No. 14 Spartans Kick Off GLI Thursday

Dec. 28, 2011

No. 14/14 Michigan State at the Great Lakes Invitational
Dates	Thursday-Friday, Dec. 29-30
Game Times	(Th) 4:05 p.m. \| (F) 4:05/7:35 p.m.
Location	Detroit, Mich.; Joe Louis Arena (Cap. 20,058; 200x85)
Televison	none
Radio	WJIM 1240 AM
Tickets	Ticketmaster Family Packages Available
Game Notes	Download PDF (MSU) Download PDF (Michigan Tech)
Internet Coverage	Live Audio \| Live Web Video (Championship game only)
Social Media	@MSU_Hockey \| Facebook

STORYLINE
MSU prepares for the 47th annual Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena. The Spartans will take on Michgian Tech in the tournament's first semifinal on Thursday at 4 p.m., with the other semifinal (Boston College/Michigan) starting at 7:35.

MEDIA DARLINGS
On the radio, all games will be carried by the Spartan Sports Network. Both GLI contests will air on WJIM 1240 AM. Scott Moore and Rob Woodward are in their seventh season together on the call of Spartan hockey.
There will be no television for MSU's semifinal game against Michigan Tech; the second semi will air live on FS Detroit. On Friday, the championship game will be streamed live on FS Detroit's website.
Live audio on the internet can be found at www.spartansportsnetwork.com.

GLI HISTORY
Michigan State will be looking for its 13th GLI title in 2011, the 37th season in which the Spartans will participate in this holiday tradition. MSU is 45-28-1 (.615) all-time in the event, second behind defending champion Michigan in GLI wins (49) and winning percentage (.625).
MSU has appeared in the GLI final in 11 of the last 14 years (and 14 of the last 18), and has won 12 tournament titles, its most recent in 2009. The Spartans have won seven of the last 14 titles, with North Dakota (2001), Boston University (2002), Boston College (2003), Colorado College (2005), and Michigan (2007, 2008, 2010) winning the others. MSU has been in the championship game in six of the the last eight seasons.

A PEEK AT THE HUSKIES
Michigan Tech has gone 3-7-0 in its last 10 games after a 6-2-1 start that saw the Huskies in the national top 10 in both polls. First-year head coach Mel Pearson, has guided the team to a 9-9-1 record at the midpoint of the season, which includes a 6-7-1 mark in WCHA play. MSU is 75-78-2 all-time against Michigan Tech, including wins in 13 of the last 14 meetings. The teams have not played a game outside of the GLI since 1984.
Senior Brett Olson leads the team in scoring (6-13-19), followed by classmate Jordan Baker (4-11-15) in the scoring column. Junior Steven Seigo rounds out the top three in points (3-11-14). Blake Pietila and Tanner Kero are tied for the team lead in goal scoring with Olson, as each of the players has registered three goals. Josh Robinson has carried the bulk of the load for the Huskies between the pipes, playing 16 games and recording a .914 save percentage and 2.72 GAA. Junior Kevin Genoe has appeared in four games as well.

LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans are coming off a 16-day hiatus for exams and the holidays. In its last action, MSU rebounded from a tough loss to Michigan on Dec. 9 with a 3-3 tie and shootout victory against the Wolverines the next night at Munn Ice Arena.
In the first game of the series at Yost, The Spartans trailed 2-1 after the opening period and fell behind 4-1 by the second intermission. However, a furious third-period rally (in which MSU outshot its hosts, 14-3) fell short, as MSU dropped a 4-3 decision to Michigan. Matt Crandell opened the scoring in the first period, scoring his second goal of the season just 14 seconds after Michigan had taken a 1-0 lead. In the third period, the Spartans got goals from freshmen Matt Berry and Brent Darnell to pull within a score, but despite limiting the Wolverines to just three shots in the final frame and peppering UM goaltender Shawn Hunwick with 14 shots in the same period, MSU could not come up with the equalizer.
The following night, the game had three lead changes before Lee Reimer netted the game-tying tally with just under four minutes remaining in regulation. Torey Krug and Chris Forfar had the other tallies for the Spartans, while senior netminder Drew Palmisano turned away all eight shots he faced in overtime and a game total of 35, then made saves on all three Wolverine shooters in the shootout to earn the extra point in the standings for MSU after a 3-3 tie. Berry had the shootout goal for the Spartans, who participated in their first shootout of the season.

