Neil’s Notebook: Physicality and Scoring Touch Help Stevens Emerge as Force for Spartans

By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer

MADISON, Wis. – Brody Stevens enjoyed one of his best weekends as a Michigan State hockey player last Friday and Saturday, but he's not looking back.

The sophomore right wing is eager to have more memorable moments this weekend in a Big Ten series at Wisconsin at the Kohl Center.

Stevens would love to score a goal, set up a goal or make a big hit, but mostly he wants to contribute to a pair of victories over the Badgers and keep his team on a roll.

"We did a good job in the Michigan series with keeping things level-headed, and it was great to get the win at home and win the shootout down there, but we're trying to stay at that business-like manner this weekend,'' said the 5-foot-11, 191-pounder from Ann Arbor.

"Wisconsin's a good team and they've taken some positive steps. But we go into every rink worrying about us and doing our own thing – everything we know to win the hockey game.''

MSU defeated Michigan 4-3 last Friday at Munn Arena and the teams battled to a 1-1 tie on Saturday in Ann Arbor, with Michigan State winning the shootout, 1-0, to come away with five out of a possible six points in the Big Ten standings.

The Spartans (6-7-1 overall, 2-3-1-1 Big Ten), who are 2-0-1 in their last three games, face the Badgers (6-7-3, 2-3-3-1) at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Madison.

Stevens, 21, isn't playing on a top line and isn't expected to be a force on offense this season, but he's found a spot on an important checking line with a role of playing responsible defense, stirring things up in the offensive zone and chipping in with a goal here and there.

As a freshmen last season, he played in 22 of MSU's 36 games and had two goals and two assists for four points. In 13 games this year, Stevens has four goals and one assist for five points, and is thriving on a line with sophomore center Tommy Apap and senior left wing Brennan Sanford.

Stevens scored MSU's fourth goal in a 5-2 victory at Cornell in late October, added another goal in a 5-4 loss at Arizona State in early November and then scored the winning goal, breaking a 2-2 tie, in the Spartans' 4-2 win at Minnesota two weeks ago. He assisted on Apap's clinching goal less than three minutes after his goal.

His fourth goal of the season came against the alma mater of his mother, father and brother – Michigan – last Friday at Munn Arena. He deflected a shot by defenseman Jerad Rosburg into the net late in the first period to tie the game, 1-1, and the Spartans went on to a 4-3 victory in front of a sellout crowd.

"I think a lot of my success has to do with the line that I'm on now, with Brennan Sanford and Tommy Apap,'' Stevens said. "We all think the game the same and work the same. They've been helping me settle down and just play hockey how we want to play, and it's been clicking for me lately.''

The Apap-Sanford-Stevens line has contributed three goals and three assists in the last three games. In addition, Sanford scored the winning goal in the shootout Saturday, after the teams played to a 1-1 tie.

Stevens said the experience from last year and growing confidence have made a difference in his play this season.

"It's also a confidence in being able to ask the coaches questions about different things and then being able to make the plays that I may not have been able to make last season,'' he said. "And it's knowing that if I do it and the coaches know I can do it, I know that I can stay in the lineup.''

Stevens says his game is about energy, enthusiasm, shutting down opposing forwards, forechecking aggressively and being physical.

"I've loved hitting since I was a kid. I hated that I had to wait until I was 12-years-old to hit kids,'' he said. "I've always liked the old-style hockey. The physical, ground-and-pound style. When I hit a guy in the first period, I'm hitting them not to release anger from the week, but to create space for my linemates.

"When you have a guy who hits the other team's defensemen non-stop, that helps create space for other lines, like the KHL Line (Patrick Khodorenko, Taro Hirose, Mitchell Lewandowski).''

Coach Danton Cole has liked what he's seen from Stevens and his linemates.

"That line has a pretty good identity. They play hard and play fast and I think that fits with Brody,'' Cole said. "I really think his skating has improved and he's in a lot better shape and able to log more minutes. We saw times last season that his play was as high as it is now but he's able to sustain that throughout a game and a weekend.''

Before coming to MSU, Stevens played for three teams in the U.S. Hockey League – the Fargo Force, Madison Capitols and Green Bay Gamblers – and showed a bit of a scoring touch. He had 15 goals and 35 points for Fargo in 2014-15 and 12 goals and 28 points for Green Bay in 2016-17.

"He has a good shot, some good skills and he's very physical,'' Cole said. "He's one of the few guys on our team that has the defensemen on the other team looking around. He knows what he is and he goes out and does it.

"He skates off the puck extremely well. When the puck is going north and south, he's on the attack. Some of our guys wait and see where (the puck) is going and then they go there.

"I think the two other guys playing with him have done a good job with that, too. They understand what they are as a line. It's do a great job defensively, get (the puck) up and out and let's go forecheck and play in the offensive zone.''

Even in juniors when he had was scoring, Stevens said he never saw himself as an offensive player.

