GBMWolverine: Michigan Hockey — Wolverines enter GLI as “Underdogs” — GLI Preview — Part I

Posted at 6:00am — 12/29/2011

GBMWolverine: Michigan Hockey — Wolverines enter GLI as “Underdogs” — GLI Preview — Part I

What: 47th Annual GLI Hockey Tournament December 29th & 30th
Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit
Who: #14 MSU (10-6-2) vs. Michigan Tech (9-9-1) 4:05 pm
#20 Michigan (9-8-3) vs. #3 Boston College (12-6) 7:35 pm
Third place Consolation Game on 12/30 begins at 4:00 pm Championship game at 7:30 pm
TV: 12/29: FSD for the Michigan/BC game ONLY
12/30: none. Other games are available via web cast.

The Wolverines enter GLI action after taking four of six points from Michigan State on 12/9 and 12/10 with a 4-3 home victory and a 3-3 tie/shootout loss in East Lansing. The Wolverines are the defending GLI Champions and have won the tournament three of the past four seasons. Michigan is seeking their tournament leading 15th GLI title dating back to 1966. They have won their last three tournament games. Michigan Tech, the original host of the tournament which dates back to 1965, has won nine titles, yet has not won the GLI since 1980. First year coach Mel Pearson ended the longest overtime game in GLI history while playing for the Huskies in 1979, when he scored against Michigan in triple OT.

Michigan State enters play with twelve titles, including the 2009 and 2006 GLI championships. They also won four straight titles from 1997 through 2000, ending a string of nine straight Michigan championships.

Boston College, this season’s non-Michigan participant, has played in the GLI three other times, in 1973 (3rd place), 2000 (3rd place) and 2003 (GLI Champ). BC joins Notre Dame and North Dakota as the other four time participants as well as NMU, Harvard and BU who have played in the tournament five times.

The other participating invitees have won a combined eleven GLI titles.

Scouting the Eagles:
Boston College comes to Detroit as the probable favorite in the tournament, although Michigan coach Red Berenson indicated when asked in the GLI press teleconference on 12/27 that the tournament is probably the deepest field in recent years. BC comes in ranked 3rd in the nation although they suffered losses in two of their last four outings including their last game against U-Mass Lowell. BC doesn’t shy away from scheduling tough non conference games, as they started the season with impressive wins against MSU and North Dakota in the annual Ice Breaker Tournament held this season in Grand Forks, ND. The Eagles lost at home to Denver and at Notre Dame, but also won at Yale. Their resume’ also includes two home losses versus arch-rival BU and a road rout of the Terriers. They also squeezed out two wins against a common opponent of Michigan, Northeastern University.

BC is a high risk/ high reward team that pushes a tremendous two way up tempo pace and typically just out skates and outscores inferior opponents. They can settle into a grind it out game as comfortably as a wide open affair, although they got burned in last season’s West Regional in St Louis by the high flying Tigers from Colorado College. The Eagles are physical and apply a great deal of pressure on their opponent’s blue line. Their lineup is top heavy in production, starting with leading scorer (junior) Chris Kreider (12-11-23, +8). Senior forward Barry Almeida (10-5-15) leads the class of six seniors up front, while captain and blue line stalwart Tommy Cross (2-10-12) directs the back end. Junior forward Pat Mullane (2-14-16) is a play-maker, while junior defense-man Brian Dumoulin (2-12-14, +9) supplies special team scoring. The Eagles will be missing one key element of their offense with sophomore Bill Arnold (11-9-20, +10) away at the U-20 World Junior Tournament- but have plenty of scoring depth on their bench with senior Paul Carey (5-6-11), junior Steve Whitney (6-9-15), sophomore Kevin Hayes (4-11-15) and freshman Johnny Goudreau (7-7-14). Goal-tending is not an afterthought at BC, either with two very capable netminders in junior Parker Milner (9-5-0, 2.49 GAA and .901 Sv %.) and freshman Brian Billett (3-1-0, 1.76 GAA and .941 Sv %.) Coach Jerry York is second all time in coaching wins with 891 in his career. He mentioned that it is special being invited back to the GLI and that they jumped at the chance to participate in what is deemed as the most prestigious holiday tournament in college hockey.

BC’s statistical data is impressive, as the Eagles are 4th in offense (3.61 gpg), 16th in defense (2.50 gpg) and enjoy a particularly sound penalty kill (87.8%-10th). Their PP is not overwhelming, as they stand 33rd at 18.3% conversion. The Eagles are aggressive in terms of penalties, averaging 15.4 minutes a game which ranks 13th worst in the country. Based on the special teams, though, this doesn’t appear to bother them.

