The 2006–07 Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey season was the 65th season of play for the program and 26th in the CCHA. They represented Michigan State University in the 2006–07 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. They were coached by Rick Comley, in his fifth season and played their home games at Munn Ice Arena. The team won the 2007 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament, the third title in program history.
Offseason Departures David Booth Forward Graduation (signed with Florida Panthers) Colton Fretter Forward Graduation (signed with Gwinnett Gladiators) Chad Hontvet Forward Graduation (retired) Drew Miller Forward Signed professional contract (Anaheim Ducks) Jared Nightingale Defenseman Graduation (signed with Springfield Falcons) Corey Potter Forward Graduation (signed with New York Rangers) Dominic Vicari Goaltender Signed professional contract (Grand Rapids Griffins)
Recruiting Bobby Jarosz Goaltender 19 Crystal Lake, IL Justin Johnston Defenseman 20 Grosse Pointe Woods, MI Mike Ratchuk Defenseman 18 South Buffalo, NY; selected 42nd overall in 2006 Matt Schepke Forward 21 Warren, MI; transfer from Michigan Tech Jay Sprague Forward 20 Georgetown, ON Ryan Turek Defenseman 19 Southfield, MI; selected 94th overall in 2006 Season summary Regular season Entering the season, Michigan State was ranked in the top five, coming off of their best postseason performance in years. While the team had lost several players to graduation, they received great contributions from a cadre of sophomore players. While the line formed by Justin Abdelkader, Tim Crowder and Tim Kennedy proved to be a potent combination, it was in goal where Jeff Lerg proved to be just as, if not more, integral to the fortunes of the Spartans.
MSU had a mediocre start to the season, sometimes living up to their ranking an other times not. Much of this was a result of Lerg's inconsistent play, however, with only freshman Bobby Jarosz as a backup, Rick Comley decided to let his starting goalie play through the struggles. By Thanksgiving, MSU had a decent record and had performed well against other ranked teams. The College Hockey Showcase put the Spartans on the road against two strong WCHA clubs. They lost the first game against #1 Minnesota and then fell in the second game to defending national champion, Wisconsin. Though their ranking wasn't harmed too badly by the sweep, the Spartans were now sitting at .500 and could ill-afford many more like performances if they wanted to keep their NCAA hopes alive.
The team finished out the next few weeks with a winning mark, though hardly looked like world-beaters against a pair of weak conference opponents. After returning from the winter break, however, The Spartans looked like a renewed team. They kicked off the second half of their season by capturing the Great Lakes Invitational, which included downing hated rival Michigan in the championship. After splitting with a top-ranked Miami squad, The Spartans didn't lose for over a month. That stretch of good hockey helped raise the team up to #6 in the polls and put them in a prime position for the tournament. Unfortunately, the team's offense faltered at the end of the regular season and MSU dropped four of their last five games.
Postseason MSU entered the CCHA tournament ranked #13 and could not afford a poor performance if they intended to be one of the 16 teams in the national tournament. Fortunately, the offense rediscovered their scoring touch and posted a pair of 4–2 wins over Nebraska–Omaha to reach the semifinal. While they lost the next game to Michigan, the sixth meeting of the two on the season, the Spartans retained their #10 ranking and received an at-large bid.
The selection committee gave Michigan State a #3 seed and sent them to Grand Rapids. They took on Boston University in the first game and had one of their best performances on the season, putting up 5 goals against one of the nations' best defensive teams. The second game would be an even bigger test, however, as MSU had to get through the second overall seed, Notre Dame. The Irish had the nation's best defense and had allowed less than 2 goals per game thanks to the NCAA's top goaltender, David Brown. Unsurprisingly, the game was a defensive struggle with both teams waiting for the other to make a mistake. Both squads had several opportunities on the power play but it was Michigan State who took advantage. The Spartans opened the scoring in the second on a goal from Chris Mueller. MSU remained dominant in the second even after taking a pair of minor penalties and limited the Irish to just 3 shots in the frame. Tim Kennedy added a man-advantage marker of his own in the third to give his team a 2-goal edge. Notre Dame fought back and finally beat Lerg with over 5 minutes to play but they could not find the equalizer and Michigan State held on for a narrow victory.
By the time they reached the national semifinal, Michigan State saw a far less daunting task in front of them. All four #1 seeds had already been eliminated. Despite the favorable conditions, MSU got off to a terrible start against Maine by surrendering 3 goals in the first three and a half minutes of the match. Jeff Lerg brushed off the two markers and refused to allow any more to the Black Bears. Over the final 56 minutes of the game, Michigan State outscored Maine 4–0 with goals coming from across their lineup. The victory sent Michigan State to their first title game in 20 years.
