Wolverines blank Niagara Tuesday

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Lindsay Sparks' hat trick led Michigan to a 5-0 win at Yost Ice Arena on Tuesday night over visiting Niagara.

Shawn Hunwick started and made 30 saves, while backup Adam Janecyk also saw action and finished with eight saves of his own.

I'm a third-year player now and you watch older guys battle in the corners and you learn how to do it kind of, so I just came back with a bit more confidence in that and I'm trying to use that right now," said Sparks.

MiCHO's Bob Miller has the full story HERE.

Grand Rapids tabbed for 2013 regional

Courtesy of the NCAA

The NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee has selected the four regional sites for the 2013 Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

The four sites and regionals, being held between March 29-31, include: East Regional in Providence, R.I.; Northeast Regional in Manchester, N.H.; Midwest Regional in Toledo, Ohio; and the West Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Brown will serve as hosts for the East Regional and New Hampshire will host the Northeast Regional. Bowling Green will host the Midwest Regional and Michigan will host the West Regional.

"The committee has placed an emphasis in the regional rounds on neutral-site buildings with NHL-size ice surfaces," said Sean Frazier, chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee and associate athletic director at Wisconsin. "All of these facilities meet those standards, and we feel the arenas and hosts will be able to provide a tremendous championship opportunity for the student-athletes."

The 2013 Men's Frozen Four will be held in Pittsburgh at the Consol Energy Center, April 11 and 13. The 2012 championship will be held at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., April 5 and 7.

Lakers sweep into new season

By Tom Balog / LSSU Beat Writer

The Lake Superior State Lakers (2-0-0) opened the season with a pair of one-goal wins in a road sweep of the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers at the Propst Arena over the weekend.

Chris Ciotti and Kyle Jean registered a goal and assist each as the Lakers sailed to a 3-2 win over the Chargers in the season opener for both teams.

Blueliner Zach Trotman scored the game winner on a 4-on-3 powerplay at 2:32 of the second period and Kevin Kapalka held on with 19 saves to preserve the win.

Craig Pierce and Justin Cseter notched the goals for UAH and Clarke Saunders made 26 saves in net.

The Chargers opened the scoring in the finale, but Nick McParland (pictured) scored a goal both in the second and third periods to lead the Lakers to a 2-1 win.

Linemates Ciotti and Ben Power assisted on both McParland goals.

Kapalka started his second straight game and stopped 20 of 21 shots for the win.

John Griggs was peppered with 33 shots between the pipes and Mac Roy scored the lone goal for UAH.

The Lakers' next official game is at home on Oct. 14 against the Michigan State Spartans.

Prior to the conference opener with the Spartans, the Lakers will play the Blue/Gold intersquad scrimmage on Oct. 8 at 7:05 p.m. at Taffy Abel Arena.

Following two 20-minute periods, there will be a Skate with the Lakers.

Admission is free.

Photo courtesy LSSU Athletics

FSU wins exhibition against Toronto

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Ferris State scored a power play goal in each period on their way to blanking the University of Toronto 5-0 in Sunday's exhibition.

Both teams remained deadlocked until the less than four minutes remained in the opening period, when sophomore forwards Jordie Johnston and Matthew Kirzinger helped to set-up a man-advantage marker for defenseman Scott Czarnowczan.

Just over two minutes later, freshman forward Justin Buzzeo added an insurance goal after finishing off a pass from senior defenseman Chad Bilins.

A slashing call against the Varsity Blues midway through the second allowed the Bulldogs to set-up another power play goal, which would be the lone score of the period. Johnston banged one in with 12:34 elapsed to give both Billins and Kirzinger their second assists of the contest.

In a third period chock full of penalties and misconducts, Ferris State continued to protect their lead, adding goals from junior Kyle Bonis and freshman T.J. Schlueter.

Bulldogs' head coach Bob Daniels had all three of his netminders (Taylor Nelson, C.J. Motte and Rob Granett) each play separate periods, with Nelson tallying a team-high 10 saves.

