Spartans, Wolverines Renew Hockey Rivalry
1/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 27, 2010
No. 12/13 Michigan State vs. 20/RV Michigan
Date/Time: Jan. 29; 7:05 p.m., Munn Arena. Jan. 30, 7:35 p.m., Joe Louis Arena
Tickets: A limited number of tickets remain for this weekend's series. Purchase Tickets (Friday)
Live Statistics: http://www.livestats.ath.msu.edu/hockey (Friday) (also for PDA/Blackberry)
Audio: WJIM 1240 AM (F); WVFN 730 AM (S); all audio can also be heard at www.spartansportsnetwork.com
Television: Big Ten Network (F); FSN Detroit (S)
Download MSU Hockey Notes (PDF)
Podcasts: Rick | Daultan | Trevor
Promotions: : Chuck-A-Puck (second intermission); Post-Game Autographs by senior co-captain Nick Sucharski (Friday) | Shoot for a Cure Silent Auction (Saturday)
storyline
MSU engages in a home-and-Joe series with archrival Michigan. Both teams are coming off last-minute heartbreakers in their last contests.
media darlings
Friday's game will air on the Big Ten Network at 7 p.m., with Matt Rosen and Fred Pletsch on the call and Shireen Saski on rinkside duty. Saturday's game will be on FSN at 7:30, with Ken Daniels and John Vanbiesbrouck as the on-air crew.
state of the union
Michigan State is coming off a split with Ohio State at home last weekend, winning 5-2 in game one before a heartbreaking 4-2 loss in Saturday's tilt. The Spartans (16-8-4, 11-5-4-1 CCHA) sit in second place in the conference standings, seven points behind league leader Miami and one ahead of third-place Ferris State.
series history - michigan
Michigan State trails the all-time series with the Wolverines by a 121-137-18 margin. The Spartans own a 60-46-9 mark against their archrival in games played in East Lansing,where the teams face off on Friday.
On Saturday, the game will be part of the "College Hockey at the Joe" series at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena - MSU and Michigan have faced off 42 times at JLA, with Michigan holding a slight 20-17-5 edge. In regular-season (non-GLI, non-CCHA Championship) games, the Wolverines have a 12-9-3 advantage; since the start of the 2002-03 season, MSU is 4-3-3 against Michigan at JLA.
random tidbits
• Michigan has won 137 games in this series, but 41 of those wins came between 1922 and 1957. The Spartans recorded only two victories in that span.
• There is a five-game discrepancy between MSU and U-M's all-time series records, all in the early 1920's. The MSU records have four more Wolverine victories and one for the Spartans.
recent history
These archrivals met earlier this fall, with MSU sweeping a home-and-home series from its CCHA partner. It was the first time that MSU had won both ends of a weekend set against the Wolverines since the 1997-98 season.
In the first game at Yost, Michigan State extended its unbeaten streak to six games with a 3-2 victory over Michigan. The Spartans limited their hosts to just 19 shots on net, got the game-winner from sophomore Daultan Leveille, and goals from Corey Tropp and Andrew Rowe. Lee Moffie and Carl Hagelin were the UM scorers.
The Spartans completed a weekend sweep with a 2-0 shutout of the Wolverines the next night at Munn. Drew Palmisano record a 31-save shutout, and Chris Forfar and Rowe potted goals for MSU.
recapping the action
Michigan State settled for a tough split in its series with Ohio State last weekend at Munn. MSU won game one, 5-2, and lost a heartbreaker on Saturday, 4-2.
Derek Grant and Nick Sucharski each had a goal and an assist and Drew Palmisano made 31 saves to help the Spartans to the Friday victory. MSU broke open a tight 3-2 lead with a pair of goals 1:43 apart late in the third in the win. Taylor Stefishen had both Buckeye tallies, and Cal Heeter made 22 saves for OSU in the crease.
On Saturday, the teams entered the third tied at one, and the Buckeyes scored an extra-man tally in the opening minute of the third to take its first lead of the weekend. Dustin Gazley tied the game for the Spartans at 10:01, but Patrick Schafer scored the backbreaker with 1:07 remaining in the third. Sergio Somma potted an empty-netter for the final 4-2 margin. Drew Palmisano recorded a season-best 43 saves in the hard-luck loss.
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.
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.
