Michigan College Hockey, an exclusive Michigan-only website, has openings for THREE beat writers!

We are currently seeking reporters to cover the Lake Superior State and Western Michigan hockey teams as well as club hockey in the state.

Writing experience is strongly preferred, though all candidates will be considered for these non-paying positions. Attending your team's games is also preferred, but not absolutely mandatory.

Weekend game recaps is a top priority during the season, as well as reporting on recruits, off-ice news and anything else newsworthy.

To inquire about the positions, email us at michigancollegehockey@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,

The MiCHO Editorial Staff

MSU gets commitment from Soo sniper

Michigan State has picked up a commitment from Brett Berlini, a forward with the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Perlini was reportedly heavily recruited by a plethora of NCAA schools, and received a lot of interest from the OHL.

Not coming to East Lansing until 2008, Perlini will almost assuredly be pressured by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, the OHL team that took him with the first pick of the third round of the OHL Priority Selection last May.

This year, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Perlini leads the Thunderbirds in points, is eighth in NOJHL scoring with 47 points (32 goals, 15 assists), second in goals and first in power-play goals (18) in 42 games as a 1990 birthdate. He won't turn 17 until June 14.

Warriors grab two CHA awards

After taking three out of four points from the 17th ranked Niagara Purple Eagles last weekend, the Wayne State Warriors were honored with a pair of conference awards.

Jon Grabarek picked up the CHA Offensive Player of the Week award, the first of his career. The sophomore forward recorded five points in the series, including a pair of goals in Saturday’s 4-4 tie.

Jared Katz (pictured) extended his goal scoring streak to three games with a tally in each contest against NU and was tabbed as the CHA Rookie of the Week. The freshman forward also assisted in the first goal in Friday’s 6-1 victory.

For Katz, it is his second straight CHA Rookie of the Week award and fourth of the season.

The Warriors (9-20-1, 5-10-1 CHA) will host the conference leading Bemidji State Beavers in the final two home games of the season at the Coliseum this Friday and Saturday night.

Saturday will also mark Senior Day as Wayne State says thank you and goodbye to Jason Baclig, Jason Bloomingburg, Mark Cannon, Taylor Donohoe, Adam Drescher, Mike Forgie, Nate Higgins, Will Hooper, Dan Illiakis, and Mark Nebus.

MiCHO Power Poll 2.20.07

The Michigan Wolverines leap into the No. 1 spot in this week’s MiCHO Power Poll after a road-and-Joe split with CCHA rival Lake Superior State. The Lakers stopped the Maize and Blue, 3-2, on Friday at the Taffy Abel Arena in the Sault. The Wolverines rebounded on Sunday by sinking the Lakers, 3-1, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

The Michigan State Spartans drop down a peg to No. 2 after being swept by the hard-charging Western Michigan Broncos in a home-and-home series. The Spartans are winless in their last four games. The Broncos have won four straight and seven of their last ten games.

1) Michigan, 22-11-1 (split with LSSU)
2) Michigan State, 18-11-3 (swept by WMU)
3) Michigan Tech, 13-14-5 (idle)
4) Lake Superior State, 16-15-3 (split with then-No. 11 UM)
5) Western Michigan, 16-15-1 (swept then-No. 6 MSU)
6) Northern Michigan, 12-20-2 (idle)
7) Ferris State, 12-19-3 (swept BGSU)
8) Wayne State, 9-20-1 (beat, tied then-No. 17 Niagara)

Each week, MichiganCollegeHockey.com editors Matt Mackinder and Tom Balog will compile the MiCHO Power Poll. The poll will comprise the eight Division I teams in the State of Michigan. (national rankings and rankings in parenthesis reflect the USCHO/CSTV Division I Men's Poll)

Bulldogs take four points from BGSU

By Andy Oliver

Ferris State extended their home winning streak to six games with a pair of conference wins over Bowling Green last weekend.

Friday night’s 2-1 win saw Ferris forward Aaron Lewicki notch his seventh goal of the season at 8:18 of the second period, with the lone assist going to Blair Riley.

Cody Chupp scored a power-play goal for Ferris at 1:45 of the third period, his eighth goal of the season, with assists going to Corey Couturier and Jeremy Scherlinck. Bowling Green finally got on the board at 13:53 of the third period with a power-play goal from Derek Whitmore.

