Spartans Host Buckeyes in Weekend Set
11/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 10, 2010
| No. 16/RV Michigan State vs. Ohio State | ||
| Dates | Friday-Saturday, Nov. 5-6 | |
| Game Times | (F) 6:35 p.m. | (S) 7:05 p.m. | |
| Location | East Lansing, Mich.. | Munn Ice Arena (Cap. 6,470; 200x85) | |
| Televison | (F) Comcast (Digital Ch. 900 in mid-Michigan) | |
| Radio | (F) WVFN 730 AM | (S) WJIM 1240 AM | |
| Tickets | Seating Chart | Ticket Info | |
| Game Notes | Download PDF | |
| Internet Coverage | MSU All-Access (Video Stream) Live Stats | Live Audio | |
| Social Media | @MSU_Hockey  | Facebook  | |
| Press Conference Video | Head Coach Rick | |
| Press Conference Audio | Rick | Trevor | Derek | Greg | |
| Promotions | (F), Family Four Pack, Chuck-A-Puck > (S) Student-Athlete Food Drive | |
storyline
Michigan State comes back home to Munn Ice Arena to host Big Ten rival Ohio State for a CCHA set.
we need your help
The Michigan State ice hockey team is on its way to kicking off the holiday season, and the icers are coordinating with several other MSU teams to ask for help in the East Lansing and surrounding communities to make it a Happy Holidays for all.
This week, the Spartan hockey players are spearheading their second annual Student-Athlete Holiday Food Drive, led by sophomore captain Torey Krug and sophomore forward Chris Forfar. On Saturday, the hockey program is asking everyone attending that evening's game against Ohio State to bring either toiletries or non-perishable food items to donate to this worthy cause. Donation boxes will be at every entrance at Munn Arena.
For more information, please see the full press release.
media darlings
Friday's game will be carried on Comcast (Digital Ch. 900 in Mid-Michigan). Matt Shepard and Lyle Phair will call the game, and Rob Otto will handle rinkside duties. There will be no television for Saturday's contest.
On the radio, Friday's contest will air on WVFN 730 AM, and Saturday's will be carried on WJIM 1240 AM. The radio call can also be heard on www.spartansportsnetwork.com. Scott Moore and Rob Woodward begin their sixth season together on the call of Spartan hockey.
Both games will have a live video stream as part of MSU's All-Access package on its website.
series history
The Spartans own a 79-23-8 record all-time against the Buckeyes, including a 38-6-3 mark when hosting OSU at Munn Ice Arena. The teams split last season's series - MSU won the first game 5-2, but fell in a heartbreaker the following evening, allowing the game-winner with just over a minute remaining (and an empty-netter in the waning seconds) to fall, 4-2. The loss snapped a three-game unbeaten streak against OSU.
home sweet home, but not for long
MSU is hosting for the fourth time in five weekend series. The Spartans opened with weekend sets against Maine, Alaska, and Alabama-Huntsville, then were at Western Michigan last weekend. The Spartans have just four home games in November and December combined after six contests at Munn Arena in October. They will play three and four home games in January and February, respectively.
last time out
MSU was swept in this past weekends series at Western Michigan by 4-3 and 3-1 scores. MSU had taken at least a point out of every CCHA series last season - one of just three teams to do so . The WMU series was MSU's first point-less weekend since the final regular-season weekend against Notre Dame in February of 2009. MSU had two goals waved off in the Saturday game against Western Michigan. The first came in the second period when play was continued after the officials did not see the puck hit the rafters seconds before a Spartan score, the second less than two minutes into the third period due to a quick whistle.
first night formalwear
Michigan State has three ties this season, and all have come in the first games of two-game sets. The Spartans tied Maine, 4-4, in the first game of their series with the Black Bears, and tied Alaska (1-1) and Alabama-Huntsville (4-4) in the first games of those series as well.
for starters
The Spartans were undefeated through their first six games for the first time since 1998-99. MSU was 4-0-2 that season, and started 5-0-2 before losing to Ohio State on Nov. 13.