When the Spartans opened against Boston College, it appeared like they were going to be run over by the Eagles. BC carried the play throughout the first period, outshooting MSU 13–6, but neither team managed to score. The second saw a reversal with Michigan State doubling up BC in shots, however, Brian Boyle was the only one to find the back of the net. To make matters worse, MSU squandered three successive BC penalties that game them nearly 6 consecutive minutes on the power play. With the team growing increasingly desperate for a goal, Michigan State finally converted on their 5th man-advantage of the game when Kennedy skated in on a partial break-away and fired the puck past Cory Schneider. Both goaltenders played well over the following 10 minutes to keep the score knotted at 1 and the game appeared to be heading for overtime. With about 30 seconds to play, Justin Abdelkader skated in on a 3-on-1 and fired a puck off of the crossbar. Rather than deflect out of play, the puck hit the wall and remained live. Several players fought to get control along the boards and the rubber ended up on the stick of Kennedy behind the net. He wheeled around to avoid a check and then found Abdelkader skating towards the goal mouth. Abdelkader slapped the puck far-side, beating Schneider for his only goal of the tournament. With just 19 seconds left on the clock, BC had little choice but to pull their goalie before the drop of the puck. All that served to do, however, was give Chris Mueller an empty net to shoot at and make the final score 3–1.
MSU was one of the least likely champions in NCAA history. Illustrating that point is the lack of awards and honors received by the Spartans. Other than Jeff Lerg, who received the Perani Cup, not a single MSU player won an award, was an All-American or was even on an All-Conference player. Additionally, Michigan State had the fewest wins and lowest winning percentage of any champion since Minnesota in 1974. Roster As of October 1, 2006.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 ! style=""; |
!colspan=12 ! style=""; |
!colspan=12 style=";" |
!colspan=12 style=";" |
National championship game
(NE2) Boston College vs. (MW3) Michigan State
Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st None 2nd BCBrian Boyle (19) – PPBradford 26:50 1–0 BC 3rd MSUTim Kennedy (18) – PPAbdelkader 49:53 1–1 MSUJustin Abdelkader (15) – GWKennedy and Howells 59:41 2–1 MSU MSUChris Mueller (16) – ENMcKenzie and Vukovic 59:58 3–1 MSU Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MSUChris SnavelyObstruction Interference 09:46 2:00 BCDan BertramHolding the Stick 17:34 2:00 MSUEthan GrahamUnsportsmanlike Conduct 17:51 2:00 BCNathan GerbeUnsportsmanlike Conduct 17:51 2:00 2nd MSUJustin AbdelkaderHooking 23:34 2:00 MSUTim CrowderHooking 25:00 2:00 BCTim FilangieriInterference 28:38 2:00 BCBrian BoyleTripping 30:31 2:00 BCCarl SneepSlashing 32:58 2:00 3rd MSUJustin AbdelkaderInterference 41:35 2:00 BCMatt GreeneCharging the Goaltender 43:39 2:00 MSUEthan GrahamRoughing 47:51 2:00 BCKyle KucharskiSlashing 47:51 2:00 BCTim FilangieriHooking 49:47 2:00
Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T Michigan State 6 12 11 29 Boston College 13 6 11 30
Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice MSU Jeff Lerg 29 1 60:00 BC Cory Schneider 26 2 59:41
Scoring statistics C/LW 42 18 25 43 49 C/LW 41 23 13 36 21 LW/RW 38 15 18 33 91 C/RW 42 16 16 32 30 RW 35 12 18 30 56 D/F 42 4 22 26 22 C/RW 41 14 11 25 18 LW 41 9 15 24 32 D 35 1 12 13 30 D 42 7 5 12 18 D 40 4 8 12 28 F 32 3 9 12 14 D 27 2 9 11 26 D 33 1 10 11 21 F 40 1 6 7 19 D 23 2 4 6 14 F 21 1 5 6 4 LW 23 3 2 5 14 D 41 0 4 4 55 F 14 1 1 2 2 RW 27 0 2 2 8 D 31 0 2 2 18 G 42 0 2 2 0 F 2 0 0 0 0 D 3 0 0 0 0 G 3 0 0 0 0 Bench - - - - - 8 Total 137 219 356 598
Goaltending statistics 3 68:43 0 0 0 1 36 0 .973 0.87 42 2465:06 26 13 3 99 1042 3 .913 2.41 Empty Net - 11:10 - - - 2 - - - - Total 42 2544:59 26 13 3 102 1078 3 .914 2.40
Rankings
PollWeekPre12345678910111213141516171819202122232425 (Final) USCHO.com5 48966461215141410101196661314131010-- USA Today43810554612141414-10118765131413111051 Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 24 or 25, USA Today did not release a poll in week 12.
Awards and honors Justin Abdelkader NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Jeff Lerg Perani Cup Jeff Lerg NCAA All-Tournament Team Tyler Howells Justin Abdelkader Tim Kennedy
Players drafted into the NHL
2007 NHL entry draft
= NHL All-Star team= NHL All-StarPlayers are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career. = NHL All-Star and NHL All-Star team= Did not play in the NHL 3 89 Corey Tropp† Buffalo Sabres 5 142 Andrew Conboy† Montreal Canadiens 7 190 Trevor Nill† St. Louis Blues † incoming freshman
References
External links