Michigan
Michigan State
Michigan to Play Rival MSU in Home-and-Home Series
12/6/2017 3:47:00 PM | Ice Hockey
THIS WEEK
Thursday, Dec. 7 -- vs. Michigan State (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 7:30 p.m.
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Friday, Dec. 8 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 7:05 p.m.
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• Complete Game Notes (Dec. 7)
• Complete Game Notes (Dec. 8)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan ice hockey team is set to face off against Michigan State in a home-and-home series on Thursday (Dec. 7) at Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena and Friday (Dec. 8) at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.
Michigan Hockey will be collecting new toys to be donated to Wolverine Human Services. All fans that bring at least one new toy will receive a puck to participate in a postgame chuck-a-puck promotion to win Michigan Hockey Prizes. Additionally, Michigan seat cushions presented by Koch & White will be given to the first 1,500 fans through the doors.
The Michigan State Series
Michigan and Michigan State meet for the 310th time since 1925, with U-M holding a 156-132-21 record in the all-time series. The two teams first met on Jan. 24, 1925, as Michigan defeated the Spartans, 6-3. At home, Michigan holds a 73-44-4 all-time record over Michigan State. On the road, the Wolverines trail 50-66-10 in the all-time series.
Last season, U-M went 1-2-2 against the Spartans. The Maize and Blue defeated Michigan State, 5-4, in overtime at the Great Lakes Invitational on Dec. 30. In January, Michigan fell to the Spartans at home before tying in East Lansing. Despite the tie, the Wolverines won the shootout and picked up the extra Big Ten point. In February, the teams tied in a game at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, with the Wolverines again winning the shootout. The Spartans then defeated Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Scouting the Spartans
The Spartans are led by head coach Danton Cole, who is in his first season behind the bench for Michigan State. From 2010-17, he coached for the U.S. National Team Development Program with the U-17 and U-18 teams. Prior to that, Cole spent three seasons in the NCAA as the head coach of Alabama-Huntsville where he went 23-59-12.
Michigan State was picked to finish seventh in the Big Ten this season in the 2017-18 Big Ten Preseason Poll. The Spartans did not have any players selected to the 2017-18 Big Ten Preseason Watch List. Michigan State comes into this rivalry series following a weekend series (Dec. 1-2) against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in which the Spartans lost both games. The Spartans are 7-8-1 (1-6-1 Big Ten) this season.
Leading Michigan State
Michigan State's offense is led by a pair of underclassmen. Freshman Mitchell Lewandowski (9G, 9A) and sophomore Taro Hirose (6G, 12A) lead the team through 16 games with 18 points each.
In net, the Spartans are led by sophomore goaltender John Lethemon who has played in all 16 games. Lethemon has posted a .916 save percentage and a 2.32 goals-against average to go with his 7-7-1 record.
Last Weekend in Plymouth
The Wolverines defeated the U.S. NTDP U-18 Team last Saturday in an exhibition game on the road in Plymouth, Michigan. U-M won, 7-3, as senior captain Tony Calderone recorded a hat trick. The Maize and Blue also had goals from Adam Winborg, Dexter Dancs, Will Lockwood and Nick Pastujov. With the win, the Wolverines extended their lead in the all-time series against Team USA to 16-2.
Red, White and Go Blue
U-M's Quinn Hughes, Will Lockwood and Josh Norris have been selected to the preliminary Team USA roster to compete at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, New York, from Dec. 26, 2017-Jan. 5, 2018. The Stars and Stripes will look to defend its crown from last season when they swept the tournament and defeated Canada in the gold medal game, 5-4, in a shootout.
Free Hockey
Michigan has had five games head to overtime so far this season. This is the most overtime contests for the Wolverines since they played in nine during the 2015-16 season.
GOALLL!!!
Michigan currently ranks fifth in the nation in goals per game, averaging 3.50 over its first 14 games.
Block it Out
Michigan currently ranks first nationally with an average of 17.79 blocked shots per game and seventh in total blocked shots with 249 on the season. Sam Piazza currently ranks ninth nationally with 2.42 blocks per game.
Run DMC
Michigan's "DMC" line of Dexter Dancs, Cooper Marody and Tony Calderone totaled 15 points in the series at Penn State, nine points against Ferris State, 11 points against Minnesota and eight points against Wisconsin.
The trio has combined for 47 points through 14 games. In comparison, the iconic "CCM" line of JT Compher, Kyle Connor and Tyler Motte had a combined 49 points through 14 games in 2015-16.