smooches for your sister
MSU is tied for the second-most ties in the country - its three is behind Minnesota State-Mankato, which is 2-4-4 through eight games. Nine schools have three ties on their ledgers, including three from each the CCHA (Miami, Michigan, MIchigan State) and the ECAC (St. Lawrence, Union, and RPI). Maine, Vermont, and Connecticut are the others.
historical significance
MSU skated to a tie in its opening game of the season for the first time in the nine-year tenure of head coach Rick Comley. The Spartans are 3-5-1 all-time in openers under the team's current mentor. MSU last tied its season opener in 2001-02, a 3-3 deadlock with archrival Michigan in "The Cold War" - an outdoor game played across the street at Spartan Stadium.
Speaking of the "Cold War" game ... that outdoor game captured the attention not only of the college hockey world but of sports fans around the globe. It was the first outdoor game in the modern era of college hockey, and it was the beginning of a decade of outdoor games which have become large-scale events not only in college hockey, but in the NHL as well. The NHL's Winter Classic is now played annually on New Year's Day, and MSU and Michigan will play "The Big Chill at the Big House" - an outdoor game at Michigan Stadium - on Dec. 11. The Big Chill game has already sold more than 105,000 tickets, which will once again make MSU-Michigan the world-record holder for hockey attendance.
new faces, all in a row
Michigan State will play three straight series against rookie head coaches. MSU is coming off a pair of series with Alabama-Huntsville and first-year head coach Chris Luongo, who played for the Spartans (1986-90), as well as with Western Michigan, who has first-year mentor Jeff Blashill.
This weekend, the Spartans will host Ohio State and their first-year head coach Mark Oseicki.
traditionally strong
In 25 of MSU's 28 seasons in the CCHA, it has finished fourth or better. MSU has won six regular-season titles, finished second eight times, third eight times, and fourth three times.
this week's popularity contest ...
Michigan State fell four spot in both polls. In the USCHO.com national top-20 poll, MSU went to 16th from 12th. In the USA Hockey/USA Today poll, MSU is the top team receiving votes, finishing just outside the survey's top 15.
survey says ...
The 2010-11 CCHA Pre-Season polls find picked fourth by the conference coaches and third by the league's media.
For the third time in four years, the coaches and media disagree over who should own the No. 1 position in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's annual preseason polls. The conference's 11 head coaches ranked defending playoff champion Michigan first, while 75 media members named defending regular-season champion Miami as the preseason favorite.
roster preview
The Spartans return 19 players from a 19-13-5 team a season ago, including Second Team All-CCHA selection Drew Palmisano. Seventeen of the 19 returnees were letterwinners a year ago. MSU is quite "middle-classes" heavy - the roster features just two seniors and five freshmen on a roster of 26 student-athletes. The Spartans lost four players to graduation and three would-be seniors to professional hockey in the off-season. Sophomore Derek Grant is the team's top returning scorer (12-18-30), followed by junior Dauyltan Leveille (6-19-25). Palmisano boasted a 2.44 GAA and .917 save percentage in his first season as a starter.
the mentor
Rick Comley is beginning his 38th season behind the bench of a college hockey program, and his ninth season at MSU. With 768 victories entering the season, Comley ranks among the top five coaches all-time in wins and top three among active coaches.
gaining ground
Comley owns a 771-598-109 (.559) 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 855 and Jack Parker of Boston University has 838.
season in review
Michigan State finished the 2009-10 CCHA season in second place. MSU's improvement of eight spots in the league standings from the previous season tied the all-time best jump from one year to another in conference history (Ferris State was ninth in the 2002-03 season, then captured the league title a season later.) Michigan State finished in a tie for 10th in 2008-09, but was the 11th seed in the playoffs due to losing the tiebreaker.
A year ago, Michigan State was picked eighth and ninth in the pre-season polls by the media and coaches, respectively. Michigan State was the CCHA team in 2009-10 which finished the most spots ahead of its preseason projection.
he's honored
Drew Palmisano earned CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors for his performance in the Alaska series (Oct. 22-23). Allowing just one goal in each game against the Nanooks, he stopped 45 of 47 shots against in the weekend set. He improved his GAA to 1.92 and his save percentage to .932, both which rank third in the overall CCHA rankings.
