Neil's Notebook: Spartans Look Forward to 50th GLI
12/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
DETROIT - Like almost all Michigan State players, past and present, Brent Darnell loves playing in the Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena.
He grew up in suburban Detroit and attended several GLIs as a young boy, and set as a goal to someday play in the tournament. And win a title as a Spartan.
Darnell, a senior forward from Canton, has played in three GLIs, and while the Spartans have played well at times in those tournaments, he still hasn't watched an MSU banner raised to the rafters as tourney champion.
"We haven't won, we've had some tough luck, so going out strong and getting a GLI title would be special,'' Darnell said. "It would be something we'd be proud of, looking back on it someday.''
As a freshman, the Spartans advanced to the GLI title game, only to lose to Michigan, 3-2, in overtime. MSU entered the third period with a 1-0 lead, and after giving up the tying goal, the Spartans regained the lead with 7:30 left. But the Wolverines tied it with 50 seconds left and won it 11 minutes into overtime.
Over the last two years, Michigan State tied in the semifinals, only to lose in a shootout and relegated to the third-place game. During Darnell's sophomore season, the Spartans tied Western Michigan, 1-1, and then lost to Michigan, 5-2, in the third-place contest.
That script was a bit familiar last season when Darnell was a junior and the GLI was played outside at Comerica Park.
MSU and Michigan Tech played to a 2-2 tie but the Huskies advanced to the championship game with a 2-1 win in the five-round shootout. But last year's GLI had a positive ending:
The Spartans blanked Michigan, 3-0, in the third-place game, and Darnell's goal late in the third period sealed the victory for MSU.
For Darnell and fellow seniors Tanner Sorenson, Matt Berry and Ron Boyd, there's one more chance for total success - a title - at the GLI.
In the 50th annual Great Lakes Invitational, the Spartans (6-9-1, 1-2-1-1 Big Ten) play Ferris State (9-7-1, 6-4 WCHA) at 7 p.m. on Sunday. In the first semifinal, Michigan (8-7, 2-1) meets Michigan Tech (13-3, 10-2 WCHA) at 3:30 p.m.
"I used to go to the GLI all the time when I didn't have a holiday tournament to play in,'' Darnell said. "I'd go with my family or my buddies. It's been cool to watch it all these years and then get to play in it. And we had the outdoor experience last year so it's been great to be a part of it.''
For the Spartans, the first step to winning their first GLI title since 2009 is defeating Ferris State, which is making its first appearance in the prestigious tournament.
MSU and the Bulldogs met in a nonconference series on Oct. 31-Nov. 1, at Munn Arena, with Ferris State winning 1-0 in the series opener and the Spartans capturing the second game, 4-1. The Spartans outshot the Bulldogs 36-16 in the loss and 35-20 in the victory.
"They give up a lot of shots but they block a lot of shots and have a great goalie in (C.J.) Motte,'' Darnell said. "We need to get off to a good start and just play our game. If we get away from it, we start doing things that hurt our chances to win.
"It's good being familiar with Ferris because we know what we have to do. We have to work hard, get traffic in front and put a lot of shots on goal.''
Michigan State entered its holiday break with some much-needed confidence and momentum after two positive games - a 3-3 tie and shootout win over Minnesota - the team's best performance of the season - and a 6-4 nonconference victory over Clarkson on Dec. 14.
"We did finish strong before the break, and it was good to get away for a while,'' Darnell said. "But now we're back and we have to be ready for the second half (of the season). Our power play has been pretty good lately and we've got to keep that up, and stay out of the (penalty) box.
"We've had some good practices (since Christmas night) and we'll try to do everything we can to be ready to play on Sunday.''
Mike Ferrantino, the Spartans' junior captain, is 1-1-2 in two GLI Tournaments and says he's tired of playing Michigan in the third-place game. He wants the matchup to be in the title game - but he'll gladly take an MSU-Michigan Tech final.
