Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: Rey Del Rio/MSU Athletic Communications
Neil’s Notebook: Spartans Ready to Start New Season on the Road
10/10/2019 9:10:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
MARQUETTE – Michigan State started last season on positive note with a 4-2 victory over Northern Michigan at Munn Arena.
On Friday night, the Spartans will try to do it again against the Wildcats, only this time in a different setting – the Berry Events Center at NMU.
After more than a month of practices, MSU players and coaches are eager for the regular season to begin. The Spartans open the 2019-20 season with a non-conference series against Northern Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday.
Michigan State is coming off a 6-1 victory over Western Ontario in an exhibition game on Monday at Munn Arena. NMU also got a win in its exhibition game as it defeated the U.S. U-18 team 4-3 last Sunday in Plymouth.
"I think we're ready. They're tired of me in practice,'' third-year Spartans' coach Danton Cole said. "They want to play. They should."'
Senior defenseman Jerad Rosburg, who's in his fifth year in the program, likes starting the season on the road.
"It's good for team bonding,'' he said. "Guys are cooped up in the hotel and you have nothing to do but hang out with each other. It's kind of fun. Everyone is together.
"It'll be a hostile environment, like all the Big Ten (road) games. It's a good test for us because I know it'll be rowdy, and these are huge games for them.''
Rosburg has never played in the Berry Events Center but has been in it and has been on campus. His father, Jerry, was a graduate assistant football coach at NMU and lived with MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo and his good friend Steve Mariucci, both Northern Michigan graduates, in the early 1980s.
Jerry Rosburg retired in March after 11 years as special teams coach with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens and 40 years in coaching.
"My dad showed me around the campus. He'll be there this weekend and he's bringing the whole crew of people that he knows,'' Jerad said. "That'll be fun. I'm looking forward to it.''
Michigan State (12-19-5 overall, 8-12-4-2 Big Ten in 2018-19) hasn't played at Northern Michigan (21-16-2, 18-8-2 WCHA) in eight years. The two teams split a series on Nov. 18-19, 2011, the Spartans winning the first game, 4-2, and losing 2-1 in the series finale.
Last season, MSU and NMU opened the season on Oct. 12-13 at Munn Arena. The Spartans won 4-2 the first night and the Wildcats earned a split with a 4-3 victory in the second game.
"They're always a gritty team. They play hard and have some speed as well,'' said MSU junior center and co-captain Tommy Apap. "We have to make sure we're playing fast and in their zone. The more time we spend in their zone the better. And we have to be physical.''
Northern Michigan finished second in the WCHA last season with an 18-8-2 league record, but got swept by Bowling Green, an NCAA participant, in the WCHA semifinals. They lost three of their top four scorers and six other players, including standout goalie Atte Tolvanen.
But NMU has one of the best defensemen in the nation in Philip Beaulieu, a 5-foot-10, 194-pound senior from Duluth, Minn. Beaulieu is the Wildcats' top returning scorer. He tied for second in team scoring last season with six goals and 29 assists for 35 points. He was selected to the All-College Hockey News Preseason Second Team.
"He's a player we have to pay attention to. He's a legitimate All-American,'' Cole said of Beaulieu. "We saw a little of their video against the U.S. team and they're a good hockey team. We'll be on the big ice sheet which will make it more interesting for us the first weekend.
"Overall, I liked the way they played. They skate and compete.''
As they do when they play at Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Spartans will have to adjust to playing on an Olympic-sized ice surface, which is 100 feet wide, 15 feet wider than the normal 200 feet by 85 feet surfaces.
Michigan State practiced on an Olympic-sized rink at the Summit Sports and Ice Complex on Wednesday and will skate again on the big sheet on Thursday at the Berry Events Center in Marquette.
"I've played there with (the U.S. NTDP program),'' senior center Patrick Khodorenko said. "They're an older team, they play hard and grind. But I think we match up well. I think we have good skill up front and we can use that to our advantage.
