Alaska: Alaska Fairbanks Hockey

February 3, 2007

By Staff Writer
Published October 10, 2006

The three M’s doesn’t refer to a famous manufacturing company in Minnesota.

It alludes to three teams who most likely will be battling for first place this season in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association — Michigan, Michigan State and Miami (Ohio).

Michigan was predicted for the top spot in the preseason media poll while the coaches poll tabbed Michigan State, and Miami captured the regular-season title a year ago.

“I think they’re going to be your top three teams,'’ Alaska head coach Tavis MacMillan said after a Face-Off Club Hockey 101 session on Saturday at the Carlson Center. “They’re the deepest and they return what I call some of the elite players in college hockey, in our league. After that, it’s pretty open.'’

Michigan (21-15-5 overall, 13-10-5 conference) is coming off its 16th straight appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament, the longest active streak in college hockey, and Wolverines head coach Red Berenson is 15 wins away from 600 career wins.

“We did some good things offensively last season and we did some good things defensively,'’ Berenson said at the recent CCHA Media Day in Detroit, “but we were not as consistent as we needed to be. The highlight of the year may have been our first game of the year, and our lowlight may have been our last game of the year.'’

Michigan opened the season with a 3-1 win over Quinnipiac and ended the season with a 5-1 loss to North Dakota in the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan, though, had 15 freshmen last season who are 15 sophomores this season, and among them is defenseman Jack Johnson, a first-team All-CCHA Rookie Team selection. Johnson and senior Matt Hunwick form one of the best blue line pairings in the country.

Senior forward T.J. Hensick, a second-team All-CCHA choice last season, returns from a 17-goal and 52-point junior season and is vying to become the first player in Wolverines history with 50 or more points in three seasons.

Michigan State

Head coach Rick Comley of defending CCHA Tournament champion Michigan State (25-12-8, 14-7-7) is 15 wins short of 700 career victories, but he’ll have to reach that milestone without the services of forward Drew Miller and goaltender Dominic Vicari, who decided to forego their senior seasons for professional careers.

Miller, the team’s leading scorer last season with 43 points (18 goals and 25 assists), signed with the National Hockey League’s Anaheim Ducks and Vicari (8-6-2 with an .896 saves percentage and 2.62 goals against average), decided in August to turn pro.

The Spartans, though, have 11 sophomores this season, including goaltender Jeff Lerg, who was an All-CCHA Rookie first-teamer last season, while his brother, junior forward Bryan, was the team’s second-leading scorer (15-23-38).

“We’re not about individuals, we’re not about any one player,” said Comley at Media Day. “We just have a collection of good kids who work hard and we’re hopeful it’s going to be a good season in East Lansing (Mich.).'’

Miami (Ohio)

Miami (26-9-4, 20-6-2 ) was among three league teams who opened the regular season over the weekend with nonconference series.

Miami christened its new, $34.8-million Steve Cady Arena at Goggin Ice Center with a runner-up finish in their Ice Breaker Invitational. The RedHawks downed the Denver Pioneers 5-2 on Friday, led by a trio of juniors — forward Ryan Jones with two goals, forward Nathan Davis with two assists and goaltender Charlie Effinger with 28 saves.

Miami fell 4-1 on Saturday to Vermont. Senior forward Marty Guerin scored on a 5-on-3 power play in the third period and sophomore Jeff Zatkoff finished with 36 saves.

Miami head coach Enrico Blasi, in his eighth season, received the Spencer Penrose Award as the National Coach of the Year last season. Davis led the RedHawks in 2005-06 with 20 goals and 40 points, and Effinger’s goals against average of 1.83 and Zatkoff’s 2.02 ranked in the top five nationally.

Ferris State

Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels, the 2002 National Coach of the Year, entered his 15th season by seeing his Bulldogs get swept by Union (N.Y.) in Big Rapids, Mich.

Despite a 41-22 advantage in shots, Ferris lost 2-0 Friday night. Sophomore Mitch O’Keefe had 20 saves after coming off a freshman season which he compiled a 14-12-7 record with a 2.68 GAA and .904 saves percentage.

The Bulldogs came up short, 6-5, on Saturday. Blair Riley, a 6-foot, 222-pounder from Nanaimo of the British Columbia Hockey League, previewed his impact as a freshman, leading Ferris with a goal and two assists, and junior Matt Verdone had a goal and an assist, carrying over from his 15-goal and 23-point season as a junior.

Junior Derek McIntyre recorded eight saves in a stint of 25 minutes, 3 seconds, while O’Keefe had 15 saves over the remaining 34:20.

Daniels, during the Media Day, said goaltending will be the strength this season for a Bulldogs squad which saw leading scorer Greg Rallo (17-22-39) complete his eligibility and reliable forward Matt Stefanishion (9-4-13) sign with the Washington Capitals.

