Michigan natives aplenty in NCAA tournament

No schools from the state of Michigan made the round of 16 for the NCAA tournament that starts this weekend at four sites across the country, but the Mitten State is still well-represented with plenty of players on the rosters of the 16 qualifying teams.

BOSTON COLLEGE
Patrick Brown, Jr., F, Bloomfield Hills

CANISIUS
Doug Beck, So., F, Plymouth

MASSACHUSETTS-LOWELL 
Adam Chapie, Fr., F, Oxford
Connor Hellebuyck, Fr., G, Commerce - pictured
A.J. White, Fr., F, Dearborn

MIAMI 
Riley Barber, Fr., F, Livonia
Austin Czarnik, So., F, Washington
Garrett Kennedy, Sr., D/F, Brighton

MINNESOTA STATE 
Jean-Paul Lafontaine, So., F, Oxford

NIAGARA 
Kevin Albers, So., D, Lake Orion
Ryan Rashid, Jr., F, Farmington Hills

NOTRE DAME 
Joe Rogers, Jr., G, Marysville
Bryan Rust, Jr., F, Novi
Andy Ryan, Fr., D, Brighton
Mike Voran, Jr., F, Livonia

ST. CLOUD STATE 
Kevin Gravel, Jr., D, Kingsford

YALE 
Ryan Obuchowski, Fr., D, West Bloomfield

Bulldogs ousted by Ohio State in CCHA quarterfinals

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Ferris State's long-standing run within the CCHA came to a bitter end over the weekend, as the Bulldogs lost a best-of-three series to Ohio State in the conference quarterfinals.

Friday's opener favored the visiting Bulldogs, who jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a power-play marker by senior Kyle Bonis from between the faceoff circles with 15:44 elapsed in the first. Earning assists in the process were linemates Travis Ouellette and Justin Buzzeo.

The Buckeyes bounced back to begin the middle frame, notching two goals within the first seven minutes of play. Max McCormick knotted the game up at one goal apiece at the 1:13 mark, after knocking in a rebound on Ferris State goaltender C.J. Motte.

With the Bulldogs down a skater, Ohio State capitalized on that opportunity to grab their first lead of the game at 6:55 on a goal by Tanner Fritz.

Not to be outdone, Ferris State was able to bounce back shortly thereafter on Justin DeMartino's fifth marker of the campaign, which came courtesy of Garrett Thompson and Brandon Anselmini.

DeMartino answered the call once more for the Bulldogs in the early moments of the third, banging in the game-winning goal from close quarters off an Eric Alexander feed at the 1:24 mark.

Ahead by a 3-2 margin, Bonis lit the lamp once more with 24 seconds left on an empty-netter to register his team-high 19th goal of the campaign.

Motte collected 28 saves to pick-up his 15th victory, while counterpart Brady Hjelle had 18 stops.

What Ferris State had hoped would be the close-out game on Saturday, turned out to be the exact opposite, as Ohio State bounced back from one-goal deficit early on to steal a 3-1 decision.

Ouellette placed the Bulldogs in the lead with 3:31 elapsed in the opening stanza on a power-play goal, with helpers being credited to Jason Binkley and Buzzeo.

The Buckeyes evened-up matters 10 minutes later, responding with a goal by Ryan Dzingel on the man-advantage.

Ohio State would light the lamp in each of the remaining two periods to stave off elimination and force a deciding game three.

With both teams looking to keep their respective season alive, there was plenty of action right out of the gates to begin Sunday's clincher, as four of the five scores came in the first period alone.

McCormick tallied his third goal in as many nights to put the Buckeyes ahead at the 1:32 mark, but Ferris State countered at the midway point with scores by juniors Andy Huff and Cory Kane.

Ohio State made it a 2-2 affair with just over a minute remaining in the first, as Curtis Gedig fired a shot over the right shoulder of Motte, which came while on the man-advantage.

Following a scoreless second period, the Buckeyes broke the tie at the 3:33 mark of the third on a goal by Anthony Greco.

Of Ohio State's six assists, three belonged to Dzingel.

Hjelle finished with an astounding 47 saves, 21 of which came in the second period.

Motte had 27 stops in the loss, dropping to 15-15-5 as a starter.

Ferris State ends the 2012-2013 season with an overall ledger of 16-16-5.

CCHA releases 2013 All-Conference Teams

 

CCHA Press Release

Seven teams are represented on the 2013 CCHA All-Conference teams, highlighted by Miami’s pair of First-Team selections and Western Michigan’s three overall honorees. Miami is the only school with two First-Team selections, with sophomore forward Austin Czarnik and freshman forward Riley Barber debuting on the CCHA All-Conference team.

