GBMWolverine: Michigan Hockey — Wolverine’s Face In-State Rival — Season At Crossroads?
Posted at 6:00am — 12/9/2011
GBMWolverine: Michigan Hockey — Wolverine’s Face In-State Rival — Season At Crossroads?
Michigan (8-8-2, 4-6-2-1 T8th CCHA) vs. #14 Michigan State (10-5-1, 6-4-0 6 th CCHA)
7:35 p.m. Friday 12/9 Yost Ice Arena & 6:35 pm Saturday 12/10 Munn Arena, East Lansing.
TV: Friday-Comcast Local 900; Saturday-BTN
The Wolverines stopped the bleeding temporarily last weekend with a second game split in Alaska. Michigan dropped the first game on Friday 4-3 before surviving a 1-0 OT affair on Saturday. Michigan is 1-7-1 in their last nine and has now fallen out of the top twenty rankings. This will be their final conference series before the holiday break. MSU enters on an 8-1-1 string their last ten games and are 5-1 in their last six CCHA games. They swept BGSU last weekend and are three points ahead of Michigan in the standings with three games in hand. Michigan enjoys a 138-123-18 all time record against their in-state rivals.
Rewinding Michigan’s Previous Action:
The Wolverines traveled to Alaska and lost Friday night 4-3. Phil DeGiuseppe got Michigan on the board inside of thirty seconds for a quick lead. Alaska scored the next three goals including two second period goals in seven seconds. Michigan closed the gap to 3-2 to end two periods of play. Alaska countered with another goal inside the first five minutes of the third period and hung on as David Wohlberg closed the gap again to 4-3 with half a period left. Michigan dominated the period but couldn’t get the equalizer.
Saturday night’s game was the complete opposite as neither team could dent the scoreboard in the first 60 minutes of play. Alex Guptill scored off of a defenseman’s skate to end the game at: 57 of overtime. Both goaltenders played well, with UA’s Scott Greenham stopping 41 of 42 shots. Shawn Hunwick shut out Alaska on 25 stops.
Scouting the Spartans:
Michigan State’s transition from previous coach Rick Comley to former CCHA Commisioner Tom Anastos has been surprisingly smooth through the first half of this season. The Spartans have emerged as a solid group headlined by nine seniors and six juniors (including three NHL draftees). The maturity and leadership has navigated a hard working but less talented assembly into one of the most productive teams in the conference. After the early season struggles were washed out, MSU has run off an 8-1-1 streak including wins over OSU, NMU, WMU (2) and Minnesota. The Spartans will enjoy three straight home series to kickoff the second part of the season- and have only played ten conference games (compared to Michigan’s thirteen).
MSU is led offensively by two sophomores: Lee Reimer (7-13-20) and Greg Wolfe (5-11-16). Senior forwards Brett Perlini (4-10-14) and Mike Merrifield (8-5-13) are enjoying their final campaign also. The defense is experienced, featuring three seniors (Brock Shelgren 2-6-8, Tim Buttery & Matt Crandell 1-9-10) to compliment junior Captain Tory Krug (4-7-11) and fellow juniors Dean Chelios (4-6-10) and Matt Grassi. Freshmen are not featured prominently, but two have jumped in and contributed- forwards Brett Darnell (2-5-7) and Matt Berry (4-5-9). Junior Kevin Walrod has also chipped in with six markers and nine points. The offense is not flashy, but is deep. The defense is big, sticky and seasoned. The last line of defense is shared: senior Drew Palmisano (4-3-1, 2.73 GAA & .910 save %) and big sophomore Will Yanakeff (6-2-0, 2.26 GAA & .923) have split goaltender duties.
What may be even more surprising is the offensive statistics which indicate that MSU is capable of scoring at any point in the game. Their 3.50 GF is 9th nationally. MSU can also shut down teams, posting a 2.56 GA nationally, good for 18th. Much of that can be attributed to their outstanding PK which at 89.2% is ranked 4th. The PP seems to be a bit lucid as MSU is only converting at a 15.9% clip, 39th in the country. MSU has been disciplined this season also, only taking an average of 13 minutes in penalties a game, placing them in the top 25 in the country. They are a solid road crew, sweeping WMU and splitting with NMU. Their tendency is to play a close to the vest style on the road and open it up more at home- where most of their scoring has been accumulated. They appear to be well coached and well disciplined defensively as opponents will have to earn every opportunity in the offensive zone.
Charting The Wolverines:
The Wolverines are relieved to put behind them a miserable losing streak but now must put two good efforts together to re-affirm that they are back on track. Last Saturday’s effort was a huge start to how this team must commit to defense in every aspect of their game. They will need it at Yost on what has now become a yearly struggle on Friday nights. The trip on Saturday will test the team’s resiliency on the road going into an arena where few teams have won games this season.
