Spartans Prepare for Top-Ranked Miami

10/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Oct. 21, 2009

Date/Time: Oct. 23; 7:05 p.m. / Oct. 24, 8:05 p.m.
Audio: (F) WJIM 1240 AM / (S) WVFN 730 AM. all audio can also be heard at msuspartans.com
Television: (Saturday only) Comcast (Digital Ch. 900 in the greater Lansing area)
Download MSU Hockey Notes (PDF)
Podcasts: Rick | Anthony | Corey

storyline
Michigan State continues its four-game road swing and kicks of conference play with a set at top-ranked Miami.

series history
MSU is 66-23-5 all-time against the Red Hawks, and MSU owns a 27-10-2 record against Miami in Oxford.
The recent history falls in favor of the Red Hawks, which have won six of the last eight meetings. However, MSU had won six of seven prior to that, from January 2005 to January 2007.
Miami took three of four games last season when the teams were clustermates.
The last four series held in Oxford have been splits - MSU swept in February of 2002, and the teams have split in Nov. 2003, January 2005, January 2007, and January 2009. Miami's last sweep of MSU at home came back in November of 1999, 3-2 and 3-0 victories.

non-conference
Michigan State has started the season with a 3-1 record against non-conference competition, sweeping Clarkson and splitting its most recent series with Maine.
Rick Comley owns a 36-26-5 record in games against non-conference teams since coming to Michigan State prior to the 2002-03 season. (This includes regular-season, tournament, and NCAA Tournament games) Only once has a Comley team been sub-.500 in games against non-conference foes in a season (2003-04), and is 21-12-4 over the last four years (2005-09.)

around the league
Only two conference series are on the docket this weekend - Ohio State is at Lake Superior State in the other. Four series are on the non-conference slate: Providence is at Bowling Green, Robert Morris is at Ferris State, Western Michigan is at Alabama-Huntsville, and Bemidji State is at Northern Michigan. In addition, single-game action will see Boston College at Notre Dame and Michigan at Boston University.

recapping the action
MSU split at Maine last weekend, each team winning by 5-3 scores.
On Friday, Corey Tropp's hat trick - one goal each on the power play, shorthanded, and even strength - propelled MSU to the victory. Freshman Derek Grant added a pair of assists, while Jeff Petry and Tim Buttery had the other scores for MSU. Michigan State trailed 1-0 and 2-1, then battled back to pull ahead by 3-2 and 4-3 scores before getting Petry's late insurance marker.
Saturday's game was another tight affair, as the score was knotted at three with under three minutes to go in the game. Penalties hurt MSU in the end, as it was a man down for six of the final nine minutes. The game-winning power-play strike by Gustav Nyquist came with just over 90 seconds to play, and an empty-netter sealed MSU's fate.

o captain my captain
Senior Nick Sucharski and junior Jeff Petry will serve as captains of the 2009-10 Spartans. Corey Tropp and Andrew Rowe will serve as alternate captains.

honorary "c"
Michigan State will take part in honoring its past in its present with the introduction of Honorary Captains. In selected games this season, former MSU skaters will come back to campus to serve as an Honorary Captain for one game. The Honorary Captain will attend pre-game meal with team, address the Spartan squad prior to the contest, and stand on the bench during the game. This allows the program not only to honor former players, but also to share with current team members what donning the Green and White meant to those who came before them.
Oct. 10 - Dave Kelley (1973-77)
Oct. 17 - Ron Clark (1972-75)

represent your state
MSU's 28-man roster represents six US states and two Canadian provences. Half (14) of MSU's players hail from the state of Michigan, while four are from Ontario. The Spartans have three players each from Illinois and British Columbia, and one player each from Colorado, Minnesota, New York, and Wisconsin.

prognosticating
Michigan State has been selected ninth by the head coaches and eighth by the league's media in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's annual preseason polls. In two close races, Michigan received enough points from the conference's 12 head coaches and 66 media members to be named the preseason favorite in both surveys. The polls were announced in conjunction with the CCHA's pre-season media conference call with all 12 head coaches, held this season in lieu of a media day in Detroit. MSU garnered 46 points in the survey of conference coaches, and 332 points in the media poll, which included one first-place vote.

