Know Thy Playoff Enemy: Alaska - A Look Back

Michigan State and Alaska will meet each other this weekend for the 11th, 12th, and perhaps 13th time in the post season. The two teams have played 10 games in the play-offs up to this point. This includes four series and a single game at Joe Louis Arena. MSU leads the all-time playoff series 6-4. Michigan State swept two series, won a third series in three games, and Alaska has swept a series, and won the lone Joe Louis Arena playoff meeting.

Here is a look back at each of those series:

March 9-10, 2001  #10 Alaska at #1 Michigan State - CCHA First Round

Michigan State dominated the CCHA in the regular season going 21-4-3 in route to a 10 point championship win over second play Miami and Michigan. The Spartans went on to finish the 2001 season in the Frozen Four losing to North Dakota. This season was the last season that only 10 of the 12 teams made the playoffs. Alaska squeaked in with a 7-14-7 record finishing 1 point higher than 11th place Notre Dame and actually tying Bowling Green for 9th. BGSU had one more win though, so they won the tiebreaker for the 9 seed.

Michigan State dominated the season series sweeping the Nanooks in February of that season by a combined score of 7-1.

Game 1: Box Score // USCHO Recap

The Spartans went 3-5 with the extra man in route to a dominating 5-2 victory over Alaska-Fairbanks in game #1 of the best of 3 first round series. The Spartans jumped out to a 3-1 first period lead on goals by Sean Patchell, Adam Hall, and Brian Maloney. Maloney would add his second goal of the evening early on in the third period, and Rustyn Dolyny rounded out the scoring for Michigan State. The Nanooks would add a late goal as Ryan Miller stopped 32 of 34 shots.

Game 2: Box Score // USCHO Recap

Down 2-1 late in the 3rd period, John Nail tallied a power play marker to force a tie with just 2:42 to go in regulation. Michigan State would use that momentum to end the game in overtime as Sean Patchell added his second goal of the series. Brian Maloney put MSU on the board late in the second period, though the Nanooks took a 2-1 lead into the locker room in the second intermission. MSU out-shot Alaska 19-8 in the 3rd period and 44-33 for the game.

Michigan State would go on to defeat Bowling Green and Michigan to win the CCHA Tournament.

March 14-15, 2003         #9 Alaska at #4 Michigan State  - CCHA First Round

The Spartans struggled early on, but they finished strong and ending up in 4th place in the CCHA with a 17-10-1 league record - just one point out of 3rd. Alaska ended up in a tie for 8th place, though with only 10 conference wins, they lost the tiebreaker to Western (13 wins). The Spartans swept the season series winning both games in East Lansing in early January (5-2, 6-2). The Spartan offense was rolling scoring 20 goals over their final four games.

Game 1: Box Score // Recap

The offense continued rolling right into the first game of the playoffs as the Spartans destroyed Alaska 11-1 to kick-off the post season. This included five goals in the opening period - two by Brock Radunske, one by Kevin Estrada, Ash Goldie, and Colton Fretter. Alaska managed to pull within four goals, but Michigan State's  David Booth and Jim Slater would put MSU up 7-1 going into the 3rd. They weren't done then as Brock Radunske got the hat trick just 35 seconds in the final period, and Jim Slater & Ash Goldie added their second goals of the game. Michigan State out-shot Alaska 39-31 for the game, and the Nanooks actually used all three goalies. The Spartans Matt Migliaccio had 30 saves.

Game 2: Box Score // Recap

This game proved to be much closer, but the Spartans rallied for a 3-1 victory on a strong effort from Matt Migliaccio in goal and goals from Lee Falardeau, Brian Maloney, and Tim Hearon. Migliaccio made 35 saves as the Spartans advance to Joe Louis Arena for a quarterfinal date with Northern Michigan. That game proved to be a wild one as the Wildcats won 7-5 ending Michigan State's NCAA tournament streak in the process.