Junior defenseman Brock Shelgren was named the CCHA Defenseman of the Week after the Maine series. It was the first CCHA weekly honor in his career.
they like our d
Sophomore captain Torey Krug was named to the CCHA Preseason All-Conference Team. Krug received the third-most votes of any blueliner in the conference, garnering three first-place votes and 30 points. Junior goaltender Drew Palmisano was an honorable mention selection, garnering 14 points and one first-place vote.
non-conference
Rick Comley owns a 40-28-7 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 26-17-4 over the last five seasons (2005-10.)
Michigan State was 5-3 against non-conference competition in 2009-10, going 1-1 against Hockey East, 3-0 against ECAC Hockey, and 1-2 against the WCHA. MSU's 2010-11 schedule has one independent (Alabama-Huntsville), up to four games against WCHA competition (Minnesota, Wisconsin, MIchigan Tech, and possibly Colorado College in the GLI) in addition to the two-game set with Hockey East entry Maine.
So far, MSU is 2-0-2 against non-conference teams, with a win and tie each against Maine and UAH.
consistency
Michigan State scored four goals or more only 12 times in its 38 games last season. The Spartans averaged 3.03 goals per game, third in the CCHA.
Only once last season, however, did MSU score four goals or more and lose - that happened in MSU's tilt against Michigan at Joe Louis Arena (Jan. 30) when the Spartans fell to their archrival, 5-4.
MSU has already put up four goals in three of its games this season - in a 4-4 ties with both Maine and Alabama-Huntsville, and in a 4-1 victory over Alaska.
three is a magic number
Three seemed to be the magic number when related to wins and losses for the Spartans in 2009-10. MSU was 16-4-3 when scoring three goals or more in a game. When allowing three goals or less, the Spartans were 15-4-5. That has carried through the games thus far in 2010-11, as MSU scored at least three goals in five of its eight games and is 2-1-2 in those contests.
win `em close
27 of MSU's 38 games a year ago were settled by two goals or less, and 12 were one-goal affairs. Of the eight that were two-goal margins or more, four involved an empty-net goal.
MSU was 8-4-0 in one-goal games in 2009-10, and is 2-1-0 in those games this season.
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
MSU has outshot its opponents in four of eight games, including holding its opponents under 20 shots twice.
Michigan State was outshot in 25 of its 38 games last season, but on the year was outshot only by a 1099-1051 margin, a total of 48 shots over 38 games. MSU averaged 27.7 shots per game, and allowed an average of 28.9.
we hadn't had much use for brooms...
MSU was swept in this past weekends series at Western Michigan by 4-3 and 3-1 scores. MSU had taken at least a point out of every CCHA series last season - one of just three teams to do so . The WMU series was MSU's first point-less weekend since the final regular-season weekend against Notre Dame in February of 2009.
MSU had two goals waved off in the Saturday game against Western Michigan. The first came in the second period when play was erroneously allowed to continue after the puck hit the rafters, the second less than two minutes into the third period due to a quick whistle.
powering up
Michigan State allowed six power play goals in its first three games, and has allowed just three in its last five contests combined.Overall, MSU's penalty kill is at .763 (29/38), but is 16-of-19 over the last five games (.842).
The Spartan power play has also shown improvement in the last five games. On the season , the Spartans are 7-of-43 (.163), but are 5-of-24 (.208) in their last five contests.
deadlocks
MSU has tied three of its eight games this season, well on pace to record more than the six stalemates it recorded last season. Of last year's six ties, four were home games. MSU went 11-5-4 at home, and 6-6-2 on the road. The Spartans were 2-2-0 in neutral-site games. All of this year's ties have come at Munn Ice Arena.
home sweet (conference) home
In conference games in 2009-10, MSU lost just once at Munn Arena - on Jan. 23 to Ohio State (4-2). A last-minute wraparound goal (and an empty-netter in the waning seconds) was the difference in that contest.