Assists on Whitmore’s goal went to Jonathan Matsumoto and Kevin Schmidt.

Ferris had 44 shots on goal and went 1-for-6 on the power play. Bowling Green had 30 shots on goal and went 1-for-10 on the power play.

Ferris State goalie Derek MacIntyre made 29 saves on the night for the win, while Bowling Green goalie Jimmy Spratt, a Chesterfield native, made 42 saves and ended up with the loss.

Saturday night’s game saw more goal scoring from both teams with Ferris State coming away with a 5-2 victory.

Ferris forward Adam Miller had three goals on the night. His first goal came at 18:11 of the first period with a lone assist from Zac Pearson.

His second goal of the night was on the power play at 14:35 of the third period with assists from Matt Verdone and Pearson and finally an empty-net goal at 19:40 of the third period with assists again form Verdone and Pearson.

Ferris also received goals from Pearson, unassisted at the 15:39 mark of the second period and Couturier, his second of the season at the 3:43 mark of the third period. Assists on Couturier’s goal went to Matt Case and Scherlinck.

Bowling Green had two goals sandwiched in between the five Ferris goals. Bowling Greens first goal came from Kai Kantola, his fifth of the season at 15:51 of the second period, and was unassisted.

Brandon Svendsen scored his sixth goal of the season for Bowling Green at the 14:45 mark of the third period with the lone assist going to Northville’s Todd McIlrath.

Ferris had 28 shots on goal and went 2-for-9 on the power play. Bowling Green had 30 shots on goal and was 0-for-4 on the power play. MacIntyre, named the CCHA’s Goaltender of the Week, made 28 saves for the win and improved his record to 7-1-0, which is his single season best.

Spratt made 23 saves on the night with the loss making his season record 5-19-1.

The two victories for Ferris moved them into ninth place in the CCHA with only two games left on the season.

The Bulldogs (12-19-3, 9-15-2 CCHA) will travel down to No. 1 Notre Dame this coming weekend while Bowling Green will have a home-and-home series with Michigan State to complete their regular season.

Warriors clip Purple Eagles

To say the Wayne State Warriors have not had a lot of luck lately against the Niagara Purple Eagles is a vast understatement.

Going into last weekend, the 17th ranked Eagles had won the previous four meetings this season by a combined score of 16-7. Plus, in the last 20 meetings since 2003, the Green and Gold had only won three games.

The tables were turned at the Coliseum over the weekend as the Warriors cruised to a 6-1 victory on Friday and came back to tie the Eagles 4-4 in the finale.

The Warriors (9-20-1, 5-10-1 CHA) exploded for three goals in both the first and second periods in the opener.

Jason Bloomingburg led Wayne with a pair of goals and an assist. Mike Forgie, Jared Katz, Mark Cannon, and Nate Higgins also turned on the light for the Warriors.

In net, senior Will Hooper continued his strong play at home with 20 saves on the night.

"On home ice things are easier for us, "said Hooper. "We're used to the conditions and we're happy to finally get them in our barn. We got off to a good start, scored early, killed penalties, and blocked a lot of shots. We’ve been turning the corner lately and playing a lot better as a team."

The nation's leading goal scorer, Ted Cook, could not be held off of the board as he scored the Purps' loan goal on the power play in the second period. For Cook, it was his 28th tally of the season and 18th on the power play.

Juliano Pagliero started in net for NU, but was yanked in the second after surrendering six goals on 15 shots. Allen Barton played the remaining 28:50 of the game and stopped all 10 shots he faced.

"I was hoping we'd refresh and come back hard after our week off," said Purple Eagles' head coach Dave Burkholder. "We didn't play very hard in the first and in the second period we didn't give ourselves the chance for a comeback. Obviously, the most important hockey is still to come and we’ll get better."

The Eagles did play better on Saturday night, but the Warriors fought back hard to earn the tie.

The two teams traded first period power-play markers with Katz scoring his tenth of the season for WSU and Matt Caruana tallying for NU.

Jon Grabraek (pictured) made it a 2-1 WSU lead as he buried the game's only even strength goal at 4:31 of the second period.

