans have played 17 of their 29 games at home this season, but own a 8-1-1 mark in ten road contests. Seven of the eight victories have come as part of CCHA sweeps - at Alaska, Lake Superior, and Ohio State and in a home-and-home with Ferris State. The Spartans earned their road tie at Notre Dame (Jan. 13), and defeated Michigan at Yost in a three-point weekend. The Spartans went 0-2 in their only two neutral-site games, at the GLI.
quite the cluster
MSU is the only undefeated team within its cluster, (Michgian, Lake Superior, and Northern Michigan), as it owns a 6-0-2 record with sweeps at home against Northern Michigan (5-4, 3-2), at Lake Superior (3-2, 5-2) a three-point home effort against the Lakers (8-2, 3-3), and a three-point effort in a home-and-home with Michigan. Michigan has also swept both upper peninsula schools, and Northern Michigan swept Lake Superior in a home-and-home.
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, they'd win the cy young
MSU has won 20+ games in 15 consecutive seasons.
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 will be televised.
the number ones
MSU took three points from then-No. 1 Michigan on Jan. 25-26, 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 six losses this season, and three were to teams which held the No. 1 ranking at the time of the game (North Dakota, and twice against Miami).
highs and lows
The Spartans allowed nine goals in the two games at the Great Lakes Invitational (two were empty-net tallies). It was the most goals allowed by the Spartans in a weekend this season.
In the last eight games, Jeff Lerg and the Spartan offense has allowed just 12 goals, and posted two road shutouts (at Ohio State and Michigan)
strong starts
MSU has scored the first goal of the game in 13 of its last 16 games. The Spartans own a 16-1-2 record when scoring the game's opening tally, and are 2-5-3 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).
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 18 of its last 64 have come with a man advantage.
specialties
Michigan State has allowed just two power play goal in its last 11 games, snapping a streak of 32 consecutive kills when Michigan scored an extra-man tally in the second period of the Jan. 26 game in East Lansing. In those 11 games, the Spartans have killed 40 of 42 chances aggainst, dating back to the Providence game (Dec. 29). The penalty kill is now at 84.4 percent for the season (103/122).
The MSU power play ranks third nationally (35/152, 23.0 percent).
its hot when we win
MSU has converted 28 of 95 chances on the power play (29.5%) in its 18 victories, while scoring just twice in 31 (4%) in its five losses.
The penalty kill is at 86.1 percent (68/79) in victories, and just 17-of-24 (70.8%) 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.
peppered, part II
Rick Comley has noted that he felt the Spartans have been giving up too many shots. The Spartans have allowed 32.6 shots per game over its last dozen contests, which included four of MSU's six games in which it has allowed 35+ shots this season. On the year, the Spartans are allowing an average of 29.9 shots per game.
MSU allowed 33 and 39 shots in the two games agaisnt Nebraska-Omaha; in recent games, however, MSU had kept the shot totals against low - In the Ohio State and Michigan series, MSU averaged 27.0 shots against.
fast starts, tough thirds ...
The third period is the only one in which MSU does not hold a significant scoring advantage - the Spartans hold a 38-18 (+20) edge in the first and 29-21 (+8) in the middle frame, but but hold only a 31-30 advantage in the third (+1).
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 16-0-2 if they lead at the second intermission, and are 2-2-2 when tied entering the final frame.
assert yourself
Only seven times this season, including four times in the last six games, 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.
class system
Which class is the most productive for the Spartans? The eight-member junior class averages of 0.69 points per game. The overall breakdown:

Class (no.) GP  G-A-P   PPG
Freshmen (6)    106 14-31-45    0.42
Sophomores (4)  82  6-22-28 0.34
Juniors (8) 195 54-81-135   0.69
Seniors (5) 139 24-39-63    0.45

juniors hot in january ... and beyond
The junior class has accounted for more than half of the team's scoring since the calendar turned to 2008. In 10 games, the juniors have 49 of MSU's 92 points (53 percent) and have 18 of the 34 goals scored (53 percent). Junior netminder Jeff Lerg has posted a 1.67 GAA and .946 save percentage.
Since Jan. 1, Senior Bryan Lerg leads the team in scoring with seven goals and six assists; Justin Abdeklader shares the goal-scoring lead with Lerg and has four assists for 11 points. Tim Crowder is tied with Abdelkader in points (13) with five goals and eight assists.
hot hands
Bryan Lerg owns the teams current point streak (six games), with 5-5-10 in that span.
hands looking to get hotter
Tim Kennedy broke his two-game scoreless streak (he was held without a point in both Michigan games) with a pair of assists in the Feb. 1 game against Omaha.
