Icers, Notre Dame Face Off This Weekend

Daultan Leveille had the MSU goal on Sunday

1/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Jan. 14, 2010

No. 6/7 Michigan State vs. RV Notre Dame
Date/Time: Jan. 15 (8 p.m., South Bend, Ind.) and Jan. 16 (7 p.m., East Lansing, Mich)
Tickets: A limited number of tickets remain for this Saturday's game. Four Seats, Four Treats promotion (not available at the door). Purchase Tickets
Live Statistics: |Saturday | PDA/Blackberry
Audio: WJIM 1240 AM (F) / WVFN 730 AM (S); all audio can also be heard at www.spartansportsnetwork.com
Television:CBS College Sports (F);
Download MSU Hockey Notes (PDF)
Live Video Webstream: MSU All-Access
Podcasts: Rick | Zach | Andrew

Saturday Promotions: : Four Seats, Four Treats; Amo Bessone Tribute (pregame); Jeff Lerg recognition (first intermission); Chuck-A-Puck (second Intermission); Post-Game Autographs

storyline
MSU brings a six-game unbeaten streak into a home-and-home series with Notre Dame.

state of the union
Michigan State is unbeaten in its last six games and is 7-1-1 since the start of December. The Spartans returned from the holiday break to post decisive victories over Michigan Tech (10-1) and Rennselaer (6-1) to win the Great Lakes Invitational, then posted a win and a tie against Lake Superior State last weekend in a return to conference action.

series history
Michigan State leads the all-time series with Notre Dame by a 59-36-10 mark; MSU owns a 35-14-3 mark in East Lansing and a slim 21-20-7 record in games in South Bend.

recent history
The Irish own a 4-0-2 streak against Michigan State dating back to the January, 2008 meetings of the teams.
The Spartans and Irish met earlier this season, skating to a 1-1 tie at Munn Arena, and Notre Dame taking a 4-1 win in Ft. Wayne.

recapping the action
Michigan State took four of six points from Lake Superior State in last weekend's series, posting a Friday night victory before tying Saturday's game. The Spartans dropped the shootout on Saturday by a 2-1 margin in five rounds.

one of many positive comparisons
Michigan State won more first-semester games (14) than any other in the eight-year tenure of head coach Rick Comley. It's the most victories for an MSU team on January 1 since the 1999-2000 team had 15 wins - which also included a GLI championship.

on the pond
MSU will play four regular-season games on an Olympic ice sheet during the 2009-10 season (200x100) - last weekend's set at Northern Michigan, and the February series at Alaska. MSU went 1-1 in early December at NMU. With the exception of the games at Northern Michigan, the team has played all other 20 games on NHL ice (200x85).

another sign that 2009 was the exception, not the rule
The Spartans secured their 10th victory of the season on Friday Dec. 4 with a 1-0 win over Northern Michigan - a milestone they reached on Feb. 20 last season with a 3-2 win over Bowling Green.
MSU owns 10 wins against CCHA teams, bettering its conference win total (7) from last season.

around the league
Five conference series are on tap: in addition to the MSU-Notre Dame series, Miami is at Ferris, Nebraska-Omaha is at Lake Superior, Alaska is at Michigan, and Bowling Green is at Northern Michigan. Ohio State has an exhibition with the USNTDP U-18's, and .Western Michigan is idle.

non-conference
Michigan State is 5-3 against non-conference competition this season, sweeping Clarkson, splitting a series at Maine, getting swept in the College Hockey Showcase by Wisconsin and Minnesota, then capturing the GLI with victories over Michigan Tech and Rensselaer.
Rick Comley owns a 38-28-5 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 21-14-4 over the last four years (2005-09.)
This season, MSU was 1-1 against Hockey East, 3-0 against ECACH, and 1-2 against the WCHA.

o captain my captain
Senior Nick Sucharski and junior Jeff Petry were elected by team members as the 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.
This weekend will feature Paul Hruby, who skated for the Spartans under Amo Bessone in the late 1950's. Hruby has since dedicated his life to amateur hockey in Oak Park and River Forest, Ill. He has spent more than 40 years as the director of Hockey Operations in Oak Park. winning two league championships with Fenwick High School, coaching the Morton Community College varsity, initiating a girls program, and organizing the first youth hockey program and State Hockey Tournament in Chicago.
Hruby was the first president of the Illinois Amateur Hockey Association, served as secretary for the Illinois Ice hockey league, registrar for the US Amateur Hocker Association, and president of the Bational Ice Hockey Officials Association. He has been inducted into both the Illinois Hockey Officials Association Hall of Fame as well as the Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame.