"I always thought of myself as a tough, physical guy that didn't get scored on very much, and I was raised to believe that if you play hockey the right way, good things will come,'' he said. "I wasn't thinking how many goals I'd score my freshman and sophomore years. I just thought about how many games our team could win and how I could help us win.''

Stevens grew up in Ann Arbor in a strong Michigan family. His mom, Amy, was a two-time All-Big Ten high jumper at Michigan, and his dad, Mark, played on the Wolverines golf team. His brother, Nick, played club hockey at U-M.

"I went to my first Michigan football game when I was, like, 1-year-old. They tried their best," said Stevens, who later wasn't as enamored with Michigan as his family.

At age 16, Stevens committed to Western Michigan but later thought Michigan State was the better fit. He decommitted and eventually accepted an offer to be a Spartan.

"I committed to Western and that's when I moved away from Michigan (to play junior hockey), and I tried to look at everything as open as possible,'' he said. "I saw that Michigan State was where I wanted to be socially, academically and athletically. It was a much better fit to come here than go anywhere else.''

His family was supportive of his decision to go where Brody felt most comfortable.

"They were great about it. They love Michigan because that's where they went and all three said 'no matter where you go, we'll support you,''' Stevens said. "My mom even told me that she'd wear red and white if I went to Ohio State.''

Instead of red and white, Amy's wearing green and white. And Brody couldn't be happier than being a Spartan and playing more of a defined role this season as a sophomore.

"I just love this game. I love hockey. I used to have a saying – 'You can't spell hockey without Fun,''' Stevens said. "It's like every day I feel lucky to be able to come to the rink and do something I love. And with guys I love, and I get to play the way I want to play.''

THE MSU-UW RIVALRY: Michigan State leads the series 55-53-3 in which the Spartans won the first nine meetings from 1964-67 when Wisconsin was in the early stages of its modern-day program.

Last season, the teams split four games – the Badgers winning 6-3 and losing 2-0 at Munn Arena in November and the Spartans getting another 2-0 victory in Madison before losing the series finale, 5-2. MSU goalie John Lethemon, then a sophomore, earned both shutouts, making 38 saves at home and 30 in Madison.

In the last eight games between the teams, Wisconsin holds a 6-2 edge. In the previous eight contests, it was opposite, with Michigan State going 6-2.

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SCOUTING THE BADGERS: Wisconsin started the season 4-2 with a home sweep of Boston College, a loss at Clarkson and win at St. Lawrence and a series split against Michigan Tech. The Badgers then lost five of six games, including getting swept at North Dakota, 5-0 and 3-2 in overtime, and Ohio State, 4-0 and 3-1. But in the last four, Wisconsin is 1-0-3, including three straight ties (1-1 and 2-2 at Michigan and 3-3 at home vs. Penn State) and a bizarre 8-5 victory over the Nittany Lions last Saturday at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers were up 3-1 early in the second period when Penn State erupted for four goals in 11 minute and 35 seconds to take a 5-3 lead. Wisconsin added a late goal to make it a one-goal game at 5-4 entering the third period.

It took the Badgers 10 minutes and 15 seconds to tie it, and they added three more goals to claim an 8-5 victory, with the four goals in the final period coming in 7 minutes and 50 seconds.

Standout freshman defenseman K'Andre Miller, Wisconsin's top scorer, had a goal and three assists in the comeback victory. Miller leads his team with three goals and 12 assists for 15 points in 16 games.

Sophomore defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk is the No. 2 scorer with six goals and seven assists for 13 points in 16 games.

Miller, who's 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, was drafted by the New York Rangers in the first round, 22nd overall, in last June's NHL Entry Draft. Miller, from Minnetonka, Minn., played for MSU coach Danton Cole with the National Team Development Program's U-17 Team two years ago.

"K'Andre is a tremendous athlete. He's 6-4 and he can really skate,'' Cole said. "He's more of a straight-line (player) than (defenseman) Quinn Hughes (of Michigan), but he can get up in the play and beats you with his physicality, where Quinn beats you with his speed, his feet and brain. K'Andre is a smart player, too.

"He had a great year last year and went in the first round and he's kept it going. Wisconsin's two leading scorers are defensemen in Miller and Wyatt Kalynuk. So, they'll be up in the play on the big ice and we'll have to deal with that. It's just another playoff weekend for us in December.''

The Badgers' top goal-scorer is sophomore forward Sean Dhooghe, who has seven goals and three assists for 10 points. Dhooghe, 19, is 5-foot-3 and 150 pounds and also played for the NTDP's U-17 and 18 teams, but he was not coached directly by Cole.

As a freshman, Dhooghe had six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 37 games.

Other offensive threats include senior Seamus Malone and Will Johnson, junior Max Zimmer ad sophomore Tarek Baker and Linus Weissbach.

In goal, the Badgers have been using both junior Jack Berry (3-4-1, 3.23 GAA, .894 saves percentage) and freshman Daniel Lebedeff (3-3-2, 2.75 GAA, .909 saves percentage).

