In CCHA pre-season polls Michigan State was placed ninth in the coaches poll and eigthth in the media poll. Press Release
I think that Michigan State will surprise a lot of teams this year. They have nine new fresman that will all see playing time. Freshman, Derek Grant should be one of the leading goal scorers this season and another freshman, Torey Krug will possibly be the second best defenseman on the squad. Their co-captain, Nick Sucharski, will be back from a shoulder injury last year. Corey Tropp missed most of last year, and he was one of the top goal scorers two seasons ago. Drew Palmisano will fill in nicely for Jeff Lerg after gaining some experience in games last year. NHL prospect, Jeff Petry stayed at MSU for another season. The combination of new freshman forwards and the experience the others gained last year should allow them to increase their scoring productivity greatly. The defense will shut more teams down with the addition of Krug and the other two freshman (Grassi and Josepher) and the experience gained by last year's freshman (Buttery, Shelgren, and Crandell). I see MSU finishing in the top six this season.
I agree with that assessment. The Spartans will be much improved this year and they will finish higher than expected.
ReplyDeleteAfter taking in about an hour's worth of practice this week, to me this team just plain looks more competitive.
ReplyDeleteAfter INCH rated the '08 recruiting class 5th in the country, this year's group wasn't in the top 20. That's a good sign.
I'm thinking heads will be turned.
And you're right, Sean - Krug is more than solid and he carries himself like a veteran.