MiCHO Power Poll 01.25.2012

This week's MiCHO Power Poll has been released:

1) Michigan (split with Notre Dame)
2) Ferris State (win, shootout win against Ohio State)
3) Western Michigan (swept by Miami)
4) Michigan State (win, shootout loss against LSSU)
5) Lake Superior State (loss, shooutout win against MSU)
6) Northern Michigan (defeated Michigan Tech)
7) Michigan Tech (lost to Northern Michigan)

Each week during the season, MichiganCollegeHockey.com staffers will compile the MiCHO Power Poll. Contrary to popular belief, there is no coin flip involved. The poll comprises the seven Division I teams in the state of Michigan.

Spartans, Lakers split series in East Lansing

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Michigan State and Lake Superior State played two tight games over the weekend at Munn Ice Arena and each team came away with a victory.

Friday night, Kevin Walrod scored to break a 2-2 tie with 1:10 left in regulation and captain Torey Krug added an empty-net score to lead Michigan State to a 4-2 win.

Fred Cassiani staked the Lakers to a 1-0 lead only 28 seconds into the game, but Mike Merrifield tied the score midway through the period. The Spartans took a 2-1 lead only two minutes later on a goal by Brett Perlini and MSU held that lead through the second period and for most of the third before Kellan Lain evened the score with just under three minutes remaining in the game.

That set the stage for Walrod’s heroics.

Will Yanakeff made 45 saves in the win, while Kevin Kapalka stopped 23 shots for the Lakers.

Saturday night, Dan Radke assisted on the game-tying goal and scored the winning goal in the shootout, helping the Lakers to a 2-2 tie/shootout win over Michigan State.

Lake Superior opened the scoring with Chris Ciotti finding the back of the net.

The Spartans answered with two tallies from Dean Chelios and Greg Wolfe. With under five minutes to go, Cassiani tied the game for Lake Superior.

The game would remain deadlocked through overtime and the Lakers would go on to win the shootout, 2-1.

Yanakeff stopped 32 shots and Kapalka had 37 saves for LSSU.

Lake Superior (13-11-4 overall, 8-9-3-3 CCHA) has claimed at least two points during every road series in 2011-12 except one - the Dec. 2-3 series at Ohio State. The Lakers have a chance to make up for its showing during a Jan. 27-28 rematch against the league-leading Buckeyes, which will be played at Taffy Abel Arena.

MSU (13-9-4 overall, 8-7-3-2) will be back in action next weekend in Big Rapids to play Ferris State.

Michigan gains split against Notre Dame

By Bob Miller/Michigan Beat Writer

Shawn Hunwick's 38-save performance in Saturday night's rematch between Michigan and Notre Dame allowed the Wolverines to escape the two-game weekend series in South Bend with a split.

Goals by Alex Guptill and A.J. Treais were enough behind Hunwick's goaltending to provide a 2-1 over the Fighting Irish, who had handled Michigan in Friday night's series opener, 3-1, in another tight contest.

Michigan sits fourth in the topsy-turvy CCHA standings going into a bye weekend on January 27-28 before welcoming Miami for a two-game series at Yost Arena on Feb. 3-4.

The Wolverines nine-game unbeaten streak came to an end in Friday night's loss despite good netminding by Hunwick again.

"Hunwick was solid; he gave us a chance,” said Michigan head coach Red Berenson. “We were playing from behind the whole game. It was one of those games where it's down and back. On the second goal, we had a good rush, a good chance, and they go back down and the defenseman puts in a rebound on the loose puck. That's what it came down to. That's how fine the line was."

Michigan got their revenge in Saturday night's one-goal win on Hunwick's second straight solid performance of the weekend.

"I think it's good,” Berenson replied when asked about the importance of the win heading into the bye weekend. “Let's face it - we've had a good stretch of games since Alaska. It's good to bounce back tonight and not lose two in a row. Now we can think about the stretch run. It's good for our team's psyche."

Broncos drop both games on road at Miami

By Bob Miller/Western Michigan Beat Writer

Western Michigan ran into a surging buzzsaw, Miami, in Oxford, Ohio, this weekend in dropping two straight games to the RedHawks.

Miami bagged a goal by Reilly Smith in each of the three periods and Luke Witkowski replied for the Broncos in the first period in the 3-1 opening-game win for the RedHawks.

