2012 Great Lakes Invitational to be held at Comerica Park

Photo from MiHockeyNow.com

By Sean Gagnier

On Thursday the National Hockey League made official what had been known since Jan. 2nd, that the Detroit Red Wings would be playing host to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2013 Winter Classic. Commissioner Gary Bettman solidified the details during a press conference at Comerica Park in Detroit.

While the Winter Classic will not be held at Comerica Park, instead moving about an hour west to Ann Arbor to be held at the University of Michigan Stadium, several events will indeed take place in downtown Detroit. Comerica Park will be the sight of just about everything besides the Winter Classic itself - it will host two Ontario Hockey League games, probably featuring the two OHL teams from Michigan, the Saginaw Spirit and the Plymouth Whalers, an American Hockey League game, more than likely featuring the Grand Rapid Griffins, the AHL-affiliate of the Red Wings, the NHL Alumni game, and the Great Lakes Invitational.

The GLI has been a popular fixture in Michigan hockey for fifty years, the event is usually held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit but a shift to the outdoor venue at Comerica Park should be exciting for the schools involved. During the GLI four college hockey teams square off in a tournament that features the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech and an invited college each year.

While this will not be the first outdoor game for either Michigan or Michigan State it will be the first in Detroit. The two teams faced off in 2010 in the "Big Chill at the Big House" in which the Wolverines handily beat the Spartans 5-0. Michigan then went on to play another outdoor game that season when they played in Wisconsin and yet another this year when they headed down to Cleveland to face Ohio State.

Despite the Wolverines frequency of outdoor games the other schools involved will take full advantage of the stage to draw recruits and attention to their programs as well as just taking in the stage. Many of these players have grown up in southeastern Michigan and have been to untold numbers of Detroit Tigers games at Comerica Park, but now not only will they be down where their baseball heroes play, they will be playing a game of their own.

It is not yet known whether tickets to the GLI will be sold regularly as they have been for the history of the event or if the NHL will mandate the purchase of GLI, OHL or AHL tickets in order for fans to get their hands on tickets to the main event, the Winter Classic in Ann Arbor. Regardless, it is likely that the venue will allow for the largest crowd in GLI history and could transform many a general hockey fan into a college hockey fan.

Spartans earn weekend split with Wolverines

By Sean Gagnier
 
Michigan State headed into the weekend looking to do battle with their in-state rivals and sweep the two game series. While a sweep wasn't attained the Spartans were able to gain a split against the Wolverines -  including a shootout victory at home.

In front of a sold-out crowd at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday the Spartans took home a shootout victory on the back of senior goalie Drew Palmisano.

Prior to his appointment as MSU head coach this season Tom Anastos served as the commissioner of the CCHA, instituting a controversial shootout rule in 2008. This rule would avoid tie games in games between CCHA opponents, something Anastos thought would entertain the crowds. 

On Saturday Michigan State benefited from the prior decision of their head coach, with the Spartans riding a hot Palmisano to a 4-3 overtime victory. The victory served as payback for a loss Friday night to the Wolverines at Yost Ice Arena.

"I was real proud of how hard our guys competed," said Anastos. "And you know, I was real happy for (Palmisano), in particular, shutting them down in the shootout.”

As was the case on Friday night, in Michigan's win over Michigan State, the scoreboard showed a closely contested game in which neither team seemed to gain the sustained upper hand on the other. The Wolverines held a 3-2 lead over the Spartans with a little under four minutes remaining in the game when MSU's Lee Reimer lit the lamp to tie the game at three apiece.

The two teams dueled in out during a five minute overtime session, without either being able to find the back of the net, leading to the deciding shootout. In the shootout Anastos chose to go with a lineup of Brett Perlini, Matt Berry and Greg Wolfe.

Perlini drove towards the net and Michigan goaltender Shawn Hunwick -  he missed on his attempt, but Palmisano was able to turn aside the Michigan attempt at the other end. Berry was able to deke around Hunwick to put the Spartans on the board while Palmisano kept Michigan off the board. In the final round of the shootout MSU's Greg Wolfe's shot was turned aside by Hunwick but Palmisano stoned Michigan's AJ Treais.

As Palmisano turned aside the final shot Munn Ice Arena exploded with the excited cheers of fans and the senior goaltender kicked the air before jumping against the glass in front of the MSU student section.

“The Michigan State-Michigan rivalry is the biggest in college hockey,” Palmisano said. “It always feels good to beat these guys at home.”

Michigan State will have a 16-day break over the holidays before heading back to East Lansing to get ready for the Great Lakes Invitational (Dec. 29-30 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit). Closing out the first half of the season the Spartans hold a 10-6-2 record while going 6-5-1-1 in CCHA games.  

The first half of the season could be considered to be a success for the Spartans as they were expected to finish in the basement of the CCHA and so far have defeated Minnesota, Western Michigan and Northern Michigan - teams all ranked in the top ten.

Spartans look to down Wolverines at Yost

By Sean Gagnier
 
After stumbling out of the gates this season the Spartans have caught their stride and haven't looked back, they have soared to No. 14 in the nation after going 8-1-1 over the past 10 games.

With the new regime of Tom Anastos in place Michigan State has adopted the montra, "100 percent, 100 percent of the time" and it has worked. After losing to Lake Superior State University earlier in the season, the Spartans have steadily climbed in the rankings and boast a 10-5-1 (6-4) record.

Although the Spartans sit in sixth place in the conference, they still have 18 conference games left to play and the upcoming home-and-home series with Michigan looms large.

The Wolverines have not maintained their power from last year, after winning the CCHA they currently sit in eighth place with a 8-8-2 (4-6) record, but any game between these two rivals tends to come down to the last period and tends to remain close.

Coach Anastos has preached that this game is more than just another on the schedule, saying there's something more to it than that.

"They say all games count the same," Anastos said. "True, but some games mean a little more."

The rivalry is strong with many of the players on the Spartans team, with captain Torey Krug saying that he lives for games like these against Michigan.

"You go to Michigan State to beat teams like Michigan,” Krug said. “You know, if you don’t have that hatred for Michigan, then I don’t think you’re a true Spartan. It’s just that confidence thing."

Over the past 11 years the two teams have played to an even 21-21-10 series record, while each game tends to be a tight battle. The two met in The Big Chill at the Big House and the Wolverines soundly beat the Spartans 5-0, but both teams broke even on the season with a 2-2 record.

The two teams are heading in different directions of late, with the Spartans having ripped off eight wins in their last ten games and the Wolverines having just one win since Nov. 5. Despite their trends, the two teams are close in their goals per game with Michigan State averaging 3.2 to Michigan's three.

Michigan State will head to Yost Ice Arena on Friday and hopes to continue their streak of late, the game will be televised on Fox Sports Detroit and Saturday's game between the two at Munn Ice Arena will be covered on Big Ten Network.