2012 - 2013 Tentative Schedule

Here is a look at Michigan State's 2012 - 2013 full tentative schedule

All games Fri-Sat unless otherwise noted:


OCTOBER

Mon. 8th -  vs. Windsor (ex.)
12th - at Minnesota
13th - at Minnesota
19th - vs. Niagara
20th - vs. Niagara
26th - at LSSU
27th - at LSSU

NOVEMBER

2nd - vs. Bowling Green
3rd - at Bowling Green
9th - at Michigan
10th - vs. Michigan
16th - at Miami
17th - at Miami
30th - vs. Ohio State

DECEMBER

1st - vs. Ohio State
7th - at Notre Dame
8th - at Notre Dame
14th - at Ferris State
15th - vs. Ferris State

28th - GLI (Western)  @ Comerica Park
29th - GLI (Tech/Michigan)  @ Comerica Park

JANUARY

11th vs. Notre Dame
12th vs. Notre Dame
18th vs. Ferris State
19th at Ferris State
Tues. 22nd - vs. USA Development Program (ex.)
25th - vs. Penn State
26th - vs. Penn State


FEBRUARY

1st - at Michigan
2nd - vs. Michigan @ Joe Louis Arena
8th - at Bowling Green
9th - vs. Bowling Green
15th - vs. Northern Michigan
16th - vs. Northern Michigan
22nd - at Alaska
23rd - at Alaska

MARCH

1st - vs. Western Michigan
2nd - vs. Western Michigan

8th - 11th - CCHA First Round (at Campus Sites)
15th - 18th - CCHA Quarterfinal Round (at Campus Sites)
22nd - 23rd - CCHA Championships (at Joe Louis Arena)
29th - 31st - NCAA Regionals

APRIL

11th & 13th - NCAA Frozen Four (Pittsburgh, PA)


Quick Thoughts:

MSU is in a "cluster" this season with Notre Dame, Bowling Green, Michigan, and Ferris State. I'm a little surprised Notre Dame doesn't look like they want to do a home and home, since it seems like in the past that has always happened when they were in the same cluster. The final year in the CCHA certainly has a Big 10 flavor as MSU will face everyone but Wisconsin.

The two things that really jump out is - the first half of the schedule looks brutal on paper, and once again there are a ton of home games in January. Starting in Minnesota won't be easy, and Niagara's prgoram has been solid over the years (which includes some NCAA appearances). Plus with road games to LSSU, Notre Dame, Miami, and Michigan - MSU will be thrown into the fire pretty quickly.

Also, someone may need to correct me here, but I don't recall MSU ever playing games as late as December 15th prior to the winter break. It seems like in recent years, MSU is done the first weekend of December. I haven't seen a CCHA composite schedule yet though, so this could be a league thing. This certainly could help for the GLI - which will showcase nothing but Michigan teams as Western is the fourth team this season.

MSU also finishes with five of its last seven at home. That should provide the opportunity to really build momentum into the post season. The only thing that sort of stinks is they'll be making that long trip out to Alaska pretty late this year.

Lastly, when was the last time MSU didn't play over Thanksgiving? I'm sure that will be a great break for the team after facing Michigan & Miami in back to back weekends, as well as give the team a chance to go back home for the holiday.

Bondra Commits to Michigan State

According to the Chilliwack Chiefs website, David Bondra has commited to Michigan State University for the 2012 - 2013  season.

Bondra finished the 2011 - 2012 campaign with the Chiefs (BCHL) with 63 points (3rd on the team). He led the team with 41 assists. His 22 goals on the year put him 3rd on the taem. He tallied 37 penalty minutes. A 1992 birthday, he is listed at 5-11, 185 lbs and originally is from Annapollis, Maryland.

David Bondra will make his debut in Green & White this upcoming fall.

Chilliwack has been a bit of a pipeline for MSU sending Shawn Horcoff, Brad Hodgins, Brian Maloney, Jeremy Jackson, Kevin Estrada, Derek Grant, and Harvey Smyl to East Lansing.