"I think we're good offensively. We can score goals and we just have to work on some things defensively. We gave up a couple of breakaways (in the exhibition game) so we need to clean that up.''
THE MSU-NMU RIVALRY: The Spartans lead the series 36-31-4. Over the last 10 meetings, the Wildcats hold a 5-4-1 edge and are 9-5-1 against MSU in the last 15 games. In the previous 15 contests, the Spartans were 8-6-1 vs. NMU.
The last time the Spartans swept the Wildcats was on Oct. 26-27, 2007 – 5-4 and 3-2 at Munn Arena. Northern Michigan's last sweep of MSU was in a CCHA playoff series on March 6-7, 2009 – 5-3 and 8-2 in Marquette.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: With nine freshmen and seven sophomores, NMU lacks experience, but it's still an older team in terms of age. Only three players on the 28-man roster are below 21-years-old. There are 16 players ages 21 and 22 and nine ages 23 and 24.
Players to watch include preseason All-America senior defenseman Philip Beaulieu (6-29-35 last season), senior forward Darien Craighead (10-10-20), junior forward Joseph Nardi (9-10-19), sophomore forward Griffin Loughran (7-11-18) and freshman forwards Andre Ghantous and Jett Jungels, junior defenseman Ben Newhouse, a transfer from Union College, and freshman defensemen Hank Sorenson and Mason Palmer.
The Wildcats have four goalies on their roster but only sophomore Nolan Kent has playing experience, and not much at that. As a freshman last season, he played 13 minutes and 47 seconds in two games and gave up one goal. Senior Atte Tolvanen started all 39 games. Kent played half the game against the U.S. U-18 team and allowed one goal. Freshman John Hawthorne played the final 30 minutes and gave up two goals.
The Wildcats were picked to finish fourth in the WCHA Coaches Poll – behind Minnesota State, Bowling Green and Bemidji State.
Coach Grant Potulny, a 2004 Minnesota graduate and former Gophers assistant coach, is in his third season at NMU. He has a career record of 46-31-5, guiding the Wildcats to two-consecutive winning seasons after Northern Michigan finished under .500 in the previous five years. The last time NMU made the NCAA Tournament was in 2010 under Coach Walt Kyle.
GOALTENDING PLAN: Coach Danton Cole expects to start the season playing both goalies – senior John Lethemon and sophomore Drew DeRidder. If one stands out and gets hot, he'll get a stretch of games, similar to last season.
"I think it'll be a battle again this year. They were kind of back and forth with it last year. And that's not a bad thing in college hockey,'' Cole said. "If one guys grabs the puck and runs with it, that's fine with us. Competition with those two was really good.
"Statistically, they were fairly close in a lot of ways. In the end, John had more wins and he got the starts in the playoffs and played very well. You hope they continue to drive each other.''
Lethemon, 23, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from Northville, played in 20 games, started 19, had a 9-11-0 record, a 3.24 goals-against average and a .905 saves percentage.
DeRidder, 19, a 5-11, 175-pounder from Fenton, started 17 games, had a 3-8-5 record, a 3.23 GAA and a .906 saves percentage.
"We had success (with the two-goalie system) here with Bob Essensa and Norm Foster,'' Cole said of the standout duo who played at MSU from 1983-87. "They did it for four years right down to the (1986 and 1987) Final Four. Norm played the semifinals and Bob would play the finals.
"I do think there is value in that, especially with Drew being young last year and having the senior or junior to bump back. That was beneficial for us. So, we'll see how it plays out. Players determine that.''
SPARTANS POTPOURRI: Junior forward Mitchell Lewandowski and sophomore defenseman were named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Second Team, while senior center Patrick Khodorenko and senior defenseman Jerad Rosburg earned honorable mention.
Khodorenko (18-19-37), Lewandowski (16-18-34) and Cesana (3-21-24) are MSU's top three returning scorers. Khodorenko ranked tied for 8th and Lewandowski was 11th in overall Big Ten scoring last season. Cesana was tied for fifth among conference defensemen in overall points.
