Sparty On, Wayne! Michigan State @ Lake Superior State, Saturday, October 27, 2012

The boxscore for this game can be found by this link to collegehockeystats.net.

Taffy Abel Arena was jam-packed to the rafters on Saturday to see the Michigan State Spartans take a 4-2 win over the Lake Superior State Lakers. Kevin Murdock got a rare start for the Lakers, in place of the ever-present Kevin Kapalka, who picked up an injury after conceding the first Spartan goal Friday night. Murdock is a junior who transferred from Minnesota State after his freshman year. He was called upon to make plenty of saves on Saturday night, most of which were fairly routine, thanks to a tight LSSU defense. He did get beat cleanly to the glove side twice; from where I sat, it appeared that he occasionally leaves too much net to shoot at on the glove side. Michigan State gave Jake Hildebrand his first collegiate start on Saturday. Hildebrand displayed nice lateral movement and was only left out to dry on the first Laker goal, when Chris Ciotti got in behind Jake Chelios and managed to stuff the puck past the Spartan goaltender.

The differences between the two teams were evident. Lake Superior defends. And defends. And defends some more. They do a great job of clogging up the ice and preventing quality scoring chances. Their team is blessed with great size, but not necessarily great speed or smooth skating. The Lakers are not the most exciting team to watch, but on their day, they can shut a team down. Michigan State was the more entertaining of the two teams, looking to pass their way out of their own end, to great success, and a quick transition game would create plenty of scoring opportunities and drew penalties. The Spartan power play was equally impressive, going 3 for 6 on the night against a Laker team usually solid on the penalty kill.

Michigan State has a nice group of forwards, none of whom particularly stood out to me, but I really liked their defense. I was most impressed on the night by the pairing of Jake Chelios and John Draeger. Chelios, the son of NHL legend and Gary Bettman's worst nightmare, Chris Chelios, is smooth on and off the puck, a great skater and plays almost as passionately as his father. He was also not afraid of the game's physical element, executing a nice takedown on Matt Bruneteau after he had grabbed Chelios' facemask in a scrum after the second MSU goal. Along with Chelios, John Draeger ran the power play for the Spartans. During a late first period power play, Draeger scored the first goal with a beauty shot over the glove of Murdock. He also made quick decisions with the puck, helping the Spartans transition from defense to offense. Chelios is an undrafted junior, while Draeger is a freshman and was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the third round of the 2012 NHL Draft. With three more years to further develop his game in East Lansing, he will be more than ready to take the next step.

Aside from the game, a night out at Taffy Abel is affordable and easily accessible in Sault Sainte Marie. There is plenty of parking on site, for a $2 fee, and the parking attendants do a great job of funneling people in and out; there was little to no time stuck in a traffic jam on the way out. I also appreciate the complimentary Wi-Fi, with next to no hassle for access. Concessions were reasonably priced and available at both ends of the rink. The concourses are not the widest you'll find, understandable in an older building, but they weren't terribly congested on the night, either.

LSSU mascot "Seamore the Sea Duck"

Shifting gears

As my displeasure with professional hockey grows at a rate not unlike that of the greed of the owners and players, I'm going to shift the focus of this blog. I am making it my goal to see as many games in as many different rinks and leagues as possible, posting my observations and thoughts on the game as I go. First up is Saturday's CCHA game between Lake Superior State and Michigan State.