For those hockey fans, the last name Bondra should sound familiar, as David is the son of former NHL'er Peter Bondra. He spent 17 seasons in the NHL, including 14 with the Washington Capitals where current MSU assistant Kelly Miller was his teammate up through the 1999 season. Peter finished his NHL career with 503 goals in 1,081 games.

And We're Back - New Commitment

After a lengthy delay in posting and editing, we're back.

And this time with some recruiting news. As mentioned here by a reader of this blog, Michigan State picked up its first 2015 commitment from Zach Osborn. Osborn is a 1997 birthdate and is currently listed at 5-9, 165 lbs. He is a d-man for Honeybaked U16.

MSU verbal Josh Jacobs is also a d-man from the same team. Connor Wood comes from the Honeybaked program as well.

Schedule Updated

The schedule on the right hand side has been updated - as always, when things become known, it will continue to be updated.

OHL Draft & New Spartan

Over the weekend, Michigan State gained a verbal commitment from Connor Wood. He currently plays for Detroit Honeybaked U18. He is listed at 6-0, 175 lbs from Bloomfield Hills, MI. His birthday is March 7, 1994.

Connor Wood will join the Spartan Icers for the 2012 or 2013 season.

Stats were unavailable at this time, but we will continue to look for it. Obviously, he provides some decent size up front for the Spartans. Size has been a concern of many Spartan fans lately, and some of these early classes that are coming in for Coach Anastos appear to help answer those concerns. Wood certainly could help as he continues to grow.

 Spartans Damaged But Not Fatally Hurt in OHL Draft

 A few Spartan recruits were drafted. The biggest pick was Perlini going in the first round. Teams in the OHL usually don't draft first round guys unless they know they can get him to sign. I hope I am wrong, but it's looking like that he'll go the OHL route. Josh Jacobs was another one Spartan fans needed to keep an eye on. He was taken in the fourth round which puts him more on the fence, but it is certainly still a possibility that he could end up going the way of the OHL. Marcel Godbout was picked in the 9th round, so that appears safe. MacEachern was not drafted. 

MacEachern moved up the NHL Central Scouting Rankings moving up to the 140s (up from 201). 

While this may not be good news for Michigan State fans, it's still can be looked on as a good sign that Michigan State is starting to bring in higher end talent. The OHL will always be an issue for any NCAA team that tries to bring in good talent. So, in a way, it's good to see Michigan State have this problem. 

New Commitment

Michigan State has picked up a new commitment. Connor Wood of Detroit Honeybaked has verbally committed to Michigan State.

More to come later tonight.

MSU was also impacted by the OHL draft - more to come on that later tonight.

Preseason Rankings - Do They Matter?

Boston College defeated Ferris State 4-1 on Saturday to capture their 3rd national title since Michigan State defeated BC in the 2007 title game. Ferris State was right in this game until the very end, as Boston College scored two goals in the final 3:30 including an empty net goal. BC's Milner made numerous great stops in goal to help keep Ferris State off the board.

Boston College came into this season ranked #5 in both the USCHO and USA Today  preseason polls. Ferris State was unranked in both polls, but they did receive votes in the USCHO poll (#28 overall). This got me thinking, do preseason polls matter?

Going as far back as we could go, on short notice, we looked up the rankings of each Frozen Four team since the 1997-1998 season. The polls seem to show that it helps to be ranked in the top 10, but #1 overall isn't always the best thing. Only one team has won the national title in the same season that they were ranked #1 in either the USCHO or USA Today poll, and that team was the 2002 - 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers. They took home the top spot in both preseason polls. There are only three other times that the preseason #1 team in either poll even made it to the national title game. North Dakota in the 2000 - 2001 season and Boston College in the 1999 - 2000 season took home the top spot in both preseason polls, they lost in the national title game. Outside of that you have to go to the 2006 - 2007 Boston College Eagles that came in #1 in the USA Today poll, and a co-number one in the USCHO poll.