MSU has not lost a conference game at home since that Ohio State contest, a stretch of five games (4-0-1).
at the dot
As a team, Michigan State is better than 50% on faceoffs (265-256, .509) this season. Individually, freshman Lee Reimer is winning 66% of his draws (38-20), while Brett Perlini (28-24) and Daultan Leveille (78-62) are also better than 50% on the season.
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 87-45-17 mark in the second half (64.1%).
With MSU's a 14-6-2 first-semester record last year it surpassed the 2007-08 squad for most wins under Comley in the opening semester. That team had the then-best first-half record (12-5-2, 68.4%), and were 13-7-3 in the 2008 portion of the schedule (63%).
Last year appears to be a juxtaposition of seasons past in the Comley regime - MSU jumpd out to a 14-6-2 first-half ledger (.681), and its second-semester record was 5-7-4 (.438).
special specials
Eight of MSU's 22 goals this seasons have come in special teams situations - seven on the power play, and one shorthanded. Of the 20 goals the Spartans have allowed, nine have come with a man advantage.
free hockey
Michigan State played nine overtimes last season, with an official record of 2-1-6. In the six ties, MSU lost the shootout four times (to UNO, Notre Dame (Nov. 19), LSSU, and Bowling Green (Feb. 27); MSU first got a shootout win on Jan. 16 against the Irish, then a 2-1 shootout win at Alaska, its first road shootout of the season.
Michigan State played to a 4-4 deadlock with both Maine and Alabama-Huntsville, but the teams did not do a shootout following a scoreless overtime period in either contest. The Spartans lost their shootout vs. Alaska, but it came with controversy - a disputed no-goal call on Dean Chelios as the first shooter. MSU lost that shootout, 2-1.
maiden voyage
Freshman Lee Reimer was the first freshman to get on the board this season, his first collegiate point coming on Brett Perlini's second-period goal in the second game of the Maine series.
Two classmates joined him on the season scoresheet in the Alaska series. Jake Chelios had his first career two-point game on Oct. 23 against Alaska, the same night he had his first career point (an assist on Daultan Leveille's tally) and collegiate goal. Greg Wolfe had his first collegiate point in the same game, an assist on Chelios' third period marker.
waiting for the call
Only one sophomore - winger Kevin Walrod - has yet to score a collegiate goal. He had three assists last season.
Walrod has missed the last three games with injury.
spread the wealth
Seventeen of the 22 skaters to dress in a game for the Spartans this season have already recorded at least one point, and 11 have at least two points.
streakin'
Torey Krug has an assist in five straight games, the team's longest active point-scoring streak. Coming into the season, his personal longest point-scoring streak was just two games.
perls of wisdom
Brett Perlini scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season last Friday, putting him just one shy of his sophomore-year total (7) just eight games into the season. He appeared in 20 games a year ago. His three-game goal-scoring streak was snapped on Saturday, but he also had two tallies called back in the contest.
Perlini has also nearly eclipsed his career goal-scoring numbers. He had nine goals in his first two varsity seasons combined.
grassi is greener
Sophomore blueliner Matt Grassi had a goal (the game-winner) and an assist on Oct. 30 against Alabama-Huntsville, which earned him the game's first star honors. The goal and assist was his first multiple-point game of his career.
you go to the box for two minutes, you feel shame
Torey Krug was MSU's most-penalized player last season. At 5-9, he is MSU's smallest-stature defenseman - but was whistled for 27 penalties for 65 minutes.
In eight games this season, Krug has been whistled for five penalties for 13 minutes - team highs in both categories despite not being whistled for a penalty in the WMU series.
block party
Michigan State has blocked 85 shots in six games, compared to 121 for its opponents. In the second game against Alaska (Oct. 23), the Nanooks blocked 30 MSU shots.
Sophomore captain Torey Krug has blocked a team-high 17 shots, while Krug's defensive partner Matt Grassi has nine. Blueliner Brock Shelgren has put his body in front of 10.
goalie u
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. Drew Palmisano kept the streak alive with his Second Team All-CCHA honor in 2009-10.
