Michigan State Press ReleaseMichigan State defenseman Torey Krug became the first defenseman to win a CCHA scoring title in 25 seasons and the first MSU blueliner to accomplish the feat.
A candidate for CCHA Player of the Year honors, as well as All-America honors, had 11 goals and 18 assists in conference play.
Krug shared the CCHA scoring title with Notre Dame forward TJ Tynan, each finishing with 29 points in league games. He is the first defenseman to capture a CCHA scoring title since Western Michigan's Wayne Gagne did so in 1986-87. Krug is the is the fifth Spartan and first MSU defenseman to win a CCHA scoring title.
"That's an awfully hard thing to do and an incredible feat,'' MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. "I know he'll credit his teammates because that's the kind of guy he is. His teammates are very proud he's been able to accomplish that. I'm proud of him because he's a terrific player and represents our program and school so well. We all take a lot of pride in his accomplishment.”
Gagne, a WMU defenseman in the mid-80’s, had persevered as the last blueliner to capture a CCHA crown. Only four other Spartans have captured a CCHA scoring title, but all four were forwards for the Green & White: Craig Simpson (1984-85), Kip Miller (1988-89, 1989-90), Bryan Smolinski (1992-93) and Shawn Horcoff (1999-2000).
On the season, Krug leads his team in scoring (11-21-32). He leads the team in goals and shares the team lead in assists. He is enjoying his career-best offensive season (32 points) and is the team's active leader in career scoring (81 points). He the top-scoring defenseman in the league and ranks third nationally in points and second in goals among rearguards.
He earned both CCHA Offensive Player of the Week (Feb. 6) and Defensive Player of the Week (Feb. 13) honors this season - the only player in the league to earn both weekly awards.
Krug is a major contributor to the Spartans at both ends of the ice. Michigan State has scored 109 goals in 36 games this season, the most since the 2007-08 team scored 115. MSU is second in the CCHA and 20th nationally in team offense (3.03 goals per game), and ranks 15th in the country in team defense (2.50 gpg). MSU is one of eight schools that have both team offense and team defense ranked among the top 20 nationally.
Krug is the fifth player in Michigan State hockey history to wear the captain's 'C' on his jersey for two seasons, but the only one to do so as a solo captain in both campaigns.
Krug and the Spartans finished fifth in the CCHA regular season, ahead of where the league’s coaches (eighth) and media (sixth) predicted with the pre-season polls. MSU will travel to Oxford, Ohio, to play Miami in the CCHA quarterfinals March 9-11.
Friday MSU recap and Saturday MSU recap
Photo from 2011 GLI/Matt Mackinder/MiCHO
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