Oct. 10 - Dave Kelley (1973-77)
Oct. 17 - Ron Clark (1972-75)
Nov. 6 - Kevin Miller (1984-88)
Nov. 28 - Joe Blackburn (1997-01)
Jan. 8 - Bob Brawley (1964-67)
Jan. 9 - Eldon VanSpybrook (1958, 1960)
Jan. 16 - Paul Hruby (1956-59)

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 was 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.

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. This year, a total of three players have missed just 33 games, which includes senior Jay Sprague missing the first 24 games of the season with injury.

gaining ground
Comley captured his 750th career victory on Friday, Oct. 9 with a 6-1 victory over Clarkson. He now owns a 761-589-101 (.564) 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 831 and Jack Parker of Boston University has 821.
The Feb. 7, 2009 victory over Ferris State (1-0) was the 150th victory for Comley at MSU.

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's roster is the same average height, but is six pounds heavier and eight months older - despite adding nine freshmen.

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.
With the first half of the round-robin series in the books, MSU has emerged as the leader of the pack. Thus far in cluster play, MSU is 4-1-1, Notre Dame is 2-2-2, Michigan is 2-4-0, and Bowling Green is 1-4-1.

heft in the schedule
MSU is 4-1-1 against teams ranked in the top ten this season, and 4-3-2 against ranked teams overall.

speaking of rankings ...
The Spartans are No. 7 in the USCHO poll and appear at No. 6 in this week's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine survey. The No. 6 ranking (tied with the Nov. 16 ranking of No. 6) is the program's highest ranking since March 10, 2008 when they also held down the No. 6 spot. The Spartans have spent nine weeks ranked in the national polls this season.

undefeated no more
The Spartans knocked off previously-undefeated teams in three straight series early this season - Miami on Oct. 24, Western Michigan on Oct. 30, and Nebraska-Omaha on Nov. 5.

conference streaking
The Spartans had an undefeated streak of eight straight conference games snapped on Nov. 22 against Notre Dame, the longest streak since MSU did not lose (5-0-3) in the month of January 2008. MSU's current conference unbeaten streak is four games.

the floors must be dirty
Against Clarkson, 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 ten two-game home sets since that weekend.

getting a hang of this road game thing
Michigan State won its fifth road game of the season on Dec. 11 at Bowling Green, three more than it won in all of last year.

November was a toughie
MSU had a 6-2-0 mark at the end of October, marginally better than the 4-2-2 mark it owned at the end of October last season. MSU's downward spiral last year began when injuries started to pile up in November - when MSU failed to win a game (0-7-1) and scored just eight goals during the month.
November was not been an easy month for the 2009-10 Spartans, either - it had three straight conference series against ranked teams (No. 10 Nebraska-Omaha, No. 6 Michigan, No. 14 Notre Dame), and wrapped up against Big Ten foes in the College Hockey Showcase against Minnesota and Wisconsin.

january's no picnic, either
Michigan State has its hands full with conference games in January - it opened with resurgent Lake Superior, and now has a home-and-home with Notre Dame. Ohio State comes in on Jan. 22-23, and the month closes with a home-and-Joe set against Michigan.

famine and feast
MSU was limited to just a pair of goals in its two-game November set with Notre Dame (Nov. 19/22), its lowest scoring ouput in a weekend this season. The previous low was four, in a split at Miami.
With 16 goals scored in the GLI, the Spartans scored its most goals in consecutive games since netting 19 in two games against Ferris State on March 2-3, 1990 (6-4, 13-1).
MSU's 10 goals against Michigan Tech was their most goals in a game since a 11-1 victory March 13, 2003 against Alaska-Fairbanks in the CCHA Tournament.

here's another positive
Michigan State has scored four goals or more in eight of its 24 games. MSU only reached the four-goal plateau twice last season.

win `em close
Seventeen of MSU's 24 games this season have been settled by two goals or less, and nine were one-goal affairs. Of the five that were two-goal margins or more, three involved an empty-net goal.