Freshman Phil DiGiuseppe (8-6-14. +10) and junior Chris Brown (4-10-14) lead an offense that has been somewhat muted at best in the last six games. Juniors AJ Treais (6-7-13, +14) and Lindsay Sparks (5-8-13) are also in the mix for the Wolverines. Freshman Alex Guptill has been the hottest Wolverine, scoring twice now in his last three games to tie DeGiuseppe for the team lead in goals with eight. David Wohlberg (5-7-12) is steadily emerging from his offensive slumber, adding points in three of the past four games. His 7-7-14 leads the team in previous games against the Spartans. Freshman Travis Lynch 5-6-11 has put up modest offensive numbers so far this season. Michigan’s defense, although a potent part of the offense, must balance their defensive responsibilities with jumping into the play. Mac Bennett (3-10-13), Lee Moffie (2-11-13, +10) and Greg Pateryn (2-8-10) lead the charge offensively from the blue line.
Shawn Hunwick had a bittersweet weekend, shutting out Alaska for his second such feat of the season and seventh of his career-fifth all time in Michigan history. He is 8-7-2 with a 2.43 GAA and a .917 save %. He is 4-2 versus MSU with a 1.67 GAA and a .937 save %.
Michigan holds firm at 3.56 GF per game average, 6th in the country- and a hair’s percentage better than the Spartans. Similarly, the defensive lapses during the long winless string raised their team goals against to 2.61 per game (21st) which is again just a hair above MSU’s rank. The Wolverine PK is 31st at 82.1 and has surrendered goals in three of the past four games. The PP is abysmal at a 16.2% conversion, 38th-just ahead of MSU. Michigan is 31st in average penalty minutes at 13.7 which is not tremendously bad- depending on the timing of the penalties.
Overall, the Wolverines are 5-5 in their last ten games against MSU (over the last two seasons), 10-5 in the last three seasons and are 20-17-12 in the past ten seasons. MSU won the last meeting, a 2-1 decision at JLA in Detroit.
Expectation:
It will be difficult to accurately predict what type of game will unfold on Friday night at Yost. MSU will be conservative in their style unless they fall behind. Michigan’s success both nights will factor on gaining the lead, keeping it and limiting shots on goal which has been a huge part of their defensive zone difficulties.
Fatigue should not be an issue, but it may be a factor from the long Alaska trip.
Still, these are vital points for the Wolverines who, if they split or get swept, could virtually be out of the CCHA title race. At worst, it will make it very difficult for them to recover in order to secure a first round bye and a second round home ice advantage (by finishing fifth or above.) They currently sit 14 points behind the leader (OSU) and 4 points out of fifth place. These games are HUGE, considering MSU is just 3 points ahead of Michigan. Factor also that Michigan’s second half schedule is much more difficult with a heavily skewed road schedule and only six home games remaining. It’s time to step up and take control, especially at Yost, where too many opponents have come in and shoved the Wolverines around. It is also time to scale back their road play and focus on the simple things. They’ll have two weeks after this series before the GLI, so it’s time to throw everything they have at their rivals. Keep in mind that Phil DiGiuseppe will be lost for the Munn game due to his commitment to trying out for the Canadian WJT team. Jon Merrill will also not be available. Friday night’s game will dictate the weekend.
Friday: 5-4 Michigan Saturday: 2-2 tie (1-0 MSU shootout win)
Yost Bits:
-Yost fans NOTE: please be aware that State Street will be closed for two weeks at Stimson/ Stadium Blvd. due to reconstructing the Stadium Blvd. bridge that goes over State. Anyone that uses Crisler arena parking is advised to take Main Street to Stadium Blvd. to access parking lots. This will impact the traffic for the MSU game on 12/9. Stadium Blvd. will be closed east of Crisler Arena until next November.
-Jon Merrill was named to the USA World Junior tryout camp and will be allowed to play in the tournament if he makes the team.
-Michigan junior Kevin Lynch (2-1-3, -5, 20 penalty minutes) and freshman Zach Hyman (2-5-7, -4) take honors as the team’s most underperforming players. It is especially disappointing to see Lynch, a Columbus Blue Jackets draftee, disappear to the point where only Kevin Clare (3 points) and Shawn Hunwick (2 points) have tallied less than Lynch. Hyman was a heralded freshman with goal scoring prowess that just hasn’t found his game yet at the collegiate level.
-Michigan will be off for holiday break until the GLI which features a semifinal game versus BC while Michigan State takes on Michigan Tech on 12/29.
-The MSU game will also feature the annual Teddy Bear Toss for the benefit of the little ones at Mott’s Children Hospital.
Become a GBMWolverine member and talk hockey in the forum. Stay tuned to the forum for the latest Michigan Hockey news… Go Blue!
Please comment on our GBMWolverine Message Board about this article and read what others comment.
You can contact us at our e-mail address: GBMWolverine
Written by GBMWolverine Staff — YostMeister
Go Blue — Wear Maize!