Pair of Spartans earn CCHA recognition

Nebraska-Omaha junior forward Scott Parse (Portage) became the first Maverick to be named the RBC Financial Group CCHA Player of the Year at the annual CCHA Awards banquet last night. Eight individual honors were awarded at Detroit's historic Fox Theatre, including six determined by a vote of the league's 12 coaches.

Parse was the first player in the nation to top both the 50 and 60-point plateaus, finishing his junior year with 61 points and a 1.52 points per-game average. He is the first Maverick to be named player of the year since Nebraska-Omaha joined the CCHA in 1999.

Michigan State netminder Jeff Lerg (Livonia) was selected the CCHA Rookie of the Year after ranking second among CCHA goaltenders in conference action with a .926 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average. Lerg, who was named HCA National Rookie of the Month for January, appeared in 24 contests for the Spartans, notching a 12-4-6 record.

Lake Superior senior forward Steve McJannet (pictured) was presented with the Terry Flanagan Memorial Award in recognition of his perseverance, dedication and courage in his battle with Crohn's Disease. The Lakers' captain was a team best +5 this season and led his squad to a sixth-place finish in the standings, their best season since 1999-2000.

Miami senior defenseman Andy Greene (Trenton) became the fi rst player in CCHA history to garner both the Offensive and Defensive Defenseman of the Year awards. Greene's nine goals and 18 assists rank him fourth in the CCHA among defensemen in scoring. He also produced a +17 rating as the RedHawks, on average, gave up just 1.91 goals-per game, making them the top defensive team in both the CCHA and the nation. Greene, Miami's captain, was named Defenseman of the Week four times this season and was honored as the Offensive Defenseman of the Year last season.

The sixth-annual Mike and Marian Ilitch Humanitarian award was presented to Michigan State junior forward Drew Miller (East Lansing). Miller, involved in several Lansing-area programs, was a major force behind the creation of the Spartan Buddy Program. The program involves MSU student-athletes becoming buddies with pediatric patients at Sparrow Hospital. The Ilitch Humanitarian Award is given to the league's top citizen based on his contributions off the ice, as well as on, to his team, his program, his school and his community. Miller also earned the Best Defensive Forward award. The sixth-round NHL draft pick by Anaheim in 2003 was voted by CCHA captains as the Smartest Player in the CCHA and excelled as a penalty killer. He joins former MSU forwards John Nail, Shawn Horcoff and Mike York to become the fourth Spartan to win the award.

2005-06 Award Winners
Player of the Year: Scott Parse, UNO
Coach of the Year: Enrico Blasi, MIA
Rookie of the Year: Jeff Lerg, MSU
Terry Flanagan: Steve McJannet, LSSU
Ilitch Humanitarian: Drew Miller, MSU
Best Offensive Defenseman: Andy Greene, MIA
Best Defensive Defenseman: Andy Greene, MIA
Scholar-Athlete: Michael Eichman, UNO
Best Defensive Forward: Drew Miller, MSU

Texarkana captain off to Ferris State

Texarkana Bandits' captain Casey Haines has spent the last three years scoring goals in front of goaltender Riley Gill.

But next year, he will be trying to score against him.

Just a few weeks following Gill's commitment to Western Michigan, Haines has accepted a scholarship to play for Ferris State. Haines, Texarkana's second all-time leading scorer, is the fifth Bandit this season to recieve a Division I scholarship and the third in the CCHA.

"I met the staff at Ferris last summer and knew this was the place for me," stated the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Haines. "Their commitment to winning a championship as well as the importance they place on getting a degree was impressive."

Texarkana coach-GM Jon Cooper was elated with the news.

"Casey has played the last four years for me and has been nothing but a class act on and off the ice," said Cooper, who also coached Haines with the HoneyBaked midget team in 2002-2003. "Whether it is on the ice, in the gym or out in the community, Casey leads the way. Ferris hit the lottery with this kid. Coach (Bob) Daniels and his staff did a great job during the recruiting process."

Haines, a 19-year-old from Indiana, PA, joins current teammates Gill, Jason Weeks (Canisius), Pat Knowlton (Army) and Pat Maroon (Ferris State) as players to go Division I next season, more than any other team in the NAHL. Haines is also going to be the 25th Bandit to be playing college hockey in the team's short three-year history.

Two Warriors sign with Florida Everblades

Wayne State senior defensemen Steve Kovalchik and Greg Poupard signed professional contracts today with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL.

Both players are expected to be in the lineup this evening when the Everblades host the Columbia Inferno. Florida has road games this Friday and Saturday at the Augusta Lynx.

Kovalchik (left) earned Second Team All-CHA honors for 2005-06 after finishing second in overall scoring among league blueliners with 21 points. His 19 assists are tied-for-first among CHA defensemen. Kovalchik equaled the school record for career games played (141) last Friday in WSU's playoff loss to Alabama-Huntsville.

Poupard (right) served as co-captain his final two years in the Green and Gold. His 24 career points ranks seventh all-time at WSU for defensemen. His 133 career games played is seventh all-time while his 166 penalty minutes also ranks seventh.

Florida Everblades release.

Photos by Mark Hicks/WestSide Photo.

