MICHIGAN STATE - NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

Justin Abdelkader's goal with 18.9 seconds left in the third period capped a furious comeback for Michigan State as the Spartans upset Boston College Saturday night, 3-1, in St. Louis to win their third NCAA championship.

Brian Boyle had given the Eagles a 1-0 lead early in the second on a BC power play, only to have Tim Kennedy tie the game midway through the third period six seconds into a man-advantage.

Just minutes before Kennedy's goal, MSU goalie Jeff Lerg made perhaps the save of the year on a shorthanded attempt by Boyle. After the huge stop, Lerg pumped his catching glove.

"I was pretty fired up," Lerg said. "We played with a lot of emotion. I don't usually show that much emotion after a save."

Abdelkader's heroics preceded a Chris Mueller empty-netter with 1.2 ticks left and the celebration was on in St. Louis in front of an NCAA tournament record crowd of 19,432 at the Scottrade Center.

Abdelkader was also named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

"We know we're not fancy and we know we're not picked by anybody to win anything," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "But you know what, what a great, great group of kids. They've wanted so badly to walk around with their heads high and now they're going home with a national championship."

Comley also won it all with Northern Michigan in 1991. He and Boston College's Jerry York are among three coaches to win championships at two schools.

For Boston College, this was their second straight heartbreaker as they dropped last season's title game to Wisconsin.

"When we sign up to play sports, there's going to be a winner and a loser," said York. "There's no guarantees in this business and I think our kids are old enough to understand that."

MSU, who finishes 26-13-3, has now won titles in 1966, 1986 and 2007. Michigan State was the second No. 3 seed to make it to the championship game since the bracket was expanded to 16 teams in 2003. Boston College made it last year as a No. 3 seed.

Photo by Skip Strandberg/USCHO

Three Wolverines, one Wildcat All-Americans

Seven players from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association have been named to the 2006-07 RBK Hockey All-American West Team, including three who were chosen for first-team honors.

The seven players chosen represents the highest number of CCHA players selected for the season-ending All-American teams since 2001-02, when eight of the 12 players selected hailed from the conference. Of those eights selected in 2001-02, seven were on NHL rosters this season.

The University of Michigan had the highest representation among CCHA schools on the RBK Hockey All-American West Team with three players chosen. Senior forward T.J. Hensick, the NCAA leader in points with 69, and sophomore defenseman Jack Johnson, who made his NHL debut with the Los Angeles Kings on March 29, were selected to the first team, while senior defenseman Matt Hunwick received second team accolades. Hensick was also a 2004-05 First Team All-American selection.

The CCHA produced all three forwards for the RBK Hockey All-American West Second Team. Nebraska-Omaha senior forward Scott Parse, who was a first-team selection last season, joined Northern Michigan junior forward Mike Santorelli, the CCHA’s leading goal scorer with 30, and Miami junior forward Ryan Jones on the front line of the squad.

Full release HERE

Spartans advance to NCAA championship game

If you watched the first four minutes of the first NCAA semifinal, you might have guessed that this just wasn't the day for the Michigan State Spartans at the Scotttrade Center in St. Louis on Thursday afternoon.

The Maine Black Bears, the same team that knocked MSU from the NCAA Tournament last year, went up 2-0 after just 3:24 and looked like they’d be cruising into Saturday’s final.

The Green and White (24-14-2) had other ideas, though, as they scored four unanswered goals to advance to the title game for the first time since 1987 and earn the right to play for their third national title. MSU last won it all in 1986.

"Two weeks of preparation out the window in 15 seconds; so much for coaching I guess," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "Great job by these kids. All year long, they've been very resilient and just kind of got better and better. Now they've got a chance to play for a national championship and I'm as proud as you can be, or as proud as I've ever been, of any team I've ever coached."

Chris Mueller got the Spartans back into the contest, scoring an unassisted goal at 7:25 of the first.

Chris Snavely evened the score by notching the only goal of the second period at 16:32.

MSU went on top at 5:11 of the third when Nick Sucharski popped in the eventual game-winner.

Then, at 9:46, Jim McKenzie pounded in the final nail in the Bears' coffin and gave the unlikely Spartans a ticket to the final game of the season.

Jeff Lerg finished the night with 29 saves for the win between the pipes.

The Spartans will battle Boston College in Saturday's championship tilt after the Eagles topped the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, 6-4, in Thursday's late game.

"I think it is going to take a while for it to sink in," MSU forward Justin Abdelkader said. "It doesn't really feel like we're in the national championship. We're going to take it one game at a time and enjoy this one. We've got a big game Saturday"

"The Frozen Four is a special thing and I think everyone was nervous," said Mueller. "But once the puck drops and you get a couple hits, it's just another game. A big thing that played into this game was that Maine ended our season last year. When we found out that we were playing Maine, I don't think there was another team as excited and ready to go (as we were) play this game.We've thought for 365 days how Maine ended our season.

