Spartans, Wolverines Renew Rivalry

1/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Jan. 6, 2011

Michigan State vs. # 7/8 Michigan
Dates	Fri.-Sat, Jan. 7-8
Game Times	(F) 7:35 p.m. \| (S) 7:05 p.m.
Location	(F) East Lansing, Mich.; Munn Ice Arena (Cap. 6,470; 200x85) (S) Ann Arbor, Mich. Yost Ice Arena (Cap. 6,637; 200x85)
Televison	(F) Big Ten Network DirecTV Ch. 610; Dish Net. Ch. 439 (S) FSN Plus DirecTV Ch. 664; Dish Net. Ch. 449; Comcast Ch. 901/707
Radio	WJIM 1240 AM
Tickets	Munn Ticket Info \| Munn Seating Chart Yost Ticket Info \| Yost Seating Chart
Game Notes	Download PDF
Internet Coverage	MSU All-Access (Video Stream) Live Stats \| Live Audio
Social Media	@MSU_Hockey \| Facebook
Press Conference	Head Coach Rick

storyline
Michigan State re-focuses all its attention on the CCHA race, and prepares for a home-and-home series with archrival Michigan. The teams play Friday in East Lansing, then on Saturday in Ann Arbor.

media darlings
Friday's game at Munn Ice Arena will air live on the Big Ten Network, with Dan Kelly and Billy Jaffe on the call. The Big Ten Network is on Dish Network channel 439, and on DirecTV Channel 610.
Saturday's tilt in Ann Arbor will be carried in high definition on FSN Plus, with Matt Shepard and Fred Pletsch calling the action. FSN Detroit can be found on DirecTV Channel 664 (or 6644 in high def), and on ATT U-Verse Ch. 737/1737.
On the radio, both contests against the Wolverines will air 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.

series history
Michigan State trails the all-time series with the Wolverines by a 122-141-18 margin. both teams hold the advantage in their own rinks: The Spartans are Spartans hold a 62-48-9 advantage. In Ann Arbor, Michigan holds a 70-43-4 edge.

recent history
The teams last met on the largest regular-season stage in college hockey this season, the Big Chill game at Michigan Stadium. The Wolverines won that game, 5-0, extending their winning streak in the series to four games. MSU took three of the four regular-season meetings a year ago.

within inches
The last decade has been the closest in the history of the Michigan State-Michigan rivalry. The Wolverines hold a slim 22-20-11 lead in games played since the start of the 1999-2000 season.
MSU was 3-1 in the regular season against its archrival last year, and UM swept the five games in which the teams met in 2008-09. Prior to last 2008-09, only once in the last decade had one team won three consecutive games (MSU accomplished the feat in February and March of 2001).

count em all?
Michigan has won 141 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.

281 battles in the war
The Michigan State-Michigan rivalry is one of national prominence across the board, but due to the similar levels of success and a close won/loss records between the programs, it also may be the fiercest.
In college hockey circles, it is perhaps the premiere rivalry - and with 281st chapters and two more to come this weekend, it is also the most-played rivalry in the sport.

281 Michigan State/Michigan
280 North Dakota/Minnesota
277 Denver/Colorado College
257 Minnesota/Michigan
261 Minnesota/Michigan Tech
256 Minnesota/Wisconsin
254 North Dakota/Denver
252 Boston College/Boston University
249 Minnesota/Colorado College
237 North Dakota/Michigan Tech
232 Yale/Princeton
230 Harvard/Yale
219 North Dakota/Colorado College
218 Michigan/Michigan Tech
216 Boston College/Northeastern
214 Michigan Tech/Minnesota-Duluth
214 Minnesota/Minnesota-Duluth
211 Michigan Tech/Denver
211 Harvard/Princeton
209 North Dakota/Minnesota-Duluth
207 Boston University/Northeastern
194 Dartmouth/Yale
192 Dartmouth/Harvard
188 Dartmouth/Princeton
186 Clarkson/St. Lawrence

scheduling quirk
The two-game set with Notre Dame in mid-November was one of three that was formerly a home-and-home series that will now be played in one venue this season. MSU will be at home against Bowling Green in late February, and play two-game sets at Western Michigan and Notre Dame.
The early December series against Ferris State was one of just two home-and-home series remaining on MSU's schedule, due to the scheduling quirks of an 11-team league. The Spartans series with Michigan on this one is the second and final home-and-home; all six of MSU's remaining series are two-game sets. The Spartans do have one weekend which consists of two single games: the Spartans will play Ferris State in Big Rapids on Thursday, Jan. 27, then will face Michigan at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday Jan. 29.

