Adrian prepping for first game

In just a few hours from now, the Adrian Bulldogs will face off their inaugural season at newly built Arrington Arena (left) against the Potsdam State Bears.

In a time of economic uncertainty in Michigan that in part forced Wayne State to suspend its men’s hockey program at the end of the current season, the Bulldogs have built a $5.5-million campus arena and assembled a team in just over a year.

The Bulldog men will compete in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association and the women in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association.

For more on the Bulldogs, please check out George Sipple’s Adrian hockey preview in the Detroit Free Press.

MiCHO Power Poll 10.17.2007

After a long summer, the teams have hit the ice and it’s the Michigan Wolverines who have grabbed the No. 1 spot in this year’s first installment of the MiCHO Power Poll.

The Maize and Blue started the year with a dramatic 4-3 overtime win over Boston College on Friday at the Ice Breaker Invitational. Saturday night they fell just short of making it two in a row as they were clipped 4-3 by the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Ice Breaker title game at the Xcel Energy Center.

The defending National Champion Michigan State Spartans started their title defense slowly by suffering a 6-0 shutout at the hands of the top-ranked North Dakota Fighting Sioux at the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game in Grand Forks.

1) Michigan, 1-1-0 (beat #2 Boston College, lost to #3 Minnesota))
2) Michigan State, 0-1-0 (lost to #1 North Dakota)
3) Michigan Tech, 1-1-0 (Lost to NMU, Beat LSSU)
4) Northern Michigan 1-1-0 (Beat MTU, Lost to UMD)
5) Western Michigan, 0-0-0
6) Lake Superior 0-1-1 (Tied UMD, lost to MTU)
7) Ferris State, 0-2-2 (swept at Union)
8) Wayne State, 0-2-0 (Lost to UAA and RMU)

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)

Spartans to raise NCAA banner Friday

Limited tickets remain for Colgate series; fans will be given commemorative pins at Friday ceremony

East Lansing, Mich. -- The Michigan State hockey team will raise its 2007 National Championship banner on Friday in conjunction with its home opener against Colgate.

In addition, members of the 1966 and 1986 NCAA title teams will participate in the on-ice ceremony before the game. New banners commemorating those two titles will be unveiled prior to the raising of the 2007 banner. All three will hang over the ice in Munn Ice Arena.

"This is a celebration for the entire Spartan hockey family," notes head coach Rick Comley. "The titles are something that I hope every Spartan is proud of. We have a rich, proud tradition."

On Friday, the first 3,000 fans arriving at Friday’s game will be given a pin (pictured), commemorating the school’s three NCAA titles - all three years (1966, 1986, and 2007) appear on the pin. Fans are reminded to arrive early, as the ceremony will begin prior to 7 p.m.

A limited number of tickets are still available for both Friday’s and Saturday’s games. Tickets can be purchased at www.msuspartans.com, or by calling the Michigan State ticket office at (517) 355-1610 (local) or 1-800-GO-STATE.

Lakers falter over weekend

by Mike Burrill/LSSU Beat Writer

The young Lake Superior State Lakers earned some valuable experience in the inaugural Superior Showcase last weekend.

In Friday’s game against Minnesota-Duluth, the Lakers gave up 39 shots on goal, but sophomore goaltender Pat Inglis was up to the task in stopping 37 of them.

Fellow sophomore Nathan Perkovich scored the first Laker goal of the season in the second period with an assist going to freshman Will Acton. Alternate captain Dan Eaves put the Lakers up 2-1 in the third with assists going to sophomore Nik Sellers and freshman Chad Nehring.

LSSU wasn’t able to hold the lead, however, giving up a power-play goal minutes later to settle for the 2-2 tie at the DECC.

The Lakers were 0-for-5 on the power-play, while the home Bulldogs were 1-for-5.

On Sunday evening in Houghton, the Lakers played the Michigan Tech Huskies in their second game of the Showcase.

The young Laker defense struggled early with the Huskies speed and transition game and quickly found themselves down 2-0. They gained some momentum at the end of the period, however, when a rough bounce off a clearing shot by sophomore defenseman Simon Gysbers slid into the net, cutting MTU’s lead in half.

The Lakers took that momentum into the second period, dominating the Huskies and scoring twice in the first 10 minutes. Sellers got his second point of the weekend, banging home a juicy rebound on a shot by Nehring. Eaves earned the other assist.

Perkovich scored his second of the weekend two minutes later with assists going to junior Josh Sim and freshman Rick Schofield.

After the Lakers took the lead, questionable officiating saw a steady stream of Laker Blue going to the penalty box, which gave the hometown Huskies a power-play goal to close the period and all the momentum they needed to cruise to a 4-3 win.

Inglis was in net for the Lakers again and made 21 saves on the night. LSSU was shutout on the power-play, going 0-for-4, while MTU went 2-for-6.

The Lakers host Western Ontario Saturday night at Taffy Abel Arena in exhibition play.