Czarnik, who tied for the most first-place votes with eight, finished the season in fourth place in both conference scoring (8-18-26) and overall scoring (11-22-33), while fellow RedHawks forward Riley Barber led the league in overall scoring as a freshman with 15 goals and 36 points. Rounding out the forwards on the First Team, Notre Dame junior Anders Lee picked up seven first-place votes, the third most among all players. Lee finished with a league-best +18 in conference action while placing second in the goal-scoring race with 14 conference goals and 18 overall tallies.

 

The First Team’s blue line is anchored by Michigan freshman defenseman Jacob Trouba, who tied Czarnik with eight first-place votes. Trouba led all defensemen in scoring in conference play, recording seven goals and 18 points. His defensive partner is Western Michigan junior Dan DeKeyser (pictured), who earned six first-place votes. Backstopping the First Team is Ohio State senior goaltender Brady Hjelle, who also picked up six first-place votes. Hjelle posted a league-best four conference shutouts, while his .937 save percentage and 1.89 goals-against average were second best among CCHA netminders, and tops among goalies playing at least 50 percent of his team’s minutes.

 

Western Michigan senior defenseman Luke Witkowski, who scored two power-play goals among his seven conference points, and Western Michigan sophomore goaltender Frank Slubowski, who started all 28 conference games and paced all goaltenders with 15 conference wins, were named to the Second Team. Ohio State sophomore forward Tanner Fritz leads the forwards on the Second Team after topping the conference in both assists (23) and scoring with 32 points. Bowing Green also has a pair of Second-Team selections in sophomore forward Ryan Carpenter and senior defenseman Bobby Shea. Carpenter led the Falcons in scoring, potting 12 goals and 21 points in conference action, while Shea led all defensemen with 15 assists and a +14 rating. Rounding out the Second Team is Alaska senior forward Andy Taranto, who led the Nanooks in conference scoring with a 7-15-22 scoring line.

 

The teams were selected by a vote of the league’s head coaches and are based on performance in conference games. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.

 

2012-13 CCHA All-Conference Teams
 

First Team

Position	Name, Year, School	First	Totals
Forward	Austin Czarnik, SO, Miami	8	46
Forward	Anders Lee, JR, Notre Dame	7	44
Forward	Riley Barber, FR, Miami	5	40
Defense	Jacob Trouba, FR, Michigan	8	43
Defense	Dan DeKeyser, JR, Western Michigan	6	36
Goaltender	Brady Hjelle, SR, Ohio State	6	39

 

                                              Second Team

Position	Name, Year, School	First	Totals
Forward	Tanner Fritz, SO, Ohio State	2	32
Forward	Ryan Carpenter, SO, Bowling Green	1	22
Forward	Andy Taranto, SR, Alaska	2	20
Defense	Luke Witkowski, SR, Western Michigan	3	26
Defense	Bobby Shea, SR, Bowling Green	2	25
Goaltender	Frank Slubowski, SO, Western Michigan	4	27

 

Vote Values: 1st place = 5, 2nd place = 3, 3rd place = 1

Honorable Mention (next six point totals, regardless of position with first team-votes in parentheses): Ryan Dzingel, SO, F, Ohio State, (2) 17; Domenic Monardo, SR, F, Lake Superior, (2) 16; Kyle Bonis, SR, F, Ferris State, (1) 16; Matthew Caito, FR, D, Miami, (1) 15; CJ Motte, SO, G, Ferris State, 14; Bryan Rust, JR, F, Notre Dame, 11.

 

Others receiving votes: Forwards - T.J. Tynan, JR, Notre Dame, (1) 8; Chase Balisy, JR, Western Michigan, 8; Cody Kunyk, JR, Alaska, (1) 6; Matt Thurber, SR, Northern Michigan, 4; Dane Walters, SR, Western Michigan, 4; Cristoval Nieves, FR, Michigan, 1; Reed Seckel, SO, Northern Michigan, 1; Garrett Thompson, JR, Ferris State, 1. Defensemen - Robbie Russo, SO, Notre Dame, (1) 9; Mac Bennett, JR, Michigan, (1) 8; Colton Parayko, FR, Alaska, 8; Jason Binkley, SO, Ferris State, 6; Simon Denis, SO, Ferris State, 6; Craig Dalrymple, FR, Ohio State, 4; Steven Spinell, SR, Miami, 4; Trevor Campbell, SO, Alaska, 3; Scott Macaulay, SR, Northern Michigan, 3; Curtis Gedig, JR, Ohio State, 1; CJ Ludwig, JR, Northern Michigan, 1. Goaltenders - Andrew Hammond, SR, Bowling Green, 8; Jared Coreau, JR, Northern Michigan, 6.