you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
Michigan State has been outshot in 14 of its 24 games thus far, but on the season, is outshooting its opponents (687-679). MSU is averaging 28.6 shots per game, and allowing an average of 28.3. In 2008-09, 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 3.3 goals over 24 games.

sloppy seconds
Michigan State had allowed the first goal of the game to its opponent in six of its 10 contests up through the GLI. Michigan State is 13-1-1 when scoring the first goal, as they have in each of the last five games.

specialties
Michigan State's special teams have been a strength over its recent run of success. MSU shut out Lake Superior's top-ranked power play over last weekend's series (8-for-8) and has extinguished 17 consecutive power play chances against, dating back to the Bowling Green series. MSU's power play was 3-for-10 against the Lakers, and is 7-for-22 (31.8%) over the last five games.
Overall, MSU is 24-124 on the power play (19.4%), and have scored more on the man advantage this season than they did in all of 2008-09 (20). The penalty kill is operating at 84.5% (98-of-116), and has that streak of 17 chances against extinguished over five games.

multiples
Two of MSU's scores against Wisconsin (Nov. 27) came on the power play in the second period, the first time MSU had multiple power-play goals in a game since the Nov. 5 game vs. Nebraska Omaha. MSU also went 2-for-6 on Dec. 12 against Bowling Green, and was 2-for-3 against Lake Superior on Jan. 8.

compete with the east
MSU took on two eastern teams - Clarkson and Maine - to open the 2009-10 season. The Spartans recently defeated Renssleaer. MSU compiled a 4-1 record in the five games played, and is 6-3 over the last two years against Eastern competition.
MSU's WCHA stretch came in November and December, when played Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan Tech and went 1-2.

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 (53.8%), then compiled a 82-40-13 mark in the second half (61.6%). (This does not include fall 2009). The 2007-08 Spartans had the then-best first-half record under Comley (12-5-2, 68.4%), and were 13-7-3 in the 2008 portion of the schedule (63%). With MSU's 14 first-semester wins, they have surpassed the 2007-08 squad for most wins under Comley in the opening semester.

the young ones
Michigan State's lineup has a youthful look for sure - the Spartans have dressed 14 freshmen (9) and sophomores (5) each weekend.

consistency
Michgian State's lineup has not only been fairly consistent thanks to the relative health of the team, but also because Rick Comley has changed his previous philosophy of playing almost all players early on in the season. In fact, the Spartans have employed 17 different sets of forward lines, with the three lines that have played the most together skating in 22, 21, and 19 games. The Grant-Sucharski-Tropp combination has skated together for all but two games, while Rowe-Leveille-Gazley is at 21 and Merrifield-Forfar-Golembiewski has logged 18 games together. MSU's defensive pairs have also seen few changes, as Torey Krug and Jeff Petry have played all 24 games together, Crandell and Shelgren for 19, and Josepeher and Grassi (who missed six games early in the season) for 15. Compare that to the 2007-08 campaign, when the most-utilized line (Tim Kennedy-Justin Abdelkader-Chris Mueller) played together for 19, and Kennedy and Abdelkader skated with Tim Crowder for another 16. Last year's injury issues led to an astounding 80 different line combinations over the course of the season.

free hockey
Michigan State has played six overtimes this season with an official record of 2-1-3. In the three ties, MSU has lost the shootout (to UNO, Notre Dame on Nov. 19, and LSSU on Jan. 9). MSU's overtime victory on Oct. 24 at Miami was its first in an extra session since the CCHA Tournament consolation game in 2007, a wild 7-6 victory over Lake Superior on March 17, 2007. Between overtime victories, MSU played 12 games that went to an extra session, and owned an 0-2-10 mark in those contests. Five of those ties were last year, with the shootout rule - MSU won the shootouts in three the four conference tilts that required an extra session.
The Spartans went to overtime in the back-to-back games on Dec. 5 against Northern Michigan (3-2 L) and then again on Dec. 11 at Bowling Green (3-2 W).
MSU has surpassed last year's total of six overtime contests. All three of MSU's overtime games that did not end in a tie have been decided by 3-2 margins.