Egor Mironov and Cook gave the Eagles their first lead of the series with back-to-back extra-strength goals just 49 seconds apart.

Caruana added his second of the night with the man-advantage early into the third period to give the Eagles a commanding 4-2 lead.

The Warriors didn't give up though and on the power play at 3:38, Bloomingburg netted his third of the series to make it a one goal game.

At 8:13 of the third, Grabarek picked up the game tying goal on the power-play as he gunned a slap shot from between the circles that beat Barton for his second of the night.

"I thought Niagara's fourth goal might have sealed the game," said Warriors' coach Bill Wilkinson. "Our guys fought back with a really effort in the third to get the one point. After having so many guys in and out of the lineup, we’re really starting to gel now. And one of the biggest things is that out goaltending is really getting solidified."

Brett Bothwell shut the door the rest of the way for Wayne State and finished the night with 27 saves.

Barton stopped 24 of 28 for NU.

The Warriors will close out their home schedule with a pair of games against CHA conference leading Bemidji State on Friday and Saturday night.

Both games begin at 7:05 and will be preceded both days by the Wayne State Warriors women’s team facing league rival Robert Morris.

ICE CHIPS…
* Saturday's game will also be Senior Night as Wayne State says thank you and goodbye to seniors Jason Baclig, Jason Bloomingburg, Mark Cannon, Taylor Donohoe, Adam Drescher, Mike Forgie, Nate Higgins, Will Hooper, Dan Illiakis, and Mark Nebus.

* Wayne State loves the chilly Coliseum. The Warriors are now 6-6-1 at home and only 3-14-0 on the road.

* Wayne State will have a special pre-game ceremony on Saturday to honor late WSU Hall of Famer Mark "Doc" Andrews. All proceeds from the gate will be donated to one of two scholarships that bear his name.

Penticton forward Towns commits to Adrian

Penticton Vees forward Mike Towns has committed to Adrian College for the 2007-2008 season.

Towns, 20, has played over 180 Junior A games in Penticton of the British Columbia Hockey League and has set career highs in both goals and points this year.

The BCHL veteran is excited about the opportunity to attend Adrian College and sees it as a similar situation to the one he experienced in Penticton when the team changed ownership in 2004-2005.

"It's definitely exciting," Towns said. "I'm just happy to continue my hockey career after junior and get a post secondary education. I'm looking forward to the challenge of starting up that program and hopefully being one of the first building blocks there."

"The organization is extremely pleased for Mike Towns," Vees' head coach Bruno Campese said. "He has worked very hard on all facets of his game and has been an integral part of our leadership core. Mike is a first class individual and it's great to see him get rewarded for all of his hard work."

Warriors fall at No. 1 Mercyhurst

The Wayne State Warriors travelled to Erie, PA last weekend to take on top-ranked Mercyhurst. Although the Warriors were able to keep both games competitive, they lost on Friday, 3-1, and Saturday, 4-2.

Mercyhurst scored three straight goals in the first period of Friday's game. Seven minutes into the second period, Lindsay DiPietro (pictured) took a pass from Tina Vanderhoeven and scored glove-side to get the Warriors on the board.

Although netminder Valery Turcotte proceeded to shutout the Lakers for the next two periods, the Warriors could not score again, and the 3-1 score stood at the final horn.

Turcotte finished with 33 saves.

In Saturday's game, the Warriors found themselves down 2-0 at the start of the third period. Tegan Schroeder, who also made several critical defensive plays during the game, lost no time taking advantage of the fresh period--and a Warriors power play--to score off a DiPietro pass.

The Lakers retaliated to make the score 3-1, but Brandi Frakie kept the Warriors in the game with an unassisted goal to bring her team within one until the Lakers scored again with four minutes remaining.

After making 34 saves in the game, Turcotte was pulled for an extra attacker, but to no avail.

Mercyhurst outshot Wayne State both nights: 36-18 on Friday and 38-23 on Saturday.

The Warriors will play their last home series next weekend at the Michigan State Fairgrounds, when they will face off against Robert Morris. Both games will begin at 3:30 as part of a doubleheader with the men's program.

