w w V w w 2C Thursday, October 25, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com w w v a w w w qw Thursday, October 25, 2007h y dy The Michigae Daily - michigandailycom I~ 2007-08 SCHEDULE LDate Oyyoneet Time Date Oyyonent Time 10/12 Boston College 4:30 1/25 Michigan State 7:35 10/13 Minnesota 7:30 1/26 Michigan State 7:35 10/19 Northern Michigan 7:35 2/1 Northern Michigan 7:35 10/20 Northern Michigan 7:35 2/2 Northern Michigan 7:35 10/26 Boston University* 8:05 2/8 Miami (Ohio) 7:35 10/27 Boston University 8:35 2/9 Miami (Ohio) 7:35 11/2 Nebraska-Omaha 7:05 2/15 LakeSuperiorSt. 8:05 Spartans boast veteran talent, title hopes 11/3 Nebraska-Omaha 11/9 Alaska 11/10 Alaska 11/16 Lake Superior State 11/17 Lake Superior State 11/23 Wisconsin 11/24 Minnesota 7:05 2/16 Lake Superior St. 7:35 7:35 7:35 - 7:05 7:35 7:35 2/22 2/23 2/29 3/1 Michigan State Michigan State Ferris State Ferris State * Home games in bold 7:35 8:05 7:35 7:35 7:05 Who will contend for the CCHA's top spot? Who will sink to the bottom? Read our conference preview. IIIII of11tillll11111111111Ii11111....II.in iIIII1111111111, 11.1iiI. i1i. fiI, il.I................ . i ( ~ II.. ...... IIIIIIIIIIIIII I,. IIIIIIIIIIII lllllllll .... , Will the Wolverines make it back to the Frozen Four for the- first time since 2003? Check out Staff Picks. 11/30 Ohio State 7:35 Playoffs 12/1 Ohio State 7:35 CCHA Tournament 12/7 Bowling Green 7:05 3/7-3/9 CCHA 1st Round TBA 12/8 Bowling Green 7:35 3/14-3/16 CCHA 2nd Round TBA 12/29 Providence 4:30 3/21 CCHA Semifinals TBA 12/30 MSU/Michigan Tech TA 3/22 CCHA Final TBA 1/8 U.S. NTDP U-18 (ex) 7:35 PETER SCHOTTENFEL: Chad Kolarik is one of just two seniors on this year's Michigan hockey team. 1/11 Western Michigan 7:35 1/12 Western Michigan 7:35 NCAA Tournament 3/28- NCAA Regionals TBA 1/18 NotreDame 8:05 4/10 NCAAFrozen Four TBA 1/19 Notre Dame 7:05 4/12 NCAA Championship TAB THE DAILY HOCKEY WRITERS LIVE BLOG EVERY MICHIGAN GAME. MICHIGANDAILY.COM/THEGAME Michigan State It didn't take long for the 2007 NCAA Champions to prove it might not be the best in the nation this year. In Michigan State's season opener, North Dakota administered a 6-0 thrashing to eliminate any Spartan hopes of coasting through the season en route to a repeat. But Michigan State will sur- pass last year's fourth-place fin- ish in the CCHA on the strength of their returning talent. Junior goalie and CCHA Player of the, Year Jeff Lerg returns between the pipes after boasting a .913 save percentage last season, including a top-five-in-NCAA-history .949 save percentage in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Senior captain and top goal scorer Bryan Lerg, junior Justin Abdelkader and junior Tim. Kennedy will provide comparable or a better-than-last-year offen- sive force for the Spartans. Their weakness is on defense. Michigan State lost four defense- men from lastyear's championship roster, and having inexperienced defensemen, even in front of an all-star goalie,, may explain this season's rough start. Miami These guys are good. Like we-just-built-a-new-arena- that's-just-missing-a-National- Championship-banner good. Last season - their first in the Steve Cady Arena - the Redhawks registered their first NCAA Tour- nament game victory in program history. Now, Miami is No. 2 and widely considered a contender to win a National Championship. That's no surprise when you real- ize the Redhawks are averaging more than four goals a game and goalie Jeff Zatkoff has let just four pucks get past him in five games. Seniors Nathan Davis and Ryan Jones will continue to provide Miami's offensive firepower. And it's not just us - the coaches know Miami has a shot, too. They predicted Miami to finish first in the CCHA. Notre Dame Can lightning strike twice? The Fighting Irish certainly hope so. Led by senior goalie David Brown, Notre Dame won its first CCHA regular-season and play- off championships seemingly out of nowhere last year. With key offensive players returning, such PHOTO CO Michigan State goalie Jeff Lerg led the Spartans' surprise run to the National Championship last April. He returns as one of the conference's top goaltenders. ; < d Q.. k-^ 'Y : : : f =7 Take a Break with Public Skate Yost Ice Arena! Monday-kiday:12-12:StPM Thursday:8-9:SOPM Saturday: 2-3:50PM or7-8:10PM Sunday:2-3:1PMy For more informationplease visit or wbsde at wwwumich.edu/yostorcall764-4600 <, as Erik Condra, Kevin Deeth and Ryan Thang, the Fighting Irish will remain in the top tier of the conference. But Brown's absence will make a title repeat difficult. After all, the 2007 CCHA Player of the Year left some pretty big pads to fill after posting a .931 save percentage and a 1.58 average goals against last season. Junior Jordan Pearce has taken over the starting role during Notre Dame's 2-2 start. If Pearce can become a suitable replacement in goal, the Fighting Irish could be an even more dan- gerous team than expected. Ohio State Ohio State hasn't lived up to expectations the past two seasons. But will Michigan fans get to revel in the Buckeyes' misery for a third straight year? Before the season's start, many thought Ohio State would be a surprise team. And with a tough early-season schedule (Miami and Minnesota in consecutive week- ends), prognosticators will have an early idea on where the Buckeyes stand. Ohio State has surrendered 10 goals in two games to Miami, but the early test may help the team develop - or lose confidence if the slide continues against the Golden Gophers. Western Michigan Last year, the Broncos surged in the second half, winning 10 of their last 14 games - and then a first- round fold to Alaska in the CCHA playoffs reasserted their status as a perennially mediocre team. After losing its two highest- scoring forwards, Western Michi- gan will look to some new players to make a statement. Freshman Max Campbell, a fifth-round draft pick of the New York Rangers, has stood out with three points in two games. Sophomore Riley Gill has saved 51 of 54 shots so far this sea- son, and junior Jeff LoVecchio is the Broncos' top returning starter after finishing with 35 points in 37 games last year. If the Broncos can forget about last season's play- offs and continue the hard-nosed play that helped them finish strong last year, they could surprise the CCHA. Nebraska-Omaha The Mavericks lost a lot of artillery from last season. Hobey Baker Award finalist Scott Parse, Alex Nikiforuk and Dan Knapp have moved on to the professional ranks. Nebraska-Omaha has some experience at forward, but the ros- ter features four freshmen defen- semen who will have to adjust to the college game. A bright spot for the Mavericks should be goaltending. Sophomore Jeremie Dupont is talented enough to keep his team in a lot of games, especially with the help of the home crowd at the Qwest Center. Northern Michigan 'One thing Michigan and North- ern Michigan have in common is youth - the Wildcats have 17 freshmen and sophomores on their roster. But in last weekend's battle of inexperienced players, Michigan's freshmen were faster and stronger. Northern Michigan junior Nick Sirota was the Wildcats' biggest standout, tallying three points in two games, but he scored just 10 goals last season and will need to become more of a scoring threat for Northern Michigan to contend in the CCHA. Another question mark for, the Wildcats is in net. With two sophomore goalies, Brian Stewart and Derek Janzen, the starting position could be undecided well into the season - both played one game against Michigan this week- end, though Janzen was pulled for Stewart in the third period of the second game. The rebuilding process will most likely keep the Wildcats near the bottom of the conference. Lake Superior State Lake Superior State had one of the best goalies in the NCAA last season in Jeff Jakaitis. The key word there is "had." Between the pipes is not the only place where the Lakers lack experience. Just one scholarship senior will don the Lake Superior State sweater this year, and the Lakers have already felt the absence of experience. Ear- lier this season, they tied Western Ontario, 3-3, in what was supposed to be a warm-up exhibition game. The young Lakers will have to grow up quickly if they wish to be competitive in the CCHA, espe- cially considering both Michigan and Michigan State are in their cluster. Bowling Green Where to begin with the Fal- cons? Ah, yes, at the bottom of the CCHA - exactly where they ended last season. Bowling Greets was last in goals scored per game, goals allowed per game, power- play conversion and penalty kill- ing in conference play last season. It doesn't look to be much better this year, especially after losing See CCHA, Page SC CAFE HABANA HAPPY HOUR & LATE NIGHTI MI DAILY, 1 AND 25 ISSUE B/w 5.6875X6 CINCHES DUE TO PU 10-12-07