Northern Michigan '07-08 Season Preview

by Kyle Whitney/Northern Michigan Beat Writer

For years, the Northern Michigan Wildcat hockey team has been a contender in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Entering last season, the 'Cats were ranked 19th and had a roster loaded with veterans and NHL draft picks.

NMU stumbled out of the gates, though, and the team never seemed to develop a strong chemistry on the ice. When the season concluded, Northern had finished 10th in the CCHA and held a surprising 15-24-2 overall record. For the first time since the 2000-01 season, the Wildcats failed to advance through the CCHA playoffs and on to the Joe Louis Arena.

Read more of Kyle's Northern Michigan preview.

Spartans blank Windsor in tuneup

Michigan State played its only exhibition contest of the season on Tuesday night and rolled to a 6-0 victory over the University of Windsor at Munn Ice Arena.

Freshman Corey Tropp had a pair of goals and both Daniel Vukovic and Tim Kennedy had a goal and an assist for the Spartans. Netminder Jeff Lerg picked up the victory with 11 saves in 50 minutes before being spelled by sophomore Bobby Jarosz, who played the remainder of the game in the crease.

Dustin Gazley and Brandon Gentile added goals for MSU.

Michigan State, ranked No. 3 in this week's national polls, faces off with consensus No. 1 North Dakota at Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. The game is part of the US Hockey Hall of Fame induction weekend - the induction is Friday evening, with the Hall of Fame Game taking place on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Check out Matt Bishop's full recap on MSU shutting out Windsor in the State News.

Wildcats win exhibition, name captains

The Northern Michigan University hockey team had a tune-up for the 2007-08 season on Sunday afternoon at the Berry Events Center as the Wildcats defeated the University of Toronto in an exhibition game, 8-0.

NMU scored four times in the first period, three in the second and once in the third.

Mark Olver and Andrew Sarauer scored twice and Tim Hartung, Jared Brown, Billy Smith and Derek May added singles.

Brian Stewart and Derek Janzen both saw time between the pipes. Stewart turned away six shots, while Janzen had 10 saves.

NMU will take to the road for the first weekend of the regular season for the Superior Showcase. Friday night, the team will be at Michigan Tech and the next night at Minnesota-Duluth.

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TJ Miller and Billy Smith have been named co-captains for the 2007-08 Northern Michigan Wildcats.

“In my opinion, these two guys have proven to be emerging leaders on the team,” said NMU head coach Walt Kyle. “They have the respect of the guys in the room and coaching staff. They have what it takes to take the team in the direction we want to go.”

Miller, a sophomore defenseman from Placentia, Calif., had two goals and 12 assists for 14 points last year in 37 games.

Smith is a sophomore forward from Sterling, Alaska, and has yet to skate for the Wildcats. He had to sit out last year after transferring from Alaska-Anchorage. In his only season of action at UAA (2005-06), he had eight points on four goals and four assists in 32 games of action.

Wolverines top UWO in preseason, 5-1

by Matt Mackinder/Michigan Beat Writer

The University of Michigan capped their preseason schedule with a 5-1 win Sunday over the University of Western Ontario at Yost Ice Arena.

Freshman Carl Hagelin (pictured) racked up a hat trick and junior alternate captain Tim Miller added a goal and an assist en route to the win.

"Carl might be our hardest worker on the team,” U-M head coach Red Berenson said. “We see it every day in practice and we saw it when we ran the steps in the football stadium. You see his work ethic on the ice at every practice and then in the game he has good hands and good puck skills. You'll have to ask him if he's a goal scorer or not, but right now he's finding a way to score over here. He's making adjustments. He's from a rink that's 15 feet wider over there (Sweden), which is a big difference."

“My last hat trick was one year ago,” noted Hagelin. “And this is probably my second hat trick in my life, so it was pretty fun.”

Hagelin also touched on what it felt like to play at Yost.

"It was an amazing feeling,” Hagelin said. “I have watched two games before and I had heard from all the guys that it is awesome to play out there. I really enjoyed my first game (Blue/White intrasquad scrimmage Saturday night) and this game.

“And the helmet is awesome to have on. I love it."