Ferris State officially opens the 2011-2012 season this Friday and Saturday when they travel to St. Lawrence, New York for a two-game tilt against the Saints.

MTU victorious in Saturday exhibition

By Andy Bourdeau, MTU Beat Writer

Courtesy of TechHockeyGuide.com

The Michigan Tech Huskies started off the season with an exhibition game against Canadian university Lakehead Saturday night and came away with a 5-3 victory.

Jacob Johnstone led the way, getting the first hat trick of the year for the Huskies.

“There are some things we need to work on, but overall, the team played well tonight,” MTU head coach Mel Pearson stated. “It is good for the team to play late in the third with the lead, so they can learn to hold it.”

Tech took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission when Johnstone took a pass from Ryan Furne and buried his chance on the Lakehead netminder. Ryan Sweeney was credited with an assist as well.The Huskies continued to pressure, but could not find the net again in the first.

In the second, Lakehead scored two in a row, both on the power play. Blake Pietala tied it back up at 2 when he found the rebound off of a Jordan Baker shot and buried it. Brett Olson also received an assist on the goal, but 30 seconds later, Lakehead took the lead again, 3-2.

The Huskies battled back and tied the game at 3 when Patrick McCadden netted his first of the season. Assists went to Alex MacCleod and Carl Nielson. Then it was Johnstone getting his second, from Tanner Kero and Nielson. Tech also put one in the net at the end of the second, but time expired just before the puck crossed the goal line.

In the third, both teams came out and looked a bit sluggish. With the goalie pulled, David Johnstone had a great chance to get his first goal, but ended up missing an empty-netter. A minute later his older brother did not miss the empty net and completed his first hat trick as a Husky.

“I really like how we battled back, especially in the second when we were down a goal”, Pearson added.

When talking about the young players, Pearson said, “I like Sweeney and his ability to carry the puck. (Blake) Pietala is big and you can tell he has already played college games and Kero really showed his speed tonight.”

Josh Robinson started in net and played the entire game, making 21 saves on 24 shots.

Pearson explained, “I really liked how Robo bounced back after letting in a few goals. We thought it was important to let him have that oppurtunity.”

MiCHO Analysis: The Huskies got off to the start they had hoped, getting a win, letting the offensive open up and getting many people to the game - 2520 to be exact. The student section was completely full. In fact, the arena had more people at this game than MiCHO saw in the last year and a half. The student section was loud and rocking and the Huskies came out and showed speed and skill. Although the team has some items to work on, this is a team that will surprise some teams.

Michigan's Merrill suspended 12 games

Michigan Press Release

The University of Michigan announced Saturday that sophomore defenseman Jon Merrill has been suspended for the first 12 games of the season due to a violation of team rules.

“Jon has an obligation to the team and he did not live up to those responsibilities,” said Michigan head coach Red Berenson. “He needs to be accountable to his teammates and this program both on the ice, around campus and in the community.”

Merrill posted 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) as a freshman in 2010-11, the fourth-best point total for a freshman defenseman in school history. He was named to the All-U.S. College Hockey Online second team and the Inside College Hockey All-Freshman Team. Merrill received conference recognition, earning All-CCHA Second Team and CCHA All-Rookie team honors.

Merrill will be eligible to return to the team at Miami on Friday, Nov. 11.