Ferris State suffers sweep at Union

By Andy Oliver / Ferris State Beat Writer

The Ferris State Bulldogs started the season with a setback, getting swept by the Union Dutchmen in non-conference action at the Achilles Center in Schenectady, N.Y.

The Bulldogs got a solid effort by freshman goaltender Pat Nagle, but fell 2-0 to the Dutchmen on Friday night.

After a scoreless first period, Union popped in two quick goals to open and close the game’s scoring.

The first Union goal came at the 7:19 mark of the period when Ferris turned the puck over at their blue line to Union defenseman Mike Schreiber. Schreiber moved the puck down the right side to Adam Presizniuk who passed across the front of the net to an open Mario Valery-Trabucco who tipped the puck up over Nagle's blocker.

The second goal of the period came only three minutes later when Union forward Matt Cook brought the puck down the ice on a 3-on-2 rush. Cook rifled a quick pass to Jason Walters who hit a streaking Torren Delforte and beat Nagle high glove side with a one-timer.

The third period saw Ferris outshoot Union, 9-4, but the Bulldogs were unable to beat Union senior goaltender Justin Mrazek. With 1:40 left in the period, Ferris pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker and were able to create two good scoring chances, but could not convert.

Freshman forwards Mike Embach, Mike Fillinger, Justin Menke, and defenseman Zach Redmond also saw their first collegiate action in the Friday’s loss to Union.

Nagle finished the night with 26 of 28 saves. Mrazek stopped all 18 shots he faced for his fifth career shutout.

Ferris State came out with more firepower on Saturday night, but eventually fell by a final of 4-1.

Justin Lewandowski scored the first goal of the game and the Bulldogs first of the season at 15:15 of the opening period.

The Dutchmen scored a power-play marker in the second to tie the game and then fired in three more in the third to grab the season-opening sweep.

Derek MacIntyre stopped 23 of 27 shots for the Bulldogs. Mrazek stopped 25 of 26 shots, giving him 43 saves for the weekend.

The Dutchmen killed off all 11 of the Bulldogs' power-play opportunities over the weekend.

Ferris State will return to action at home next weekend when they host the Wayne State Warriors in a pair of non-conference games back at Ewigleben.

Maize and Blue open with split

by Matt Mackinder / Michigan Beat Writer

The Michigan Wolverines started off the season with a split at the Ice Breaker Invitational last weekend in St. Paul, Minn.

Freshman Louie Caporusso's first collegiate goal was a memorable one, as his centering pass deflected into the net in overtime Friday to give No. 9 Michigan a 4-3 upset over No. 2 Boston College.

The season-opening win was driven by the play of Travis Turnbull, who notched a second-period goal, an assist and earned a +3 rating in the victory. Carl Hagelin gave U-M the early lead with a first-period tally and Billy Sauer had 19 saves for the Wolverines.

"I think you’re lucky when you win in overtime,” Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. “I don’t know if it was a great scoring chance or not, but if you play in their zone you have a chance of scoring. That line (of Hagelin, Caporusso and Turnbull) had a pretty good game for us, so I think they ended up with three goals for the night, so when they’re on the ice they definitely have a chance to score."

Danny Fardig scored the other goal for the Wolverines.

The last time Michigan defeated a team ranked as high as No. 2 Boston College was March 30, 2003, when U-M beat No. 2 Colorado College, 5-3, in the NCAA West Regional Final at Yost Ice Arena. Michigan was 4-8-1 against ranked teams in the 2006-07 season.

Saturday night, freshman Matt Rust scored his first two collegiate goals as U-M dropped a close contest to No. 6 Minnesota, 4-3, in the Ice Breaker finale.

"The first goal was pretty much we got a good forecheck in and some solid offensive-zone play,” Rust said. “We worked it down low and eventually got the puck in front. I got a couple whacks at it and it went in."

Steve Kampfer also scored for Michigan and Tim Miller had two assists. Sauer made 18 stops in the loss.

"For the second college game for these freshmen, I thought it was great,” Michigan senior captain Kevin Porter said. “Obviously, we didn't come up with the win, but I thought battling back was great. We fought back and we scored a couple of goals, but we couldn't come up with it in the end though."

Freshman Ben Winnett tallied his first career point, an assist, in the second period on Rust's first goal.

Michigan (1-1-0) opens CCHA regular-season play Friday and Saturday with a road series against Northern Michigan (1-1-0). Both games will be played at 7:35 p.m. at the Berry Events Center.

Spartans blanked in North Dakota

by Matt Mackinder / Michigan State Beat Writer

Michigan State opened its season on Saturday night at North Dakota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game and fell to the top-ranked Fighting Sioux, 6-0, in front of 11,738 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The No. 3 Spartans outshot their hosts 23-22, but could not solve senior netminder Jean-Phillipe Lamoureaux, who finished with a 22-save shutout.

Jeff Lerg stopped 16 shots for MSU (0-1-0).

"It's kind of the worst nightmare," said MSU coach Rick Comley to USCHO. "It's what you fear after six months of people patting you on the back and then you come in here and play a team of that caliber."

