Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Tangle with Falcons in Final Regular Season Set
2/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 25, 2010
No. 12/13 Michigan State vs. Bowling Green
Date/Time: Feb. 26; 6 p.m., East Lansing, Mich./ Feb. 27, 7 p.m., Bowling Green, Ohio. Audio: WJIM 1240 AM /all audio can also be heard at www.spartansportsnetwork.com
Television: FSN Detroit (F)
Tickets: A limited number of tickets remain for this weekend's series. Family Four Pack promotion (not available at the door). Purchase Tickets
Live Statistics: http://www.livestats.ath.msu.edu/hockey (also for PDA/Blackberry)
Download MSU Hockey Notes (PDF)
Podcasts: Rick | Torey | Jeff Promotions: : Hockey Doubleheader at Munn, | Chuck-A-Puck (second intermission) | Family Four Pack; Post-Game Autographs by seniors on MSU hockey team (Friday)
storyline
Michigan State readies for the final weekend of regular-season CCHA action, preparing for a home-and-home series with Bowling Green. The Spartans will hold their senior night on Friday, honoring Bobby Jarosz, Justin Johnston, Jay Sprague, and Nick Sucharski in a pre-game ceremony.
media darlings
Friday's game will air on FSN Detroit with a 6:05 start. Ken Daniels and Fred Pletsch will call the action. On the radio, both games will air on WJIM 1240 AM; the radio call can also be heard on www.spartansportsnetwork.com.
traditionally strong
The Spartans are looking for a strong finish in the last weekend to ensure a top-four CCHA finish. MSU needs just one point in the Bowling Green series to ensure a first-round bye, but don't expect the Spartans to take the Falcons lightly - plenty is on the line in the national picture to motivate the Green and White.
In 24 of MSU's 27 previous seasons in the CCHA, they have finished fourth or better. MSU has won six regular-season titles, finished second seven times, third eight times, and fourth three times.
series history
The Spartans own a significant edge in the all-time meetings with Bowling Green. MSU is 66-29-8 in the series, which breaks down to a 35-9-3 mark in East Lansing and a 24-17-5 record at the BGSU Ice Arena.
state of the union
The Spartans snapped a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) when it salvaged a weekend split with Ferris State by winning, 3-2, last Saturday. Friday's game was a 4-1 win by Ferris in Big Rapids; the teams exited the weekend the same way they came in: tied for second place.
In the national picture, MSU sits in tenth in the current PairWise ranking, the selection tool used to generate the 16-team NCAA Tournament. Currently, there are four CCHA teams in the NCAA Tournament picture: Miami (2), Michigan State, Alaska (11) and Ferris State (13).
jump
Michigan State currently sits in second place in the CCHA standings with one week to go in the regular season. Should the Spartans hold on to second place, its improvement of eight spots in the league standings from a year ago would tie the all-time best jump 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 last season, but was the 11th seed in the playoffs due to losing the tiebreaker.
better than you expected
Michigan State was picked eighth and ninth in the pre-season polls by the media and coaches, respectively. Tied for second place in the CCHA standings with Ferris State, the Spartans are tied with the Bulldogs for the most spots ahead of their preseason projection.
recapping the action
Michigan State came out of last weekend the same way it went in - a tie for second place with Ferris State. The teams split their meetings last weekend, each winning on their home ice. Friday night was all about the Bulldogs, as they put up three second-period goals en route to a 4-1 victory. Derek Grant had the lone MSU goal, tipping a Torey Krug shot in the third period. Drew Palmisano played well, despite the final score; he had 25 saves. The next night was a tight one in East Lansing, as MSU scored first in each period and kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in the third period for a hard-fought 3-2 win. Andrew Rowe and Jay Sprague scored in th first two periods, respectively; Dustin Gazley got the game-winner at12:31 of the third off a great play by Daultan Leveille. Palmisano made another 25 stops and earned second star honors (Gazley was the game's first star).
lets hope for a parallel
Michigan State's two roughest months, schedule-wise, are November and January. MSU had identical 3-3-2 records in both months. The Spartans followed up their November with a 5-1-0 December - and MSU will play six games in the month of February, and is 1-2-1 heading into that month's final weekend.
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.
