GLI Day

So my family and I showed up about ten minutes before puck drop for the first game of yesterday's Great Lakes Invitational, along with about 1000 other people, and we spent a good 20-30 minutes waiting in the ticket line. By the time we got I our tickets, I predicted Michigan would already be up 2-0 and the game would be, for all intents and purposes, over. Check and check.

The second game wasn't much prettier. Michigan State played pretty well by their own low standards, but had they not squandered so many quality chances, they could have easily scored 5 goals. Seeing them in person, it's just amazing the lack of depth they have considering how well-known their school is. That said, Corey Tropp was one very talented player that I thought underperformed, at least statistically in the first half of the year, and if he continues to create offensive--he assisted both MSU goals--they'll be better offensively.

It wasn't a great effort by North Dakota defensively. They've got some nice offensive defensemen, but yesterday, they were more prone to giving up 2-on-1 ones than creating odd-man situations for their team. Offensively, North Dakota moved the puck pretty well, but turned down too many decent shots in favor of a 90 mph backdoor pass that never connected.

Update of MSU Assault

The Ingham County prosecutor has finally issued warrants for arrest for two Michigan State football players stemming from a fight that left Michigan State hockey player AJ Sturges in the hospital, and ended his season.

MSU Loses Two

Two players won't be spending the second half of the season with Michigan State, which all things considered, may not be that bad of a deal for them.

Freshman forward Mike Merrifield will return to junior hockey for the rest of the year, before coming back to Michigan State in the fall. Merrifield had only played in 6 games in the first half of the season, though he did register a goal in Tuesday's exhibition loss to the NTDP U18 team. This probably isn't a bad decision given that Merrifield probably should have been playing junior hockey all year anyway. After succeeding in the NAHL as a rookie last year, he was scheduled to play in the USHL this year, but was called to campus early due to offseason departures, and he obviously wasn't ready.

Defenseman Ryan Turek was released from the team for failing to meet the expectations of the team. Turek's lack of success is pretty disappointing. He was a 4th round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues--incidentally, drafted in the same round by the same team as Travis Erstad, who is now playing D-3 hockey. Turek was also among the first group of "early commits" to choose a school years in advance of actually enrolling in college.

New Commits

Lincoln Stars captain Chris Forfar committed to Michigan State over the weekend.

Defenseman Danny Biega committed to Harvard. His two brothers play for the Crimson.

Blake Geoffrion's brother Sebastien committed to Alabama-Huntsville. Huntsville is only about a 100 miles from his hometown of Brentwood, Tennessee.

Why Did We Suck? How Can We Not Suck?

Michigan State hasn't been very good this year. At least I think. Their record in the CCHA is 2-6-2-2, and I'm not really sure what to do with that. I mean, that's too many numbers, right? In any case, I do know that they got swept at Omaha last weekend by scores of 7-1 and 3-1, and have only scored a single goal in each of their past 5 games.

Why have they been so terrible? It's not often that I get to do this, but my preseason projection for MSU is looking awfully prescient right now:

Much like Michigan last season, Michigan State’s season will depend on how quickly their freshmen can adapt to college hockey, after a string of departures to the NHL this past summer. The Spartans bring in a lot of forwards that were among the very best in their respective junior leagues last season, but those leagues are less traditional recruiting grounds for top NCAA players. Goalie Jeff Lerg may need to carry this team early in the season while those players adjust for the Spartans to be successful. The Spartans could be on the NCAA tournament bubble, but a slump, either early in the season, or in the second half when the youngsters start to hit a wall, could keep them out of the tournament.

Those freshmen? They're not adjusting quickly to college hockey, and it's probably killing their NCAA tournament hopes.

As far as freshman contribution, Daultan Leveille has 3 goals, Andrew Conboy has 2, Ben Warda and Trevor Nill have 1, and the rest have yet to score. Obviously they were hoping for more than 8 goals from this freshman class 14 games into the season.

