Sports: MSU Icers Still A Top Contender
The 1996-97 Spartan icers gave No. 1 Michigan its only two losses of the season. On the other hand, MSU lost at home to two teams at the bottom of the CCHA. Despite some inconsistency, the Michigan State hockey team earned a third-place finish in the CCHA and remained in position to host a first-round playoff series and advance to the NCAA tournament.
The Spartans come towards the end of the season having remained among the nation's top 10 teams and the CCHA's top four. MSU has been able to achieve that success thanks to a team which is balanced in almost every way --it does not rely too heavily on either offense or defense, and offensively, it does not rely on any one person or one line for its scoring.
Never was that balance more evident that in the Nov. 2 victory over Michigan--without question the season's highlight to this point. The Spartan defense clamped down on the nation's best offense, allowing just 25 shots in the game, and three different lines scored as MSU captured a 5-4 victory.
Sophomore forward Bryan Adams scored the game-winner against the Wolverines with 52 seconds remaining in regulation in front of a raucous crowd of 6,731 in Munn Arena, the largest in 10 years. Adams is one of several weapons who have improved their production from a year ago, led by junior center Sean Berens. Berens, who had a year-long case of bad luck last season, had led the 1996-97 Spartans in almost every offensive category. 'Sean has proven to be a gifted, high-energy player,' head coach Ron Mason says. 'But one of the nice things about this team is that we get points from a lot of different people.'
Not far behind Berens are sophomore center Mike York and junior left wing Mike Watt. York's scoring has helped the Spartans, but he has also done his part on the international scene. He was the leading scorer in the World Junior Championships in Switzerland around New Year's, where he led the U.S. to the silver medal, its best finish ever.
The Spartans' defensive skill is best seen when opponents are on the power play. With the man advantage, when teams usually score about 20 percent of the time, MSU has held opponents at or below the 10 percent mark all season, making it the best short-handed team in the nation. 'Our penalty killing has been a trademark all year,' Mason says. 'If we can keep that going, it will certainly help us.'
Junior captain Tyler Harlton has been the spearhead of the defensive effort, and is up for All-American consideration this season. Junior goaltender Chad Alban has gotten stronger as the year progressed as well, including a stretch of two shutouts in three games in January.
Should this balanced formula continue to produce results for the Spartans, they should make their 14th NCAA tournament appearance in 16 years.