Freshman Aaron Palushaj notched the Wolverines’ other goal and junior goalie Billy Sauer finished with 16 saves in net.

“I thought it was an overall great team game and great defense,” senior captain Kevin Porter said. “And then in the third, we really picked it up and started scoring a few goals."

The Wolverines open their regular season Friday against last season's NCAA runner-up Boston College in the Ice Breaker Invitational in St. Paul, Minn. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. CST.

Photo courtesy of UM Photo Services, Martin Vloet

Superior Showcase Preview

For the first time, the four Division I schools on Lake Superior will play in an opening season showcase.

Michigan Tech and University of Duluth - Minnesota of the WCHA will host Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State of the CCHA in the inaugural Superior Showcase. Since the WCHA and CCHA schools will not play each other, this showcase will have no winner, but will act as a season kick off for all four schools with plenty of bragging rights up for grabs.


NMU head coach Walt Kyle and MTU bench boss Jamie Russell came up with the idea as a way for the teams to get a chance to play quality oponents in the first week of the season that would not affect their conference schedules. If the turn out is good and all four schools are game, this could turn into an annual event with the four schools remaining constant for the lifetime of the showcase.


The games kick off on Friday night, when Michigan Tech hosts Northern Michigan and Minnesota-Duluth hosts Lake Superior State. Then Saturday, UMD will host NMU and Sunday afternoon, MTU will host LSSU (on ESPNU).

Wayne State exhibition nixed

The men's exhibition game between Wayne State and Eastern Michigan slated for Monday night at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum has been cancelled.

The Warriors will open the regular season this weekend at the Nye Frontier Classic in Anchorage, Alaska. Wayne State will face the host University of Alaska-Anchorage on Friday night and CHA rival Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon.

WSU's first home series is Nov. 9-10 against Lake Superior State.

Green tops White in MSU scrimmage

By Matt Bishop
The State News

After just starting full practices Saturday, MSU hockey coach Rick Comley said he saw what he expected to see during the Spartans’ annual Green and White intrasquad scrimmage Sunday inside a sweltering Munn Ice Arena.

The players were expected to make a major impact, and the line of juniors Justin Abdelkader, Tim Crowder and Tim Kennedy did just that. Those looking to make a good first impression, like freshman forward Dustin Gazley, did so as well.

And after the Green team’s 5-4 win over the White team, it appears the Spartans could once again be a player on the national scene.

“There’s nothing like a game to take it to a real stage,” Comley said.

“While they were fresh and while the ice was still good, the quality of (the game) was pretty good.”

MSU’s bread-and-butter trio of Abdelkader, Crowder and Kennedy combined for two goals and several nice plays, including a goal late in the first period where Kennedy and Crowder broke from the neutral zone on a 2-on-1.

As the duo approached the blue line, both the defender in front and the trailing defender went to Kennedy, who slipped a pass over to Crowder, who went in all alone and buried it.

“The Abdelkader line is a really elite line,” Comley said. “They’re going to get chances, there’s no question about that.”

MSU’s other top line of senior Bryan Lerg, senior Chris Mueller and freshman Corey Tropp combined for two goals for the Green team. Tropp’s goal early in the second period seemed to swing the momentum to the Green side.

“They all want to play with Tropp,” Comley said. “He’s a Kennedy-like player. He passes really, really well. Great hands, maybe the best on the team.”

On defense, Comley liked what he saw from senior Daniel Vukovic and freshman Jeff Petry, who were paired together.

“Vuk will give Jeff some stability,” Comley said. “(Petry) is much more offensive than you saw today. As he relaxes and gets involved, he’s really joining the rush a lot.”

Gazley’s play impressed more than a few folks. Playing a hard-nosed game, the 5-foot-8, 158-pound forward wasn’t afraid to lay on the body.

“He just plays with tremendous speed and intensity. He has very good puck skills,” Comley said.

And Gazley didn’t just provide hustle for the Green squad. He scored the game-winning goal for the Green team as they battled back from a 4-2 deficit to win the game. He also dug a puck out of the corner to set up junior Nick Sucharski for a short-handed goal in the first period.