The Big Ten Preseason teams were selected by the league's seven coaches.
The First Team included goalie Cale Morris of Notre Dame, defensemen K'Andre Miller and Wyatt Kalynuk of Wisconsin and forwards Tanner Laczynski of Ohio State and Evan Barratt and Alex Limoges of Penn State.
The Second Team: Goalie Tommy Nappier, Ohio State; defensemen Cesana, MSU and Cole Hults, Penn State; forwards Will Lockwood, Michigan; Lewandowski, MSU, and Sammy Walker, Minnesota.
Honorable Mention: Goalie Hayden Lavigne, Michigan; defensemen Rosburg, MSU; Cam York, Michigan, and Kris Myllari, Penn State; forwards Khodorenko, MSU; Cal Burke, Notre Dame, and Cole Caufield, Wisconsin.
IN THE BIG TEN: For the first three weeks of the season, six teams will be play non-conference games before starting conference play Oct. 31-Nov. 2. Michigan State doesn't begin Big Ten play until Nov. 8-9 when they visit Penn State.
The first league games: Wisconsin at Penn State, Oct. 31-Nov 1; Michigan at Ohio State, Nov. 1-2 and Notre Dame at Minnesota, Nov. 1-2.
All seven conference teams open their regular seasons with non-conference games this weekend.
On Friday and Saturday, No. 13 (USCHO), No. 10 (USA Hockey) Penn State plays host to Sacred Heart, Minnesota visits Colorado College and No. 11/11 Clarkson is at Michigan.
No. 8/9 Notre Dame is home to Air Force on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. No. 16/15 Wisconsin is at No. 10/6 Boston College on Friday and at Merrimack on Saturday.
No. 12/14 Ohio State is part of the four-team Ice Breaker tournament in Toledo. The Buckeyes play No. 14/12 Western Michigan in the opening semifinal on Friday and the winner or loser of Friday's No. 17 Bowling Green-RIT semifinal on Saturday.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
MARQUETTE – Michigan State started last season on positive note with a 4-2 victory over Northern Michigan at Munn Arena.
On Friday night, the Spartans will try to do it again against the Wildcats, only this time in a different setting – the Berry Events Center at NMU.
After more than a month of practices, MSU players and coaches are eager for the regular season to begin. The Spartans open the 2019-20 season with a non-conference series against Northern Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday.
Michigan State is coming off a 6-1 victory over Western Ontario in an exhibition game on Monday at Munn Arena. NMU also got a win in its exhibition game as it defeated the U.S. U-18 team 4-3 last Sunday in Plymouth.
"I think we're ready. They're tired of me in practice,'' third-year Spartans' coach Danton Cole said. "They want to play. They should."'
Senior defenseman Jerad Rosburg, who's in his fifth year in the program, likes starting the season on the road.
"It's good for team bonding,'' he said. "Guys are cooped up in the hotel and you have nothing to do but hang out with each other. It's kind of fun. Everyone is together.
"It'll be a hostile environment, like all the Big Ten (road) games. It's a good test for us because I know it'll be rowdy, and these are huge games for them.''
Rosburg has never played in the Berry Events Center but has been in it and has been on campus. His father, Jerry, was a graduate assistant football coach at NMU and lived with MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo and his good friend Steve Mariucci, both Northern Michigan graduates, in the early 1980s.
Jerry Rosburg retired in March after 11 years as special teams coach with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens and 40 years in coaching.
"My dad showed me around the campus. He'll be there this weekend and he's bringing the whole crew of people that he knows,'' Jerad said. "That'll be fun. I'm looking forward to it.''
Michigan State (12-19-5 overall, 8-12-4-2 Big Ten in 2018-19) hasn't played at Northern Michigan (21-16-2, 18-8-2 WCHA) in eight years. The two teams split a series on Nov. 18-19, 2011, the Spartans winning the first game, 4-2, and losing 2-1 in the series finale.
