Michigan State University Athletics
Neil's Notebook: DeBlouw's Re-Emergence Helps Surging Spartans
2/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING - Matt DeBlouw has scored three goals in his last four games and has a point in four straight games.
He's playing on Michigan State's most dangerous forward line, including regular duty on the power play.
In addition, DeBlouw is playing a key role as a penalty killer.
Overall, the 6-foot-1, 187-pound junior center, is making a huge impact on a Spartans team that has shown great improvement since late November, and is suddenly contender for a high finish in the Big Ten.
It's taken some time but DeBlouw's play is at the highest level it's been in two-and-a-half seasons at MSU. And he's quietly erasing the memories of his sophomore year, his most disappointing season as a hockey player.
Last year, DeBlouw never got his game going. He was in and out of the lineup and ended with no goals and four assists in 23 games. That was a shock to DeBlouw and his coaches, especially after a productive freshman season in which he was tied for second in team scoring with 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points in 42 games.
"I had to accept that I had no goals and said to myself that this year was going to be way different,'' DeBlouw said. "You have to take every year and learn what you've gone through and work hard to be better the following year.''
This season, DeBlouw has played in all of MSU's 26 games and has seven goals and four assists for 11 points. He's arguably the fastest skater on the team and has the hardest shot.
He'll try to extend his scoring streak to five and six games when the Spartans (12-12-2 overall, 6-4-2-2 Big Ten) and Wisconsin (3-19-4, 1-9-2-2) meet in a Big Ten series at 9 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday the Kohl Center in Madison.
DeBlouw and sophomore left wing Mackenzie MacEachern started playing on the same line in early December. Four weeks ago, senior Matt Berry joined the unit on right wing, and they've developed into a top scoring line. In six games - two each vs. Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State - the trio has accounted for nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points.
During the six-game stretch, in which MSU has gone 5-1, DeBlouw had three goals and two assists for five points, MacEachern has five goals and three assists for eight points and Berry has one goal and seven assists for eight points.
"It's definitely more fun with scoring every so often, as compared to last season and not scoring,'' said DeBlouw, 21, who's from Chesterfield, which is north of Mt. Clemens in Macomb county. "Showing up at the rink and knowing the guys count on me during games is really reassuring to myself that I am a good player, and that really helps with confidence.
"I really have to thank my linemates. Mac and Berry are great players and I've been lucky to be in the right place at the right time. I love playing with MacEachern. He's always fun. If I make a mistake, he's a guy that comes up and says just shake it off. If I make a bad play, he'll just say `get it the next time.' He'll tell me what I'm doing wrong but he also picks me up.''
DeBlouw said he's learned that he can't take any stretches of success for granted and can't be satisfied with what he's accomplished in recent weeks. He's focused on contributing consistently.
"I'm not dwelling what I've done. If I have a good game, I can't get complacent,'' he said. "I just have to look at the negative parts of my game and make sure I do better. It's nice to bring something to a team. Like what we saw from Joe Cox last weekend, with him blocking so many shots. I mean, that brought me to my feet.
"When Joe does things like that, he lifts the team. With our line, we want to do that too, by making a pretty play to score to get our team going.''
Coach Tom Anastos says he likes what he's sees from DeBlouw, but insists the junior forward can raise his level to a much higher level.
"To his credit, he's made a lot of progress since last year, but there's way more ceiling to get to his full potential,'' Anastos said. "If you would have told me coming into the season that he'd be killing penalties, playing on the power play and contributing 5-on-5, I don't know I would have bought that.
"He came to me a couple years ago and said one of the areas he needed to work on was that he would get satisfied with success too easily. He didn't have that drive to work to get even better. My message has been that we have to push him to get better.
"If he ever figures out the talent level that he has, he can push himself to a much higher level. Sometimes I think Matt is adverse to risk. He kind of withdraws instead of engaging. When he engages, he can be awfully good.''