The worst preseason ranking that still won the national title? The 2003 - 2004 Denver Pioneers came in #13 in the USCHO poll and #12 in the USA Today poll. The 2009 - 2010 edition of Boston College came in at #12 in both polls.

The average preseason rank for the national champion? 6.6

NCAA Champion Preseason Rankings

		Champion	USCHO	USA Today
2012		BC	5	5
2011		Minnesota-Duluth	8	9
2010		BC	12	12
2009		BU	9	10
2008		BC	2	3
2007		Michigan St.	5	4
2006		Wisconsin	10	10
2005		Denver	7	7
2004		Denver	13	12
2003		Minnesota	1	1
2002		Minnesota	4	3
2001		BC	4	5
2000		North Dakota	4	5
1999		Maine	8	4
1998		Michigan	9	8

Of the last 15 champions, seven of them have been ranked in the top five of the USCHO poll, and eight in the top five of the USA Today Poll. All but two have been ranked in the top ten, and everyone has been ranked in the top 13.

NCAA Runner-Up Preseason Rankings

		Runner-Up	USCHO	USA  Today
2012		Ferris St.	28	NR
2011		Michigan	15	4
2010		Wisconsin	13	14
2009		Miami	8	8
2008		Notre Dame	8	8
2007		BC	1.5	1
2006		BC	3	5
2005		North Dakota	5	3
2004		Maine	12	13
2003		New Hampshire	4	4
2002		Maine	7	10
2001		North Dakota	1	1
2000		BC	1	1
1999		New Hampshire	11	8
1998		BC	14	12.5

Six runner-ups have been ranked in the preseason top five of either poll. Eight have been ranked in the top ten of the USCHO poll and 11 in the USA Today Poll. And up until Ferris State, everyone has been ranked.

NCAA Frozen Four Semi-Finalists

		Frozen Four	USCHO	USA Today
2012		Union	11	11
2011		North Dakota	2	2
2010		Miami	4	1
2009		Bemidji St.	36	NR
2008		Michigan	10	10
2007		Maine	11	11
2006		Maine	11	11
2005		CC	14	12
2004		BC	3	3
2003		Cornell	8	8
2002		Michigan	5	4
2001		Michigan	2	2
2000		Maine	2	2
1999		BC	1	1
1998		New Hampshire	6	6

 

		Frozen Four	USCHO	USA Today
2012		Minnesota	19	16
2011		Notre Dame	17	16
2010		RIT	29	NR
2009		Vermont	20	NR
2008		North Dakota	1	1
2007		North Dakota	6	7
2006		North Dakota	7	6
2005		Minnesota	6	8
2004		Minnesota-Duluth	15	15
2003		Michigan	3	2
2002		New Hampshire	10	11
2001		Michigan St.	5	4
2000		St. Lawrence	12	10
1999		Michigan St.	5	5
1998		Ohio St.	NR	NR

11 of the 30 semi-finalists were ranked in the top five.  19 of the 30 semi-finalists were ranked in the top 10 in at least one of the two major polls. This means 11 of the 30 semi-finalists were ranked outside of the top 10.

The 1997 - 1998 Ohio State Buckeyes hold the honor of the only team since the 97-98 season to reach the Frozen Four without receiving a single preseason vote in either major poll. Vermont, RIT, Bemidji State, and Ferris State all were teams in the USA Today poll that didn't receive a vote in the preseason poll, but still managed to reach the Frozen Four.
 
 So what does this tell us?


Well, it's only logical to think that if you receive a lot of preseason votes, you are expected to be good. In the end, the teams that get the votes are there in the Frozen Four. And even though the hockey polls can get made fun of with how they react some weekends, they show they are in the ballpark before anyone even plays a game.

The question becomes, how long until someone outside of the top 13 wins a title?