league kudos
Michigan State took two weekly awards on Jan. 4 after MSU's impressive showing at the Great Lakes Invitational. Jeff Petry was named the CCHA Defensive Player of the Week, while fellow blueliner Zach Josepher earned Rookie of the Week honors. Petry was named to the All-Tournament team at the GLI, and was dominant at both ends of the ice. He had a goal and an assist, and was also a team-best +6 in the two games. On the year, Petry is third overall on the team in scoring, boasting a 3-15-18 scoring line, putting him on pace to shatter his career-best 24 points he recorded as a freshman - likely by the end of January. He is a +9 with one power play goal, and leads his team with 40 blocked shots on the season. Josepher, a native of Wantagh, NY who played three years in the British Columbia Hockey League for the Penticton Vees, had a goal and pair of assists in the GLI, and was a +4. On the season, the defenseman has four goals and five assists for nine points and is a +11, the second highest total on the team. He's also second among defensemen on the squad in scoring, behind Petry.

previous rave reviews
Corey Tropp has twice been named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week this season, on Oct. 26 and again on Dec. 14. Tropp's first weekly award came after the Miami series, when the winger had a goal and a pair of assists on the split with the Red Hawks (2-1 loss, 3-2 win (OT). Tropp assisted on MSU's lone goal on Friday, then had a goal and an assist in Saturday's win. Defensively, Tropp was not on the ice for any of Miami's four goals against in the two games, and all of his points came with Michigan State skating on the man advantage. His most recent award came after he had a six-point weekend against Bowling Green, and had a hand in six of MSU's seven goals in the two-game set. In Friday's game at BG, Tropp netted the game-tying goal in the third period and assisted on Torey Krug's game-winner early into the overtime period. On Saturday, Tropp recorded his second hat trick of the season, which included the game-winner, and also had an assist on the game's first goal as the Spartans won 4-1. He was a +4 on the weekend. Drew Palmisano was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week on Nov. 16. Palmisano limited Michigan to two goals on the weekend and backstopped the Spartans to their second shutout of the season at home on Saturday. Palmisano posted a 1.00 GAA and .960 save percentage over the two-game set and stopped 48 of 50 shots.

quite the month, with a reward at the end
Corey Tropp was named the RBC Financial Group CCHA Player of the Month for December, while freshman defenseman Torey Krug has been named the CCM CCHA Rookie of the Month. Both went on to capture the national awards from the Hockey Commissioner's Association (HCA). It is the first such honor for both players. Tropp led the Spartans to a 5-1-0 record in December, including the program's 12th Great Lakes Invitational title. In the month of December, Tropp led the country with seven goals and 10 points; he was named CCHA Player of the Week on Dec. 14 after recording his second hat trick of the season, including the game-winning goal, and an assist in an 4-1 victory over Bowling Green Dec. 12. Tropp also recorded the only goal in a 1-0 win over Northern Michigan (Dec. 4) and a pair of game-tying tallies that forced overtime against NMU (Dec. 5) and BGSU (Dec. 11). Krug, a member of the Spartans' top defensive pair, helped the team allow one goal or less in four of MSU's six December games. He tallied the first goal of his career, the overtime game-winner against Bowling Green on Dec. 11. He also helped the Spartans capture their 12th Great Lakes Invitational title with two assists during a win over Rensselaer, 6-1, in the championship game. He posted a +6 combined rating in two GLI games. Krug registered an assist on Corey Tropp's game-tying goal against Northern Michigan Dec. 5 to force overtime and another in a victory over Bowling Green, 4-1, on Dec. 12. Freshman Derek Grant was named the CCM CCHA Rookie of the Month for October, and earned the national award from the Hockey Commissioner's Association (HCA) later in the week. The top-line winger for the Spartans finished the month tied for the national lead in rookie scoring, goals, and assists with a 4-6-10 scoring line. In the CCHA he ranked second in scoring, and tied for fourth in both goals and assists. His 3-4-7 stats on the power play ranked second in the CCHA, and his three power-play goals is the third-highest total in the country. In addition, he ranked fourth nationally among rookies (appearing in more than one game) in points per game (1.25). Grant opened his MSU career with three-straight multiple-point games, and earned CCHA Rookie of the Week kudos after the Clarkson series (Oct. 12).