Last season, MSU and NMU opened the season on Oct. 12-13 at Munn Arena. The Spartans won 4-2 the first night and the Wildcats earned a split with a 4-3 victory in the second game.
"They're always a gritty team. They play hard and have some speed as well,'' said MSU junior center and co-captain Tommy Apap. "We have to make sure we're playing fast and in their zone. The more time we spend in their zone the better. And we have to be physical.''
Northern Michigan finished second in the WCHA last season with an 18-8-2 league record, but got swept by Bowling Green, an NCAA participant, in the WCHA semifinals. They lost three of their top four scorers and six other players, including standout goalie Atte Tolvanen.
But NMU has one of the best defensemen in the nation in Philip Beaulieu, a 5-foot-10, 194-pound senior from Duluth, Minn. Beaulieu is the Wildcats' top returning scorer. He tied for second in team scoring last season with six goals and 29 assists for 35 points. He was selected to the All-College Hockey News Preseason Second Team.
"He's a player we have to pay attention to. He's a legitimate All-American,'' Cole said of Beaulieu. "We saw a little of their video against the U.S. team and they're a good hockey team. We'll be on the big ice sheet which will make it more interesting for us the first weekend.
"Overall, I liked the way they played. They skate and compete.''
As they do when they play at Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Spartans will have to adjust to playing on an Olympic-sized ice surface, which is 100 feet wide, 15 feet wider than the normal 200 feet by 85 feet surfaces.
Michigan State practiced on an Olympic-sized rink at the Summit Sports and Ice Complex on Wednesday and will skate again on the big sheet on Thursday at the Berry Events Center in Marquette.
"I've played there with (the U.S. NTDP program),'' senior center Patrick Khodorenko said. "They're an older team, they play hard and grind. But I think we match up well. I think we have good skill up front and we can use that to our advantage.
"I think we're good offensively. We can score goals and we just have to work on some things defensively. We gave up a couple of breakaways (in the exhibition game) so we need to clean that up.''
THE MSU-NMU RIVALRY: The Spartans lead the series 36-31-4. Over the last 10 meetings, the Wildcats hold a 5-4-1 edge and are 9-5-1 against MSU in the last 15 games. In the previous 15 contests, the Spartans were 8-6-1 vs. NMU.
The last time the Spartans swept the Wildcats was on Oct. 26-27, 2007 – 5-4 and 3-2 at Munn Arena. Northern Michigan's last sweep of MSU was in a CCHA playoff series on March 6-7, 2009 – 5-3 and 8-2 in Marquette.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: With nine freshmen and seven sophomores, NMU lacks experience, but it's still an older team in terms of age. Only three players on the 28-man roster are below 21-years-old. There are 16 players ages 21 and 22 and nine ages 23 and 24.
Players to watch include preseason All-America senior defenseman Philip Beaulieu (6-29-35 last season), senior forward Darien Craighead (10-10-20), junior forward Joseph Nardi (9-10-19), sophomore forward Griffin Loughran (7-11-18) and freshman forwards Andre Ghantous and Jett Jungels, junior defenseman Ben Newhouse, a transfer from Union College, and freshman defensemen Hank Sorenson and Mason Palmer.
The Wildcats have four goalies on their roster but only sophomore Nolan Kent has playing experience, and not much at that. As a freshman last season, he played 13 minutes and 47 seconds in two games and gave up one goal. Senior Atte Tolvanen started all 39 games. Kent played half the game against the U.S. U-18 team and allowed one goal. Freshman John Hawthorne played the final 30 minutes and gave up two goals.
The Wildcats were picked to finish fourth in the WCHA Coaches Poll – behind Minnesota State, Bowling Green and Bemidji State.
Coach Grant Potulny, a 2004 Minnesota graduate and former Gophers assistant coach, is in his third season at NMU. He has a career record of 46-31-5, guiding the Wildcats to two-consecutive winning seasons after Northern Michigan finished under .500 in the previous five years. The last time NMU made the NCAA Tournament was in 2010 under Coach Walt Kyle.