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 22 games on NHL ice (200x85).
around the league
Four conference series are on tap in addition to the MSU-Michigan series: Ferris State is at Ohio State, Alaska is at Northern Michigan, Western Michigan is at Miami, and Nebraska-Omaha is at Notre Dame. Bowling Green and Lake Superior are idle.
hockey day, hockey night
The Satutday Michigan State-Michigan hockey game at Joe Louis Arena is part of the "Hockey Day in Michigan" promotion, celebrating hockey around the state.
Saturday is also Hockey Day in Canada, and the Hockey Night in Canada crew will be originating their programming from Stratford, Ontario - the hometown of Michigan State head coach Rick Comley. Comley will appear on the HNIC broadcast (which will include a pre-game interview from Joe Louis Arena) to discuss not only the MSU/U-M game, but also about his upbringing and hockey history in Stratford. Two MSU players - forwards Dean Chelios and Trevor Nill - were also interviewed for the program.
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.
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.
Friday's honorary captain is former Spartan defenseman Tom Tilley. Tilley patrolled the Michigan State blueline for four seasons (1984-88) and was a member of the 1986 NCAA Championship team. He then went on to 13-year professional hockey career, playing for the St. Louis, Chicago and Tampa Bay organizations. As a former executive member of the Professional Hockey Players Association, he helped develop career programs to guide players transitioning into the corporate career environment.
Tilley is is a Principal of The DVS Group, a national, independent intermediary firm that specializes in assisting executives acquire companies. In 2008, The DVS Group, based in Overland Park, Kan., was awarded "Top 25 Businesses Under 25 Employees" by KC Small Business Monthly.
For the past 15 years, Tom has hosted an annual charity golf tournament benefitting Camp Trillium, a summer camp for children with cancer and their families. His efforts, along with a team of volunteers, have raised nearly $500,000.
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)
Jan. 23 - Ken Paraskevin (1977-81)
Jan. 29 - Tom Tilley (1984-88)
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. He has been cleared to play as of Mid-January.
gaining ground
Comley captured his 750th career victory on Friday, Oct. 9 with a 6-1 victory over Clarkson. He now owns a 765-591-104 (.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 833 and Jack Parker of Boston University has 824.
The Feb. 7, 2009 victory over Ferris State (1-0) was the 150th victory for Comley at 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.
Currently in cluster play, MSU has emerged as the leader of the pack. MSU is 4-2-2, Notre Dame is 3-2-3, 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. 13 in the USCHO poll and appear at No. 12 in this week's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine survey. MSU has twice owned a No. 6 ranking (Nov. 16 and Jan. 11), which is the program's highest ranking since March 10, 2008 when they also held down the No. 6 spot. The Spartans have spent 11 weeks ranked in the national polls this season.
the irish don't like streaking
MSU's two longest unbeaten streaks this season were halted when MSU faced off with Notre Dame. The Spartans had an undefeated streak of eight straight conference wins snapped on Nov. 22 against Notre Dame, the longest streak since MSU did not lose (5-0-3) in the month of January 2008. The Spartans had a six-game unbeaten streak on the line when they faced off with the Irish on Jan. 15, and Notre Dame again halted the streak, this time with a 5-2 victory.
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. MSU is 6-4-0 in road tilts this season.
january grind
Michigan State has its hands full with conference games in January - it opened with resurgent Lake Superior, followed by a home-and-home with Notre Dame and a home set with Ohio State. MSU has put up a 2-2-2 mark in those three series. MSU must earn at least a split against Michigan to avoid its first sub-.500 month in the 2009-10 season.
consistency
Michigan State has scored four goals or more only ten of its 28 games. The Spartans are averaging 3.3 goals per game.
famine and feast
The Spartans average 6.57 goals per weekend set.
MSU was limited to just a pair of goals in its two-game November series with Notre Dame (Nov. 19/22), its lowest scoring ouput in a weekend this season.
With 16 goals scored in the GLI, the Spartans scored its most goals in two consecutive games since netting 19 in two games against Ferris State on March 2-3, 1990 (6-4, 13-1).
backbreakers
Michigan State has scored in the first or final minute of a period nine times this season, compared to just three times for their opponents (excluding empty-net goals).
win `em close
Twenty of MSU's 28 games this season have been settled by two goals or less, and nine were one-goal affairs. Of the seven that were two-goal margins or more, four involved an empty-net goal.