Climbin' the Ranks
Marody ranks sixth nationally with 21 points on the season and second with 17 assists. Calderone is tied for ninth nationally with 10 goals.
Double Vision for Coop
Marody's multi-point streak of eight games ended two weekends ago against Ohio State. Over the span he tallied 19 points (4G, 15A), and became the first Wolverine to record multiple points in eight consecutive games since Brian Wiseman did so during the 1993-94 season, when he tallied 21 points (6G, 15A) between Dec. 4, 1993-Jan. 7, 1994.
Senior Superlative
U-M senior defenseman Sam Piazza is one of 20 NCAA men's ice hockey student-athletes selected as candidates for the 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award as individuals who excel both on and off the ice. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Captain Calderone and Co.
The University of Michigan hockey team elected senior forward Tony Calderone as captain for the 2017-18 campaign, while classmate Sam Piazza will serve as alternate captain alongside junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi and sophomores Griffin Luce and Jake Slaker.
Calderone becomes the 98th captain in the program's history, joining the likes of Al Renfrew, Red Berenson, Mel Wakabayashi, Brendan Morrison, Kevin Porter and JT Compher, to name a few.
Deker HOF Induction
Michigan hockey team celebrated the induction of its seven-member 2017 Dekers Hall of Fame class. Jason Boterill, Matt Herr, Brendan Morrison, Bill Muckalt and Marty Turco were at the newly minted Red Berenson Rink to celebrate their induction into the most prestigious group of Michigan hockey alumni. Denny Felsner and John Madden were also honored but could not attend.
Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena
Red Berenson was honored for his 33 seasons of coaching Michigan hockey when the ice rink inside Yost Arena was officially named the Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena.
The University of Michigan Board of Regents approved on Thursday, Oct. 19 an addition to the naming structure at historic Yost Arena at its monthly meeting. In honor of a legendary figure, the regents formally approved the designation of the ice rink as the Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena.
Did you know?
• Michigan has an overall record of 295-164-24 all-time in the month of December.
• Michigan's average age of 20 years, 324 days is the third youngest in NCAA Division I Men's Hockey, ranking only behind Boston College (20 years, 125 days) and Boston University (20 years, 127 days)
• Michigan freshman defenseman Quinn Hughes is the youngest player in NCAA Division I Men's Hockey (Oct. 14, 1999), while teammate Michael Pastujov is the fourth youngest (Aug. 11, 1999).
• With an average weight of 191.52 pounds, Michigan ranks as the ninth-biggest team in NCAA Division I Men's Hockey according to weight, with the biggest being UMass Lowell (199.66).
• Mel Pearson is one of nine new head coaches in NCAA Division I Men's Hockey.
• Michigan had 17 alums make an NHL opening night roster, second most amongst NCAA Division I Men's Hockey programs behind Boston College (19). U-M had 22 alums make at least one appearance in the NHL last season, ranking only behind BC (24) and tied with North Dakota (22).
• With Carl Hagelin and Kevin Porter raising the Stanley Cup last spring with the Pittsburgh Penguins, U-M alums have now raised the cup 16 times, which is tied for third most amongst NCAA Division I Men's Hockey programs (Wisconsin 19, Boston College 18, North Dakota 16).
• Michigan's 36 NCAA Tournament appearances ranks second behind Minnesota (37), while ranking tied for fourth with six appearances in the last 10 years.
• Michigan's 24 Frozen Four appearances ranks second behind Boston College (25).
• Michigan's 10 draft picks on the 2017-18 roster is the third most of any NCAA Division I Men's Hockey program, trailing Minnesota (13) and Boston University (12).
• Built in 1923, Yost Ice Arena is tied with Princeton's Baker Arena for the second-oldest arena in NCAA Division I Men's College Hockey, trailing Northeastern's Matthews Arena (1910).
• Jason Botterill '97 was named the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres on May 11, 2017, becoming 12th GM of an NHL organization who played collegiate hockey.
Up Ahead
After the home-and-home series with rival Michigan State, the Maize and Blue do not have any games through the remainder of the calendar year. The Wolverines will return to action on New Year's Day in the Great Lakes Invitational at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Michigan will face off against Bowling Green on Jan. 1 before playing either Michigan State or Michigan Tech the following day. Michigan leads the all-time series 82-36-3 over Bowling Green.