March 19, 2005   #6 Michigan State vs. #8 Alaska - CCHA Consolation Game

Box Score// Game Recap

The Nanooks went to the Joe for the first time ever and finished the tournament winning the 3rd place game over Michigan State. The Spartans ended a disappointing year finishing in 6th place in the CCHA with a 12-13-3 league mark. Despite the regular season, the Spartans found themselves in the CCHA semi-finals dropping the game to Ohio State 4-1. The Spartans couldn't rally from a 2-0 or 3-1 hole in this one, though they did make it interesting losing a 3-2 contest. Tom Goebel and Adam Nightingale scored the goals for MSU. Dominic Vicari ended the game with 23 saves on 26 shots.

March 10 - 12, 2006   #8 Alaska-Fairbanks at #2 Michigan State - CCHA Quarterfinals

In the first season of the current play-off format (1st round byes - in this case for the top 4 teams), the Spartans streak to Joe Louis Arena nearly ended as they were pushed to the brink of elimination by dropping the first game of the series. Michigan State would rebound to the tune of winning the CCHA Tournament and the Ron Mason Cup. It was the last time MSU won the CCHA tournament. The Spartans finished the CCHA season in second place (14-7-7) well behind regular season champion Miami. Alaska finished in a tie for 8th place with Notre Dame.

The Spartans won the regular season series 3-0-1, as they swept the series in East Lansing in January (4-0, 2-1) and won and tied in Alaska in December (4-4, 3-0).


Game 1:  Box Score // Game Recap

Alaska handed Michigan State its first home loss in ten years by hanging on to defeat MSU 2-1 at Munn. Michigan State's only goal was scored by David Booth with just 38 seconds to go in the second period. The Spartan power play went 1 for 11 on the season, and Jeff Lerg ended the game with 27 saves as MSU out-shot Alaska 37-29 for the game.

Game 2: Box Score  // Game Recap

The Spartans blew open a close game with four second period goals en route to a 6-1 victory over the Nanooks. Jim McKenzie started the scoring on the power play to give MSU a 1-0 lead. That lead would hold to past the midway point of the game when Chris Mueller put MSU up 2-0. Then less than a minute later, Drew Miller made it 3-0. The Spartans had a pair of 5 on 3 goals late in the period by Tim Crowder and Bryan Lerg. The third period saw a pair of 5 on 3 goals as well - the first by Chris Lawrence and the last one by Alaska's Kyle Jones to spoil the shutout. Michigan State went 4 for 12 with the extra man, and Alaska went 1 for 9. Jeff Lerg ended the game with 30 saves.

Game 3: Box Score // Game Recap

A wild third game saw Michigan State beat Alaska 7-4 to advance to the Joe. Alaska actually got on board first just 1:10 into the game. The Spartans tied the game just 30 seconds later on a goal by Chris Mueller. Drew Miller scored the first of three just 70 seconds later to put MSU up 2-1. Michigan State out-shot Alaska 16-7 in the first period and 21-8 in the second period. The middle period saw wildness early as three goals were tallied just 53 seconds apart from each other. Eethan Graham and David Booth tallied goals in that span and Michigan State held a 4-2 lead. Drew Miller added his second goal to give MSU a seemingly comfortable 5-2 lead heading into the final period. Alaska kept battling pulling back to within two on the power play just 23 seconds into the 3rd period. Corey Potter would respond about four minutes later only to see Alaska pull back to within two with 10:02 to go in the game. The scoring would finally settle down until Miller finished it with his hat trick goal just inside 2 minutes to go.

Michigan State would go on to defeat Michigan (4-1) and Miami (2-1) to win the Mason Cup. Michigan State would earn a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament this season only to lose a heart breaker to Maine in the regional final.

March 4-5, 2011    #10 Michigan State at #7 Alaska   -  CCHA First Round

The Spartans finished the 2010 - 2011 season with an 11-15-2 league mark just 3 points behind Alaska (1 win), and only 2 points behind 8th place (and home ice). That difference would prove to be huge as Michigan State went out west and dropped a pair of very tough games.  Michigan State went out to Alaska on the second to last weekend of the regular season and split. The Nanooks took the first game (2-1), and Michigan State responded with a dominating 6-2 victory. The next trip out west wouldn't be quite as friendly though.