DeBlouw had a solid season as a freshman with a strong start and finish. He had four goals by Christmas break, including two at Bowling Green and a goal and two assists in a 7-2 win over Michigan on Nov. 10 at Munn Arena.
He closed the season with four goals in two CCHA playoff series - one goal at Alaska and one goal in three straight games against Miami.
But things didn't come easily as a sophomore. He had five shots on goal in the season opener at Massachusetts but didn't get a point. In his fifth game of the season, DeBlouw had nine shots on goal against American International but only registered an assist in MSU's 5-4 victory.
"Players have to learn how to mature and I one of the things I told him after his freshman year was that some things came a little easy for him and that the expectations were going to be higher as a sophomore,'' Anastos said. "For him, it would be easier to go home and be kind of complacent than to recognize that you have to step up because it's going to get harder. I don't think he did (the latter) and he'll tell you the same thing.
"I think he approached this season in a much different way. He recognized some things and he's worked harder. He's rebounded from a tough season and it would be easy to settle in and be satisfied, but I think he knows know he can't allow that to happen.''
That's the way DeBlouw is approaching his game and this weekend series at Wisconsin, a team that has won only three games overall and one in the Big Ten.
"Last weekend is over. Now it's time to move and get better,'' he said. "Wisconsin has a lot of new guys but they're doing a lot better. They're getting more experience and improving every game.
"This will be a good test for us. They're home and coming off some success, but we have to worry about playing our game. We know our systems. We just have to go out and perform.''
BERRY THRIVING, TOO: Since returning from a month-long suspension in early January, senior right wing Matt Berry has made a big impact as more of a set-up forward than as a scorer. Berry has one goal - coming in his first game back - and seven assists, including two in each victory over Penn State last weekend.
Berry, the team's top returning goal scorer, has come to close scoring from his usual spots areas around the net but the puck hasn't gone in. He's been solid in finding his new linemates, Mackenzie MacEachern and Matt DeBlouw, with perfect passes and they've found the scoring touch.
"He's embraced the things he and I talked about and that he's worked on,'' Coach Tom Anastos said. "When we were considering bringing him back, I asked him what he could do to help our team. He said if he was doing the right things, he could help the team win.
"That's what he's been doing. His confidence is growing. He made a couple of nice passes to set up two goals on Saturday. It's not just that he made the passes. The passes were at the right speed, with the right timing and at the right spot. I think he can play even better.''
Berry still leads the Spartans in scoring with eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points in 20 games. MacEachern is second with 10 goals and 10 assists.
Anastos said the MacEachern-DeBlouw-Berry line had its best games last weekend against Penn State.
"They were the best they've been in the three weekends we've had them together,'' he said. "I thought they were pretty average before but had the potential to compete at a higher level. They were fine but their ceiling was much higher.
"It takes time to find chemistry. We kept pushing them and they've worked hard on their game. Even though they scored when they were first put together, they were at a much higher level last weekend. We have an expectation that they can be a dangerous line and we need them to play in the manner that they're playing on a consistent basis.''
CROWDS GET PROPS: MSU players and coaches have been impressed by the atmosphere at Munn Arena in the four home games in the 2015 portion of the schedule. The Spartans have attracted four sellout crowds in series against Ohio State and Penn State.
Crowds of 6,333 and 6,439 watched MSU sweep the Buckeyes, 4-1 and 2-0, Jan. 23-24. After two weekends of playing single games against Michigan in Detroit and Chicago, the Spartans were welcomed back last Friday and Saturday by gatherings of 6,528 and 6,444, the later on the coldest night of the winter, to watch a 3-0 and 3-2 sweep of the Nittany Lions.
The previous largest crowd of the season was 5,781 against Minnesota on Dec. 5.
"Our players really feed off the crowd, and it's exciting to see the buzz come back,'' MSU coach Tom Anastos said. "Obviously, we have to feed the crowd and the crowd, in turn, feeds the players.
"People are coming out and spending their time and money and they want to see a team that competes hard and ultimately wins. And when they go home, they want to feel good about things.''