Kennedy has not had a goal in 11 games - this ties his his longest goal-less streak, set in his freshman season.
to the winners go the spoils
Daniel Vukovic has been on the ice for 12 of 18 game-winning goals this season, and has had a hand in scoring six of them (1g, 5a). Tim Crowder has a hand in seven game-winners (3g, 4a), and has been on the ice for 11 of the 18.
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 nine of 18 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 fifth. MSU's blueliners average 2.31 points per game (11- 56- 67).
multiplicity
Tim Kennedy leads the Spartans with eight multiple-point outings this season, followed by Matt Schepke, Bryan Lerg, Tim Crowder, and Justin Abdelkader (7) and Michael Ratchuk (6).
tight squeezes
Jeff Lerg is now 6-1 this season in one-goal games. Has has lost only two overtime games in his career (both to Nebraska-Omaha), but reeled off 20 consecutive overtime games without a loss between them (6-0-14). Lerg already has five ties on his ledger this season as well.
In his career (101 GP), Lerg has eight shutouts, and 26 games in which he has allowed a single goal. He has allowed just two goals on another 28 occasions - a grand total of 62 of 101 games that he has allowed two goals or fewer.
whitewashes
Jeff 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 last Saturday by the Wolverines. 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. Both of Lerg's shutouts this season have come on the road.
what have you done for me lateley?
Jeff Lerg has been an intregal part of MSU's success . He's allowed just 17 goals in the 12 contests, (1.67 GAA) and sports a .946 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.
death, taxes, and Jeff Lerg
Jeff Lerg leads all collegiate goaltenders in minutes played, entering the weekend with 1696:38 . He is fifth 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.
For more Jeff Lerg statistical information, see page 10.
shooting gallery
Jeff Lerg ranks second among all Division I goaltenders in saves (770) and faces an average of 27.5 shots per game, the third-most of any CCHA netminder and 13th nationally. His 770 saves in 29 games is 141 more than Billy Sauer of Michigan, who ranks second in that category in the CCHA; Beau Erickson of Connecticut ranks first nationally with 774 saves on the season.
in the annals
With 11 saves, Jeff Lerg will move ahead of Ryan Miller on MSU's all-time saves list. Miller made 2.600 saves in his three-year Spartan career, and Lerg, playing in his 102nd career game on Friday, has 2,590 entering the weekend..
Lerg has moved into the top 10 in several netminding categories at Michigan State: Career wins (60), eighth; career games played (101), seventh; career GAA (2.23), third; career save percentage (.920), third; career saves (2,590), seventh; career shutouts (8), 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 agaionst Bill Bagron of Nebraska-Omaha was his second of the season, and his career. He previously stopped Tyler Burton on Oct.20 in a 2-1 victory over Colgate. He made 37 saves in Saturday's win, tied for his second-highest single-game total of the season. He made 40 against Providence (Dec. 29) and 37 at Ferris State (Dec. 8)
against the big boys
Against the other top three teams in the CCHA (Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame), Jeff Lerg went 2-2-2, with a shutout at No. 1 Michigan on Jan. 25. In those six games, Lerg owns a 1.47 GAA and .952 save percentage. Those three rank (as of Feb. 5) first, second, and 11th nationally in team offense.
milestones
Three players reached the 100-games milestone last weekend: Junior netminder Jeff Lerg played in his 100th career game Friday, just the seventh MSU netminder to reach that milestone. Senior blueliner Jeff Dunne and junior winger Tim Kennedy reached the 100-game mark on Saturday. 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 and junior Brandon Gentile, with 85 career games each, 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 29 games this year, it has already happened 14 times.
at the dot
MSU benefits from a deep corps of quality centermen who excel on faceoffs. Senior Chris Mueller has won 225 of 378 faceoffs, for a team-best 59.5 percent; since Jan. 1, Mueller has won an even more impressive 65 percent (93 of 143). Justin Abdelkader has won 319 of 602 (53%), Zak McClellan is at 53.6 percent (96 of 179), while Nick Sucharski and Bryan Lerg are both at at 51 percent (Sucharski 122 of 239; Lerg 218 of 425).
career years
Five veterans have already surpassed their single-season bests through the midpoint of the season. Matt Schepke has already bettered his sophomore-year point total (2-3-5) with his 10-14-24 scoring line through 29 games. 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 13 assists for 16 points - the 13 assists betters his career total of nine coming into the season.
Sophomore Michael Ratchuk has bettered his 12 points he recorded as a freshman (6-15-21), 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 13 of the last 15 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 recently 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.
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 1-12-13 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 nine 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 3-2-5 line on the season. Forward Joey Shean has played in five 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.
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
MSU looks to a home-and-home series with Western Michigan next weekend. The teams will face off on Friday at 7 p.m. at Munn Arena, then in Kalamazoo at 4:35 p.m. on Saturday as part of the "Hockey Day in Michigan" celebration.