quite the month, but no award ...
Corey Tropp, while losing out on RBC Financial October Player of the Month kudos to Alaska goaltender Scott Greenham, had quite the impressive month as well. Through the end of October, the winger was tied for national lead in goals (7) and ranked second in points (13), was the CCHA's leading point (13) and goal scorer, and ranked third in assists (6) . Tropp also led the CCHA in power play goals, assists, and points (4-4-8), and was a +3 He had multiple-point efforts in six of eight games , including his first career hat trick in a road win at Maine. He ranked second nationally in power play goals (4) , tied for third in shorthanded goals (1)m and also tied for second in game-winning goals (2). He was11th nationally in points per game (1.62) and fifth in goals per game (0.88) (among players appearing in more than one game), and through eight contests, was assessed just one minor penalty. He was named the CCHA Player of the Week after the Maine series in which he had four goals and an assist (Oct. 19).

hot hand
Drew Palmisano made a season-high 40 saves in the tough loss to Minnesota on Nov. 28. His previous season high in saves was 35, set in a 3-2 overtime win over No. 1 Miami in Oxford.

among the leaders
Drew Palmisano made 30+ saves in each game last weekend, and earned first star honors In each contest. He stopped 31 in a 4-2 victory over Lake State on Friday, then 32 in a 3-3 deadlock. Nationally, Palmisano's numbers compare favorably with Division I hockey's best. He owns a .930 save percentage, good for fifth nationally; his 1.96 GAA is fourth in the country.

more firsts
Freshman Torey Krug has seen his offensive game come around since the middle of December. He had three assists in the first 17 games of the season, but has points in six of the last seven games, with eight points in those contests. He has a game-winning and a game-tying goal in that span.
Last weekend, he had a goal and a pair of assists, and blocked three shots. He netted the equalizing tally on Saturday in a 3-3 tie with Lake Superior, and a pair of assists in Friday night's victory, including the primary helper on Derek Grant's game-winner.
In mid-December, he picked an outstanding time to score his first collegiate goal, as he lit the lamp 35 seconds into overtime on Dec. 11 at Bowling Green.

red line, red light
Over the last four games, Michigan State's "Red Line" - Andrew Rowe, Daultan Leveille, and Dustin Gazley - has an 8-15-23 scoring line and is a +18. (the trio wears red jerseys each week in practice).
Rowe scored three times and added an assist (+2) in a four-point weekend against Lake Superior. Rowe scored twice in Friday's 4-2 win, and added another in a 3-3 tie. He not only has a five-game point scoring streak, but has multiple-point games in each of those five contests (4-7-11).
Leveille has a seven-game point scoring streak (11 points), and had three assists on the weekend. Gazley has points in each of the last four MSU games, including goals in three of the last four contests.

firsts
Anthony Hayes scored his first collegiate goal and had his first collegiate assist on Oct. 31. His assist set up the first college goal for his linemate, Dean Chelios. The two combined on a Hayes goal in the Nov. 5 game against Nebraska-Omaha.

more firsts
Michigan State's 10-1 victory over Michgian Tech led to a number of firsts - not only of the season, but also career - for several Michigan State players. Freshman Zach Golembiewski netted his first collegiate tally (a shorthanded marker), as did sophomore blueliner Matt Crandell. Sophomores Trevor Nill and Brett Perlini both scored their first goals of the season against Michigan Tech.

waiting for the call
Only one freshman - winger Kevin Walrod - has yet to score a goal this season. Walrod missed out on the MSU scoring extravaganza in the GLI, as he missed both games with illness.

mad hatter
Corey Tropp's Oct. 16 hat trick against Maine 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. Tropp added a second hat trick on Dec. 12 against Bowling Green, a natural hat trick in which he scored at 19:17 of the second and at 3:37 and 13:22 of the third.

two sets of hats
Tropp is the first Michigan State player to have two hat tricks in a season since Mike York had a pair in the 1998-99 campaign (he knocked in three on Dec. 26 against Northern Michigan and Jan. 8 against Miami). The previous season (1997-98), Sean Berens had three hat tricks - agaisnt Alaska-Fairbanks (Jan. 3), against Northern Michigan (Jan. 10) and Michigan (Feb. 20).

