MSU takes dramatic third at IceBreaker

By Matt Mackinder/Michigan State Beat Writer

Michigan State made coach Tom Anastos' first win of his tenure a memorable one as the Spartans topped Air Force in overtime in the consolation game Saturday night of the IceBreaker Tournament in Grand Forks, N.D.

Lee Reimer's second goal of the game won the game for MSU, 3-2, while Will Yanakeff stopped 26 shots for the win between the pipes.

Greg Wolfe also scored for the Spartans (1-1-0).

"It was really nice to get the first win for our team and Coach Anastos," Reimer told msuspartans.com. "We had to just keep going and it will be nice to head home on a high note. Hopefully, we can keep it going next week."

Friday night, No. 5 Boston College scored three goals in the final 8:20 of regulation to hand Michigan State a 5-2 loss.

Brett Perlini and Trevor Nill had the MSU goals and Drew Palmisano made 30 saves in defeat.

"I think we made some mistakes tonight and mistakes tend to end up in the back of your net," said Anastos to msuspartans.com. "Credit to Boston College, because that is a very good team that we played. We got what we expected out of them - they move the puck well, and have good speed.

"Our focus is making good decisions for 60 minutes. When you don't make good decisions, you become a lot easier to play against. Our goal is to be a very difficult team to play - we want to make people have to go through us, that every battle is a tough one."

The Spartans travel to Lake Superior State next weekend to open CCHA play.

MSU to play in 2011 Ice Breaker

Michigan State Press Release

College Hockey, Inc., in conjunction with the University of North Dakota athletics department and Ralph Engelstad Arena, announced today that UND will host the annual Ice Breaker Tournament to open the 2011-12 season. The tournament will take place Oct. 7-8.

The 15th annual Ice Breaker Tournament will feature four of the most storied programs in NCAA men’s hockey, including North Dakota and Boston College, currently the top two ranked teams in the country, as well as Michigan State and Air Force.

The 2011 Ice Breaker participants have combined to win 14 NCAA championships, led by UND’s seven. Boston College has won four and Michigan State has won three. MSU (2007) and Boston College (2008, 2010) have won three of the last four NCAA titles.

“We were thrilled to accept an invitation to participate in the 2011 Ice Breaker at North Dakota,” said Michigan State athletics director Mark Hollis. “This will add a pair of quality opponents to our 2011-12 schedule, and a big stage for our new coaching staff to usher in the next era of Michigan State hockey. North Dakota’s facility is top-notch, and we know that the tournament will provide our student-athletes a fantastic experience.”

“I’m really, really excited to hear that this is being added to our schedule,” said Michigan State team captain Torey Krug. “One of the reasons I came to Michigan State was the opportunity to play other top programs in the country. It will be a great experience for our team to play on a big stage so early in the season.”

Michigan State is appearing in the IceBreaker for the fourth time. The Spartans first appeared in the inaugural1997-98 tournament, downing Boston University and Wisconsin to capture the title. MSU hosted the event in 2004, dropping a 4-3 decision to Findlay before rebounding with a 5-4 victory over Minnesota-Duluth. The Spartans’ most recent appearance came in Boston in 2009, falling to host Boston University (2-1) in the final after dispatching Massachusetts, 3-1, in the semis.

This will be Michigan State’s second visit to the new Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks. The Spartans opened the 2007-08 season at “the Ralph” with the US Hockey Hall of Fame Game; the Fighting Sioux took a 6-0 decision.

“We are excited and honored to be able to bring such a prestigious collegiate hockey event to Grand Forks,” said UND athletics director Brian Faison. “There were a lot of moving parts that had to align to make this happen, and I particularly want to thank Ralph Engelstad Arena general manager Jody Hodgson and his staff for their efforts.”

“It’s fitting that we celebrate the start of the 2011 college hockey season at one of the crown jewels of the game, Ralph Engelstad Arena,” said College Hockey, Inc. executive director Paul Kelly. “College Hockey, Inc. is confident that North Dakota will be an outstanding host for this special event that brings together four of the elite college hockey programs in the country.”

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)

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.

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