Saturday night's 4-0 victory sounds lopsided at first glance, but Western Michigan simply couldn't break through against Miami goaltender Connor Knapp despite playing even with the RedHawks.

“We played a good team,” Western Michigan head coach Andy Murray told USCHO after the game. “We hit them at a time when they're playing very well. It's a 1-0 game in the third period. They had 10 shots on goal through two periods. To me, it's a pretty good game.

“We couldn't score on our chances. We just have to play hard. We have to finish some of our chances. We can't give up two breakaways in the third period when it's a 1-0 game.”

The losses drop Western Michigan into a second place tie in the CCHA standings with Miami.

The Broncos hit the ice again this coming weekend with a home-and-home series with Bowling Green.

Bulldogs knock mighty Buckeyes off their perch

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

There was plenty of fight inside the 'Dogs this weekend, as ranked Ferris State grabbed five of a possible six CCHA points over No. 5 ranked Ohio State by virtue of a 4-3 win on Friday and a 3-3 shootout win in the series finale.

The No. 13 ranked Bulldogs relied on their power-play to get them through the series opener, scoring on three of six opportunities.

Down by a 4-0 margin midway into the second period, it wasn't until the 13:20 mark that the Buckeyes were able to end their scoring drought, with Tanner Fritz finding the back of the net against Taylor Nelson.

Chris Crane and Darik Angeli added to Ohio State's total in the final stanza by scoring within 2:37 of each other, but the Bulldogs held steady down the stretch to prevent any sort of comeback.

Junior forwards Kyle Bonis and Eric Alexander each tallied a goal and assist for Ferris State, while freshman defenseman Simon Denis was credited with a pair of helpers.

Nelson stopped 30 shots en route to improving to 11-4-1 as a starter.

The Buckeyes' Brady Hjelle surrendured four goals on 21 shots before being replaced by Cal Heeter (11 saves) in the middle frame.

Saturday's contest also proved to be a nail-biter, with the majority of the action picking-up in the third.

Tied 1-1 entering the final 20 minutes of play, Ferris State pulled ahead on a marker from Bonis at the 1:10 mark, only to have Ohio State's Danny Dries score the equalizer nine minutes later.

Momentum shifted back to the Bulldogs temporarily on Matthew Kirzinger's power-play goal with seven minutes left in regulation, but the Buckeyes responded once again, this time on a tally by Max McCormick.

With neither team able to secure put the game away in the extra session, a three-round shootout was needed to declare a winner. After a miss by Jordie Johnston to begin the shootout, Bonis and Derek Graham converted on their opportunities, giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 advantage over their counterparts.

In what will be their only meeting during the regular season, Ferris State (15-8-3 overall, 9-6-2-1 CCHA) returns home for a two-game set against Michigan State (13-9-4 overall, 8-7-3-2 CCHA).

MiCHO Power Poll 01.18.2012

This week's Power Poll has been released:

1) Michigan (swept Ohio State)
2) Western Michigan (swept Notre Dame)
3) Lake Superior State (split with Miami)
4) Ferris State (shootout loss, win against Alaska)
5) Michigan Tech (swept Alaska-Anchorage)
6) Michigan State (shootout win, win against Northern Michigan)
7) Northern Michigan (shootout loss, loss against Michigan State)

Each week during the season, MichiganCollegeHockey.com staffers will compile the MiCHO Power Poll. Contrary to popular belief, there is no coin flip involved. The poll comprises the seven Division I teams in the state of Michigan.

Broncos sweep Notre Dame out of Lawson

By Bob Miller/Western Michigan Beat Writer

Western Michigan has faced quite the difficult scheduling stretch the past two weekends.

The Broncos' disappointment at losing a pair of home games the previous weekend against top-ranked Minnesota-Duluth was replace by the satisfaction of gaining a home sweep of third-ranked Notre Dame Friday and Saturday.

In a pair of closely-fought contests, Western Michigan used third-period goals by Chase Balisy and Kyle O'Kane for a come-from-behind 3-2 win on Friday. Balisy, Matt Tennyson and Jordan Oesterle scored a single apiece on Saturday and Frank Slubowski turned away 25 of 26 shots in a 3-1 victory.

The sweep of Notre Dame boosted the Broncos to a second place standing in the CCHA, only one point behind first-place Ohio State and four points ahead of third-place Michigan.