SEASON PREVIEW: Michigan Tech

Head Coach: Mel Pearson (1st season)

Home Arena: John MacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton

2010-2011 Record: 4-30-4, 2-24-2 WCHA

Returning Huskies: Goaltenders J. Robinson, C. Cramer, K, Genoe, defensemen B. Stebner, P. Heinonen, S. Siego, T. Brown, R, Doriott D. Sova, C. Nielson and forwards P. McCadden, J. Johnstone, D. Rix, D. Holmberg, R. Furne, A. Pietala, B. Olson, M. Lickteig, A. MacLeod, J. Baker, B. Reddick, M. Gordic, E. Witt, T. Gubb, A. L'Esperance

Departing Huskies: E. Kattelus, B. Royer and D. Cousens

New Huskies: Pearson, assistant coach B. Muckalt, goalie coach S. Shields, defensemen N. Cecere, J. Davis, R. Sweeney and forwards T. Kero, C. Pietala, D. Johnstone, B. Pietala

What's Up in Houghton: Coming from a winning program, Pearson looks to bring the winning mindset to Tech. Excitement is high in the community with the new coaching staff. An improvement is needed from four wins last year. With five homes games starting the season off, the home crowd has a good chance to see the new-look Huskies and hopefully get a few wins.

He Said It: "We want to open up the play of our forwards and let them be creative. I have challenged the team to be the top scoring team in the country." - Pearson

"Yes and Yes." - Muckalt, when asked if he played against Shields in the NHL and if he scored on him.

SEASON PREVIEW: Lake Superior State

by Tom Balog/ LSSU Beat Writer

Head Coach: Jim Roque (7th season)

Home Arena: Taffy Abel Arena

Last Season: 13-17-9 Overall (8-12-8 CCHA, 8th): lost to Notre Dame in a second round CCHA playoff series

Laker returning vets:
Goal: Kevin Kapalka, Niels-Erik Ravn
Defense: Matt Bruneteau, Kyle Haines Andrew Perreault, Kyle Pobur, Zach Sternberg, Zach Trotman
Forward: Dan Barczuk, Colin Campbell, Fred Cassiani, Brian Cooper, Kyle Jean, Kellan Lain, Nick McParland, Domenic Monardo, Ben Power, Dan Radke, Nick Shkreli, Brett Wall

Lakers no more:
Goal: Brian Mahoney-Wilson
Defense: Dillin Stonehouse, Matt Cowie,
Forward: Will Acton, Tyson Hobbins, Chad Nehring , Rick Schofield,

New to the Anchor:
Goal: Kevin Murdock
Defense: T.J. Wees, Kevin Czuczman
Forward: Kelin Ainsworth, Stephen Perfetto, Buddy Robinson, Chris Ciotti, Andrew Dommett

Outlook:

The Lakers will be counting on experience in both the net and blueline and watching for players to step up on the front lines in the 2011-2012 season.

“We're pretty experienced in the back end and a lot of the sophomores now that were freshmen last year played pivotal roles and I expect them to take their games to the next level,“ says LSSU Head Coach Jim Roque. “We have some pretty good leadership with our seniors. But I wouldn't necessarily call us a young team, we have a lot of "middleclassmen" and we need them to step up to replace guys like Will Acton and Rick Schofield from last year.”

Kevin Kapalka should be between the pipes for the majority of the campaign and returns after an impressive 2010-11 season where he racked up CCHA All-Rookie Team goaltender honors.

“Nothing bothers him,” says Roque. “If he gets scored on, he just shakes it off and moves on, it's not going to bother him. He's very calm, and he doesn't get rattled. You won't see him hit his stick or get mad, or flaunt when he makes a great save.”

Kapalka rolled to a 12-12-8 record, .924 save percentage and 2.34 goals-against average in his rookie season "Up North".

Just two of LSSU’s top five point scorers return to the ice in the Sault this season.

Junior forward Domenic Monardo is the Lakers number two scorer from last season with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points and will be counted on to put the puck in the back of the net.

Junior blueliner Zach Trotman chipped in 6 goals and 20 points and was fourth on the squad last season.

Senior Kyle Haines will also help anchor a solid defensive corp. Haines was a two-time CCHA Defensive Player of the Week and totaled 4 goals and 10 points last season.

The Lakers open the season with a pair of road games against the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers on Sat, Oct 1-2. The series marks just the third meeting between the Lakers and Chargers and the Lakers' first ever trip to Huntsville, AL.