It shouldn't be completely unexpected, however. Michigan State had what was considered a very good recruiting class coming in this year, but in looking at some of the top players--Daultan Leveille(GHJHL), Brett Perlini(NOJHL), Mike Merrifield(NAHL)--they came from junior leagues where they weren't playing against much, if any, Division I talent on a daily basis. Even if they are--to borrow Brian Cook's terminology--their own unique ninja-snowflakes, it's going to take time to adjust to the speed of the game before they really start contributing.

The upshot, of course, is that it's undeniable that these kids have talent, and they should be good eventually. The problem is that it's not likely to come this year, and if it does, it could be too late to get Michigan State back into the national tournament picture.

New Commits

Des Moines forward Chris Knowlton committed to Denver.

BCHL defenseman Matt Grassi committed to Michigan State. One could only hope his middle initial is D.

BCHL forward Mark Zengerle committed to Wisconsin.

Lincoln Stars defenseman Ross Henry committed to Western Michigan. Henry is an interesting player. At his best, he looks like a very high-end defender. If he develops a little more consistency, he could be a real steal for Western.

Sioux Falls forward Matt Farris committed to Princeton. Farris is unique in that he is a native of Pierre, South Dakota. The Ivy League makes sense for Farris as he won the USHL's Scholar-Athlete Award.

New Commits

Max Gardiner, bother of Wisconsin defenseman Jake, committed to Minnesota.

Defenseman Wes McLeod of the BCHL committed to Alaska-Anchorage.

Local player Keegan Flaherty committed to Minnesota-Duluth.

Two other BCHL players, defenseman Zach Josepher and forward Milos Gordic are going to Michigan State and Michigan Tech respectively.

NAHL defenseman Jack Callahan committed to Quinnipiac. The Big Q has recruited nearly exclusively out of the BCHL of late, but I think they got a real steal in Callahan. He looked like one of the nicest defensive prospects in the NAHL this year.

Northeastern picked up a commitment from Sioux Falls forward Robbie Vrolyk. Vrolyk is a USHL veteran that isn't very big, but possesses nice offensive ability.

Two MSU Players Out This Weekend

Michigan State head coach Rick Comley addressed the off-campus incident that involved members of both the MSU hockey and football teams early Sunday morning at his weekly press conference today. While he went into very few specifics about the incident, he did announce that two players would sit out this weekend's series against Northern Michigan. Comley did not release the names of the two players, though it should be fairly obvious who the two are by process of elimination on Friday night.

Police are still investigating the situation, but hope to have their investigation finished by the end of the week.

Something Happened

After a day of internet rumors, Michigan State apparently sent out a press release saying the following:

“We are aware of on off-campus incident that occurred early Sunday morning. The MSU Athletics Department is cooperating fully with East Lansing Police in its open investigation.”
-From MSU Associate AD for Communications John Lewandowski

All rumors seem to be pointing towards a fight involving MSU football and hockey players, and the police getting involved. More details should be leaking out this week.

Update: Lansing TV has more on the situation. Sophomore AJ Sturges is reportedly in the hospital.

Darnell to MSU

Novi Catholic Central forward Brent Darnell committed to Michigan State this past Friday. Darnell is a '92 birthdate and high school junior this year, who will likely join the Spartans in 2011.

Darnell was recently the 4th overall pick in the 2008 USHL Future's Draft. Darnell chose Michigan State over Miami and Michigan, among other interested schools. Michigan State looks to have the start of an amazing 2011 class with a solid goalscorer NTDP forward Austin Czarnik, and a smart, gritty center in Darnell.

Darnell is an interesting example for future players, having taken the road less traveled by playing high school hockey in Michigan as opposed to dealing with some of the pitfalls of AAA hockey(politics, parents, time away from home, etc.). It's a great example that if a player is good enough, teams will find them anywhere.

New Commits

NTDP U17 goalie Willie Yanakeff committed to Michigan State. Yanakeff is an athletic goalie, and is off to a good start this year, giving up 2 goals in each of the two appearances he made with the NTDP team.

Former Benilde-St. Margaret's forward Steve Carew committed to Air Force. Carew is also off to a fast start with a team-leading 7 points in 7 games for the Owatonna Express.