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) Feb. 20- Nick Perreault (1990-94)
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 made his season debut on Feb. 20.
gaining ground
Comley captured his 750th career victory on Friday, Oct. 9 with a 6-1 victory over Clarkson. He now owns a 767-594-105 (.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 8408 and Jack Parker of Boston University has 830.
quite the cluster
Michigan State and Michigan are 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. All four teams play cluster games this weekend, as the Spartans and Bowling Green face off and the Wolverines and Irish play a Thursday/Saturday set. Currently in cluster play, MSU has emerged as the leader of the pack. MSU is 5-3-2, Notre Dame is 3-3-4, Michigan is 5-5-0, and Bowling Green is 2-6-2.
heft in the schedule
MSU is 4-1-1 against teams ranked in the top ten this season, and 5-4-2 against ranked teams overall.
speaking of rankings ... The Spartans are No. 12 in the USCHO poll and 13th in the 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 15 weeks ranked in the national polls this season.
january grind
Michigan State had 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. It wrapped up January action with a home-and-Joe series against Michigan, pushing MSU's record to 3-3-2 mark in the first month of the calendar year. MSU has not recorded a sub-.500 month in the 2009-10 season.
consistency
Michigan State has scored four goals or more only 11 of its 34 games. The Spartans are averaging 3.1 goals per game.
Only once this season, however, has MSU scored four goals or more and lost - that happened in MSU's tilt against Michigan at Joe Louis Arena (Jan. 30) when the Spartans fell to their archrival, 5-4.
magic number
Three seems to be the magic number when related to wins and losses this season. The Spartans are 15-3-3 when scoring three goals or more in a game. When allowing three goals or less, the Spartans are 15-4-4.
famine and feast
The Spartans average 6.23 goals per weekend set.
The Spartans scored just once in their series at Alaska, its lowest scoring ouput in a weekend this season. MSU was limited to just a pair of goals in its two-game November series with Notre Dame (Nov. 19/22), its previous low.
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).
Michigan State has scored seven goals in five of its 11 conference weekends this season, including four of the last seven.
backbreakers
Michigan State has scored in the first or final minute of a period 11 times this season, compared to just three times for their opponents (excluding empty-net goals).
win `em close
25 of MSU's 34 games this season have been 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 is 8-4-0 in one-goal games this season
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
Michigan State has been outshot in 23 of its 34 games thus far, but on the season has been outshot only by a 1005-939 margin, a total of 66 shots. MSU is averaging 27.6 shots per game, and allowing an average of 29.6.
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 MSU has averaged 3.1 goals over 34 games (and allowed just 2.4). However, MSU scored three goals last Saturday against Ferris, more than it had in its previous three games combined (2). Michigan State is averaging 1.25 gpg in February; The Spartans averaged 3.37 goals per game in the month of January.
sloppy seconds
Michigan State has allowed the first goal of the game to its opponent in five of its last seven contests. Michigan State is 14- 3- 3 when scoring the first goal, and 4-8-2 when allowing the opponent to do so.
here's a first
Michigan State is 1-7-2 when trailing after two periods, and picked up its first win of the season when tied at the second intermission last Saturday. MSU and Ferris State were deadlocked, 2-2, after two periods in their game at Munn Arena.
only wear a tie at home
MSU has five ties this season, and four have been home games. MSU is 10-3-4 at home, and 6-6-1 on the road. The Spartans are 2-2-0 in neutral-site games. In conference games, MSU has lost just once at Munn Arena - on Jan. 23 to Ohio State (4-2)
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 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. 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%).
This year's second-semester record is 4-5-3, with no fewer than four games remaining.
consistency
Michgian State's lineup has been fairly consistent thanks to the relative health of the team. The Spartans have employed just 29 different sets of forward lines, with the two top lines playing 29 of the 32 games together. MSU's defensive pairs have also seen few changes, as Torey Krug and Jeff Petry have played all 34 games together, Crandell and Shelgren for 26, and Josepeher and Grassi (who missed six games early in the season) for 25.
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 eight overtimes this season with an official record of 2-1-5. In the five 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's most recent tie saw the squad post a 2-1 shootout win at Alaska, its first road shootout of the season. 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 is seventh nationally in save percentage (.923), and is 12th in GAA (2.28). In conference games only - the statistics used to select the All-CCHA teams - Palmisano is third in both categories - a 2.23 GAA and .924 save percentage has him only behind the goaltending tandem from Miami. Palmisano has made 28+ saves in 10 of his last 14 games after making 28 or more just five times in his first 12 games of the season.
more hot hands
All scoring streaks came to an end with MSU's shutout at the hands of the Alaska Nanooks, and no new ones have gotten started in the last three games.
hobey hopeful
Corey Tropp remains the conference leader in goals (20), power play points (21) and game-winning goals (5). He is second in points (40), power play goals (9) and tied for 10th in assists (20). Nationally, he is tied for fifth in goals, eighth in points, 18th in goals per game, ninth in power-play markers, and tied for third in game-winning tallies.
