SpartanMag.com - No. 17 Spartans face No. 10 Mavericks

November 5, 2009

Ricardo Cooney
SpartanMag.com Staff

EAST LANSING - And so it begins.

The 30 days that will arguably be the toughest month of games the Michigan State hockey team will face all season.

The month that will determine whether last year's 10-win season was just an unfortunate blip in the proud history of the Spartan hockey program.

A month of reckoning, if you will.

Eight games in 30 days against teams that are either very good, have a history of being very good teams, or both.

"I think it's kind of a make or break stretch for us,'' MSU coach Rick Comley said. "You have to win a certain number of games to move to where you want to move to. So we're going to be tested for this next month.''

First up, a team that not many would have been predicted would be rated this high this soon in the season - Nebraska-Omaha.

Of course, no one thought MSU's team would be doing as well as it has after eight games either.

So when the No. 17 and tied for first-place Spartans (6-2, 3-1-0 Central Collegiate Hockey Association face off against the equally-surprising and No. 10-ranked Mavericks (4-0-2, 1-0-1-0) for a pair of 7:05 p.m. games Thursday and Friday at Munn Ice Arena, a lot will be at stake.

"I think the first thing you find out on a team is whether it's good enough to win,'' Comley said. "I think we can see this team is good enough to win. But how much will it grow over the course of the year, that's hard to say. We have a lot of different pieces that I think seem to add (enough strength and talent to win). It's just picking which guys to put in on a given night and rotating some opportunity through but not disrupting everything.''

"Some of the sophomores (we have) that people thought weren't good enough to play college hockey as freshmen are pretty good sophomores. There's things that have to happen, for sure, but I don't see any reason right now that when we step on the ice that we don't have a chance to win a game. We just have to find out whether we can beat the teams that are legitimately picked (ahead of us).''

MSU will see a good crop of those teams this month.

After the Mavs, MSU will take on Michigan and Notre Dame for two games each in home-and home series before closing out the month with single games against Wisconsin and Minnesota.

But first things first, as MSU tries to sweep its third series of the young season.

After taking two each from Clarkson and Western Michigan, and splitting on the road in two tough venues against Maine and Miami - when MSU took a game from the Redhawks, they were No. 1 in the country - the Spartans have already proven that this year's team is better than last year's squad.

Something that definitely wasn't expected from a team that fields nearly 20 freshmen and sophomores.

Nonetheless, here we are, eight games into the season and the Spartans, originally picked to finish ninth by the coaches and eighth by the media, are tied for first in the CCHA with Miami.

"We talk about regaining pride and respect all of the time,'' Comley said. "There's still very little respect but that's okay, you have to earn that. I think this team knows that if they continue to believe in the system we're playing, buy into it and get better at it (those things will come). They know there's a price to pay to have respect and that you have to pay that price first.''

The Mavericks, on the other hand, led by the return to college hockey of former North Dakota coach Dean Blais, are sitting in the sixth spot after being selected, sixth and seventh by the CCHA's coaches and the media, respectively.

The Mavericks, in a sixth-place tie with Notre Dame - picked to finish second - are seemingly right where they're supposed to be.

But with Blais - who led North Dakota to two national titles in 1997 and 2000 - Comley is not so sure that the Mavericks, who will move to the WCHA next season, won't be in the CCHA title mix this season.

"They play like North Dakota plays,'' he said. "The same pursuit (style). He'll make them real good. He brings a lot to that program and a lot to college hockey.

''His system is just work hard. I don't think there's anything fancy about it. He wants to chase the puck, pursue the puck and have the puck. Just play hard. We're going to see a highly competitive team that plays with energy.''

One area the Spartans will need to correct if they hope to earn two more victories is the taking of penalties late in the game.

While MSU was able to sweep Western Michigan last weekend, penalties late in both games made the task much more difficult. It is a problem Comley would like to correct before MSU faces better competition that can better take advantage of power play opportunities than the Broncos did on both nights.

"Obviously, we're taking too many penalties late but I think part of it is the freshmen understanding what's called, and at what time of the game it's called,'' Comley said. "It's something we have to correct. There's a lot of things we have to correct but that's certainly one of them.''

And while there is still a ton of season to be played, Comley comfortably, if not confidently, acknowledges that his team is better and that continued improvements will lead to more wins and more support from a fanbase that was severely hurt by last year's failures.

''Again, after last year, we knew what our problems were and we recruited to fill those holes,'' Comley said. "Sometimes you just recruit kids and sometimes you have an opportunity to recruit holes (that need to be filled). And when you can fill holes, then you become a better team.''

SPARTANS TO WATCH: Junior forward Corey Tropp and freshman winger Derek Grant, among the nation's leaders in scoring, have carried the team offensively during the first four weekends but watch out for senior Nick Sucharski and junior Andrew Rowe, who have combined to do well against the Mavs in the past. Both have a a goal and two assists in previous meetings. Entering the two-game set, Rowe has four goals and three assists so far this season.

MAVERICKS TO WATCH: Comley has declared that senior Eddie DelGrosso, who had a goal and two assists during UNO's series against Bowling Green last week, is one of the best defenseman in the country. Also, junior forward Rich Purslow, who had three goals last weekend, leads the team in scoring with five goals and three assists. Additionally, redshirt freshman goalie John Faulkner, eventhough senior Jeremie Dupont is the incumbent in net, has earned three of UNO's wins and has a 1.42 goals-against average. He has a save percentage of .934.

HE REALLY MATT(ERS): Maybe the best, or at least most improved, player in MSU's lineup this season is sophomore defenseman Matt Crandell.

The Minnesota native, who got picked up late by Comley and his staff just before last season after Mike Ratchuk's unexpected early departure, has toned up his body and his game. and is looking like one of the stronger defensive defenseman in the CCHA.

"I knew coming in that with a lot more freshmen coming in that we would still be a young team so I needed to show some leadership and be one of the top defensemen coming in so that the younger freshmen could have someone else to look up to. Somebody that coach could rely on,'' Crandell said. "I've just been making sure I've been working hard, working hard down low (around the net) and always striving to get better everyday in practice.''

After dropping 15 pounds during the offseason and replacing it with muscle and a stronger cardio base, the 5-10, 185 pound Crandell looks stronger, quicker and more confident in his role as he pairs up with backline mate Brock Shelgren.

His offseason work and subsequent improved play have definitely caught the eye of the MSU coaching staff.

''Last year was tough for him like it was for a lot of those kids, and he played fine until he got the bum shoulder,'' Comley said. "But he got healthy in the spring, worked hard on weights, got stronger and he's made the physical adjustment. He's played very, very well.''

And it's showing on the ice.

Through the first eight games, the pairing of Crandell and Shelgren may be just third on the team in defense pair scoring at four points but the duo is not giving up anything either, topping the team with a plus-5 rating.

Individually, Crandell, who has three assists, is fourth on the team in blocked shots with 10.

LOOSE PUCKS: MSU freshman winger Derek Grant has been named CCHA Rookie of the Month. Grant is tied for first in the nation in scoring among rookies with 10 points, with four goals and six assists. The Spartan forward has registered at least one point in seven of eight games ... UNO associate head coach Mike Hastings was MSU goalie Drew Palmisano's coach when the Spartan sophomore goalie starred for the Omaha Lancers ... The United States Hockey League (USHL) has played a huge role in helping to fill the rosters of both teams. The Spartans have 14 players whose last stop before MSU was in the junior league, while UNO has 19 players who last played in the USHL.

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