INJURY REPORTS
Freshman Justin Hoomaian (leg injury) is out of the lineup, likely until the Miami series at the earliest. He has missed 13 games.
Senior Mike Merrifield will be out of the lineup for the Great Lakes Invitational after leaving the Michigan game with an injury (Dec. 10). Merrifield is hoping for a return shortly after games resume in January.
Freshman Branden Carney sustained a serious neck injury in practice on Thursday, Nov. 3. Carney returned to campus in late November to finish the semester, but remains under the care of neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Bill. Carney will not return to play this season.
On Oct. 25, coach Tom Anastos announced that junior Zach Golembiewski had decided to end his competitive hockey career on the advice of medical professionals. Golembiewski, a winger, had appeared in 56 career games, but was advised to end his hockey career after the discovery of an underlying issue that was hindering any improvement after a back injury.

THIS WEEK'S POPULARITY CONTEST
The Spartans check in at No. 14 in both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today survey. It is the highest ranking for the Spartans this season. Michigan is unranked.

IN THE STANDINGS
The Spartans sit in sixth place in the CCHA standings, tied with Northern Michigan with 20 points.
Additionally, MSU still has with two games in hand on the rest of the field. With six points in hand, MSU trails second-place Notre Dame and Western Michigan by just seven points, and fourth place Lake Superior by three.
The Spartans have gone 5-2-1 in CCHA contests since starting the season 1-3-0 in conference games against Lake Superior and Ohio State.

MILESTONE
MSU recorded its 10th victory of the season on Dec. 3. It is the earliest MSU has owned 10 victories since the 2007-08 season, when win No. 10 came on Dec. 1 vs. LSSU. MSU is one of five teams in the CCHA with 10 victories. Ohio State leads the pack with 13.

MAIDEN VOYAGE
Former Spartan skater (1982-85) and assistant coach Tom Anastos takes the reigns of the MSU hockey program for the 2011-12 season, becoming just the sixth head coach in program history. Anastos spent the previous 13 seasons as the commissioner of the CCHA.
Anastos is one of nine new head coaches in college hockey in 2011-12, not including Penn State (which will begin play next season with Guy Gadowsky at the helm).
Of those nine new coaches, Anastos is one of the three that faced a ranked team in his coaching debut with his new team. Providence's Nate Leaman's maiden voyage was a win over No. 17 Boston University, while Princeton's Bob Prier skated to a 2-2 tie with then-No. 3/6 Yale.

THE RACE TO TEN
Of MSU's four head coaches in the modern era, it took Tom Anastos the fewest games of any of them to reach his first 10 wins. Win #10 for Rick Comley came in game #20, a January game vs. Alaska. It took Ron Mason 27 games to get to 10 wins, and it took Amo Bessone 34 contests - he did not get his 10th career victory at MSU until his second season as the head coach.
Among college hockey's nine new coaches this season, Anastos was also the first to 10 victories, on Dec. 3. The only other first-year mentor to reach 10 wins is Norm Bazin at UMass-Lowell - he got win No. 10 on Dec. 9 over Boston College.

STICKING IT OUT FOUR YEARS
MSU has nine seniors on the roster this season, the largest senior class since the 1977-78 campaign under Amo Bessone, which had 10.