Wolverines and Lakers do the splits

Michigan and Lake Superior State each won on "home ice" as the Lakers defeated U-M Friday night in Sault Ste. Marie and the Wolverines came back for a win Sunday at Joe Louis Arena.

Friday, Josh Sim scored the game-winning goal and added an assist to lead the Lakers to a 3-2 victory over 10th-ranked Michigan in a thriller at Taffy Abel Arena.

The Lakers notched their first home victory over Michigan since Feb. 22, 2001, and improved their home record against Michigan to 22-14-3. They played in front of 3,234 fans - their largest home crowd of the season.

Pat Aubry and Troy Schwab scored LSSU's other goals to back Jeff Jakaitis' 31-save performance.

Danny Fardig and Chad Kolarik scored goals for Michigan and netminder Billy Sauer stopped 20 shots in defeat.

Then Sunday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, U-M rebounded for a 3-1 victory on two goals by T.J. Hensick and the game-winner off the stick of captain Matt Hunwick. Sauer took the win making 35 saves.

Dan Eves busted Sauer's shutout bid with 10:49 to go in the third period. Jakaitis suffered the loss in stopping 23 U-M shots.

Sunday's contest wraps up LSSU's 12-year agreement to play a regular-season home game annually at the Joe. The arrangement was made when the Ilitch family contributed to the "Gem of the North," which was the Norris Center Ice Arena renovation project that took place in 1994-95.

Michigan (22-11-1, 17-8-1 CCHA) travels to Ohio State this weekend, while the Lakers (16-15-3, 10-13-3 CCHA) are at Western Michigan.

Friday photo by Mike Burrill

Broncos take home-and-home from MSU

The Western Michigan Broncos were picked to finish last in the CCHA preseason polls, but lately, especially last weekend, WMU has surprised the critics.

Western Michigan swept No. 6 Michigan State in a home-and-home set that started with a 4-3 win in Kalamazoo Friday night and concluded with a 2-0 shutout last night in East Lansing.

The win last night was WMU's first at Munn Ice Arena since Dec. 11, 1993, which also was a 2-0 shutout. MSU assistant coach Brian Renfrew and WMU assistant coach Chris Brooks were teammates the last time the Broncos defeated Michigan State at Munn. Brooks was a sophomore center and Renfrew was a junior goalie, picking up the shutout victory that night.

Patrick Galivan scored with two-tenths of a second left in the first period Saturday and co-captain Jeff LoVecchio scored the insurance tally 10:57 into the third period.

"It's so difficult to win on the road in this league," Broncos' head coach Jim Culhane said. "(Michigan State's) only lost one game at home all year and it's a difficult place to play. It was a real good effort by our guys."

Freshman Riley Gill (pictured) stopped 19 shots for his fourth shutout this season and already shares second on the all-time list for shutouts in a season with Bill Horn (1985-89) and Jeff Reynaert (1998-2002).

Jeff Lerg made 23 saves for MSU.

"It looks like we're out of gas right now," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "There wasn't that energy, there wasn't that emotion. Giving up that goal late (in the first period) is a killer, but we just didn't have good energy."

The Broncos, who secured home ice for the first round of the CCHA Tournament with their win on Friday coupled with an Alaska loss, captured the season series, 3-1, marking the first time WMU has ever defeated the Spartans three times in a campaign, as well as two times in a row.

Friday night at Lawson Ice Arena on Senior Night, Gill stopped 26 shots and WMU got goals from co-captain Ryan Mahrle, Galivan, LoVecchio and Brian Bicek.

Justin Abdelkader scored twice for the Spartans and Daniel Vukovic added a single. Lerg kicked out 18 shots in a losing cause.

"First of all, you have to give a lot of credit to Western," Spartans' captain Chris Lawrence said. "They executed their game plan to a "T." They were a better, smarter team than us. Their penalties were ones we drew, while our penalties were mental breakdowns. I think this is the first time all year we are beginning to feel frustrated as a group. My job as a leader is to put the brakes on this thing right now."

Michigan State (18-11-3, 14-9-3 CCHA) play a home-and-home with Bowling Green this weekend starting Friday night in Ohio. The Broncos (16-15-1, 13-12-1 CCHA) are at Lake Superior State for a pair.