leading scorers
Corey Tropp reached the 20-point plateau after 17 games, a total only one MSU player reached last season (Matt Schepke had 24 points). Tropp has a conference-best 17 goals, and his point-scoring streak is at a team-high eight games (13 points)

milestones
Junior Jeff Petry skated in his 100th career game in Green and White on Dec. 12 against Bowling Green, and had a goal and pair of assists. His goal was his first since the third game of the season. He shares the conference lead in defenseman scoring (3-15-18).
Classmate Dustin Gazley's 99th game was the championship game of the Great Lakes Invitational; he scored a goal in the game and was named to the All-Tournament Team. He celebrated his 100th game with an assist against Lake Superior

block party
Jeff Petry and Torey Krug (42) share the team lead in blocked shots, followed by Brock Shelgren (29) and Matt Crandell (26)

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 series at Maine, and scored his first collegiate goal (and point) on a beautiful tic-tac-toe score in the second period of the second game. He has been in the lineup in 19 of 24 games, and has a 2-2-4 scoring line.

an eclipse ...
Nine of MSU's 12 returning players who have played in at least one game this season have already bettered their 2008-09 scoring numbers.
Highlighting the group ... it took six games for Corey Tropp to eclipse the 11 points he amassed in his sophomore campaign, with 6-6-12 in his first six contests. In 2008-09, he had three goals and eight assists in 21 games. Tropp enters the Notre Dame series with 60 career points, 32 of which have come this season.
Tropp's 17 goals is his career high, and is almost double the total he had in his first two collegiate seasons combined. Andrew Rowe's 11 goals is more than he had in his first two seasons as well.
Matt Crandell has surpassed his 2008-09 scoring output, as his three-point game in the GLI semifinal agaisnt Michigan Tech not only provided his first career goal, but pushed his season total to eight points (1-7-8). Jeff Petry (3-15-18) has surpassed his 2008-09 assist total (12) and is has surpassed his point total from a year ago (14). He has 56 points in 104 career games.

multiplicity
Corey Tropp started off his junior season with five multiple-point efforts in the first nine games, and has nine multiple-point efforts in 22 games. He has scored goals in 13 of MSU's 22 contests, including six of the last eight.

multiplicity, take two
Derek Grant started his college career with three straight multiple-point games, and has at least a point in 13 of 22 MSU games this season. Grant had his first multiple-assist game on Nov. 27 against Wisconsin, a season-best three points with a goal and two helpers against Badgers.

multiplicity, take three
Blueliner Matt Crandell had the primary assist on MSU's second and third goals in the win at Michigan (Nov. 13), his first multiple-point game in his career. He had a second in the game against Michigan Tech (Dec. 29), with a goal and two assists.

multiplicity, take four?
Andrew Rowe not only has a five-game point scoring streak, but has multiple-point games in each of those five contests (4-7-11).

streaking
Corey Tropp owns the team's longest point-scoring streak at eight games, followed by Daultan Leveille, who has a seven-game point streak.

among the bretheren
In the CCHA overall statistics, Tropp is first in points (32) and goals (17),tied for second in assists (15). tied for second in power-play goals (6) and is tied for first in power-play points (15). Grant is tied for seventh in points (22), tied for 15th in goals (8) and ninth in assists (14), and is tied for second in power play points (12) and fifth in power play goals (5). Jeff Petry is tied for second in the conference in assists (15), and tied for second in defensemen scoring (18 pts). Andrew Rowe ranks tied for sixth in goals (11) and ninth in points (21). Daultan Leveille is tied for second in assists (14).

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 in the opener 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 goaltending 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. A week after Bobby Jarosz earned his first career shutout with 20 saves in a win at Northern Michigan (Dec. 4), he posted a 29-save victory on Dec. 11 at Bowling Green. He is and is now 4-1 overall and 3-1 in road starts. Drew Palmisano stopped 47 of 49 shots in the Great Lakes Invitational to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team, then came back with two 30+ save nights against LSSU: he stopped 31 in a 4-2 victory over Lake State on Friday, then 32 in a 3-3 deadlockon Saturday. He ranks fourth nationally in GAA (1.96) and is fifth in save percentage (.930).

penalty shots
Andrew Rowe's penalty shot attempt on Oct. 23 against Miami was the first for the Spartans since March 16, 2007, when Justin Abdelkader had one against Michigan in the CCHA semifinals. Billy Sauer made the save. MSU's last successful penalty shot came on Dec. 9, 2006, when Chris Mueller scored against Western Michigan

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 ...