Northern Michigan

Fifth-year head coach Walt Kyle’s Northern Michigan Wildcats (22-16-2, 14-12-2) came away with one point against defending national champion Wisconsin in Green Bay, Wis.

Bill Zaniboni, 18-12-2 with an .818 saves percentage and 2.31 GAA as a junior last season, had 33 saves Friday in a 3-0 loss against the Badgers of Madison, Wis.

Northern and Wisconsin churned out 3-3 tie Saturday, with the Wildcats surviving a 14-32 disadvantage in shots. Zaniboni collected 29 saves and the Wildcats got their scoring from three veterans — senior defenseman Zach Tarkir, forward Dusty Collins and junior forward Mike Santorelli, who was the team’s third-leading scorer last season with 33 points, two behind leader Darin Olver, a senior forward this season.

Nebraska-Omaha

Nebraska-Omaha (20-15-6, 12-10-6) is celebrating its 10th season of hockey, and Alaska’s perpetual scheduling cluster mate had reason to celebrate in the offseason, when forward Scott Parse decided to return for his senior season rather than sign with the Los Angeles Kings.

The CCHA Player of the Year, All-American and Hobey Baker Award finalist last season ranked among the nation’s leading scorers in 2005-06 with 20-41-61 totals in 41 games.

“He’s come back as the cornerstone of our team, but we’ve got a good cast surrounding him,” Mavericks head coach Mike Kemp said during Media Day. Sophomore Jerad Kaufmann, a former Fairbanks Ice Dog, backstopped the Mavericks to their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament after starting last season as a freshman walk-on and No. 3 goaltender.

“He came into his own, and he was one of the keys for us achieving our first NCAA Tournament,'’ Kemp said.

Nebraska-Omaha begins and ends its season in the 49th state. The Mavericks start Friday in the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Nye Frontier Classic at Sullivan Arena, and they and the Nanooks close out the regular season on Feb. 23-24 at the Carlson Center.

Alaska and Nebraska-Omaha are joined in their cluster this season by the Bowling Green Falcons (13-23-2, 8-18-2) and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (13-19-4, 11-13-4).

Bowling Green

The Falcons saw leading scorer and sophomore Alex Foster (11-40-51) sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs after last season and 12 freshmen come in this season.

But Scott Paluch’s bunch returns a 48-point scorer in junior forward Jonathan Matsumoto and a strong defensive corps, led by junior Michael Hodgson (2-9-11).

“I think our experience back there is essential,'’ Paluch, who has six defensemen back from last season, said at Media Day.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame, which was swept by Alaska in the first round of the playoffs last season in South Bend, Ind., has a steady netminder in senior David Brown (9-15-4, 2.47 GAA and .915 saves percentage), two solid senior defensemen in Wes O’Neill (6-19-25) and Noah Babin (3-12-15) and a promising blueliner in freshman Kyle Lawson from Tri-City of the United States Hockey League.

Lake Superior State

Second-year head coach Jim Roque’s Lake Superior State Lakers were 15-14-7 overall last year and placed sixth in conference (11-12-5) in the regular season to earn home ice in the CCHA playoffs. The Lakers, though, were shocked by 11th-place Western Michigan in the first round.

Lake Superior’s recovery process is led by senior goaltender Jeff Jakaitis, a first-team All-CCHA selection last season who is on track to become the Lakers’ all-time leader in saves percentage, as he enters the season with a .920 mark. Senior forward Trent Campbell returns as last season’s leading-scorer (14-12-26) and plus-minus leader (+4).

Western Michigan

Eighth-year head coach Jim Culhane said Western Michigan (10-24-6, 7-16-5) is looking to build this season on last season’s playoff upset of Lake Superior, and two players who will be critical to the Broncos’ growth are junior goaltender Daniel Bellissimo, who led the nation last season with 1,121 saves, and senior forward Paul Szczechura, the team’s second-leading scorer a year ago with 10-26-36 totals.

Ohio State

The hearts of the Ohio State Buckeyes (15-9-5, 11-14-3) are heavy entering the season because junior forward Tom Fritsche, the team’s leading scorer the past two seasons with 75 points, is suffering from ulcerated colitis, a debilitating disease which had caused his weight to drop from about 190 pounds to about 145.

“There’s a lot of support for him but it’s a difficult situation,'’ 12th-year head coach John Markell said during Media Day. “It’s a tough pill to swallow, not only for me and my coaching staff, but for our players because they are friends.”

The Buckeyes return their second and third-leading scorers in senior forward Andrew Schembri (12-11-23) and senior defenseman Sean Collins (7-11-18), and freshman Joe Palmer should step comfortably into the starting goaltender role after Dave Caruso completed his career last season. In his two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program, Palmer played 23 games against college teams, including 20 D-I squads.

Staff writer Danny Martin can be reached at dmartin@newsminer.com or 459-7586.

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