Neil's Notebook: Freshmen Strong Exhibition Game
10/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING - Michigan State may not have won the hockey game or scored as many goals as it would have liked, but there were several positive aspects to the Spartans' 2014-15 debut in an exhibition game on Tuesday night at Munn Arena.
The bright spots included solid play by three freshmen - defensemen Josh Jacobs and Carson Gatt and forward Dylan Pavelek - in MSU's 2-2 tie against a skilled, feisty and veteran team in the University of Windsor.
The Spartans outshot the Lancers 45-24 but the visitors, playing their fifth overall game this season, scored the only goal of the three-round shootout to win it, 1-0.
Each of MSU's rookies played well overall, making good decisions with the puck and adapting well to the college game's quicker pace as compared to their recent days in junior hockey.
Gatt set up MSU's first goal, leading a 2-on-1 rush with Brent Darnell in the second period. He waited for Darnell to get open on the right wing and put a perfect pass on the stick of Darnell, who fired it past Lancers' goalie Parke Van Buskirk (43 saves).
"I thought the freshmen played really well. They're smart players and didn't try to do too much,'' Spartans junior center and captain Michael Ferrantino said.
"Josh Jacobs is steady, he made simple plays and played very well. Carson (Gatt) made a lot of good plays and Pav, he's the only (freshman) forward that has to deal with a new system. and he's doing well in trying to find his role and adjusting to different players.''
The Spartans have four freshmen this season. The other rookie - goalie Ed Minney - served as the backup to junior starter Jake Hildebrand (22 saves). Minney and Pavelek were teammates the last two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor.
"The freshmen were very noticeable. They played really well,'' MSU coach Tom Anastos said. "Josh Jacobs was a strong, physical force. He moves very well and you can see the potential he has.
"Dylan Pavelek got banged up (on Monday) and I wasn't sure he could go. But I liked his strength, speed and poise.
"Carson Gatt is a really smart player and he showed it tonight. All three players have good engines. They can handle ice time and showed lots of poise for their first time playing at the college level. My initial impression was very positive.''
Jacobs, 18, a 6-foot-2, 191-pounder from Shelby Township, is the highest-rated recruit to join the Spartan program over the last several years. In the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Jacobs was selected in the second round (41st overall) by the New Jersey Devils.
"For the little time we've been practicing, I thought we did pretty well,'' Jacobs said. "It's a different speed and physicality. They're older guys and with the speed, you have to react faster, move faster and think faster and be physical.''
Windsor played an aggressive, rough and tough game and landed some big hits. There were 20 penalties called in the game, including 13 in the first period. Each team was assessed 10 minor penalties.
"I didn't know the physicality was going to that great but I really got into the game,'' Jacobs said. "I thought we did a pretty good with moving the puck, but we have a lot more stuff to work on. As a group, we did pretty well at getting the puck out of the zone and creating opportunities for the forwards. And we got pucks (from the blue line) through to the net.''
Pavelek, 18, a 5-foot-11, 193-pounder from Marysville, said he had a good comfort level in his first time in game in a Spartan uniform.
"The guys have supported me from day one to become a better player overall,'' he said. "It's going to take a bit of time to get acclimated but I felt pretty good overall. It was exciting to put on the Spartan sweater for the first time and get used to the feeling of representing Spartan hockey.''
Pavelek centered a line with Darnell on right wing and sophomore left wing JT Stenglein. On defense, Jacobs was paired up with junior Travis Walsh most of the game, while Gatt teamed with sophomore Rhett Holland.
DEFENSE ADDS TO OFFENSE: Anastos liked his team's puck movement against Windsor, and was especially pleased that the defensemen helped create offense.
"I liked seeing our defensemen jumping up into the play and sometimes leading the rush,'' he said. "That's something we haven't seen here since Torey Krug. And those are things we haven't even had a chance to work on.''
The Spartans started full-team practices last Saturday, played the Green and White Game on Sunday and practiced on Monday.
"I liked the way we moved the puck and the way we managed the puck,'' Anastos said.