... all-america honors, too
Tropp's numbers compared to other players in the western All-America pool are favorable - he is among the top 10 in all but two categories. He is tied for eighth in points and and ninth in points per game (1.18); second in goals, and fourth in goals per game (0.62), tied for fifth in power-play goals, tied for first in game-winners, He is tied for 19th among all western players in assists, and tied for 36th in assists per game (0.59).
difference makers
Michigan State is 13-6-4 when Corey Tropp has a point, and 13-3-1 when Andrew Rowe gets on the scoresheet.
multiplicity
Corey Tropp has 12 multiple-point games this season, and three multiple-goal games (two were hat tricks). Derek Grant has had seven multiple-point games, including in each of his first three collegiate contests. Andrew Rowe also has seven multiple-point games, and Jeff Petry five.
he's had some "alone time"
Torey Krug is MSU's most-penalized player. At 5-9, he is MSU's smallest-stature defenseman - but has been whistled for 25 penalties for 61 minutes. Senior centerman Nick Sucharski has the second-most penalties, (17/45), and Matt Grassi is third in penalty minutes (13/43).
century club
Corey Tropp scored Michigan State's 100th goal of the season, his power-play marker in Alaska. The Spartans scored just 62 goals a year ago.
Tropp is closing in on another century mark - he has appeared in 97 career Michigan State games. He's expected to reach 100 in MSU's first CCHA playoff series. He has a 29-39-68 scoring line in those games.
early impact
Michigan State freshmen have won three of the four CCHA Rookie of the Month awards in the 2009-10 season. Derek Grant was the Rookie of the Month for October, while Torey Krug earned the honor in both December and January. Krug is only the second freshman in league history to record back-to-back Rookie of the Month honors - Miami's Carter Camper was the first in December and January during the 2007-08 season, the first year the award was given by the conference.
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.
block party
Torey Krug (67) owns the team lead in blocked shots, followed by Jeff Petry (54), Brock Shelgren (35) and Matt Crandell (32).
for comparison sake
Derek Grant has 28 points on the season, (11g, 17a). He is the team's top-scoring freshman, the most since Tim Crowder had 17 goals and 13 assists for 30 points in the 2005-06 season. In the Comley era, only one freshman had more points than Crowder: David Booth had a 17-19-36 line in 2002-03. Grant is currently fourth on the list of Comley freshmen behind Booth, Crowder, and defenseman AJ Thelen, who had 11-18-29 in 2003-04.
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.
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, 0-3-3 this season.) Four of the five upperclassmen have already surpassed their career-best single-season numbers. The most recent to match his is Jeff Petry, who now has surpassed the 24 points he put up as a freshman, when he was a member of the CCHA's All-Rookie team. Corey Tropp had a 6-11-17 line as a freshman, and currently has 20-20-40. Andrew Rowe's 14 points (6g, 8a) as a sophmore has been shattered by his current 14-11-25, and linemate Dustin Gazley also had 14 points last season (7g, 7a). Gazley has a 9-11-20 line. Nick Sucharski had a 9-17-26 line a junior in 2007-08, and has 7-9-16 so far this season.
clutch
When the Spartans need a big goal, look no further than junior Corey Tropp and freshman Derek Grant - they have been on the ice for nine of MSU's 18 game-winning goals this season, the highest number on the team. Tropp has scored five 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. (four players have been on the ice for eight game-winners: Jeff Petry, Andrew Rowe. Matt Crandell, and Nick Sucharski, and Torey Krug has been on the ice for seven). Grant has two game-tying goals as well, with an assist on a third. Tropp scored the game-tying goal in MSU's game at Alaska (Feb. 6) and has the primary assist on two other 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.)
at the dot
Three of MSU's regular centermen are better than .500 on faceoffs this season, led by senior Nick Sucharski (378-342, .525). Brett Perlini is 78-67 (.538) and Daultan Leveille is 187-178 (.512).
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 are representing their countries in the Olympic Games in Vancouver. Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres) is be the US netminder, while Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks) patrols the blueline for the Canadian squad. By virtue of its undefeated, untied record in preliminary round play, the Americans are the top overall seed in the medal round. Both teams have advanced to the semifinal round - the US faces off with Finland on Friday at 3 p.m.
Miller had an assist in the second contest of the Games, the first American netminder to record a point in Olympic history. On Wednesday, he recorded the first Olympic shutout for the US team since the 2002 Games as he stopped 19 shots in a 2-0 victory.
• 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
Michigan State will learn its playoff fate at the completion of the weekend's games. The Spartans need just one point to secure a top-four finish and first-round bye.