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.

tough sledding
MSU had a tough November, winning just twice in nine outings. One of its seven losses came in overtime, two were one-goal games, and two others were two-goal margins thanks only to a late empty-netter. The Spartans had a 2-3-0 December.

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 has fallen out of the national polls the last two weeks, after at least receiving votes in each of the first 10 surveys of the season.

survey says ...
The 2010-11 CCHA Pre-Season polls found Michigan State picked fourth by the conference coaches and third by the league's media.
For the third time in four years, the coaches and media disagreed 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 capsule
The Spartans returned 19 players from a 19-13-5 team in 2009-10 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 Daultan 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 in 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 775-606-109 (.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 858 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.

they're honored
Three MSU players have received weekly honors from the CCHA this season. 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. Drew Palmisano earned CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors for his performance in the Alaska series (Oct. 22-23), and Derek Grant was named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 15 after a five-point weekend against Ohio State.
Torey Krug was named to the All-Tournament team at the Great Lakes Invitational.

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.
Krug was named to the Inside College Hockey first-half team.

ranking
MSU's nine games prior to the Dec. 30 game against Michigan Tech were against ranked teams. The Spartans are 2-7-0 in those contests, with three shutouts against. Overall, MSU is 4-7-2 against ranked opponents, but is 2-0-2 against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game.

non-conference
Rick Comley owns a 42-30-7 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).
Michigan State was 5-3 against non-conference competition in 2009-10. MSU's 2010-11 schedule has one independent (Alabama-Huntsville), up to four games against WCHA competition (Minnesota, Wisconsin, MIchigan Tech, and Colorado College in the GLI) in addition to the two-game set with Hockey East entry Maine.
This year, MSU went 4-2-2 against non-conference teams, with a win and tie each against Maine and UAH. The Spartans' also split Thanksgiving weekend in the College Hockey Showcase, a win at Minnesota and a loss at Wisconsin. MSU's dropped a 5-4 decision to Colorado College in the GLI, but rebounded to down Michigan Tech, 5-3, in the consolation game.

TURN BACK THE CLOCK
At the end of the calendar year of 2009, the Spartans were 14-6-2 and had gotten off to a hot 9-3-2 mark in conference play. MSU was scoring 2.8 goals per game, and leading scorer Corey Tropp had a 16-11-27 scoring line.
This season, MSU is 7-10-3 and has been shut out three times, and is averaging 2.55 goals per game. MSU is allowing 2.95 goals per game this season ... a full goal more than the 1.9 it had allowed per game at this time last year.
While the 2009 roster had six players in double-figure points, this year's has a comparable five - but three of last year's six double-figure scorers (Tropp (27), Jeff Petry (16), and Andrew Rowe (12)) are now playing in the American Hockey League. Petry went on to earn All-America honors, and he and Tropp were both All-CCHA selections.

still searching
Head coach Rick Comley has used 42 different line combinations this season in search of scoring, compared to 18 at the start of 2010. Last season, there were just seven different pairs of defensemen, compared to 10 this season.

four is a magic number
This year, MSU is 4-1-2 when scoring four goals or more, and is 3-8-3 in games scoring three or fewer. MSU is 7-3-1 when allowing three or fewer, and 0-7-2 when giving up four or more.
The GLI semifinal against Colorado College was the only time this season that MSU scored four goals or more and lost.

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 4-3-0 in those games this season. Overall in 2010-11, the Spartans have tied three games, had seven one-goal affairs, and three others which had empty-net tallies.

free hockey
Michigan State is now 0-2-3 in over time this season after suffering a hard-luck, 1-0 OT decision against Ferris State on Dec. 4 at Munn Ice Arena. The overtime winner was a deflection off a defender's stick in front. MSU split with the Bulldogs, winning a 3-2 game in Big Rapids on Friday.

big games
Michigan State allowed six goals to Notre Dame on Nov. 19, the most since a 7-3 loss to Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase last November.
Just a week later, the Spartans scored a season-best five goals in the game at Minnesota, the most since Feb. 26, 2010 when MSU posted a 5-2 victory over Bowling Green. MSU then allowed five goals to Michigan in the Big Chill.
With nine goals in the two games of the Great Lakes Invitational, it was the most goals the Spartans have scored in consecutive games this season. MSU had scored eight in the weekend set with Maine .