Western Michigan holds two games in hand on both the Buckeyes and the Wolverines.

The weekend sweep and the Broncos' 12-7-5 record was enough to earn Western Michigan eighth place in the latest USCHO.com national rankings.

Western Michigan looks to continue its winning ways and press toward the top spot in the CCHA in next weekend's trip to Oxford, Ohio, taking on reigning CCHA champ Miami in a two-game series.

Michigan tops Ohio State indoors, outdoors

By Bob Miller/Michigan Beat Writer

After a stretch from early November to early December when Michigan simply couldn't win a game, the Wolverines have righted their ship.

Since Dec. 2, Michigan can't lose.

Not indoors. Not outdoors.

Not in Alaska, East Lansing, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Columbus or Cleveland.

The Wolverines have put together a string of nine games without a loss that has pulled them from the depths of the CCHA standings up to third in the conference rundown and a No. 10 ranking in the latest USCHO.com Division I poll.

Michigan's latest victim was second-ranked Ohio State. The Wolverines blanked the Buckeyes 4-0 on goaltender Shawn Hunwick's career-high 46 save shutout performance and then right back two days later with a 4-1 win in the outdoor Frozen Diamond Faceoff at Progressive Field, home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians.

Although the Wolverines have been getting solid performances from each of their lines, it was the Wolverine's top line of David Wohlberg, Chris Brown and Alex Guptill that did the bulk of the offensive damage against the Buckeyes this past weekend.

In the two-game series against Ohio State, Wohlberg contributed a goals and two assists. Both Brown and Guptill chipped in two goals and two assists apiece.

The addition of Jon Merrill to the Michigan defensive corps has solidified a group that frequently struggled during the first half of the season.

Michigan head coach Red Berenson knows that the improvement is due to all phases of the Wolverines' game.

“It starts with your defensive game,” said Berenson after the outdoor contest. “Our penalty killing's been better, our zone coverage has been better, our defense is playing stronger. And Hunwick is making the saves when we do give up a shot.”

Michigan puts the streak on the line this coming weekend against another CCHA power, Notre Dame, in a pair of games in South Bend at the Fighting Irish's sparkling new arena.

Lakers split with Miami

By Michael David/LSSU Beat Writer

The Miami Redhawks entered the weekend trailing the Lake Superior State Lakers by only one point in the CCHA standings, and they left Sault Ste. Marie in the same boat. The Lakers battled some questionable officiating from a rookie corps, in losing a tough 2-1 to the Redhawks on Friday, and holding off Miami for a hard fought 4-3 victory on Saturday.

The Lakers continued to struggle on Friday nights, falling to a record of 3-8-1 for this season. The Lakers lone goal on Friday came while on a delayed penalty, and LSSU pulled goaltender Kevin Kapalka for an extra attacker. Sophomore Kellan Lain found the back of the Miami net, with assists going to Kyle Haines and Colin Campbell. Miami would score twice in the second period to secure the lead. The Lakers would play the majority of the game without their leading goal scorer Nick McParland. McParland was assessed a game misconduct at the 10:44 mark of the first period for 'checking from behind', when the Redhawk player turned his back on him at the last second.

Lake State was 1-3 on the power-play, while they held Miami to 1-5. Kapalka made 32 saves to take the loss.

The Lakers would bounce back on Saturday, though, holding off the Redhawks for a 4-3 victory. Being down 1-0 early, McParland would tie the game for LSSU with a power-play goal in the first period. Haines and Campbell would earn another assist each on the goal. Forty seconds later, junior defenseman Zach Trotman put Lake State up 2-1 when his blast from the point found the back of the net. Freshman Stephen Perfetto and Kevin Czuczman would earn assists. Miami would tie the score just minutes later to tie the score at 2.

In the second period, Campbell would score a goal of his own to put the Lakers back on top, with assists going to Matt Bruneteau and senior captain Fred Cassiani. Cassiani would score the game-winner early in the third period, snapping a wrist shot from between the circles, with Campbell earning his second assist of the game. The Redhawks would cut the lead to one, and out-shoot Lake Superior 18-2 in the third period.

Kapalka made a season high 43 saves for the victory. LSSU was 1-4 on the power-play, and Miami was 1-3.

The Lakers (13-10-3/8-8-2-2 CCHA) travel to East Lansing next weekend to take on the Michigan State Spartans.