NON-CONFERENCE
In the Rick Comley era, the Spartans owned a 42-32-7 record in games against non-conference teams. (This includes regular-season, tournament, and NCAA Tournament games). Last year, MSU went 4-2-2 against non-conference teams, and is currently 4-1-1 this season. The Spartans have only the GLI remaining for non-conference tilts. MSU's 2011-12 schedule has a three games against WCHA competition (two against Minnesota, and against Michigan Tech in the GLI) in addition to a possible two with Hockey East entry Boston College - in addition to the season opener, BC is the fourth team in the GLI, and will play Michigan in the first round. The Spartans also had a two-game set against Robert Morris at Munn, and one game against Air Force for three total games against Atlantic Hockey.

WE'LL PLAY THE BEST
This season, MSU will play 21 games against eight teams in this week's USCHO Top 20 poll. So far, MSU is 4-5-2 in games played against current Top 20 competition, and 3-1-1 against teams ranked in the top five at the time of the game.
In 2010-11, MSU went 7-9-2 against ranked opponents, but was an impressive 4-1-2 against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game. The only loss against a top-10 opponent was MSU's 4-0 loss to Michigan at Yost Ice Arena.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The 10 opponents MSU has played this season are a combined 88-44-16 (.605) this season, and four of them - Ohio State, Boston College, Lake Superior, and Minnesota - have 10 or more wins. The Gophers lead the country with 14 victories. In addition, the Spartans have played the leaders in four of the five Division I conferences (MSU does not have an ECAC team on its schedule this season).

HOME SWEET HOME
Thanksgiving week's Minnesota series was MSU's first at home since Oct. 28-29. The Spartans just wrapped up four straight home games, and will play seven of their next 10 contests at Munn Ice Arena, including seven of eight CCHA contests. The games away from Munn will be the the two games in the GLI at Joe Louis Arena, and the Dec. 9 game the Spartans played at Yost.
After the GLI, MSU will have three straight CCHA weekends at home to start January (Miami, Northern Michigan, and Lake Superior).
On the season, MSU is 6-1-2 in games at Munn Ice Arena, with the loss coming against CCHA-leading Ohio State.

AHEAD OF THE PACE
MSU is .500 or better in each of the first three months of the season. The Spartans are already at 10 victories, after posting a total of 15 last year.

MIDYEAR COMPARISONS
The Spartans are averaging more than a goal per game better than they were at this point of last season, with 3.4 goals per game through 18 games this season (eighth nationally) compared to 2.3 per game throught the first 18 games last season. The biggest difference comes in the third period, where MSU has scored 25 goals this season, compared to 19 in the first and 17 in the second period. In 2010-11, the Spartans had scored 18 in the first 14 in the second, and just 10 in the final frame.

SEARCHING FOR STABILITY
Last year, the Spartans employed 60 different forward line combinations in search of consistent scoring. Through 18 games - exactly the midpoint of the regular season - there have been 18 different combinations, and the same lines and defensive pairings have been used for the last five games.
MSU's most productive line through the first seven games was the trio of Dean Chelios, Lee Reimer, and Greg Wolfe, who had a combined 8-9-17 scoring line (-2) in those contests. When Chelios got hurt in the first game of the RMU series, he was replaced on the wing by Mike Merrifield - and with Reimer and Wolfe, that line has produced 14-24-38 (+31) in their last 10 games.
On defense, MSU has used the same three pairings for 17 of the 18 games. Torey Krug and Brock Shelgren are a combined +15 with a 7-16-23 scoring line this season. Matt Crandell and Tim Buttery have a 3-12-15 scoring line.

KEYS TO SUCCESS: SCORE MORE, ALLOW LESS
The Spartans have not only improved their offensive output over the last 12 games (8-2-2), but have significantly improved their defense. In the opening 2-4-0 stretch, the Spartans averaged 2.0 goals for and 3.33 against in those games. In the 8-2-2 stretch,MSU has averaged 3.8 goals per game, and cut its goals allowed to 2.3 per contest. In the Robert Morris, Western Michigan, and Northern Michigan series, the Spartans allowed exactly two goals per game to each opponent. Against BG, the Spartans allowed just one goal each night.

