Neil's Notebook: A Second Look at Opening Weekend

Oct. 10, 2011

East Lansing, Mich. - Tom Anastos wasn't looking for perfection. It was all about dedication, commitment and competing and at a high level.

The new Michigan State coach believes he got just that from his team in the Spartans' season debut last weekend in the Ice Breaker Tournament in Grand Forks, N.D.

"It was a good weekend. For six periods, our team competed really hard and the guys got to see when they compete that hard what the results can be,'' Anastos said. "We made some mistakes and we learned from them.''

MSU was very competitive against No. 5 Boston College in the tournament opener on Friday, but the eventual-champion Eagles broke a 2-2 midway through the third period and went to a 5-2 victory.

However, the Spartans walked out of Ralph Englestad Arena on a positive note on Saturday with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory in overtime over Air Force. Lee Reimer, a sophomore center, scored the winner 54 seconds into the extra period for his second goal of the game.

"It was nice to go home with a win. That's important for our psyche,'' Anastos said. "The guys really earned it.

"We executed our game plan very well. The guys were working hard. That's been our principal focus - to make sure we're always competing hard. And we did it.''

They Spartans were a resilient group throughout the weekend. They never led until Reimer slipped the puck past Air Force goalie Paul Moberg.

MSU fell behind Boston College 1-0 and 2-1 but twice rallied to tie the Eagles on goals by senior center Brett Perlini and senior right wing Trevor Nill in the second and third periods, respectively. On Saturday, the Falcons scored went up 1-0 in the first minute of the game on a fluke goal from behind the net in the right corner. But the Spartans evened it, 1-1, on sophomore right wing Greg Wolfe's one-timer from the left circle midway through the second period.

After Air Force went up 2-1 on a late second-period goal, the Spartans fought back to tie it five minutes into the third period on a power-play goal by Reimer, his first of the contest.

Sophomore goalie Will Yanakeff then made several stellar stops during an Air Force power play to keep the game deadlocked. Yanakeff made 26 saves for his seventh career victory.

Reimer, who had two goals last season as a freshman, capped his best night as a Spartan with his unassisted game-winner. But Reimer had lots of help from linemates Wolfe and Dean Chelios, even though they were not credited with assists.

Wolfe collared a loose puck coming out front from the left corner in the Falcons' zone and fired it on goal. The puck slid behind the net and Chelios raced in to pressure Air Force defenseman Tim Kirby and forced him to make an errant pass that came out front. Reimer gobbled it up, went to his left and slid the puck under Moberg for Anastos' first victory as Spartans' coach.

"It was really nice to get the first win for our team and Coach Anastos,'' Reimer said. "We just had to keep going. It's nice to head home on a positive note. Hopefully, we can keep it going next week.''

Reimer played 25 minutes of Friday's game because he assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for a checking-from- behind penalty early in the second period.

"We thought that the since he didn't play much he should have a lot of gas in the tank,''Anastos said. "I thought his line played really well. Dean Chelios had a very good game on Saturday and so did Wolfe. Those guys were really going.''

Reimer, who was named to the Ice Breaker All-Tournament team, had strong support from several family members and friends who made the trip to North Dakota from his hometown of Landmark, Manitoba.

Anastos expects his team's improvement and on-ice chemistry will continue each week in practice and carry over into the games.

"I want our guys to compete hard and not worry about mistakes. Just play the game we want to play and get used to that aggressive style,'' he said. "Boston College is a really good, they're an NCAA team and maybe a Frozen Four team. They're skilled and fast. They make you make mistakes and when you do, they make you pay.

"We competed very well but we made our share of mistakes and it cost us. We'll learn from it.''

EAGLES RULE: Boston College won the Ice Breaker title late Saturday with a convincing 6-2 victory over No. 3 North Dakota, which rallied to edge Air Force, 4-3, on Friday.

"There are six trophies available to us this year," Boston College coach Jerry York said. "We got the first one. It's kind of a stepping stone - they all get bigger as the year goes on."

Next season, the Ice Breaker Tournament moves to Kansas City with four different teams - Nebraska-Omaha, Notre Dame, Maine and Army.

NEXT UP FOR MSU: The Spartans stay on the road for one more week, opening Central Collegiate Hockey Association play at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at Lake Superior State. MSU is 2-0-2 in the last four meetings against the Lakers.

On a quirky note, the last eight times MSU and LSSU have met have been in January, going back to 2008.

The Spartans' home-opening series is Oct. 20-21 (Thursday-Friday) against Ohio State.

SPECIAL TEAMS: MSU went 1-for-8 on the power play and didn't allow a power-play goal in six shorthanded situations. The Spartans were 0-for-4 against Boston College and 1-for-4 vs. Air Force. The Eagles had only two power plays and the Falcons failed to score in four opportunities.

ROOKIES MAKE DEBUT: The Spartans had three freshmen play in both games - forwards Tanner Sorenson, Brett Darnell and Justin Hoomaian. Sorenson played left wing on a line with Perlini and Chris Forfar, while Hoomaian centered right wing Darnell and junior left wing Kevin Walrod.