uncharted territory
Michigan State finished in a tie for 10th place in the CCHA standings last season, with a 10-23-5 overall mark and 7-17-4 record in conference tilts.

so close
After sweeping Clarkson to start the year, Michigan State was denied its first 4-0 start since the 1994-95 season with its split at Maine (5-3, 3-5).

what's new?
The CCHA announced that a regulation or overtime victory will be worth three points in the league standings this season, a change from when the shootout was instituted last season. This season, a regulation or sudden-death overtime win will earn a team three points in the standings, a shootout victory will garner two points, a shootout loss will be rewarded by one point, and a loss in regulation or overtime will mean no points. So, any game that goes to a shootout will see the victor credited with a tie and a shootout win in the conference standings, while the loser will receive credit for a tie. This differs from the system utilized in 2008-09, where a regulation/overtime victory or a shootout win meant two points, a shootout loss gave a team one point, and a regulation/overtime loss was awarded no points.

m.a.s.h. unit
In 2008-09, Michigan State had a total 14 players miss time with 16 injuries, totaling 221 practices missed and 108 games lost.

gaining ground
Comley captured his 750th career victory on Friday, Oct. 9 with a 6-1 victory over Clarkson. He now owns a 752-584-100 (.562) career overall coaching record, good for fourth place on the all-time wins list. 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 816 and Jack Parker of Boston University has 804. The Feb. 7, 2009 victory over Ferris State (1-0) served as the 150th victory for Comley at Michigan State.

back in green
Last December, then-freshman forward Mike Merrifield returned to junior hockey for the remainder of the season, and played for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL. His coach in Green Bay was John Cooper, who coached Merrifield the previous season in the NAHL with the St. Louis Bandits. In 38 games in Green Bay, Merrifield had 18 goals and 16 assists (34 points), potted 12 points on special teams, and was a +9.
Merrifield cracked the lineup in MSU's fourth game, and scored his first collegiate goal (and point) on a beautiful tic-tac-toe score in the second period. He will be in the lineup again this weekend for the Spartans.

law of averages
MSU's current roster averages: 6-0, 181 lbs., and the average age is 20 years, 10 months. Among CCHA schools, MSU was one of 10 schools that averaged 6-0 or taller, the Spartans were the lightest team on average, and were third-youngest. (Michigan's roster averages 20 years, two months, and Notre Dame averages 20 years, nine months.)
Compared to last year, MSU is the same average height, but is six pounds heavier and eight months older - despite adding nine freshmen to their roster.

youth movement
Michigan State's roster features 18 underclassmen - nine sophomores and nine freshmen. The Spartans have the most first-year players of any conference team, and rank second in sophomore class size behind Alaska (11). Alaska boasts 19 underclassmen, the only league team with more than MSU.

quite the cluster
Michigan State and Michigan will be paired with Bowling Green and Notre Dame for the 2009-10 season as clustermates. The schools will face off four times, and play against the remaining eight schools in the conference twice.

the floors must be dirty
Michigan State recorded its first sweep of a home weekend since Nov. 9-10, 2007 against Mercyhurst. With an abundance of home-and-home series, the Spartans have played only nine two-game home sets since that weekend.

you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
MSU was outshot in both of its season-opening games against Clarkson, but outshot the Black Bears in both contests at Maine. Michigan State was outshot in 26 of its 38 games last season, with its largest shot disparity coming in the game at Miami on Jan. 18, when the Red Hawks outshot MSU, 60-13. Jeff Lerg tied his career high with 54 saves in that contest. The Spartans averaged 23.97 shots per game, which ranked last of 58 teams nationally. The Spartans allowed 35.32 per game, which was the second-highest total in the country behind Brown. In shot margin, MSU ranked 57th (-11.34), behind only Brown (-14.85).

scoring drought ... corrected
The Spartans averaged just 1.63 goals per game a year ago, not only the lowest average in Division I hockey, but also a program low for scoring output in a season. This year has started with a stark contrast - MSU has averaged 4.50 goals over four games, good for third nationally; its 18 goals is the most scored by any team in the country.

this means only good things
Michigan State scored five goals each in its first three games of the season. MSU failed to score more than four goals in a game last season (and hit that total only twice.) In fact, MSU only scored five goals in a weekend series four times during the 2008-09 campaign. The Spartans scored 10 goals in the two-game set with Clarkson. It was the most in a two-game set since Feb. 29-March 1, 2008 against Bowling Green.