Photo courtesy of Western Michigan Athletics

CCHA names seven players to All-Rookie Team

CCHA Press Release

Four schools had one student-athlete named to the 2013 CCHA All-Rookie Team, with Miami University boasting three selections. This marks the 25th year that the conference has named an all-rookie team. Thirteen freshmen garnered at least one vote.

Determined by a vote of the conference’s head coaches, the team will be honored at the 2013 CCHA Awards on Friday, March 22, at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. The 2013 CCHA Championship is March 23-24 at Joe Louis Arena. Tickets and more information are available at CCHA.com.
 

2013 CCHA All-Rookie Team

Riley Barber	Forward	Miami University	Livonia, Mich.
Mario Lucia	Forward	University of Notre Dame	Plymouth, Minn.
Tyler Morley	Forward	University of Alaska	Burnaby, B.C.
Jacob Trouba	Defenseman	University of Michigan	Rochester, Mich.
Matthew Caito	Defenseman	Miami University	Coto de Caza, Calif.
Kenney Morrison	Defenseman	Western Michigan University	Lloydminster, Alta.
Ryan McKay	Goaltender	Miami University	Palatine, Ill.

 

	Riley Barber, a 19-year-old forward from Livonia, Mich., and Miami University, was the only unanimous selection to the All-Rookie team. Barber was a four-time CCHA Gongshow Rookie of the Week recipient as well as the league’s October and November Gongshow Rookie of the Month. The Washington Capitals draft pick led the CCHA in overall scoring, tallying 15 goals and 36 points. His 21 assists and 36 points were tops in the nation among all rookies. He finished second in conference scoring with a 12-18-30 scoring line.
	Mario Lucia, a 19-year-old forward from Plymouth, Minn., and the University of Notre Dame, finished third among CCHA rookies in conference scoring, tying Barber for most goals by a freshman with 12. His 21 points tied for second on Notre Dame. The Minnesota Wild draft pick was named CCHA Gongshow Rookie of the Week twice, Postgame Offensive Player of the Week once and earned the Gongshow Rookie of the Month honor in December.
	Tyler Morley, a 21-year-old forward from Burnaby, B.C., and the University of Alaska, finished the regular season with eight goals and 15 points and was the CCHA Gongshow Rookie of the Week once in the 2012-13 campaign. He finished third in scoring on the Nanooks, led all CCHA rookies in short-handed goals with two and scored three game-winning goals, tying him with Barber for the most among CCHA freshmen.
	Jacob Trouba, a 19-year-old defenseman from Rochester, Mich., and the University of Michigan, consistently played in the Wolverines top two defensive pairs. The Winnipeg Jets first-round draft pick led all CCHA defensemen in goals and points, finding the back of the net seven times and potting 18 points. Half of Trouba’s points came with the man advantage, where he scored four times and assisted on five goals.
	Matthew Caito, a 19-year-old defenseman from Coto de Caza, Calif., and Miami University, finished with five goals and 16 points, leading Miami defensemen in all three scoring categories. Playing in one of Miami’s top defensive pairs, Caito finished with a +9 rating and was named the CCHA Gladiator Defenseman of the Week twice.
	Kenney Morrison, a 21-year-old defenseman from Lloydminster, Alta., and Western Michigan University, finished in a second-place tie for overall scoring among defenseman with six goals and 17 points. His five power-play goals and 14 power-play points paced all defensemen in the CCHA. Morrison was named CCHA Gongshow Rookie of the Week once.
	Ryan McKay, a 20-year-old goaltender from Palatine, Ill., and Miami University, bounced back from an early-season injury to post a league best 1.32 goals-against average and .951 save percentage, while earning an 8-3-1 record with two shutouts. In overall play, McKay’s 1.17 goals-against average and .957 save percentage were the best in the country among all goaltenders.

 

Honorable mentions

Forward — Cristoval Nieves, UM; Matt DeBlouw, MSU; Defense — Colton Parayko, UA; Craig Dalrymple, OSU; Goaltender — Jake Hildebrand, MSU; John Keeney, UA.

CCHA releases All-Time Team

CCHA Press Release

Continuing to ‘Celebrate The Legacy’ in its’ 42nd and final season, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) has released the league’s All-Time Team to honor the league’s top performers from the past 42 seasons.