Michigan State is undefeated in its last six home games at 5-0-1 and is 7-4-1 overall at Munn Arena.
"It's fun for us playing at Munn. I really love it,'' junior center Matt DeBlouw said. "The crowd was nuts again last weekend.''
Anastos said he's very appreciative of the strong fan support, even in the fall, during high school and college football season, when five games drew crowds in the mid-5,000s
"Since Christmas, the crowds and atmosphere have been outstanding,'' Anastos said. "You can feel the buzz in the building. I think our athletics marketing department is doing a phenomenal job. I get comments from fans and I think they see what we're trying to do and appreciate the effort the team is putting forward. Now, we're starting to get results.''
SCOUTING THE BADGERS: After losing 10 players (8 seniors, 1 junior, 1 sophomore) who saw regular duty, last season's Big Ten Tournament championship team is in a major rebuilding mode with lots of freshmen and inexperience in the lineup every night.
Wisconsin is having its worst season in program history with a 3-19-2 overall record. The Badgers lost their first eight games, then tied Ferris State, 1-1, before beating the Bulldogs 5-3 for their first victory.
After four more defeats, Wisconsin upended Michigan Tech for its second victory on Jan. 3. Since that win, the Badgers are 1-8-3.
One of the few bright spots for Wisconsin is tying Minnesota twice - one on the road and once at home - and winning both shootouts.
"Wisconsin is a team we can relate to, having gone through a similar change a couple years ago when we lost (10) players,'' MSU coach Tom Anastos said. "That's a big number to lose. They've replaced them with a talented group but just lack experience.
"I pointed out to our team that when we went through the same thing, the strongest part of our season was the last six-seven weeks. That's when we played our best hockey.''
Wisconsin has played 11 freshmen and four sophomores this season. Seven Badgers have been drafted by NHL teams.
In last weekend's split at Ohio State - a 2-1 loss and 3-2 win - the Badgers played eight freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and five seniors, including goaltender Joel Rumpel,a second-team All-Big Ten selection last season.
The Badgers' top forwards include sophomore Grant Besse (10 goals, 10 assists, 20 points), senior Joseph LaBate (6-9-15), Morgan Zulinick (5-9-14) and freshmen Cameron Hughes (3-8-11) and Adam Rockwood (3-7-10).
Hughes, a 6-foot, 165-pound center from Edmonton, was highly recruited by Michigan State.
"We're playing a team that's gaining in confidence and they're a better team than their record would indicate,'' Anastos said. "They have a high-end goaltender (in Rumpel) that can win a game by himself.
"We're on the road in an environment that's not easy to play in, and we have great respect for their team, in spite of their tough season.''
The Spartans, 5-1 in their last six games and 7-3-2 since early December, know they can't savor what they've done and can't afford to look past the Badgers.
"I hope our team is mature enough to understand that we haven't accomplished any of our goals and this is just an opportunity to continue to get better,'' Anastos said. "And to get better, we have to play with the same urgency we did the last few weeks.''
IN THE BIG TEN: The other two series will have a definite impact on the Spartans this weekend. Michigan (16-10-0, 8-4-0-0), tied with Minnesota for first place with 24 points, plays a home-and-home series against Ohio State - in Columbus on Friday at Yost Arena on Sunday.
The Gophers (16-9-3, 7-2-3-0) are on the road at Penn State on Friday and Saturday. The Nittany Lions (15-9-4, 7-4-1-0), tied with the Spartans for third place with 22 points, and Minnesota play again on the last weekend of the season in Minneapolis.
Minnesota is no longer struggling like it was from mid-November to mid-January. The Gophers have won four straight and are 5-0-1 in their last six games. Before the recent turnaround, they were 1-4-1. Last weekend, Minnesota swept Michigan, dominating the series opener, 6-2, and holding on for a 2-0 win the series finale.
The Gophers play host to the Spartans next Thursday and Friday.
