Inside College Hockey | CCHA Stick Salute, Bench Minor, Great Weekend Getaway

January 7, 2009

CCHA Stick Salute, Bench Minor, Great Weekend Getaway

By James V. Dowd

STICK SALUTE

Erik Gustafsson and his Northern Michigan teammates swept Wisconsin at the Kohl Center last weekend.

Yes, Wisconsin was missing a couple of its top players in Ottawa for the World Junior Championships, but Northern Michigan definitely took a step in the right direction by capitalizing on the Badgers’ short-handedness and earning a sweep last weekend in Madison. The Wildcats were picked as a top-four contender in the CCHA standings heading into the season, but sunk to 11th place with continually underwhelming performances. If coach Walt Kyle can harness some momentum from the two wins, look for even more surprises in what promises to be a tumultuous second half of the CCHA season.

BENCH MINOR

It’s been a recurring theme for Michigan State throughout this season, but seriously, Spartans, can’t you spring Jeff Lerg a break on a more consistent basis? Relative to their first-half performance, the Spartans had a good holiday run, going 2-2 in the Great Lakes Invitational and a series against Alaska over the past two weekends. But in those four games, the senior stalwart stopped a very impressive 147 of 157 shots for a .936 save percentage, while the offense scored six goals on 109 shots. For those keeping track at home, that means Michigan State has been generating 12 less shots per game than their opponents over the last four games.

GREAT WEEKEND GETAWAY

Miami at Michigan, Fri.-Sat.

Miami did what it usually does so well at this past weekend’s Ohio Hockey Classic, as the men from Oxford outshot Clarkson and Army by a combined 100-38 margin at Value City Arena in Columbus. But despite the impressive volume of shots, only four of those 100 went in, while the Knights Golden and Black slipped 7 past Cody Reichard and Connor Knapp. Michigan, on the other hand and in a reversal of the two teams’ first halves, was very impressive during the Great Lakes Invitational in scoring five goals each on Michigan Tech and Michigan State while surrendering just one.

This weekend has the potential to play a critical role in the rise or demise of either team, as Miami tries to keep pace with Notre Dame, and Michigan tries to stay in the top-four mix. Remember that Miami romped past the Wolverines at home in convincing 2-0 and 2-1 victories in November, so it should come in with quiet confidence against a Michigan team raring for some revenge.