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
Michigan State has been outshot in 18 of its 28 games thus far, but on the seasonhas been outshot only by a 837-790 margin, a total of 47 shots. MSU is averaging 28.2 shots per game, and allowing an average of 29.9.
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 28 games (and allowed just 2.4).
sloppy seconds
Michigan State has scored the first goal of the game in seven of its last nine contests. Michigan State is 12- 3- 3 when scoring the first goal, and 4-5-1 when allowing the opponent to do so.
only wear a tie at home
Michigan State has four ties this season, and all four have been home games. MSU is 7-2-4 at home, and 6-4-0 on the road.
sharpen the kill?
Michigan State's penalty kill has struggled a bit in recent games MSU had killed off 21 consecutive man advantage chances against dating back to the Bowling Green series in December, but was 19-for-14 in the Notre Dame, then was 8-for-11 in the set with Ohio State. Over the two weekends, the kill was at just 70.8%. On the season, MSU is at 120 of 145, 82.8%
The Irish struck three times on the man advantage (in seven tries) on Jan. 16, tying the season-high three power play goals MSU had allowed to Wisconsin on Nov. 27.
Overall, MSU is 28 of 151 on the power play (18.5%), and have scored more on the man advantage this season than they did in all of 2008-09 (20).
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 81-71-17 (52.9%), then compiled a 82-40-13 mark in the second half (61.6%). (This does not include spring 2010).
With MSU's a 14-6-2 first-semester record, it has surpassed the 2007-08 squad for most wins under Comley in the opening semester. Those 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%).
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 just 17 different sets of forward lines, with the two top lines playing 25 of the 28 games together.
MSU's defensive pairs have also seen few changes, as Torey Krug and Jeff Petry have played all 26 games together, Crandell and Shelgren for 21, and Josepeher and Grassi (who missed six games early in the season) for 19.
Compare that to the 2007-08 campaign, when the most-utilized line (Tim Kennedy-Justin Abdelkader-Chris Mueller) played together for 19 games, 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 seven overtimes this season with an official record of 2-1-4. In the four ties, MSU has lost the shootout three times (to UNO, Notre Dame on Nov. 19, and LSSU on Jan. 9), then finally got a shootout win on Jan. 16 against the Irish. 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.
hot hand
Drew Palmisano has made 30+ saves in each of his last five games, which includes a season-best 43 against Ohio State on Jan. 23. It was just three less than his career high of 46, set last season against Michigan at Yost. Against Notre Dame on Jan. 15, he broke his personal best for saves in a period, making 19 stops in the opening period in the game in South Bend.
more hot hands
Nick Sucharski was MSU's top scorer in the Ohio State series, with a pair of goals and two assists. Sucharski shares the team's longest point scoring streak (three games, 3-2-5).
Torey Krug had a goal and an assist in the Ohio State series. He had the game-winner in the Friday contest, and assisted on Dustin Gazley's game-tying goal midway through the third period. The freshman blueliner blocked a team-high eight shots in the series.
Jeff Petry shares the team's longest point-scoring streak with Sucharski, with an assist in each if MSU's last three games.
becoming a force
Freshman Torey Krug earned a spot on the Spartans' top defensive pair out of pre-season camp, and has developed over the course of the season from a solid freshman into a dynamic defender who has a knack for offense at big times.
In four of MSU's last six games, Krug has had a hand in impactful goals - he assisted on the game-winner in the first tilt against LSSU and scored the game-tying goal in a 3-3 deadlock. Against Ohio State, he scored the game-winner on Friday and assisted on Dustin Gazley's tying goal.
He has recorded points in eight of MSU's last 11 games, with 10 points in those contests.
Krug is the CCHA's top-scoring freshman defenseman. With a 3-10-13 scoring line, Krug is ninth among freshmen overall, and tied for 11th among defensemen.
he's had some "alone time"
Krug is also MSU's most-penalized player. At 5-9, he is MSU's smallest-stature defenseman - but he is the Spartans' most-penalized player, with 21 penalties for 53 minutes. Senior centerman Nick Sucharski is next at 16/43, followed by wingers Corey Tropp and Andrew Rowe, who each have 13 penalties.
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.
strong genes
MSU's fourth line - the "Blood Line" of Dean Chelios and Trevor Nill, centered by Brett Perlini, has gotten strong results. The trio has skated together in seven of the last eight games dating back to the GLI, and has a combined 8-12-20 scoring line and is a +17.