Game 1: Box Score

Michigan State held two leads (1-0, 2-1) in this game - including one in the third period, but the Nanooks would rally each time eventually winning the game very late in the first overtime. Jake Chelios would put the Spartans up 1-0 in the second period with a power play marker. Michael Quinn for Alaska would pull the Nanooks even with a goal late in the period. Tim Buttery put MSU up in the third period with 11:34 to go. However, just over three minutes later the Nanooks would pull even once again. Then, Nik Yaremchuk would score the game winner with just 20 seconds to go in the first overtime period. Drew Palmisano would stop 34 shots.

Game 2: Box Score

The Spartans dropped another heart breaker in Alaska - only this time it took until the second overtime to end the game. Alaska jumped out to a 1-0 lead 7:54 into the game. Dean Chelios and Dustin Gazley would bring MSU the lead heading into the second period. Alaska put a pair of goals on the board to retake the lead, but with just 41 seconds to go Brett Perlini pulled the Spartans even. The third and fourth periods didn't see anyone score, and once again Nik Yaremchuk proved to be the hero as he ended the Spartans' season and the Rick Comley era just 3:18 into the second overtime period. Will Yanakeff made 30 saves. Michigan State's power play was only 1 for 9 in the game.

So there you have it - the complete Alaska-Michigan State CCHA playoff history. Only days remain until the next chapter is written.

Know Thy Enemy - Western Michigan & The End of an Era

Well, the end has finally come. This weekend Michigan State will celebrate the careers of five Spartans: Kevin Walrod, Matt Grassi, Chris Forfar, Anthony Hayes, and Zach Golembiewski. In addition, this marks the end of an era for Michigan State, Western Michigan, and college hockey. It's the final regular season weekend in the history of the CCHA. Michigan State will join the Big Ten conference next season, and Western Michigan will be joining the National Collegiate Hockey Conference with fellow CCHA member Miami.

In the meantime, the Spartans are looking to end the regular season on a high note, potentially move up the CCHA standings, and prevent Western Michigan from clinching the CCHA championship. Though, Western will need a lot of help as Miami only needs two points for an outright championship. Miami takes on Ohio State this weekend.

Western Michigan is 18-8-8 overall with a 14-6-6-3 CCHA mark (2nd place). They sit one point ahead of Notre Dame for second place, and the Broncos cannot finish worse than third in the CCHA standings. Michigan State comes into the weekend with three straight splits posting a 10-21-3 overall record and an 8-17-1-0 CCHA mark (11th place). The Spartans could finish as high as ninth place with a lot of help. Right now MSU would be heading to Alaska for the first round of the playoffs. The Spartans need Bowling Green to sweep a road series at Notre Dame to bump Alaska from sixth place, or MSU needs to earn four more points than Northern Michigan or sweep Western and have Ferris sweep Michigan in order to move up the CCHA standings.

Western is actually on a five game winless streak right now. Their last win came on February 8th against Miami, a 2-0 victory. Western is 0-2-3 since that point. Speaking of streaks, Michigan State is unbeaten in three games against the Broncos (2-0-1). The Spartans swept Western last year in Kalamazoo, and the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw in the GLI semi-final round earlier this year. Matt Berry tied that game with only 16 seconds remaining. The Spartans hold a 63-29-9 all-time record against Western and that includes a 33-5-6 mark at Munn Ice Arena. The last time the two teams met in East Lansing was on October 30, 2009.

Both games are scheduled to start at 7:05 pm and can be seen on Comcast (Channel 900) or heard on 1240 am or the Spartan Sports Network. For those attending on Saturday, senior night festivities are scheduled to begin at 6:45 pm.