SHOOTING GALLERY
MSU has been outshot this season in nine of 18 games, and overall, MSU is -41 in total shots, an average just over two shots per game.
MSU outshot its opponents in just 14 of 38 games last season, including holding its opponents to 20 shots or less four times.

SPECIALS
The MSU penalty kill is perfect in December, going 3-for-3 against MIchigan and 7-for-7 against BG after going 6-of-7 in its previous two series against Northern Michigan and Minnesota; on the season, MSU is now 61-of-68 (.897) on the penalty kill, which is second in the CCHA and fourth nationally.
On the man advantage, MSU is 13-of-68 (19.1%), and ranks fourth in the league. MSU went 3-for-5 in the two games against Michigan on the power play.

BROOMS
Michigan State was swept for the first time this season on the road at Lake Superior (Oct. 14-15). Since then, the Spartans have registered three weekend sweeps of their own, against Robert Morris (Oct. 28-29), Western Michigan (Nov. 11-12), and Bowling Green (Dec. 2-3).
In 2010-11, MSU recorded its first and only sweep of the season in the final regular-season weekend against Bowling Green. MSU had four series sweeps in 2009-10, and none in 2008-09.

FREE HOCKEY
MSU picked up its first overtime win in its first try of the year. MSU's last overtime win came against Michigan at Munn Ice Arena last year; it was MSU's only OT win in nine tries last season (1-4-4) MSU is now 4-4-12 in overtime games dating back to the start of the 2009-10 season (1-0-2 this year).

A GOOD SIGN
In its last 10 contests, MSU has scored first seven times; on the season, MSU is 8-2-1 when scoring first and 2-4-1 when allowing its opponent to do so.
In 2010-11, the Spartans were 14-5-3 when scoring the first goal, and an alarming 1-14- 1 when letting its opponent score first.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Through 18 games, there are 19 skaters who have appeared in six games or more. Of those 19 players, 18 have at least two points, and 17 have at least a goal.

OFFENSE AWAKENING
This season, MSU has scored less than twice in any game just one time - the Nov. 19 game at NMU (2-1).
Last season, MSU was shut out five times and scored once in five other games. Currently, MSU is second in the CCHA and eighth nationally, averaging 3.44 goals per game.

LEADERSHIP
Junior defenseman Torey Krug is the fifth player in MSU history to wear the captain's "C" on his jersey for two seasons. Last year, he was the program's first solo captain as a sophomore in team history. The alternate captains are senior Trevor Nill and junior Anthony Hayes. Nill is in his second season as an alternate captain, while this is the first captain's role for Hayes at MSU.

CONFERENCE HONORS
Freshman winger Brent Darnell was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week after a four-point performance in the Spartans' sweep of Bowling Green. Darnell is the fifth different Spartan to earn weekly honors this year, but is the first freshman to secure the award this season.
Darnell had a goal and three assists (+3) for the Spartans as they swept the Falcons, their third series sweep of the season and second of a CCHA opponent. Darnell had multiple-point outings both nights, setting up Dean Chelios' game-winning tallies each night, and also garnering a goal of his own on Friday. They were his first two career multiple-point games.
Senior Drew Palmisano earned the conference's Goaltender of the Week honors on Monday, Nov. 28 for his performance against Minnesota. He stopped 75 of 82 shots against in a win and tie against the No. 2/3 Gophers.
Senior defenseman Brock Shelgren and sophomore goaltender Will Yanakeff were named the CCHA Defensive Player and Goaltender of the Week, respectively, after the Nov. 11-12 Western Michigan series.
Shelgren had a team-best eight blocked shots - including a career-best seven on Friday - in the Spartans' sweep of the Broncos. Shelgren was a +4 on the weekend and contributed three assists, including the helper on the game-winner in Saturday's contest.
Yanakeff made a career-best 38 saves in Friday's victory, and another 28 on Saturday in helping the Spartans to a two-game road sweep WMU. On the weekend, Yanakeff stopped 66 of 70 shots against (.943). The sophomore has won three straight starts.
Lee Reimer was named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 31. Reimer had a hat trick and a five-point night in Saturday's win over Robert Morris (6-2), which came on the heels of a two-assist effort in Friday's 5-2 victory. Reimer's seven-point, +7 effort is far and away his career best for a single weekend's offensive output. Reimer and his linemates combined for nine goals and 14 assists (23 points) on the weekend, and were a +22.