Why the "Blood Line"? All three have fathers who have skated in the NHL - Chris Chelios is still playing professional hockey and has logged 1,644 NHL games, Jim Nill played 10 years in the NHL and is currently the Asst. GM of the Detroit Red Wings, and Fred Perlini played for the Toronto Maple Leafs before a lengthy career in Europe.
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.
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).
Tropp and Notre Dame's Calle Ridderwall are the only two players in the country this season with two hat tricks.
block party
Torey Krug (57) owns the team lead in blocked shots, followed by Jeff Petry (43) and Brock Shelgren (32) and Matt Crandell (27).
career bests all around
Ten of MSU's 12 returning players who have played in at least one game this season have already bettered their 2008-09 scoring numbers. The only ones who haven't are defensemen Tim Buttery (1-6-7 in 2008-09, 1-5-6 this year) and Brock Shelgren (1-5-6 in 2008-09, 0-2-2 this season.) Three of the five upperclassmen have already surpassed their career-best single-season numbers. Corey Tropp had a 6-11-17 line as a freshman, and currently has 17-19-36. Andrew Rowe's 14 points (6g, 8a) as a sophmore has been shattered by his current 11-10-21, and linemate Dustin Gazley also had 14 points last season (7g, 7a). Gazley has a 8-9-17 line. The other two upperclassmen are close to surpassing their career bests - Jeff Petry is three points shy of his 24 points he put up as a freshman, when he was a member of the CCHA's All-Rookie team. Nick Sucharski had a 9-17-26 line a junior in 2007-08, and has 7-8-15 so far this season.
multiplicity
Corey Tropp started off his junior season with five multiple-point efforts in the first nine games, and has 10 multiple-point efforts in 28 games. He has scored goals in 13 of MSU's 28 contests, including six of the last 14.
clutch
When the Spartans need a big goal, look no further than MSU's top line. Both junior Corey Tropp and freshman Derek Grant have been on the ice for half of MSU's 16 game-winning goals this season, the highest number on the team. Tropp has scored four game-winners and had the secondary assist on two others. Grant, on the other hand, has two game-winners, had the primary assist on two, and the secondary assist on two others. Grant has two game-tying goals as well, with an assist on a third. Tropp has the primary assist on two game equalizers. (Game-tying goals are defined as the goal scored in a tie game that brought the trailing team into a (final) tie score.)
among the bretheren
In the CCHA overall statistics, Tropp is first in points (36) goals (17), and power-play points (17), and ranks second in assists (19) power-play goals (6) and game-winning goals (4).
Derek Grant is tied for fouth in points (27), tied for 13th in goals (10) and is fifth in assists (17), and is second in power play points (15) and power play goals (6). He also is first in freshman scoring.
Jeff Petry is tied for third in the conference in assists (18), and is tied for second in defensemen scoring (21 pts). He also ranks tied for seventh in power play points (12). Andrew Rowe ranks tied for ninth in goals (11), Daultan Leveille is tied for sixth in assists (16). Dustin Gazley is tied for fifth in game-winning goals (3).
Freeshman Torey Krug is tied for 11th in defenseman scoring (3-10-13), but is the top-ranking freshman on this list. He ranks tied for ninth among freshmen in the conference in scoring.
more on rankings
Nationally, Drew Palmisano ranks eighth in save percentage (.927), 12th in GAA (2.17), and tied for sixth in goaltender victories (12). In conference games only, he ranks third in minutes played (909:31), fourth in GAA (2.05), fourth in save percentage (.931) and third in both winning percentage (.633) and goaltender victories (8).
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.
odds & ends
• Two former Spartans will represent their countries in the upcoming Olympic Games in Vancouver. Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres) will be the US netminder, while Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks) will patrol the blueline for the Canadian squad.
• Rod Brind'Amour has relinquished his captaincy of the Carolina Hurricanes in favor of Eric Staal (Jan. 20). Brind'Amour, who had the final say on the move, will remain an alternate captain. He had worn the C in Carolina since 2005.
next up
MSU will take its longest road trip of the season, leaving the lower 48 to take on Alaska in a two-game set in Fairbanks next weekend. Saturday's game will be carried live on Comcast local (Lansing area digital channel 901.)