Broncos Leading Scorers

Dane Walters   12 goals, 23 points
Chase Balisy    9 goals, 22 points
Kenney Morrison  7 goals, 18 points
Shane Berschbach  3 goals, 17 points
Mike Leone  6 goals, 16 points
Mike Cichy  4 goals, 16 points
Dennis Brown 3 goals, 16 points

Goaltenders

Frank Slubowski  18-8-8, 1.87 GAA, .922 save %

Western is 5-5-4 on the road this season.

Western's best period is the 3rd where they hold a +11 goal advantage.

Western's offense is ranked 11th in the CCHA (2.29 GPG), but their defense is ranked 2nd (1.94 GPG). Despite the lack of offensive firepower 5 on 5, Western's power play ranks 2nd in the CCHA at 18.1%, and their PK ranks 3rd at 86.4%. By comparison, MSU ranks 12th in offense (2.12 GPG), 9th on defense (2.76 GPG), 9th on the power play (12.3%), and 8th on the PK (83.2%).

Series Thoughts

Northern plays LSSU at home, so you would think they would manage three points on the weekend. Michigan plays at home against Ferris, so you think they would earn at least one point. BGSU probably isn't going to sweep Notre Dame in South Bend. The point of all this is, the odds are Michigan State is going to be heading back to Alaska - even if MSU manages to sweep Western, which most people won't believe they can do. However, the Spartans did hang around Western at the GLI, and the Broncos aren't exactly lighting the world on fire on offense. If the Spartans can manage to put together six periods this weekend, they'll be in position to take points, and that could lead to some momentum heading into the playoffs. 

That is all that really matters at this point. Putting together two games on a weekend to add some much needed confidence that the Spartans could be a dangerous team in the post season. Yanakeff played very well last weekend, and Hildebrand has played well most of the season, so the Spartans have a pair of goaltenders capable of stealing a game in the playoffs. 

Let's see if they can get something going this weekend, and who knows what could happen.....

 

Know Thy...... (sigh).... Time To Start Calling Sweeps

Michigan State enters this weekend looking for positive momentum to finish the season and perhaps to earn a few points along the way. The Spartans are 7-18-3 overall and 5-14-1 in the CCHA. Michigan State sits four points behind Northern Michigan, and nine points behind Michigan and Bowling Green. This means the Spartans do have a chance to earn home ice advantage still for the first round of the CCHA playoffs. This weekend becomes a must-win for MSU.

Bowling Green comes in with a 10-13-5 overall and a 7-10-3-1 league mark. Bowling Green has been playing better lately going 7-3-1 in their last 11 games. This include sweeping LSSU last weekend 4-1 and 7-3.

The two teams split earlier in the year with each winning on the road. Bowling Green won 1-0 in East Lansing and MSU returned the favor in Bowling Green with a 6-1 victory.

Has it been a tough season? Yes. But there is still a chance to do something, and it doesn't matter if you think that chance is remote, it is still a chance. It's a chance to show up and play the game - and let the pucks fall where they may. It's been getting tougher to write anything here, since it's pretty much the same old thing. But in the end there is a group of kids willing to lay their hearts on the line for a program, and that's reason enough to keep going. You never know what could happen.

Both games this weekend are at 7:05 pm. Friday can be heard on 1240 AM and Saturday on 730 AM. There is no TV for this series.

End of an Era?

MSU holds a 72-31-8 edge in the all-time series - including a 40-10-3 mark in East Lansing and a 25-18-5 record in Bowling Green. But what this weekend may symbolize is an end of an era. Michigan State and Bowling Green became big rivals in the 80s when MSU became a force in the CCHA. Although the rivalry hasn't been as heated recently, it's series like this that are going to make fans miss the CCHA.

Please Score

MSU has scored one goal or less twelve times this season. MSU is 7-0-1 when scoring 3 or more and 0-18-2 when scoring 2 or fewer. MSU has only won twice this season on Friday night - both were non-conference wins (Niagara, Penn State).