GOALTENDING PLAN: Coach Danton Cole expects to start the season playing both goalies – senior John Lethemon and sophomore Drew DeRidder. If one stands out and gets hot, he'll get a stretch of games, similar to last season.
"I think it'll be a battle again this year. They were kind of back and forth with it last year. And that's not a bad thing in college hockey,'' Cole said. "If one guys grabs the puck and runs with it, that's fine with us. Competition with those two was really good.
"Statistically, they were fairly close in a lot of ways. In the end, John had more wins and he got the starts in the playoffs and played very well. You hope they continue to drive each other.''
Lethemon, 23, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from Northville, played in 20 games, started 19, had a 9-11-0 record, a 3.24 goals-against average and a .905 saves percentage.
DeRidder, 19, a 5-11, 175-pounder from Fenton, started 17 games, had a 3-8-5 record, a 3.23 GAA and a .906 saves percentage.
"We had success (with the two-goalie system) here with Bob Essensa and Norm Foster,'' Cole said of the standout duo who played at MSU from 1983-87. "They did it for four years right down to the (1986 and 1987) Final Four. Norm played the semifinals and Bob would play the finals.
"I do think there is value in that, especially with Drew being young last year and having the senior or junior to bump back. That was beneficial for us. So, we'll see how it plays out. Players determine that.''
SPARTANS POTPOURRI: Junior forward Mitchell Lewandowski and sophomore defenseman were named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Second Team, while senior center Patrick Khodorenko and senior defenseman Jerad Rosburg earned honorable mention.
Khodorenko (18-19-37), Lewandowski (16-18-34) and Cesana (3-21-24) are MSU's top three returning scorers. Khodorenko ranked tied for 8th and Lewandowski was 11th in overall Big Ten scoring last season. Cesana was tied for fifth among conference defensemen in overall points.
The Big Ten Preseason teams were selected by the league's seven coaches.
The First Team included goalie Cale Morris of Notre Dame, defensemen K'Andre Miller and Wyatt Kalynuk of Wisconsin and forwards Tanner Laczynski of Ohio State and Evan Barratt and Alex Limoges of Penn State.
The Second Team: Goalie Tommy Nappier, Ohio State; defensemen Cesana, MSU and Cole Hults, Penn State; forwards Will Lockwood, Michigan; Lewandowski, MSU, and Sammy Walker, Minnesota.
Honorable Mention: Goalie Hayden Lavigne, Michigan; defensemen Rosburg, MSU; Cam York, Michigan, and Kris Myllari, Penn State; forwards Khodorenko, MSU; Cal Burke, Notre Dame, and Cole Caufield, Wisconsin.
IN THE BIG TEN: For the first three weeks of the season, six teams will be play non-conference games before starting conference play Oct. 31-Nov. 2. Michigan State doesn't begin Big Ten play until Nov. 8-9 when they visit Penn State.
The first league games: Wisconsin at Penn State, Oct. 31-Nov 1; Michigan at Ohio State, Nov. 1-2 and Notre Dame at Minnesota, Nov. 1-2.
All seven conference teams open their regular seasons with non-conference games this weekend.
On Friday and Saturday, No. 13 (USCHO), No. 10 (USA Hockey) Penn State plays host to Sacred Heart, Minnesota visits Colorado College and No. 11/11 Clarkson is at Michigan.
No. 8/9 Notre Dame is home to Air Force on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. No. 16/15 Wisconsin is at No. 10/6 Boston College on Friday and at Merrimack on Saturday.
No. 12/14 Ohio State is part of the four-team Ice Breaker tournament in Toledo. The Buckeyes play No. 14/12 Western Michigan in the opening semifinal on Friday and the winner or loser of Friday's No. 17 Bowling Green-RIT semifinal on Saturday.
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