Peeking at the Spartans and Huskies:
MSU comes into the GLI with a good feeling after stealing an extra point from Michigan in their last meeting prior to the break. The Spartans are a much better offensive team than in years past when the Rick Comley coached teams would play “not to lose” hockey as Captain Torey Krug described it. The emphasis on up tempo hockey has blossomed into a boost of confidence for the team, giving them the sense that they are never out of any game.

MSU is led offensively by two sophomores: Lee Reimer (8-14-22) and Greg Wolfe (5-12-17). Senior forwards Brett Perlini (4-11-15) and Mike Merrifield (8-5-13) are proliferating in this new system. The defense is experienced, featuring three seniors (Brock Shelgren, Tim Buttery & Matt Crandell) to compliment junior Captain Tory Krug (5-7-12) and fellow juniors Dean Chelios and Matt Grassi. Freshmen are not featured prominently, but two have jumped in and contributed- forwards Brett Darnell and Matt Berry were instrumental against Michigan. 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 (4-3-2, 2.74 GAA & .912 Sv %) and sophomore Will (weird Al) Yanakeff (6-3-0, 2.46 GAA & .915) 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 3.44 GF is top 15 nationally. MSU can also shut down teams, posting a 2.67 GA nationally, good for 20th. Much of that can be attributed to their outstanding PK which at 89.7% is ranked 4th. The PP feasted on Michigan and boosted MSU’s conversion to 19.1%, 25th in the country. MSU has been disciplined this season also, only taking an average of 12 minutes in penalties a game, placing them in the top 25 in the country. They are healthy and well rested and could be a dark horse in this tournament. They have already played Michigan and BC (losing 5-2) but are eager to see what the new look Michigan Tech team brings to their semi-final match.

The Michigan Tech Huskies have to be the resurgent story so far in college hockey. New coach Mel Pearson has surrounded himself with former Wolverines (Steve Shields and Billy Muckalt) as well as at least one former Spartan to help re-build this downtrodden program. The Huskies have already won more games this season than all of last season and are doing it with a Michigan blueprint: solid two way defense, up tempo offense and good goal-tending. The Huskies take a .500 record into the GLI for the first time since the 1997-98 season (9-8-1) and finished 17-20-1.

Pearson mentioned in the teleconference that three seniors have led the way for him: captain Brett Olson (6-13-19), forward Jordan Baker (4-11-15) and goaltender Josh Robinson (8-7-1, 2.72 GAA & .914 Sv %). Junior defense-man Steve Seigo probably should be included in that discussion also, as he has tallied 3-11-14. Backup goaltender (junior) Kevin Genoe (1-2-0, 2.74 GAA and .872 Sv %) spells Robinson. The Huskies were even ranked this season at one point, but are just trying to stay above water in the difficult WCHA conference. They surprised perennial power Denver taking a win and a tie at home, plus added a sweep against Wisconsin and a solid road win at Minnesota. They did have some ugly blemishes, getting swept by #1 UM-Duluth and dropping their last two games to Minnesota and nemesis NMU. The Huskies don’t bring overwhelming depth to the ice, but work hard. They average 2.84 gpg and surrender 2.89 gpg, both middle of the pack numbers. Their special teams keep them in games, though, as their PP sizzles at 21.4% (top 20) and their PK is a respectable 81.4% conversion (top 25). They take about 14 minutes in penalties per game, though, a number too high to keep good opponents off of the board if given too many opportunities. Tech cannot be overlooked and are capable of biting any of the other teams in the GLI depending on which Tech team comes to Detroit.

MSU holds a 78-73-2 mark against the Michigan Tech and last lost to the Huskies in 2007. MSU has won 13 of the past 14 meetings. In the event that these match-ups happen-Michigan Tech’s history against Michigan goes back to 1921, with Michigan holding a 120-93-5 advantage. The Huskies haven’t beaten Michigan since 2000, and have lost 20 of the past 21 meetings including last season’s 4-2 setback. Tech hasn’t played BC since 1989 and is 3-6 against the Eagles. MSU and BC met earlier this season for the 25th time with MSU holding a 17-7-1 advantage. Michigan holds a 139-123-19 series lead over the Spartans.

Part II will come later today talking about “Charting the Wolverines”, “Expectations”, and “Yost Bits”.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff

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