big periods
MSU's three-goal opening period against the Gophers tied its season-high for goals in a period, matching the three it put on the board in the first period against Ohio State on Nov. 13.
The Spartans scored twice in the third period against both Colorado College and Michigan Tech. It tied MSU's season high for third-period tallies.

feast, then famine
The third period has been MSU's lowest-output frame, with just 12 goals in 20 games. MSU's best period has been the first (19 goals)

shooting gallery, part i
MSU has outshot its opponents in just eight of 20 games, including holding its opponents under 20 shots twice. Despite being on the short end of the shot margin in approx. 2/3 of its games, opponents have 543 shots this season, compared to 533 for MSU - a difference of just 10 shots.
The Spartans have outshot their opponent in the last three games. MSU's game total of 46 shots against Michigan Tech was a season-best. The previous high was 38, set against both Maine (Oct. 14) and Alabama-Huntsville (Oct. 29).
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.

shooting gallery, part ii
Michigan State put 23 shots on the board in the second period against Michigan Tech on Dec. 30 - the highest number for the Spartans in a period this year. In fact, MSU has failed to record 23 shots in a game five times this year - the most recent against Wisconsin (22).

not quite a shooting gallery
The Spartans held Colorado College to just two shots in the third period of the Great Lakes Invitational semifinal, the fewest shots MSU has allowed in a period this season. The Spartans outshot the Tigers 15-2 in the frame, as they mounted a two-goal rally that fell just short, falling 5-4.

their turn for a wall
Michigan Tech netminder Jonathan XXS made 41 saves in the GLI consolation game against MSU, the first time an opposing goaltender had made 40+ saves in a game since Northern Michigan's Brian Stewart made 41 on March 16, 2008 - a 3-2 Wildcat win in the third game of the CCHA Quarterfinal series at Munn Ice Arena.

a first ... and second
MSU outshot Michigan, 34-29, in the Big Chill game - yet lost the game, 5-0. It was the first game this season that MSU outshot an opponent and lost. It happened again against Colorado College, where MSU outshot the Tigers 35-23.
The Spartans are 4-2-2 when putting more shots on the board in a contest.

We hadn't had much use for brooms...
MSU has been swept twice this season - at Western Michigan (Nov. 5-6) by 4-3 and 3-1 scores, and Nov. 19-20 at Notre Dame (2-6, 2-4).
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.

scoreless
Ferris State has shut out MSU twice this season, and both have come at Munn Ice Arena. The Spartans had gone two calendar years without being whitewashed at home - the last had been Oct. 16, 2008 - a 3-0 loss to UMass-Lowell.
The first shutout came on Nov. 23, when the teams skated through a 1-0 Ferris State lead through 56 minutes of play before the Bulldogs got the backbreaker and added an empty-net tally. On Dec. 4, the teams played a scoreless regulation, and Ferris State got a fluke overtime winner when a cross-slot pass deflected off a defender.
Michigan State suffered shutouts in back-to-back games in early December: the Spartans dropped the Dec. 11 game at Michigan, a 5-0 decision. It was just the second time in school history that the Spartans had been shut out in back-to-back games in the same season: the first was in 2009, on Feb 21 (vs. Bowling Green 4-0) and Feb. 27 (vs. Notre Dame, 5-0).

powering up
Michigan went 3-for-4 on the power play in the Big Chill game on Dec. 11, the worst kill for the Spartans in a game all season. MSU allowed three goals in five chances to Maine in the season opener and six power play goals in its first three games (13-for-19 on the kill, .684) overall, but had allowed just seven extra-man markers in its next 14 contests (50-for-57, .877). In its six games prior to the Big Chill, the Spartans had allowed just power-play tallies in 23 chances (87%). MSU rebounded nicely, killing all seven chances against in the Great Lakes Invitational.
On the season, MSU's penalty kill is 71-for-87, (.816), and ranks seventh in the CCHA.
The Spartan power play is 15-for-93 (.161) on the man advantage, good for seventh in the CCHA.

doubling up
MSU has potted two man-advantage tallies in four different games this season.

shorty
The Spartans allowed shorthanded goals to Notre Dame in each of their two games (Nov. 19-20), including Saturday's game-winner with just under two and a half minutes remaining in regulation. The empty-net goal was also a shorthanded marker, giving MSU three shorthanded tallies against in the series. The Spartans allowed just five shorthanded goals all of last 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 jumped out to a 14-6-2 first-half ledger (.681), and its second-semester record was 5-7-4 (.438).

