9/24/10
Season Outlook
This year, I would like to get more opinions from our followers on the team as the season progresses. Let's start with the season outlook. How will the team do this season? Do they have a chance to win the CCHA or make the NCAA tournament? What freshman will step up and make a difference this year? What will the line combinations look like? Who will the MVP be?
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Toward the end of last season, I was thinking that the 2010-2011 season had the potential to be a very special one for MSU Hockey IF Petry and Tropp stayed for their senior years. Obviously, that didn’t happen. In addition to those two key early departures, we also lost Andrew Rowe, which caught me off-guard. I’m not as optimistic for this season as I once was, but I think the team will still be solidly competitive and finish in the top four of the CCHA standings. I don’t think they will win the CCHA regular season title, but I think the team could make a run at the CCHA Tournament title even though recent performance in the tourney would dictate otherwise. If the team can indeed finish in the top four of the CCHA regular season standings and make it to the final game of the CCHA Tournament, the Spartans will punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. It would have been enough last year.
ReplyDeleteOut of the incoming freshmen class, the two players that stand out as having the best chance at making a difference are Greg Wolfe and Lee Reimer. They both had solid junior careers and should be able to compete immediately for playing time at forward. I’m not sure if Comley will plug Jake Chelios in at forward or defense, so it’s difficult to gauge how well he will do. Chris Sandmeyer might be buried on the depth chart for a while. I think Will Yanakeff will play sparingly with Palmisano firmly entrenched as the starting goalie and take on a bit of an apprenticeship akin to Palmisano under Jeff Lerg. If I have to pick one, I’m going with Greg Wolfe to be the impact freshman. Just call it a hunch.
Line combinations
Forwards
1st Line: LW – Derek Grant; C – Daulton Leveille; RW – Dustin Gazley
2nd Line: LW – Anthony Hayes; C – Brett Perlini; RW – Zach Golembiewski
3rd Line: LW – Dean Chelios; C – Chris Forfar; RW – Trevor Nill
4th Line: LW – Mike Merrifield; C – Greg Wolfe; RW – Kevin Walrod
I think Lee Reimer and Jake Chelios will see the ice a bit throughout the season. Joey Shean didn’t dress last year and he will be hard pressed to crack the lineup this season.
Defense
1st Pair: LD – Torey Krug; RD – Brock Shelgren
2nd Pair: LD – Zach Josepher; RD – Matt Grassi
3rd Pair: LD – Matt Crandell; RD – Tim Buttery
I’m interested to see how Comley puts the defensive pairings together. Josepher and Grassi seem to have good chemistry together as a unit as do Crandell and Shelgren. Who will Comley pair with Krug? I’m going with Shelgren for now as he played more than Buttery last year. I’d like to see Sturges get some playing time; it would be a great story. I’m pulling for him. I’m not sure yet how Sandmeyer and Jake Chelios will factor into the mix.
MVP – Torey Krug
He’s a leader on and off the ice and played really strong last year with Petry as his partner. I love the way he plays. Grant and Palmisano will probably be the other popular choices.