The illustrious group of 12 players, selected by a committee of coaches, administrators and media, joins the league’s All-Decade teams from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s that were selected in 2001, and the All-Decade Team from 2000-13 that was selected earlier this season.
 

All 12 players selected to the CCHA All-Time Team were All-Americans (eight multiple All-Americans) and graduated to professional careers. Ten played in the National Hockey League (NHL), Michigan State goaltender Ryan Miller blossomed into an NHL All-Star and U.S. Olympian, and Bowling Green defenseman Ken Morrow won a Gold medal with the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team. Morrow (N.Y. Islanders) and Lake Superior forward Jim Dowd (New Jersey Devils) each has their name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
 

The CCHA All-Time Team was chosen from the All-Decade First-Team players, Hobey Baker Award winners and All-Americans that played at least three years of college hockey. The selections were made by a committee of coaches, administrators and media that have been involved with the league for the better part of the last three decades.
 

Below is the team in alphabetical order by position with their overall career totals. The All-Time Team includes four Hobey Baker Award winners, including George McPhee, the league’s first winner in 1982, along with Kip Miller (1990), Brendan Morrison (1997) and Ryan Miller (2002). Morrison and Ryan Miller are the league’s only two-time Players of the Year, while Nelson Emerson is the league’s all-time leading scorer and Wayne Gagne is the all-time top scorer among CCHA defensemen.

CCHA All-Time Team

FIRST TEAM

Name, Lettered	Pos.	School	GP	G	A	Pts
George McPhee, 1978-82	F	Bowling Green	153	114	153	267
Kip Miller, 1986-90	F	Michigan State	176	118	143	261
Brendan Morrison, 1993-97	F	Michigan	155	102	182	284
Wayne Gagne, 1983-87	D	Western Michigan	162	42	199	241
Andy Greene, 2002-06	D	Miami	159	27	87	114

 

Name, Lettered	Pos.	School	W-L-T	GAA	SV%
Ryan Miller, 1999-02	G	Michigan State	73-18-12	1.54	.941

 

SECOND TEAM

Name, Lettered	Pos.	School	GP	G	A	Pts
Jim Dowd, 1987-91	F	Lake Superior	181	91	183	274
Nelson Emerson, 1986-90	F	Bowling Green	178	112	182	294
Bill Joyce, 1976-80	F	Northern Michigan	130	112	143	255
John-Michael Liles, 1999-03	D	Michigan State	162	44	94	138
Ken Morrow, 1975-79	D	Bowling Green	154	34	92	126

Name, Lettered	Pos.	School	W-L-T	GAA	SV%
Mike Liut, 1973-77	G	Bowling Green	53-27-1	3.35	.888

MiCHO Power Poll 03.13.2013

Below is the final MiCHO Power Poll for the 2012-13 season.

1. Western Michigan (idle)
2. Ferris State (idle)
3. Michigan (beat Northern Michigan in CCHA first round)
4. Michigan Tech (split with Colorado College)
5. Michigan State (beat Alaska in CCHA first round)
6. Lake Superior State (lost to Bowling Green in CCHA first round)
7. Northern Michigan (lost to Michigan in CCHA first round)

This weekend, the second round of the CCHA playoffs kick into high gear as Michigan State plays at Miami, Western Michigan hosts Michigan and Ferris State travels to Ohio State.

In the WCHA postseason, Michigan Tech will play on the road at North Dakota.

Past, present and future collide in the Soo

By Michael David/LSSU Beat Writer

When the CCHA brackets were announced and I read that the Lake Superior State Lakers would host the Bowling Green State Falcons in the first round of the playoffs, I was a little disappointed at first. I thought I would rather see a team that wouldn't be in the same league as Lake State next season. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized the Lakers and Falcons fighting for the right to move on for a chance to play at 'The Joe' is pretty poetic. After all, the Falcons are a founding member of the league and the two schools have had plenty of battles over the years and will have more in the years to come. Both programs represented the CCHA well. Bowling Green has won seven regular season championships, five playoff championships and one national championship. Lake Superior has won four regular season championships, four playoff championships and five national championships under the CCHA banner.

This past weekend, however, went the way of the Falcons. In game one of the series on Friday, the Lakers blanked Bowling Green by the score of 2-0. After a scoreless first period, Laker captain Dominic Monardo ripped a shot that put his team up 1-0. Eric Drapluk and Dan Radke assisted on Monardo's goal. Just two minutes later, Bryce Schmitt scored with help from Zach Sternberg and Nick McParland. The two goals was all the Lakers would need, as Kevin Kapalka earned the shutout with 31 saves. LSSU was 0-for-3 on the power-play, while BGSU was 0-for-2.