Bowling Green

Leading Scorers:

Ryan Carpenter   11 goals, 24 points
Dajon Mingo  8 goals, 19 points
Dan DeSalvo  3 goals, 17 points
Robert Shea  3 goals, 16 points
Mike Sullivan 1 goal, 15 points
Mark Cooper 9 goals, 14 points
Adam Berkle 4 goals, 14 points

Goalies:

Andrew Hammond  8-10-3, 2.52 GAA, .917 save %
Tommy Burke   2-3-2, 2.23 GAA, .905 save %

Andrew Hammond (senior) is turning into one of those guys that I swear has been at Bowling Green for 5-6 years now.

Series Thoughts

BGSU has done well on the road this season - winning in East Lansing and Ann Arbor. They are 5-6-3 away from home and 5-7-2 at home. Bowling Green has had strong 3rd periods this year outscoring teams 27-19 in the final period. In the first and second periods, BGSU has been outscored 50-41.

We can talk about how MSU's offense ranks 54th nationally. We can talk about how Michigan State has yet to win two straight games this year. We can talk about how MSU is in last place..... But you know what? Screw it. It's time to take the 'Us against the world' attitude. Let's call for the Spartans to sweep - it's bound to happen sometime again (edit: It might take till next season). I Believe.

Know Thy Enemy (Blogger): Michigan (BTYB)

Michigan State. Michigan. Need I say more?

The best rivalry in college hockey hits the ice this weekend for their last two regular season meetings against each other. It should be a barn burner as both teams are once again next to each other atop the standings in the CCHA. So many times the two teams play each other with a lot on the line in the league and this weekend is no different......

.....What?..... I'm looking at the CCHA standings upside down? Michigan is really in second to last and Michigan State is in last?

Crazy times.

This might be the first time the two teams have faced each other - this late in the season - with both teams so low in the CCHA standings. There is still a lot on the line as home ice in the first round is very much in play for both teams. For example, Michigan State is only four points behind eighth place Northern Michigan, and the Spartans have 2 games in hand. In fact, over the next three weekends, Michigan State plays the three teams directly in front of them in the standings (Michigan, Bowling Green, and Northern Michigan).

The two teams will play the 293th meeting at Yost on Friday at 6:35 pm (Big Ten Network), and the 294th meeting at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday at 4:05 pm (Fox Sports Detroit). Michigan leads the overall season series 2-1, but the CCHA series is 1-1. The two teams split a home and home back in early November - both teams holding serve with big home ice victories. Michigan comes into the weekend on a three game losing streak and a 2-7 record over their last nine games. One of those two wins was over MSU at the GLI. The other was at LSSU. Michigan lost to the U-18 team as well, 5-3. Friday's game at Yost is Michigan's last home game until March 1st. I think it is safe to say it is a must win for Michigan.

Leading Scorers

A.J. Treais              11 goals, 18 points
Jacob Trouba           8 goals, 17 points
Alex Guptill            7 goals, 17 points
Cristoval Nieves      4 goals, 16 points
Phil Di Giuseppe     5 goals, 14 points

In Goal:

Steve Racine     4-5-2, 3.11 GAA,  .880 save %
Adam Janceyk  3-7-0, 3.46 GAA, .892 save %
Jared Rutledge  1-4-0, 4.33 GAA,  .849 save %

Interesting MSU stat vs. Michigan: MSU has scored 16 first period goals this season - 6 have been against Michigan. MSU has also scored 10 of its 54 goals this season against Michigan.

In the spirit of - well, I don't know what.....But I thought bringing in the opposing blogger for some thoughts worked out well - which means it's time to turn the blog over to a Michigan fan.

This week The Munn Minute welcomes Tim Williams. Tim is behind The Blog That Yost Built. If you feel the need - he does offer up some good hockey thoughts - albeit about that program down the road. So without further ado:

Know Thy Enemy Blogger Edition:

TMM: So, it's Michigan-Michigan State week. I often tell people that the MSU-UM rivalry is the best on the ice, because (at least under Berenson & Mason) the teams are usually good. Compare this rivalry in hockey, from a UM perspective, to some of your other rivalries.