POINT PRODUCTIVITY
The Spartans now have 10 players who have at least 10 points on the season - matching last season's total. Six players have already posted numbers for career-best offensive seasons thus far. A year ago at this time, the Spartans had five double-digit scorers.
Through 18 games last season, MSU was a combined -41, with its best player a +2 (Daultan Leveille, Mike Merrifield, and Trevor Nill). This year, the Spartans are a combined +36, with Greg Wolfe a team-best +11, and Torey Krug and Lee Reimer each a +10.

CONFERENCE SUPERLATIVES
Reimer is second in the league in scoring (22 points), ranks second in assists (14), and ranks 12th in goals (8). while Wolfe is tied for eighth in points (17) and fifth in assists (12). Merrifield is 12th in the league in goals (8) and is second in the CCHA in game-winning tallies (3). Torey Krug ranks fourth among league defensemen in scoring with a 5-7-12 line, and eighth in power-play goals (3). Brett Perlini is eighth in assists (11) and 15th in points (15), Matt Berry is eighth in freshman scoring (5-5-10).

LATE BLOOMER
Brent Darnell earned his first collegiate point with an assist on Torey Krug's goal against Northern Michigan on Nov. 18, the 11th game of the season. He turned around and scored his first collegiate tally a week later against Minnesota (Nov. 25). Darnell had a personal-best five-game point-scoring streak snapped in the most recent game against Michigan. Over the last six games, he has seven points, and had multiple-point efforts in both games against Bowling Green.

MAD HATTERS
Lee Reimer's hat trick against Robert Morris on Oct. 29 was the first of the season for the Spartans, and the first since Torey Krug scored three times in a 4-3 overtime victory over Michigan at Munn last January. They are the only two active players with hat tricks.

LEAPS AND BOUNDS
Kevin Walrod's six goals and five assists gives him a career -best 11 points this season. He is the sixth Spartan to check in with a career-best offensive season.
With 17 points (5g, 12a), Greg Wolfe has bettered his freshman year total of 11 points, and leads the team at +11. Lee Reimer owns a 8-14-22 scoring line, and has already well eclipsed his freshman season total of seven points (2g, 5a).
Mike Merrifield had a 4-4-8 line last season, and career numbers of 6-6-12 in two and a half seasons on the Spartan roster. After missing the first four games with injury, he has now appeared in 14 games this season, he has surpassed his career goal total (8) and currently has a 8-5-13 scoring line, better than his junior-season numbers and bettering his career point total.
Among defensemen. senior Brock Shelgren owns a 2-8-10 scoring line and is 11th in the league in defenseman scoring; his previous best single-season point total was seven points as a junior, and he has bettered his single-season assist mark (6). Shelgren is on course to surpass his three-season total of 16 points (5g, 11a). Matt Crandell (2-10-12) has his first multiple-goal season in addition to tying his single-season high in points, set as a sophomore. Crandell is tied with Torey Krug for fourth in the CCHA in defenseman scoring.

MULTIPLICITY
Junior Kevin Walrod had his third career two-goal game (and second of the season) on Nov. 25 against Minnesota. The winger has nine career goals, and six of them have come in his three two-goal efforts. He has three games with a single goal.