“I was a little nervous in the first period, had to get the butterflies out,” Gazley said. “You have to go out there and do what you can and the nervousness goes away.”

The Spartans return to play at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday when they host Windsor in the final tune-up before the beginning of the regular season.

Vukovic to wear 'A' for Spartans

Michigan State has announced the addition of Daniel Vukovic as an alternate captain for the 2007-08 season.

Vukovic, a senior defenseman, joins classmate Chris Mueller and juniors Justin Abdelkader, Tim Kennedy and Jeff Lerg in wearing an "A." Senior Bryan Lerg is the captain of the 2007-08 squad.

"He’s earned it," explained MSU head coach Rick Comley. "Dan has worked hard and put himself into a position of leadership, and has also put in a lot of work to become a better player. This is good both for ‘Vuk’ and for the team, because this also gives us a captain back on defense."

Vukovic enjoyed a breakout senior season, adding an offensive touch during the 2006-07 season to an already sound stay-at-home defensive game. He recorded seven goals and five assists last season for 12 points after one goal and four assists in his first two collegiate seasons combined. Vukovic is expected to anchor the Spartans’ defensive corps this year as MSU looks to continue its strong defensive play.

Forgie stars in Green and Gold game

The Gold team edged the Green team, 6-5, in Wayne State’s ninth annual intersquad scrimmage at the Coliseum on Sunday night.

Senior captain Mike Forgie led the victorious Gold squad with four goals including the game winner at 15:53 of the third period.

Fellow senior Stavros Paskaris scored the game tying goal for the Gold and freshman Evan Mackintosh notched the first goal of the contest.

Jon Grabarek led the Green team with a goal and three assists. Jeremy Tejchma, Jared Katz, Tyler Ruel, and Jordan Inglis also scored in a losing effort.

In goal, Brett Bothwell made 22 saves for the Gold team, while freshman Mike Devoney stopped 14 shots and Kyle Funkenhauser turned aside 7 shots for the Green team.

Wayne State's exhibition against Eastern Michigan scheduled for October 8 at the Coliseum has been canceled.

The Warriors next home will be Friday, November 9 when Wayne State will host Lake Superior in the first of a two-game set at the Coliseum.

Brown over Gold in WMU scrimmage

by Tom Morelli/WMU Beat Writer

It didn’t take long for three of Western Michigan’s eight freshmen to grab the attention of head coach Jim Culhane in Sunday’s annual Brown-Gold intrasquad scrimmage.

Forwards Ryan Watson and Adam Flink and goaltender Jerry Kuhn played an integral part in the success of Team Brown, despite not having played their first official game yet.

Watson put his squad on the board first less than a minute into the contest, sneaking the puck past sophomore goaltender Riley Gill.

The second period was dominated by Flink, who scored two goals against different goaltenders to help extend Brown’s lead. His first goal was against Gill at the 14:16 mark, and scored on the power play with 2:34 left in the period, this time with Matthew Federico as the victim.

All hopes of a shutout for Kuhn were erased in the final period as Watson’s older brother, Cam, scored an unassisted goal at 4:30.

A local product from Southfield, Kuhn stopped 14 of 15 shots, with the majority of shots coming in the final period.

The Broncos are set to close out their exhibition season with a home game against the University of Windsor this Saturday.

Michigan Tech shuts out Toronto

Michigan Tech opened the season with a exhibition match against the University of Toronto. It was a one-sided affair with the home Huskies prevailing, 7-0.

Both Michael Teslak and Robbie Nolan played net and both had some nice saves, but the speed and power in the NCAA was too much for that of Toronto.

MTU received goals from seven different players: Tyler Shelast, Justin St. Louis, Ryan Bunger, Jordan Foote, Bennet Royer, Ryan Angelow and Alex Lord all scored for the Huskies.

The coaching staff was able to get a look at the incoming freshman and see how they would mesh the the rest of the team.

"We were able to see good things and some things we need to improve on," stated Michigan Tech head coach Jamie Russell in the post-game interview.

MTU will kick off the regular season when they host Northern Michigan next Friday for the first annual Superior Showcase.