Michigan, Michigan State, NMU all advance

This weekend at Joe Louis Arena, three of the four teams in the CCHA semifinals will be from Michigan.

Michigan, Michigan State and Northern Michigan will join Miami in the battle for the 2006 CCHA championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Last weekend, Michigan swept Ferris State, the Spartans went to a third and deciding game with Alaska-Fairbanks and NMU swept Nebraska-Omaha.

The Wildcats, seeded No. 4 for the tournament, play No. 1 Miami (No. 2 in the country) at 4:05 p.m. Friday while the Wolverines and MSU go at 7:35 p.m. The Spartans have the No. 2 seed and Michigan sits No. 3.

Saturday, the third-place game is at 3:30 p.m. and the championship is at 7:00 p.m.

In Ann Arbor last weekend, Jack Johnson's 10th goal of the season, at 4:11 of the third period, lifted Michigan to a 3-2 win over FSU on Saturday and gave the Wolverines a 2-0 victory in their best-of-three CCHA quarterfinal-round series. After a scoreless first period, Michigan sandwiched power-play goals from Brandon Kaleniecki and T.J. Hensick around a pair of FSU tallies by Eric Vesely and Greg Rallo to make it 2-2 after two. Noah Ruden made 20 saves for U-M and Mitch O'Keefe stopped 29 for the Bulldogs.

"We will take a little time out," said Ruden. "We will look over what we did right. We will try to figure out everything it took for us to put together two games like this. It was the first time (we swept) since December 10th, so the atmosphere in the locker room was really happy, but we have to make sure we realize why we won."

The Spartans, meanwhile, had to rally in their series after losing Friday's game to the Nanooks. Junior captain Drew Miller netted his second career hat trick, including the game-winner, as No. 5 Michigan State defeated Alaska-Fairbanks, 7-4, on Sunday evening. With the win, Michigan State advances to Detroit for the conference playoffs for the 25th time in 26 years.

"I'm very proud of this team - the way they responded and the way they have persevered all season," noted MSU head coach Rick Comley. "We were disappointed on Friday, but the guys really responded with two strong efforts."

Chris Mueller, Ethan Graham, David Booth and Corey Potter also scored to back Jeff Lerg's 23-save outing in net.

In Marquette, the Wildcats scored three in the second period and held on for a 3-2 win to sweep the Mavericks. Andrew Contois scored twice and Pat Bateman the other as Bill Zaniboni stopped 28 shots for the clinching win.

“They have an opportunity to earn a spot to play for a championship right now, they deserve that,” NMU head coach Walt Kyle said. “They understand they have not done anything special yet. We hope there are bigger and better things to come.”

Oakland University - National Champions!

Oakland University needed three overtime wins in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II National Tournament to be crowned national champions, but they did it.

Yesterday's 7-6 overtime win over Liberty University in Rochester, N.Y., gave the Golden Grizzlies the title.

The Grizzlies road to the championship started with a 10-9 overtime thriller over GMHL rival Indiana University, a 4-3 win over Colorado, a 7-1 victory over Stoneybrook, another overtime victory over Colorado State in the semifinals, and then the 7-6 victory over Liberty yesterday.

"We really came to play night in and night out," Oakland assistant coach J.R. Dunn said. "Being down at least once every game except Stoneybrook really showed the true grit of our team."

Oakland sent their three seniors off on a happy note with two national championships.

"I can't think of a better way to cap of a college career," defenseman B.J. Belliotti said. "We are all sick, hurt, and sore, but we found a way to win."

"I have played in this league for a long time and to go out with another national championship is a great feeling," added forward Dan Oleksy.

The third senior, defenseman Anthony Magdowski, suffered a concussion in the semifinal game against Colorado State and was unable to play in the final.

"I was very disappointed in not being able to have Magdowski in the lineup," said Oakland head coach Sean Hogan. "He was playing his best hockey all season."

This is the Grizzlies' third straight national final and second championship in three seasons. OU captain Brandon Lipari garnered tournament MVP honors and defenseman Dale Swims and forward Will McMahon were honored as All-Tournament Team members.

"I can't say enough about the heart and hustle in our guys," Hogan said. "I am very proud to coach this group of young men."

Next season, the Grizzlies are making the jump to the ACHA Division I level. Home games will still be played at the Onyx in Rochester.

Photo by Ken Schaeffler.

Golden Grizzlies off to ACHA D-II finals

Oakland captain Brandon Lipari netted the overtime game-winner to advance the Grizzlies to their third straight national final game with a 3-2 win over Colorado State last night.

Oakland opened the scoring on a power-play goal by Will McMahon, but found themselves down 2-1 after one period of play.

"We had our chances to score, we just were not finishing on our opportunities," stated OU head coach Sean Hogan.

Jordan Ingram netted the Grizzlies' tying tally to force the game into overtime at 2-2.

The Grizzlies carried the play throughout the overtime period, finally finding the back of net with 7:27 left in the fourth stanza.

OU will now face the upstart Liberty Flames tonight at 8:30 p.m. Liberty qualified for the tournament with two wins in the Southeast Regional Championships and comes in as the fourth seed in the Southeast.

You can listen to all the action at www.achachampionships.com.