BTYB: I think it's for sure the top rivalry we have in hockey. Every now and then it seems like we'll get a strong one going with another CCHA team, but no one has been good consistently for long enough to really get the hatred going. I would root for you guys over Minnesota. I friggin' hate the Gophers, but we don't really play them often enough to consider that one a top rivalry either. We play you guys 4+ times a year, and generally its meaningful. Sigh. 

TMM: What is your favorite Michigan-Michigan State hockey moment?

I think I see Tim.

BTYB: One of my favorite Michigan/Michigan State hockey moments has to be from my freshman year (00-01) when we played at the Joe. You guys were unbeaten in 23 games (I knew it was 20+, but I did have to go look that up), and Ryan Miller was at the top of his game. That game at the Joe was phenomenal and it's a game I'll never forget being at because of what it meant to knock off a Ryan Miller team that had been playing so well, but The Big Chill was quite possibly the best weekend of my life (outside of my wedding, of course). 

The weather was perfect, the game was perfect as a Wolverine fan, it was like Homecoming with how many people came back for it, and I got to play in the media game earlier in the week and notched a goal, which will forever be the highlight of my sports-playing life. 

Yeah. Winning 5-0 in front of that many fans is my favorite Michigan/Michigan State moment.

TMM: Who is/was your favorite (current or past) MSU player to watch play?

Miller would laugh at the sieve chants at Yost

BTYB: Ah geez. I'm probably going to have to say Miller. As much as it pains me, that guy was unreal. There have only been a couple of guys since I started closely following college hockey that gave me the "Awww s***, we're playing that guy" feeling that I used to get when the Packers would play Barry Sanders. Miller was one of them. (Mark Hartigan is the other that jumps to mind.) I hated when Michigan would play against him, but you had to respect someone being that freaking good. 

TMM: Back to the teams - Michigan sits in 10th place right now, do they have a long winning streak in them to keep the NCAA streak alive?

BTYB : A small part of me wants to say yes, just because I think the team is WAY more talented than they've shown and because by nature I'm an optimist. Truthfully, though? I don't think so. There's a lot wrong with that team. Red used the word "Fragile" a few weekends ago and it's a great description. They can play some decent hockey but as soon as anything bad happens they completely fold. They don't have the goalie to bail them out like they've had in years past. They don't have the forward that can turn a game in an instant (like a Hensick, Tambellini, Porter, Cammalleri, etc.) and the defense has really underachieved (and has been really banged up). If they could get a goalie to play consistently, I could see them winning a first round series and, who knows, maybe that sparks something. But they haven't won 2 games in a row since the 3rd and 4th games of the year. It's hard to imagine them stringing together that many good performances in a row.

  

TMM: Every year there is always that one Michigan player that I really won't mind seeing graudate - A.J. Treais is earning that honor since he has about 500 points in 15 games against MSU. Currently, he is Michigan's leading scorer. What do you feel are his strengths?

BTYB: He's the guy that's most in the vein of a Hensick-type. A high-end offensive guy that can pile up points. He's got the ability to score a highlight reel goal, or dish off a highlight reel assist. His goal totals and point totals have gone up every year he's been at Michigan, and even though he went through a cold streak after a great start, he's still got a chance to match his total from last year.

TMM: Michigan has been hit hard by early departures and the OHL - which goaltender on the team do you feel can give Michigan a chance to make a run from here on out? How do you see Michigan recruiting going forward with the influence that the OHL has over hockey athletes?

BTYB: It sounds weird, but I really want to see Rutledge in there again. He's been downright awful (1-4-0 with a 4.33/.849), and yet, you brought him in for a reason. He put up good numbers with the NTDP and that typically doesn't happen by accident. In theory he's your most talented goalie. He might not be the best goalie, but he should be the most talented. I kind of feel like we've seen Racine for stretches, we've see Janecyk for stretches. We know neither one of them is the answer--and it's certainly not just their fault. But what do we know about Rutledge? He got shelled in his first start when he had barely practiced and he promptly lost the starting gig. We saw him for a weekend against Michigan State with mixed results (1 goal allowed, 7 goals allowed) and since then he's only started one game. He hasn't had a chance to get on any kind of a roll, and for all we know he could be a guy that just performs better when he isn't looking over his shoulder. Since there's really no point to the rest of the regular season games outside of trying to get home ice in the first round, give him a shot. Play him 4 or 5 games in a row (and make it know that you're going to) and hope that the goalie you recruited actually shines through at some point. That really is their only hope because I don't see the other two taking them on a run.