GOOD START FOR DARNELL: Anastos said at last week's MSU Media Day that senior forward Brent Darnell had the best off-season conditioning sessions that he's had in his college career and seemed eager to have his best season as a Spartan.
Darnell certainly made an impact on Tuesday with a goal and an assist on defenseman Ron Boyd's power-play goal at 12:43 of the second period to give MSU a 2-1 lead.
Darnell also found himself on the right point on one of MSU's power-play units.
"I'm confident in my ability and if I get a chance, I'm going to take it in the offensive zone,'' he said. "I was just trying to get the puck off as fast as I could.
"The key for us offensively is getting to the dirty areas (around the net). You're not going to see many pretty plays with the way teams play defense and with the goalies being so good. So, you have to get pucks through, get after rebounds and battle for them.''
Darnell said he learned that he'd be on the point on the power play on Monday. Since the Spartans haven't practiced on special teams in practices, he just played on instinct.
"It felt a lot better than I thought it would,'' Darnell said.
MSU was 1-for-6 on the power play, with 13 shots on goal. Windsor was 1-for-7 with seven shots on goal.
PERFECT CHALLENGE: Anastos said it would have been a good confidence boost for the offense to score four or five goals in a one-sided victory, but he was pleased by the challenge presented by Windsor, one of the top Canadian university programs.
The youngest players on this year's Lancers are 21, the oldest is 26 (goalie Parker Van Buskirk) and most are 22-23.
"It was an ideal exhibition game. It was against an experienced team, an older group and a lot of their players have high-level hockey experience,'' Anastos said. "I liked the feistiness and toughness of the game. We were in a tight game against a good team.
I'm sure there's a little disappointment with our guys that the puck didn't go in. But I think the puck is going to go in. Tonight, their goalie was outstanding.
"We've put together a difficult schedule for our team, including our exhibition games.''
DRAEGER SET TO GO: Junior defenseman John Draeger has been cleared to begin normal practices starting today. He's been recovering from off-season hip surgery and sat out Monday's game against Windsor. During the summer of 2013, Draeger has sports hernia surgery and didn't play until November.
It's not certain if he'll be in game condition when Michigan State opens the regular season with a home series against Massachusetts, Oct. 17-18.
"He's got quite a ways to go to get into hockey condition and mentally be able to absorb some hits and feel comfortable,'' Anastos said. "We don't know about the home opener. We'll have to see where his conditioning is at. We'd love to have him in the lineup if he's ready to play.''
NAME, NUMBER CHANGES: Defenseman R.J. Boyd is now going by "Ron" Boyd, after being known as R.J. the last three seasons. Ron is his given first name.
Meanwhile, sophomore forward TJ Stenglein has changed numbers. Stenglein has gone from No. 18 to No. 22 (Lee Reimer's old number). Freshman defenseman Carson Gatt has taken No. 18.
UP NEXT: The Spartans are off this weekend but will practice the rest of this week and next week, before hosting Massachusetts in the season-opening series, Oct. 17-18 at Munn Arena.
MSU will hit the road for two open practices - at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at South Side Ice Arena in Byron Center (near Grand Rapids) and at 1 p.m. Saturday at Onyx Ice Arena in Rochester.
After Saturday's practice, the Spartans will take part in media, team-building exercises at Fox Sports Detroit studios, before attending the Red Wings-Anaheim Ducks game at Joe Louis Arena.
FIRST BIG WEEK: While the idle Spartans focus on practicing this weekend, most of the rest of college teams are opening the regular season.
Among the top series or games this weekend:
No. 1 Minnesota vs. Minnesota-Duluth and No. 12 Notre Dame vs. Rensselaer in the IceBreaker Tournament on Friday and Sunday in South Bend, Ind.; No. 2 North Dakota vs. Bemidji State in a home-and-home series; No. 3 Providence at Ohio State Friday and Saturday; No. 4. Boston College at UMass-Lowell in a single game on Friday; No. 10 Wisconsin vs. Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska in Anchorage; Connecticut at Penn State Friday and Saturday and Bowling Green vs. No. 11 Miami in a home-and-home series on Friday and Sunday.