specialties
MSU is 8-for-28 (28.6%) on the power play through four games. The Spartans scored just 20 power play goals a year ago, and their power play ranked 11th in the league (20/182, 11.0%). The Friday tilt against Clarkson (Oct. 9) was also the first time MSU had potted three power play goals in a game since since March 14, 2008, a 5-2 win over Northern Michigan, when MSU went 3-for-7 on the man advantage. MSU did not have more than one power play goal in a game during the 2008-09 season.

didn't take long
The CCHA introduced the shootout for the 2008-09 season, will continue to be the only conference in the country to utilize it in conference games tied after an overtime period. The games count as ties in the official NCAA records. MSU was 3-1 in shootouts last season.

academic achievement
MSU's hockey program recorded a 3.05 cumulative grade-point average in the fall 2008 semester, an all-time best. The team also posted a 2.905 in the spring semester of 2009. Three players recorded perfect 4.0 semesters: Brock Shelgren (fall) and Jeff Lerg and Jacob Schering (spring).

maybe just play on friday
Michigan State owned a 6-8-3 record in Friday night games, but was 4-11-2 in Saturday evening tilts a year ago. The Spartans are 2-0 on Fridays and 1-1 on Saturdays thus far.

compete with the east
MSU took on two eastern teams - Clarkson and Maine - to open the 2009-10 season. MSU compiled a 3-1 record in the four games played, and is 5-3 over the last two years against Eastern competition. MSU's WCHA stretch comes in November and December, when it has Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan Tech on the schedule. One more eastern team (Rensselaer) is a possible opponent in the Great Lakes Invitational.

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 eight seasons in East Lansing, the Spartans have been a combined 77-65-15 (538%), then compiled a 82-40-13 mark in the second half (61.6%). 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
Last year, MSU was 6-6-2 this season when netting the game's first goal, and 2-15-2 when allowing its opponent the first strike. MSU has allowed the first goal of the game twice this season, but has won both games.

get them early
The Spartans were 4-6-2 in the first game of a CCHA set in 2008-09, and just 2-9-1 in game two.

the young ones
Michigan State's lineup has a youthful look for sure - the Spartans dressed 14 freshmen (8) and sophomores (6) last weekend. Maine's lineup last weekend had 13 underclassmen.

mad hatter
Corey Tropp's Friday hat trick was the first for MSU since Justin Abdelkader's against Bowling Green on Feb. 29, 2008, a 6-3 victory. Tropp scored on the power play, shorthanded, and even strength. On the weekend vs. Maine, Tropp had four goals and an assist, and was a +1.

close to an eclipse
Through four games, Tropp's 5-4-9 scoring line is close to surpassing his 11 points from his sophomore campaign. He already has surpassed his goal total, as he had just three a year ago in 21 games.

multiplicity
Corey Tropp has started off his junior season with four consecutive multiple-point games, and has scored goals in three of the four contests.

multiplicity, take two
Derek Grant started his college career with three straight multiple-point games, and has at least a point in all four MSU games this season. He leads all CCHA rookies in scoring and ranks second overall on the CCHA scoring chart with a 2-5-7 line. He is also tied for first in the conference with five assists.

streakin
Four players have scored points in every game this season - Grant, Tropp, Jeff Petry, and Daultan Leveille. All four of Tropp's games have been multiple-point efforts.

offensive defenseman
Jeff Petry leads all CCHA defensemen in scoring (1-5-6) and he shares the conference lead with assists. He is tied for fourth nationally among defensemen in points per game (1.5), and ranks first in the CCHA in assists, and third in points.

more national rankings
Tropp ranks near the top of the national leaderboard in most categories. He is tied for fifth in goals per game (1.25), ranks fifth in points per game (2.25) and has the national lead in points (nine). Derek Grant ranks second nationally in rookie points per game (1.75), but leads all rookies in points (seven).

among the bretheren
In the CCHA overall statistics, Tropp is first in points (9), goals (5), power-play goals (3) and tied for first in power-play points (5). Grant is second in points (7), and tied for first in both assists and power play points (5). Jeff Petry is third in points (6) and tied with Grant for the lead in assists (5).