If Berry plays against MSU freshman Drew DeRidder this weekend, it'll be a battle of goaltenders from small hometowns 5 miles apart, south of Flint and northwest of Detroit. DeRidder is from Fenton, which is in Genesee Country, and Berry is from Holly, to the east of Fenton, and in Oakland County. Berry, is the only Badger from Michigan.

Wisconsin and MSU are very similar in their records and offensive and defensive statistics and rankings. The Badgers are 6-7-3 overall and 2-3-3-1 in the Big Ten while the Spartans are 6-7-1 and 2-3-1-1. Wisconsin averages 3.06 goals per game and allows 3.00. MSU is averaging 2.79 goals per game and its goals-against average is 3.07.

On the power play, the Spartans hold a 19.3 percent (24^th nationally, 4^th Big Ten) to 17.7 percent (33^rd, 5^th) edge. MSU's penalty killing ranks higher at 81 percent (30^th, 3^rd), while the Badgers are at 74.3 percent (55^th and 7^th).

Wisconsin has eight NHL draft picks on its roster and all are sophomores and freshmen.

Coach Tony Granato is in his third season at his alma mater and has a career record of 40-41-8. Granato played 774 games in the NHL and was head coach for the Colorado Avalanche for three seasons. Before taking over the Wisconsin program, Granato was an assistant coach with the Red Wings for two seasons.

DERIDDER IS BIG TEN 2^ND STAR: MSU freshman goaltender Drew DeRidder was selected as the Big Ten's Second Star for his outstanding play last weekend in the Spartans' 4-3 win and 1-1 tie (and 1-0 shootout win) against Michigan. DeRidder allowed four goals in the series, making 43 saves on Friday and 35 on Saturday for a .951 saves percentage for the series.

In starting MSU's last four games, DeRidder is 2-0-1 with a 2.59 goals-against average and a 2.59 saves percentage.

APPLETON'S NHL DEBUT A SUCCESS: Former Spartan forward Mason Appleton made his National Hockey League debut for the Winnipeg Jets last Saturday and picked up an assist as the Jets defeated the New Jersey Devils, 4-3 in overtime, in Newark, N.J. Appleton was called up from the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose early last week.

Appleton, a Spartan from 2015-2017, assisted on a goal by former Michigan forward Andrew Copp midway through the second period to give the Jets a 3-1 lead. He's played in three games and has one point.

Last season, his first as a pro, Appleton scored 22 goals and had 44 assists for 66 points in 76 games, and won the selected as the AHL Rookie of the Year. As a sophomore at MSU, he led his team in scoring with 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points.

SPARTAN POTPOURRI: Taro Hirose, MSU's top scorer with six goals and 13 assists for 19 points, is the fourth-leading scorer in the nation and tied for second in assists. Hirose has scored at least one point in five consecutive games (2-7-9). The junior left wing had three assists in the 4-3 win over Michigan on Friday and the only Spartan goal in Saturday's 1-1 tie.

Sophomore left wing Mitchell Lewandowski had great success against Wisconsin last season as a rookie. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year scored six goals and had one assist in four games against the Badgers. He had two goals and one goal in the series split in East Lansing and one goal and two goals in the two games in Madison. KHL linemate Patrick Khodorenko also has seven points vs. Wisconsin – two goals and five assists in eight games. Taro Hirose has six assists, also in eight contests against the Badgers.

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IN THE BIG TEN: No. 5/6 Notre Dame (10-4-1, 4-2-2) is at No. 9 Penn State (10-4-1, 2-3-1-1) and No. 15 Michigan (6-6-3, 2-3-3-1) plays host to Minnesota (4-6-3, 2-2-2-0) in Friday-Saturday series. No. 7 Ohio State (9-4-3, 4-2-2-2) has the weekend off and doesn't return to action until Jan. 4-5 when the Buckeyes visit Michigan State.

The Nittany Lions-Irish series matches the highest scoring team in the nation in PSU, averaging 5.13 goals against, vs. the 6^th-best defensive team in Notre Dame, allowing only 1.53 goals per game.

Offensively, the Irish are averaging a respectable 3.20 goals per game, but Penn State is struggling defensively, allowing 3.80 goals a game – 57^th in the country among 60 teams. Last week, the Nittany Lions gave up 11 goals at Wisconsin in a 3-3 tie and 8-5 loss.

As the Big Ten heads into the final weekend of games before the holiday break, three teams have played eight conference games – Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin. Four teams have played six games – MSU, Minnesota and Penn State.

Points-wise, Ohio State is in first place with 16, while Notre Dame is second with 12 points, but the Irish actually have a higher winning percentage at .667 to .625 for the Buckeyes, due to the difference in games played.

The other five teams each have two victories. Michigan and Wisconsin are tied for third with 10 points, while Michigan State, Minnesota and Penn State share fifth with eight points apiece.