The next two games of the series, the Lakers would be embarrassed on their home ice. Bowling Green came back to even the series 1-1, with a big 6-3 win Saturday night. The Lakers would actually draw first blood, with Drapluk scoring a power-play goal in the first period, assisted by Kevin Czuczman. With BG up 3-1 in the second, Drapluk would find the net again, this time assisted by McParland and Colin Campbell. Down, 5-2, Campbell would score the last Laker goal, on the power-play, assisted by Radke and Sternberg. Kevin Murdock took the loss, making 17 saves in two periods of work. Kapalka played out the third, making nine saves in relief. LSSU was 2-6 with the extra man, while BG was 0-4. Game three was even uglier for the royal blue and gold, getting dominated by the score of 7-0. Kapalka took the loss, making 26 saves. Lakers were were 0-4 on the power-play, while the Falcons went 1-6.

The Lakers season comes to an end with a disappointing 17-21-1 record, just 11-16-1-1 in the last season of CCHA play. Lake State will look for retribution next season on November 29-30 as they will host Bowling Green under the WCHA banner. Both teams will be competing for the WCHA's MacNaughton Cup for the regular season championship and the Broadmoor Trophy for the playoff champion. While I'll miss what the CCHA was back in the 80's and 90's, I won't really miss what it became. I'm truly thankful for what I call poor officiating, the three-point wins and gimmicky shoot-outs will be a thing of the past...

Photos courtesy of Michael David

MiCHO Power Poll 03.06.2013

This week's MiCHO Power Poll is now live:

1. Western Michigan (split with Michigan State)
2. Ferris State (loss, shootout loss against Michigan)
3. Michigan (win, shootout win against Ferris State)
4. Michigan Tech (split with St. Cloud State)
5. Lake Superior State (split with Northern Michigan)
6. Michigan State (split with Western Michigan)
7. Northern Michigan (split with Lake Superior State)

Each week during the regular season, MichiganCollegeHockey.com staffers will compile the MiCHO Power Poll. Contrary to popular belief, there is no coin flip involved. The poll comprises the seven Division I teams in the state of Michigan.

U-M captures 5 of 6 points from Bulldogs

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Ferris State's performance against Michigan in the final week of the CCHA regular season can be looked at two different ways.

On one hand, the Bulldogs dropped a 4-1 decision on Friday and tied the Wolverines 1-1 the following night before being upended in a shootout.

Looking at it from a different perspective, even though Ferris State fell short, they still managed to finish within the top five of the CCHA standings and have earned a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

Michigan came out energized in the series opener, rolling out to a 2-0 lead midway through the first on scores from Zach Hyman and Derek DeBlois.

It wasn't until a power-play opportunity later in the frame that Ferris State would respond, as senior forward Travis Ouellette scored on Wolverines' netminder Steve Racine from the left side of the post at the 16:09 mark. Junior forward Garrett Thompson and sophomore defenseman Jason Binkley were both credited with helpers on that play.

In the ensuing period, momentum shifted back to Michigan's side courtesy one-timer from between the circles by Lee Moffie off a Phil DiGiuseppe pass with less than six minutes remaining.

The icing on the cake for the Wolverines came with 12:13 elapsed in the third, when Lee Moffie fired a shot from the blue line that took a wicked bounce off a Bulldogs' defender before sliding past C.J. Motte.

Motte faced double-digit shots in all three periods to finish with 33 saves, while counterpart Racine had 22 to his credit.

Saturday's tilt was more evenly matched, with Michigan once again grabbing the early lead off of Kevin Lynch's power-play marker nearly eight minutes in.

Ferris State evened-up the score in the following stanza thanks in large part to a breakdown in the Wolverines' defensive zone. Ouellette brought the puck up-ice quickly to create a 2-on-1 situation before dumping it off to linemate Justin DeMartino near the corner. From there, DeMartino found freshman defenseman Zach Dorer open on the left-side of the net, who promptly banged one in for his first collegiate goal.

With neither squad able to finish the job in overtime, the game was decided in shootout, where Michigan's A.J. Treais was the only participant to light the lamp.

Despite the loss, Motte once again topped Racine in the saves department, 35-24.

The Wolverines (13-18-3 overall, 10-15-3-3 CCHA), who finished seventh in the CCHA standings, will host Northern Michigan this weekend in a best-of-three series to kick-off the first round of the conference tournament.

The Bulldogs (15-14-5,13-12-3-1) return to the ice on March 15-17, where they'll play host Ohio State in the CCHA quarterfinals. Both teams split against each other in their only regular season series back in January.