Sioux Falls forward Victor Anilane committed to Bemidji State. Illegal Curve had some pretty complimentary things to say about the big Swedish forward.

Two D Jump to OHL

A couple of defensemen will be making the jump to the Ontario Hockey League next season.

Des Moines Buccaneers defenseman Brad Walch will be playing with the Saginaw Spirit. Walch received some college interest last season, but is a Saginaw native, so he will be playing close to home.

NTDP defenseman Bjorn Krupp signed with the Belleville Bulls. Krupp, and his father Uwe, didn't feel that Bjorn received enough playing time with the NTDP last season.

Also, NTDP forward and Michigan State recruit Zach Golembiewski has left the NTDP and will be playing for the Indiana Ice next season.

Czarnik Commits to MSU

Forward Austin Czarnik committed to Michigan State this evening. He is a late '92 birthdate, meaning the earliest he would join the Spartans would be 2011.

Czarnik had an impressive showing at the Select 16 Festival which really raised his stock among colleges, and earned him a spot on the NTDP team for next season.. He is the cousin of Michigan freshman-to-be Robbie Czarnik.

New Commits

Western Michigan got two commitments. Kyle O'Kane will join the Broncos next year, while Ben Miller will join them in 2009.

BCHL forward Derek Grant committed to Michigan State. He was selected in this year's NHL draft.

Russell Stover U16 forward Nate Heng committed to Nebraska-Omaha. Heng is a Nebraska-native.

Amo Bessone

The Republican in Massachusetts ran an excellent feature on legendary Michigan State/Michigan Tech coach Amo Bessone.

Kennedy Signs

Two weeks ago, I said it looked like it was a matter of time before Michigan State forward Tim Kennedy signed with the Buffalo Sabres, and now, Kennedy has made it official that he will be leaving Michigan State.

Junior Players of the Year

USA Hockey named their Junior Player of the Year and Goalie of the Year this week. The awards went to Sioux Falls' Jack Connolly and Omaha's Drew Palmisano.

It's been a meteoric rise for the under-sized Connolly. Fifteen months ago, he was just hoping for the opportunity to play for a USHL team, and now he's been recognized as the league's best player.

For Palmisano, he is following in the footsteps of Jeff Lerg, the goalie he will eventually be replacing at Michigan State, who also won the Dave Peterson Award.

Kennedy Signing Soon?

Michigan State forward Tim Kennedy is one of the few top pro prospects in college hockey that hasn't signed an NHL contract yet this summer, but it looks like that could be coming soon.

This report from Buffalo says Kennedy's signing is imminent:

Regier said he will talk contract with prospect Tim Kennedy of South Buffalo either today or Thursday. The Michigan State junior is the final piece of the college trio the Sabres were eager to sign. The Sabres signed defense-man Chris Butler of Denver University last month.

Also today, Michigan State sent out a press release saying that recruit Mike Merrifield will be joining the Spartans next fall, as opposed to 2009. It looks like only a matter of time before we hear about Kennedy signing.

New Commits

Forward Jason Zucker committed to Denver. Zucker has also reportedly accepted a spot on the NTDP U17 team for next year. Zucker is from Las Vegas, Nevada where he grew up playing for the Las Vegas Outlaws youth program(making him the most famous Las Vegas Outlaw since He Hate Me), before moving to the Compuware program this fall.

Former St. Cloud Cathedral defenseman Matt Crandell committed to Michigan State for next season, replacing the departed Mike Ratchuk.

Kyle Pobur and Kellan Lain committed to Lake Superior.

NHL Draft Prospects

A couple future college players are starting to get some press for this year's NHL Draft.

TSN's Bob McKenzie featured Michigan State recruit Daultan Leveille. Leveille was amazing in the playoffs, though the team's leading scorer in the regular season was Notre Dame recruit Riley Sheahan, who should be a top prospect for the 2010 draft.

NHL.com profile Ohio State recruit Zac Dalpe, who traveled from Ontario to British Columbia to play in the BCHL. He's playing for former St. Cloud assistant Fred Harbinson in Penticton.