AT THE DOT
Lee Reimer has been MSU's top faceoff man, with 218 wins and 159 losses (.578).

BERRY NICE
Freshman Matt Berry had his first back-to-back games with a goal, netting the game-winner in the Nov. 25 against the Gophers. He also had the lone MSU score in a loss at Northern Michigan on Nov. 19. Berry is the team's top freshman scorer with 10 points (5g, 5a).

BLOCK PARTY
Torey Krug and Brett Shelgren, who have been MSU's top defensive pair in 17 of 18 games, have a combined 79 of MSU's 259 blocked shots this season, ranking first and second individually (Krug has 31, Shelgren 48). Tim Buttery has 30 blocks, and Matt Crandell 25.

BLANK SHEETS
Drew Palmisano's Oct. 20 shutout of Ohio State was his second straight over the Buckeyes. Alex Szczechura's second-period goal in the second game of the series snapped Palmisano's personal shutout streak of 145:01 against Ohio State, dating back to last season. Palmisano owns four career shutouts: the two of OSU, one of Nebraska-Omaha, and one of Michigan.

BESTS GET RESULTS
Will Yanakeff's 38 saves against Western Michigan on Nov. 11 was a career-best performance for the sophomore. His previous high was 37, which came against Michigan on Jan. 7, 2011.
Drew Palmisano made a season-best 40 saves in a 4-3 win over Minnesota on Nov. 25. His career best is 46 stops, against Michigan on Jan. 29 of his freshman season.

ONE, TWO, OR BOTH?
Head Coach Tom Anastos has been asked several times whether he will pick one of the team's goaltenders as his primary starter, or employ a platoon; he has maintained that he does not have a strict philosophy, and that the play of the goalies during the week and the previous games will determine who gets the start.
Drew Palmisano opened the season with 30 saves against the aggressive, talented Boston College offense, and had 40 and 35 saves in a win and tie against Minnesota. Most recently he had his 26th game at MSU with 30+ saves, a 35-save performance (and an additional three saves in the shootout win) in the 3-3 tie with Michigan. Palmisano has played nine of MSU's 18 games, and owns a 4-3-2 record, 2.74 GAA and .912 save percentage.
Will Yanakeff played in each of MSU's first four games in November, and was the CCHA Goaltender of the Week on Nov. 7. In nine games this season, he owns a 2.46 GAA and .915 save percentage, and a 6-3-0 mark on the season.

CELEBRATION OF A CENTURY
Brett Perlini played in his 100th career game on Dec. 3 against Bowling Green. He is the fourth player this season to reach the milestone: Trevor Nill skated in his 100th career game on Nov. 18, Tim Buttery played in his 100th career game against Ohio State on Oct. 20, Brock Shelgren did it in the season opener vs. Boston College; Daultan Leveille (124 games) and Matt Crandell (122) registered their 100th last season. The next likely players to reach the milestone are juniors Torey Krug and Chris Forfar - each have played in 93 games headed into the GLI.

CONSISTENT EFFORTS
Greg Wolfe has points in 10 of MSU's 18 games this season, a best for the team. Lee Reimer, Torey Krug and Brett Perlini each have points in eight, while Brock Shelgren, Kevin Walrod, and Matt Berry all have points in eight games.