rookie kudos
Derek Grant was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 12. He had a two goals and a pair of assists to help MSU to a 2-0 weekend and series sweep of Clarkson. Grant had a goal and an assist in each contest, and three of his four points came on the power play.

more rookie kudos
Zach Josepher's four-point collegiate debut vs. Clarkson (Oct. 9) is the most for an MSU freshman in his first game since both Russell Welch and James Cunningham each had a goal and three assists in an 8-1 win over Ohio State on Oct. 22, 1976. Josepher's two-goal outing on Friday was MSU's first since Matt Schepke potted two against North Dakota In the Great Lakes Invitational (Dec. 27, 2008). Josepher recorded MSU's first four-point game since Justin Abdelkader (3g, 1a) against Bowling Green on Feb. 29, 2008.

the reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated
The post-Jeff Lerg era showed that both of MSU's top two netminders are capable of winning hockey games. Drew Palmisano made 28 saves and allowed just one goal in the season opener, while Bobby Jarosz made his first start in net since Nov. 10, 2007 and made a career-best 33 saves in a 4-3 Spartan win . Palmisano went on to split last weekend's games at Maine.

road warrior
Five of netminder Drew Palmisano's six starts last season in came in road tilts. His lone home start came on Oct. 17 against UMass-Lowell. Four of his five road starts were in hostile, spirited road venues: Western Michgian, Minnesota, Michigan, and Notre Dame. Two of Palmisano's three starts this season have come on the road as well - also in a hostile road environment, at Maine.

block party
Michigan State blocked 25 shots in its two-game set with Clarkson, and another 28 in the Maine series. In 2009-10, MSU blocked 746 shots, compared to 421 for its opponents.

goalie u
Thanks to LSJ scribe Neil Koepke for this gem: Since the 1980-81 season, all but one Spartan starting goaltender has earned All-League honors (the Spartans have competed in both the Western Collegiate Hockey Association or Central Collegiate Hockey Association during this stretch). The list reads like a who's who in Spartan hockey - Ron Scott, Bob Essensa, Norm Foster, Jason Muzzatti, Mike Gilmore, Mike Buzak, Chad Alban, Joe Blackburn, Ryan Miller, Dominic Vicari and Jeff Lerg. Scott, Alban, Blackburn, Miller and Lerg were All-Americans. The only starting goalie who didn't make an all-star team or win an award during this stretch was Matt Migliaccio in 2002-03.

the future in the present
Inside College Hockey has placed freshman winger Derek Grant as No. 17 on its list of incoming forwards.

fun facts for a team you don't know well ... yet.
Nick Sucharski, despite being a fifth-year senior, is not the oldest player on the MSU roster - that honor belongs to netminder Bobby Jarosz. Junior Joey Shean is also older than Sucharski, who came to campus in the fall of 2005 as a 17-year-old ... Torey Krug is the youngest player on the Spartan roster with an April 12, 1991 birthdate. He has won two national championships with Detroit Honeybaked (2003) and Indiana Ice (2009) as a teammate of fellow freshman Zach Golembiewski ... The honor of being the tallest Spartan falls to AJ Sturges (6-4), and the, ahem, least tallest is Dustin Gazley (5-8) ... Matt Grassi is the heaviest (and almost the tallest) at 6-3, 215 ... British Columbia is becoming a hotbed of college hockey recruiting, as Grassi, Kevin Walrod, and Derek Grant all hail from the provence - and Zach Josepher and Trevor Nill both played their junior hockey for Penticton in the BCHL ... Gazley was the youngest member of the 2004 US inline team that won a silver medal at World Juniors in London, Ontario and three ... Seven players were multiple-sport athletes in high school - Matt Crandell, Trevor Nill, and Brett Perlini all played soccer, while Nill, Jeff Petry, Brock Shelgren, and Dean Chelios all played baseball. Golembiewski was a scholastic golfer and graduated with his high school record for best round ... Nill is featured in this year's College of Engineering ad in the MSU hockey yearbook ...

next up
MSU has it
s first home-and-home series of the year, when it takes on conference foe Western Michgian. Friday's game will be in East Lansing, with Saturday's tilt at L.awson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo.