Neil's Notebook: Spartans' Push for GLI Crown Halted
12/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com
DETROIT - Rhett Holland just had his best back-to-back games as a Spartan.
He delivered two solid, physical, efficient games on defense, set up one goal, scored his first career goal and was recognized with a spot on the all-tournament team.
Still, the 6-foot-2, 216-pound sophomore from Calgary, Alberta, wasn't smiling much Monday after the Great Lakes Invitational championship game at Joe Louis Arena.
For Holland, there was little to savor - he and his Michigan State teammates were feeling the sting of a disappointing 2-1 loss to Michigan in front of an announced crowd of 17,779.
Holland's goal at 4:07 of the third period cut the Wolverines' lead to 2-1 and gave the Spartans hope, an energy boost and the opportunity for a comeback and maybe a coveted victory.
"I thought it gave our team a little bit of a lift but we still came up short,'' Holland said. "We made a few mistakes that cost us the game, but overall I thought we played a good defensive game.''
What about being selected to the GLI All-Tournament team?
"I didn't know there was such an award until after (the game),'' Holland said at the losing team's press conference after the title had been decided. "It's nice but, I'm still sick to my stomach that were sitting here.''
So were his teammates, on the podium at the press gathering and in and around the Spartans dressing room.
"Obviously, losing stings and this feeling is going to burn for a while,'' MSU junior center and captain Mike Ferrantino said. "This loss will stick with us.''
After the Spartans (7-10-1, 1-2-1-1) gave up a goal in each of the first two periods, they got back into the game and ignited their fans on Holland's goal from the right point. His wrist shot sailed past several players in front, including MSU's Ryan Keller, who tried to deflect it, and the puck found the top left corner.
Holland, a stay-at-home type of defenseman, ended a 51-game scoring drought. He came into the GLI with no goals and five assists and contributed two points - an assist on Brent Darnell's game-winner in Sunday's 2-0 victory over Ferris State in the GLI semifinals and his team's only goal against the Wolverines (10-7-0, 2-1-0-0).
MSU had more shots on goal (32-25) and scoring attempts (65-63), but didn't generate many grade A chances. The Spartans had the puck around the U-M net but couldn't reach many loose pucks and turn them into goals.
The Wolverines blocked 19 shots, while the Spartans got in front 14 shots.
"It wasn't easy to get in front of their net. They were good at blocking shots and they out-battled us in front,'' Ferrantino said. "We had some good chances and good looks, but we fell short.''
SHORTHANDED OPPORTUNITY: MSU had a great opportunity to tie the game 2-2 in the third period and change momentum just few seconds after the Spartans' Matt DeBlouw was penalized for high sticking at 12:03.
After a faceoff in the MSU zone, a U-M pass from the left boards to the left point skipped off the stick of defenseman Michael Downing and out toward center ice. The Spartans' Joe Cox and Downing raced down the middle of the ice in pursuit of the sliding puck.
Cox caught up to it at the U-M blue line, and Downing went to the ice in an attempt to knock the puck away. His stick or arm caught Cox's skate, causing him to fall for a second, but Cox got back up quickly and went in alone on goal from between the circles.
He went to his backhand from close in but U-M goalie Steve Racine played it perfectly. He got his right pad (near his skate) on the puck and it slid out of danger to the goaltender's right.
"I saw the puck come free and I knew could beat him to it. I just raced after it,'' Cox said. "He knocked my skates out from under me - I don't know why that wouldn't be a penalty - but I got up and kept going. But I was really close (to Racine) and I had to make a quick move. I went left to backhand it but I didn't get it up enough and he got a pad on it.''
That clutch save and a few other key stops against MSU and Michigan Tech in Michigan's 2-1 victory on Sunday were among the reasons Racine was named to the all-tourney team and selected as the GLI Most Valuable Player.
"To have a penalty called against us, and all of a sudden you get a shorthanded goal, that would have been a huge momentum shift,'' MSU coach Tom Anastos said.
"(Racine) played a good game. He made some big stops when he needed to make them, and he made us earn our goal. When that happens, often times you win.''
HILDEBRAND SHARP, TOO: Spartan goaltender Jake Hildebrand would probably like a redo of Michigan's first goal by Andrew Copp in the first period, but he made several outstanding saves to keep MSU in the game, especially in the third period.
Hildebrand made 27 saves, including 10 in the final period when Michigan came close several times to increasing its lead to 3-0 and then to 3-1. But Hildebrand kept the game in doubt and forced Racine to be solid late in the game.