GIVING BACK - WITH CLASS
MSU senior alternate captain Trevor Nill is a nominee for the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award for the second consecutive year.
He is a dedicated student, with a 3.4 cumulative grade-point average as a mechanical engineering major. Last spring, he was among the finalists for Hockey Humanitarian in addition to taking home the CCHA's Ilitch Humanitarian Award.
Nill carved out a significant amount of time to give back to his campus and community in East Lansing. He has been the hockey program's representative for SAAC for three years, and this year, he is serving as the group's president. He is also the vice-president of the MSU chapter of Athletes In Action. Nill has volunteered his time to a wide-spanning list of community service initiatives undertaken by the team. He has never turned down a request to be involved in things like Relay for Life, Children's Miracle Network, March is Reading Month, or programs for the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters chapter.
Nill is an extremely kind and compassionate young man, and there is no further evidence needed than his dedication to children in the local Lansing area. He has been actively involved in Spartan Buddies, visiting children in Sparrow Hospital's pediatric ward. He also is the annual leader during MSU Athletics' "Teams for Toys" initiative, where the hockey team adopts a local needy family for the holidays. He has also worked extensively with hockey ministries camp, volunteered his time with Camp Kesem (for children with parents battling cancer), and volunteered with the Detroit Red Wings Clark Park event in conjunction with Family Day in Detroit.

GOALIE U
Since the 1980-81 season, all but one Spartan starting goaltender has earned all-league honors at one point in their career. (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.

UNCOMMON PATH
Freshman Tanner Sorenson is a rare species in college hockey - the player who enters college directly after playing for his high school team. Sorenson played for Shattuck St. Mary's, winning a 18-U Tier I National Championship in 2011. Since the 1991-92 season, Sorenson is just the third MSU player to skate for his high school team in the season before enrolling at MSU - Brian Clifford (1991-95) and Chris Mueller (2004-08) both played for the Nichols School in their hometown of Buffalo. Both Clifford and Mueller also played a split season, playing for both their high school and the local AAA team during their senior years. Sorenson played solely for Shattuck last year.

EXTENSION
Olympia Entertainment in partnership with Michigan State University and the University of Michigan announced Monday that the agreement which ensures a Spartans-Wolverines game is held annually at Joe Louis Arena has been extended through the 2013-14 hockey season.
The archrivals have squared off in regular season action at JLA in at least once per year since 1990, with Michigan having earned ten victories to Michigan State's nine over that time; four of the games ended in a tie.

FACES OF THE FUTURE
Tom Anastos has announced that three players signed National Letters of Intent in the fall signing period and will join the Spartans in the fall of 2012. Forward Ryan Keller (Farmington Hills, Mich./Sioux Falls (USHL), Defenseman John Draeger (Faribault, Minn./Shattuck St. Mary's) and goaltender Jake Hildebrand (Butler, PA/Cedar Rapids (USHL) will join three previous signees - forward Matt DeBlouw (Chesterfield, Mich./Muskegon USHL) and defensemen Rhett Holland (Calgary, Alberta / Okotoks (AJHL) and Travis Walsh (Lansing, Mich./Muskegon (USHL) on the Spartan roster for next season.

PRO ASPIRATIONS
MSU had 11 former skaters on 2011 opening-night rosters in the National Hockey League, and 15 players have played at least one game in the NHL this season: Ryan Miller and Corey Tropp (Buffalo), Drew Miller and Justin Abdelkader (Detroit), Tim Kennedy and Mike Weaver (Florida). Jim Slater (Winnipeg), Shawn Horcoff, Jeff Petry and Corey Potter (Edmonton), David Booth (Vancouver), Duncan Keith (Chicago), Adam Hall (Tampa), Chris Mueller (Nashville) and John-Michael Liles (Toronto).

NEXT UP
The Spartans kick off a six-game homestand to start 2012, hosting Miami on Jan. 6-7 at Munn Ice Arena.

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Players Mentioned

Justin Abdelkader

Matt Berry

Tim Buttery

Branden Carney

Dean Chelios

Matt Crandell

Brent Darnell

Chris Forfar

Zach Golembiewski

Anthony Hayes

Justin Hoomaian

Tim Kennedy

Torey Krug

Jeff Lerg

Daultan Leveille

Mike Merrifield

Chris Mueller

Trevor Nill

Drew Palmisano

Brett Perlini

Jeff Petry

Lee Reimer

Brock Shelgren

Tanner Sorenson

Corey Tropp

Kevin Walrod

Greg Wolfe

Will Yanakeff

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