"We just had to get the job done."

WSU's King chosen for NCAA conference

Wayne State University's Ashley King, a member of the Warrior women's hockey team, has been selected to participate in the 2007 NCAA National Leadership Conference May 27-31 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort.

The NCAA National Leadership Conference provides NCAA student-athletes with a forum to openly discuss issues that may affect them on their campuses and in their communities, while also providing them with the opportunity to enhance their leadership, communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills. The leadership conference also promotes better communication among student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty and communities. The five-day leadership conference consists of daily exercises and activities to help the student-athletes develop as individuals and as contributing members to a group.

More details here.

Wolverines get verbal from 1992-born Knight

Michigan was the first team to recruit a 1992 birthdate earlier this season when they got a commitment from Little Caesar's defenseman Jon Merrill.

They got their second this week in Compuware bantam forward Jared Knight, the leading scorer in the MWEHL this season with 35 goals and 65 points in 31 games.

Both Merrill and Knight should arrive in Ann Arbor in the fall of 2010.

Compuware '92 website

Bulldogs get nod from Alpena defender

The Alpena IceDiggers announced Wednesday that rookie defensemen Chad Billins has committed to Ferris State for the 2008-2009 season.

Billins is in his first year of junior hockey and tallied seven goals and assisted on 18 others for a total of 25 points in 62 regular season games this year.

"I am very excited to be going to Ferris," said Billins. "Coach (Bob) Daniels and his entire staff were very professional during my visit and my family and I can't thank them enough."

The Marysville native becomes the fourth IceDigger this season to commit to a Division I school joining Todd Rudasill (Ohio State), Drew Pierson (Army) and Eric Roman (Wayne State).

Billins will play one more year of juniors before making the jump to the college level and Alpena head coach Kenny Miller is happy about that situation.

"I am really happy for Chad and his family," said Miller. "He has earned this scholarship and he has improved as a player everyday. Our main goal as an organization is to move these kids on and when you can do that and get that player for another year, that is an added bonus."

Lakers announce tentative '07-08 schedule

The Lake Superior State Lakers have released a tentative schedule for the 2007-08 season.

They kick off action in the inaugural Superior Cup, traveling to Minnesota-Duluth and Michigan Tech, respectively. In CCHA action, the Lakers are clustered with Northern Michigan, Michigan and Michigan State.

LSSU took three out of four games from the Wildcats this season, winning the Cappo Cup for the first time since the 1999-00 campaign.

Lake State split with Michigan, earning a hard fought 3-2 decision at the Taffy Abel before losing the rematch at the Joe.

Michigan State beat the Lakers three times in 2007, but two of those games went into overtime, including the controversial CCHA third place game where LSSU fell victim to a phantom penalty in the closing minutes.

Lake State's exhibition opponent and holiday tournament have yet to be determined, but here is the schedule as it now stands:

Oct. 12 @ Minnesota-Duluth
Oct. 14 @ Michigan Tech
Oct. 20 HOME EXHIBITION
Oct. 26-27 CLARKSON
Nov. 2-3 @ Notre Dame
Nov. 9-10 @ Wayne State
Nov. 16-17 MICHIGAN
Nov. 23-24 Northern Michigan (home & home)
Nov. 30 MICHIGAN STATE
Dec. 1 MICHIGAN STATE
Dec. 7-8 @ Nebraska Omaha
Jan. 4-5 @ Michigan State
Jan. 11-12 BOWLING GREEN
Jan. 18-19 @ Miami Ohio
Jan. 25-26 OHIO STATE
Feb. 1-2 FERRIS STATE
Feb. 8-9 @ Western Michigan
Feb. 15-16 @ Michigan
Feb. 22-23 ALASKA
Feb. 29 Northern Michigan
Mar. 1 Northern Michigan (home & home)

Livoinia's Stadler to help build Adrian

Alpena IceDiggers forward Justin Stadler has committed to Adrian College for the 2007-2008 season.

"Justin is very excited to be going to Adrian and help jump start their program and I am happy for him," said Alpena head coach Kenny Miller. "He will get a chance to play close to home so his parents can attend his games for the next four years."

Adrian will compete for the first time in school history next season at the Division III level and play in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association.

Stadler, a Livonia native, becomes the fourth IceDigger to commit to play college hockey next season joining Todd Rudasill (Ohio State), Drew Pierson (Army) and Eric Roman (Wayne State).