MSU lost its first season opener in three seasons and falls to 38-26-3 in all-time openers.

Michigan State was shutout in its season opener for the first time since Oct. 11, 2002, when the Spartans fell to Denver, 5-0, in the first round of the Maverick Stampede in Comley's first game as head coach.

The Spartans will look to rebound this weekend in their home opener, hosting Colgate in a two-game set Friday and Saturday at Munn Ice Arena. MSU will raise its national championship banner in a pre-game ceremony on Friday night.

Kolarik to wear the "A"

Senior forward Chad Kolarik has been added as an alternate captain for the 2007-2008 Michigan Wolverines.

Michigan's only four-year player besides senior captain Kevin Porter, Kolarik posted career highs in points (45) and assists (27) in 2006-07 while adding 18 goals. He has yet to miss a game in his Michigan career, skating in 124 consecutive games.

Kolarik was also named to the preseason All-CCHA second team.

Michigan's other alternate captain is junior forward Tim Miller.

Northern Michigan splits Superior Cup weekend

In a battle for the Superior Cup, the Northern Michigan Wildcats split a pair of weekend games, downing Michigan Tech 3-2 on Friday before falling 4-0 against the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

On Friday, the 'Cats (1-1-0) skated to victory behind goals from Nick Sirota, Jared Brown and captain T.J. Miller.

Brown's goal, which was short-handed, was the first of his collegiate career.

Miller knocked home the game-winner on a power-play just 3:43 into the final period. The NMU defense then muscled up to pull out the win.

Northern's Brian Stewart allowed a pair of goals on 22 shots, while Michael-Lee Teslak gave up three goals on just 19 NMU shots.

Against UMD (1-0-1) on Saturday, the Northern offense failed to pick up a goal, despite firing two more shots than the previous night.

MacGregor Sharp, Jason Garrison, Nick Kemp and Josh Myers all picked up markers for the Bulldogs.

After allowing four goals on 23 shots, Stewart took to the bench in favor of Derek Janzen, who stopped the only four shots that he faced.

For the weekend, NMU was 1-11 on power-play while killing eight of 11 opponent opportunities.

The results from the weekend's Superior Cup

UMD: 1-0-1
MTU: 1-1-0
NMU: 1-1-0
LSSU: 0-1-1

Broncos prevail over University of Windsor

Western Michigan relied heavily on their power play in their 5-2 exhibition win over the University of Windsor, but the victory didn’t come easy.

Lancers defenseman Derek Merlini, a former member of the Plymouth Whalers, put his team on the board first at 8:16 in the opening period.

Teammate Jon Ryan strengthened the lead for Windsor nearly a minute and a half later, this time scoring on the power play.

The tides turned in favor of Western Michigan soon thereafter, as Max Campbell lit the lamp at 14:08 with the man advantage, which was assisted by Tyler Ludwig and Patrick Galivan. Campbell's goal would begin the first of four power play goals for Western Michigan.

The second period went nearly scoreless until senior defenseman Nate Ansell added the game-tying goal for the Broncos with a mere six seconds remaining.

Left-winger Jeff LoVecchio put Western Michigan ahead just 38 seconds into the final period, followed by an insurance goal from Jeff Pierce at the 6:33 mark.

Campbell finished off the scoring flurry at 9:05, which was the only even strength goal for the Broncos.

The Lancers spent most of the night in the penalty box, earning 20 calls to Western Michigan’s 11.

Broncos’ defenseman Jonathan Lupa earned a game misconduct late in the third period after a tussle with Merlini, who was also given a misconduct.

Galivan and Campbell each tallied three points in the game, while Ansell and Ludwig had two apiece.

Junior goaltender Riley Gill had a stellar night for Western Michigan, stopping 18 of 20 shots.

The Broncos open their season at home with a two-game series against Bentley College on Oct. 19-20.

Warriors drop two in Alaska

The Wayne State Warriors had a rough start to their season at the Nye Frontier Classic in Anchorage, Alaska.

The host Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves scored three unanswered goals in the second period on Friday night en route to a 5-2 victory.

Mike Forgie and Derek Punches scored for the Green and Gold, but the Warriors (0-2-0) only managed 13 total shots on net.

Sophomore Brett Bothwell turned aside 21 shots on the other end for WSU.

Saturday night Wayne State matched up with CHA rival Robert Morris in a non-conference battle.

The Colonials, fresh off a shocking upset of Boston University the night before, kept the momentum up and crushed the Warriors 4-1.

Wayne State upped their shot total to 20, but Jon Grabarek’s power-play goal with just 2:54 left in the game was the only bright spot.

Freshman Kyle Funkenhauser made his first collegiate start in net for Wayne State and stopped 18 of 22 shots.

The Warriors will continue the road trip with a pair of non-conference games in Big Rapids next weekend against the Ferris State Bulldogs and then open the CHA year with two against the Colonials in Moon Township, PA the following weekend.