"It starts with the first game. Ferris is a good team and we know that from our first look at them,'' said Ferrantino, the Spartans' leading scorer who's from Plymouth.
"We know we can play with them and beat them, if we come out and execute our game plan. We can't take anything for granted. Just because we played very well against Ferris in the first two games, it doesn't mean we'll (automatically) do it on Sunday.
"We have to be ready and play really well because we know what Ferris will bring.''
The Bulldogs had problems scoring goals early in the season. But they've perked up offensively in recent weeks.
After going through a seven-game stretch (1-5-1) in which they scored only four goals, the Bulldogs broke loose for 10 and 4 goals in a sweep over Alaska Anchorage and followed it by scoring 2, 5, 1, 3, 5 and 5 goals, while compiling a 5-2-1 record in their last seven contests.
MSU coach Tom Anastos believes both the Spartans and Ferris State are much better teams since they met almost two months ago.
"They've improved their offense significantly and now they're more of a well-rounded team,'' Anastos said. "They play a committed defensive style. They definitely compete hard for ice and space. We have to have the mindset that we're going to work hard for our space. "It's not easy getting to their goalie. I thought we did a good job in the second game we played against them.
"Our team keeps getting better but our consistency has to be better than it's been. We're finding some (forward) lines that we're settling on and parts of our game are progressing. The hardest part to get over the hump is goal scoring, but we'll keep working at it. If we get that figured out and get more consistency, I think we can have a good second half.''
The Spartans reach the halfway point in their 34-game regular season schedule on Sunday with game 17. After the GLI, MSU will have 16 games remaining - all in the Big Ten.
SCOUTING THE GLI: Who's the favored team in the 50th Great Lakes Invitational? Probably Michigan Tech, because it's had had an excellent first half of the season, led by a standout goaltender, and the Huskies are eager to win their second title in three seasons.
Michigan, despite an up-and-down first half, might have been labeled the favorite but the Wolverines are without three top forwards and a key defenseman. They're off playing with the U.S. World Junior team in the World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto.
MSU coach Tom Anastos says he could see any of the four teams raising a banner on Monday night.
"Anybody can win it. "We can go in there and win both games and we can go in there and lose both games,'' he said. "The parity that we'll see will make it very tight. I know Michigan lost players to the junior team, but even if they were here, it would be pretty close.''
Michigan will face Michigan Tech on Sunday without sophomore forwards J.T. Compher (3-8-11) and Tyler Motte (5-9-14) and freshman forward (and Red Wings prospect) Dylan Larkin (3-13-16) and freshman defenseman Zach Werenski (3-9-12).
But there's still good offensive talent remaining as U-M will count on senior Zach Hyman (7-10-17, the team's top scorer), sophomore Alex Kile (9-6-15), junior captain Andrew Copp (7-6-13) and junior Boo Nieves (4-8-12).
After starting the season at 2-5, Michigan found its scoring touch and and winning formula and went 5-1 before a disappointing 6-2 loss at Boston College on Dec. 13.
Michigan Tech swept Michigan 4-1, 6-1 in Houghton on Oct. 31-Nov. 1 - the same weekend MSU and FSU split their series in East Lansing.
The Huskies were ranked No. 1 in the nation the week of Nov. 17, with a 10-0 record, before getting swept at home by Minnesota State. The Huskies dropped to No. 6 but have moved back up to No. 5 in the polls. Tech's other loss came two weeks ago - 3-1 to Minnesota-Duluth in Houghton.
MTU is led offensively by seniors Tanner Kero, Blake Pietila and David Johnston of Grand Ledge and juniors Alex Petan (8-7-15) and Malcom Gould (5-7-12).
The Huskies are also getting outstanding goaltending from junior Jamie Phillips, who has a 1.69 goals-against average (4th in the nation) and a .939 saves percentage (5th nationally).
Meanwhile, Ferris State has one of the best goaltenders in college hockey. C.J. Motte, a senior, has a 1.72 goals-against average (6th nationally), a .939 saves percentage (6th) and a 9-7-1 record. He's in a three-way tie for most shutouts with four.