As far as the OHL, I think it's always going to be a win some lose some game when you're trying to recruit the high-end talent. They could go for some lesser guys who would stay 4-years, but I'm not sure that's a better idea. I think you'll start seeing them cover their bases a lot more and take more commits than they could possibly cram on a team, knowing that they all won't make it to campus and there will be NHL departures too. If Lohan comes in next year, that's potentially 30 players committed for next year's team. It's a game I'm sure they'd prefer not to play, but you have to cover your bases. It's just tough with goalies because it's not like you can get multiple top-notch commits and take one. That's a tough sell because you're already only playing 40-45 games in college. If you're telling a goalie he'll be splitting time, it makes the NHL-sized season in the O kind of appealing.

  

TMM: What are your thoughts on the Big Ten Hockey Conference starting up next season?

BTYB: I'm excited about it. I've always told anyone who would listen that I'm in favor of the BTHC as long as the littler programs stay afloat. It's not worth it to me if we're going to lose a Bowling Green, a Lake State, etc. Tragic is too strong of a word, but it would be tragic for the sport to lose a former national champion because of money. That said, I'm geeked to get to play Minnesota and Wisconsin more. I'm really excited for more hockey on TV and more hockey in HD on TV. I just hope the programs raise the level of play for the inaugural season....

 

TMM: Will anyone take down Minnesota next year?

Imagine if they had this logo on their jerseys instead - I doubt anyone would take them seriously

BTYB: I sure hope so. Did I mention that I'd root for you guys in a second over Minnesota in hockey? Because I would. It's too early to say. There's plenty of time for departures, I haven't studied up on who is losing which players and what the recruiting classes look like (beyond that Michigan's is really good, assuming they Say No to the O). I'm really intrigued by the reports that Michigan is looking at a goalie for next year. That could be a fortune-changer if they can hit on one at this late of a date... 

TMM: If you could have one Spartan on Michigan's team right now - who would it be & why? 


BTYB: Hildebrand and I don't even have to look at the rest of your roster. Dude has something like a .940 save percentage. He's almost ten percent higher than Rutledge at this point. That's absurd (on both ends). That's why you have to feel at least okay if you're a Michigan State fan. This season has been a disaster, but at least you have a goalie. Maybe he's not a cure-all, but if you've got a great goalie you're going to go into every game with a chance to win, and there's always a chance he can get hot long enough to make something special happen (like Lerg did a few years back). We don't have that, and you only get so many shots to bring in a goalie. Michigan has to find one or next season might be a write-off too, even though I think the team as a whole will be better. Gimmee a guy that can stop 94% of the shots against him on a fairly bad team, and I think I can win a National Title with Michigan's roster next year if the incoming freshmen make it to campus. And my answer to question 4 is drastically different about this year. Michigan State is a scarier team to play than Michigan in a playoff series solely because of Hildebrand.

TMM: Predictions on the rest of the CCHA season?

BTYB: I'm going to keep drinking. I like Western to hang on because they have Miami and Notre Dame at home. Ferris has 2 fewer games to play, but they get WMU at home and the rest of their schedule is pretty weak. If they could get 4+ points from WMU they could be a little scary, because I could see them running the table after that. Michigan does win their first round playoff series against an LSSU or an NMU, but that's it and the tournament streak comes to an end.

TMM: I'm not sure there are many confident fans on either side of the fence this weekend - Predictions on this series?

BTYB: Hildebrand stymies Michigan in one game, the Wolverines take the other. Just because I'm going to be in the house Friday and my luck sucks, I'll take Michigan State at Yost and the Wolverines at the Joe.