special specials
Sixteen of MSU's 51 goals scored this season have come in special teams situations - 15 on the power play, and one shorthanded. Of the 59 goals the Spartans have allowed, 16 have come with a man advantage and three shorthanded.

maiden voyages
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.

first time
Kevin Walrod's first-period goal against Michigan Tech was his first collegiate tally, which came in his 35th game as a Spartan. Walrod followed freshman Lee Reimer, who had his first collegiate tally in the semifinals against Colorado College.

whew Lee Reimer's first-period goal against Colorado College in the GLI semifinals snapped a 145:42 scoreless streak for MSU, dating back to the Dec. 3 game at Ferris State.

irish welcome
Freshman goalie Will Yanakeff saw his first collegiate action on Nov. 19 at Notre Dame, coming in to play the third period in relief of Drew Palmisano. The rookie stopped 12 of 13 shots in that third peirod. He got the starting nod a night later, and made 19 saves against three goals in a 4-2 loss.
In his first collegiate start on Nov. 20, freshman goalie Will Yanakeff faced a penalty shot against ND's Ben Ryan just 22 seconds into the game. Yanakeff made a right leg -pad save; it was the first saved penalty shot for MSU since Feb. 2, 2008, when Jeff Lerg stopped Nebraska-Omaha's Bill Bagron in a 4-2 Spartan victory.
Yanakeff earned his first collegiate victory over Michigan Tech in the GLI consolation game with 22 saves. He played just over 87 minutes in the GLI, with a .909 save percentage and 2.05 GAA.

another brick in the wall
Drew Palmisano was credited with 17 first-period saves at Ferris State on Dec. 3, a season best for a single-period effort and two shy of his career record.

carrying the load
Drew Palmisano has seen more time in net than all but three goaltenders in the country. Alaska's Scott Greenham (1095:32) is the top goalie in terms of minutes, followed by Ferris State's Pat Nagle (10:79:04) and Nebraska-Omaha's John Faulkner (1045:43). Palmisano has played 17 of MSU's 18 games, and has logged 1017:25; both Greenham and Faulkner have started all 18 of their team's games, while Nagle has played 18 of FSU's 19 contests.

doubling up
Brett Perlini's two-goal effort on Dec. 3 against Ferris State was his third of the season and the fourth of his career. He has 11 goals, his first time in double-digits in his career.

pretty goals don't count for more
Freshman centerman Greg Wolfe's scored his first collegiate goal on Nov. 19 at Notre Dame. It was a bit of a fluky score - a shot rang off the glass behind the goal cage and flipped high into the air, was missed by a pair of opposing players trying to swat at it, and it instead fell straight down, caromed off the shaft of Wolfe's stick and beat the goalie five-hole.

making an impression
It took first-year player Jake Chelios three games to get on the scoreboard for the first time, but since breaking the ice (so to speak), he had points in five of his next nine games played.
Chelios had a power-play goal in each of the two games against Ohio State (Nov. 5-6). He is the team's top-scoring first-year player, and he is now fourth on the team in goals with four .
On top of the scoring prowess, Chelios has also been rapidly improving not only while adjusting to college hockey, but also playing a new position. All throughout junior hockey, Chelios had played forward - he had expressed an interest in switching to play defense to start his college career. His father, 26-year NHL veteran Chris Chelios, made the same switch at age 19 as well.

eclipse
Torey Krug's Nov. 20 tally at Notre Dame was his third of the season, matching his total number of goals from a season ago.
Brett Perlini scored his 12th goal of the season in the Dec. 30 game against Michigan Tech. He had nine career goals entering the season.

this will look good later
Ten of Derek Grant's 18 points have come in CCHA games. 11 of Brett Perlini's (six goals, five assists) came in conference contests. Torey Krug has 4-4-8 in CCHA tilts, and two of those goals stood as game-winners.

you go to the box, two minutes by yourself, and 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 20 games this season, Krug has been whistled for 12 penalties for 27 minutes - tops infractions, just ahead of Dustin Gazley's 11, and ranked first in penalty minutes.

block party
Michigan State has blocked 220 shots in 20 games, compared to 262 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 33 shots, while Krug's defensive partner Matt Grassi has 17. Blueliners Brock Shelgren (27), Tim Buttery (20) and Jake Chelios (14) also register double-digits. Trevor Nill (15) and Chris Forfar (12) are the Spartan forwards with 10 or more.
Tim Buttery blocked a career-best five shots against Colorado College on Dec. 29.

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.