The Bulldogs' top offensive threats include junior forward Matt Robertson (4-13-17) and sophomore forwards Chad McDonald (8-4-12) and Gerald Mayhew (6-6-12).
Ferris State, coached by MSU graduate Bob Daniels, is 3-1-1 over its last five games, including a 5-2, 5-0 sweep of Lake Superior State, Dec. 12-13.
MORE STATS: Here's a look at offense, defense, power play and penalty killing statistics and national rankings for the four GLI teams:
Offense: Michigan, 3.87 goals-per-game, 3rd nationally; Michigan Tech, 3.19, 18th; Ferris State, 2.71, 29th; MSU, 2.38, 41st.
Power play: Michigan, 19.7 percent, 21st; Michigan Tech, 17.3 percent, 29th; MSU, 14.5, 37th; Ferris State, 10.8 percent, 51st.
Defense: Michigan Tech, 1.69, 3rd; Ferris State, 1.82, 7th; MSU, 2.75, 34th; Michigan, 3.07, 42nd.
Penalty killing: Michigan Tech, 91.9 percent efficiency, 2nd; Ferris State, 88.1, 11th; MSU 82.8, 33rd; Michigan, 81.8, 37th.
GLI FACTS & FIGURES: Michigan State is making its 41st appearance in the GLI, which started in 1965. The Spartans have won 12 titles and been runner-up 14 times. MSU has been in the finals in seven of the last 11 GLIs.
MSU and/or Michigan have been in the GLI title game in 41 of the 49 GLI tournaments, but not in the last two seasons when the Spartans and Wolverines failed to advance in the semifinals and played each other in the third-place game.
Michigan has won the most titles with 15, including nine in a row from 1988-96. MSU is second with 12, followed by Michigan Tech's 10. The Spartans' longest title streak is four - 1982-85 and 1997-2000. Michigan Tech won five straight from 1976-80 and then didn't win other championship for 32 years - until 2012, when the Huskies blanked Michigan, 4-0, in the semifinals and Western Michigan, 4-0, in the title game.
Michigan State has the best record among teams who have played more than eight games - 47-30-3, .606 winning percentage, with Michigan second, 52-35-1, .597.
Michigan Tech, which started the GLI under legendary coach John MacInnes in 1965, has been in every tournament. Michigan played in the GLI in 1966, 1968, 1970 and 1972 before becoming a regular participant in 1974. MSU appeared in the tournament in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971 and 1973 but didn't become a regular participant until 1979.
Starting in 1979, Michigan Tech, Michigan and MSU were regulars, with the fourth team being the "invited" team.
At-large teams have included the University of Toronto, which won the first GLI in 1965, Western Ontario, Colgate, Brown, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Providence, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Cornell, Maine, Boston College, Boston University, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Colorado College, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Western Michigan, Northern Michigan, Lake Superior State and Bowling Green.
Boston U., Harvard and NMU have appeared five times, WMU and Notre Dame and Boston College four times, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Colorado College, New Hampshire and LSSU three times and BGSU, Western Ontario, Rensselaer, Brown and Pennsylvania twice.
North Dakota and WMU are the other multiple title winners with two apiece.
Spartan coach Tom Anastos and assistant coach Kelly Miller, MSU teammates from 1981-85, won three GLI championships - 1982, 1983, 1884 - as players and compiled a four-year tournament record of 6-1-1. As coaches, Anastos and Miller are 2-2-2 in three seasons, including one trip to the finals -- a 3-2 overtime loss to U-M in 2011.
BIG TEN UPDATE: The only other Big Ten team in action over the next few days is Penn State, which is competing in the Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburgh, Monday and Tuesday.
The Nittany Lions face Robert Morris and Western Michigan plays Colgate in the semifinals on Monday, with the third-place and championship games set for Tuesday.
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio State are idle until Jan. 2-3.