Copp's goal came on a 2-on-1 rush, after a series of MSU defensive miscues. Copp fired from the left circle and the puck hit Hildebrand on his chest but it squirted under his right arm and into the net.
Anastos said MSU made so many mistakes on the play that it was inevitable that the puck would end up in the net.
"We made three poor decisions,'' he said. "We made a poor decision forechecking (to start), then our defenseman stepped up and that was a poor decision. And we played the 2-on-1 poorly.
"Normally, when you make a mistake, you might get bailed out by a good play - like a defenseman making a good play on the 2-on-1 or a goalie making a save. We made three mistakes so we didn't deserve (to get a break).''
NOT ENOUGH TRAFFIC: Anastos said Michigan did to MSU defensively on Monday what the Spartans did to Ferris State in Sunday's 2-0 victory in the GLI semifinals - strong defensive zone coverage.
"We didn't do a good job of finding a way to create more traffic in front of the net,'' he said. "There were pucks available but they worked hard defensively.
"We couldn't get to (loose pucks) and create second and third chances.''
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: In addition to Holland and Racine, the other four members of the 2014 GLI All-Tournament team:
Defenseman Michael Downing, Michigan; forwards Zach Hyman, Michigan; Andrew Copp, Michigan, and Tanner Kero, Michigan Tech.
EXPERIENCE AND MOVING ON: Anastos felt his team gained valuable experience by playing in the championship game, something only MSU's fourth-year seniors have experienced.
"We had a chance to win a little hardware (the MacInnes Trophy as GLI champion) but we didn't do enough to get it done,'' Anastos said. "We have to focus on what we have to do better.
"Now it's all conference games. We know we can compete with all the teams we play. We're going to be in tough environments but we've played that in our nonconference schedule, and now we've played in a tournament format.
"So from an experience perspective, we gained a lot, including this experience here. We just left a little on the table that we didn't want to leave.''
FUTURE GLI INVITED TEAMS: The fourth team in next season's GLI is Northern Michigan. The Wildcats will play Michigan while the Spartans face tournament host Michigan Tech.
In 2016, Western Michigan comes back for its third appearances in five years. The Broncos participated in 2012 and 2013, winning the title in 2013.
Meanwhile, Bowling Green will be the fourth team when the new state-of-the-art arena, new home of the Red Wings, opens in downtown Detroit in 2017. There are only two more Great Lakes Invitationals remaining at Joe Louis Arena.
UPCOMING, ANOTHER BREAK: The Spartans are in for a lot of practice time over the next three weeks. MSU doesn't play a regular-season game until it resumes Big Ten play with a two-game series at Penn State, Jan. 16-17.
MSU is off this weekend and plays an exhibition game on Jan. 9 against the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-18s at Munn Arena.
The Spartans' next regular-season home appearance is against Ohio State, Jan. 23-24.
IN THE BIG TEN: Penn State had its sights set on a tournament championship this week, but the No. 20 Nittany Lions will now be competing for a third-place finish. In Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburgh on Monday, PSU lost to No. 19 Robert Morris (of Atlantic Hockey), 4-2. In the other semifinal, No. 14/17 Colgate edged Western Michigan, 2-1.
So, Penn State (9-5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) faces Western Michigan (6-9-2, 2-6-2-2 NCHC) on Tuesday in the third-place game, before Colgate (10-6-1, 3-2-1) and Robert Morris (12-2-3, 9-2-3) meet for the classic title.
Meanwhile, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin will end their holiday break with games on Friday and Saturday.
The No. 8 Gophers (9-4-1, 1-0-1-0) open play in the annual Mariucci Classic against No. 18 Merrimack (10-5-2, 4-4-1 Hockey East) Friday in Minneapolis. Rochester Institute of Technology (5-8-3, 4-5-3) of Atlantic Hockey plays No. 7/9 UMass-Lowell (12-3-3, 7-0-2) of Hockey East in the other semifinal. The third-place and championship games are on Saturday.
Ohio State (5-9-1, 1-2-0-0) resumes play with a road series at Mercyhurst (8-5-2, 6-3-2) of Atlantic Hockey, while Wisconsin (1-10-1, 0-2-0-2) hosts No. 5 Michigan Tech (14-4, 10-2 WCHA).
Like the Spartans, Michigan is idle this weekend. The Wolverines play host to Minnesota, Jan. 9-10.
