Re: MSU Spartan Hockey - Episode VII - A New Hope
I had nearly forgotten what it felt like to leave Munn after an exciting victory. The last time I witnessed MSU win a game was Princeton last October and before that, Wisconsin in December 2015. There were a few wins that I missed in those years but that is a stunningly sad statistic. Unthinkable, even near the end of Comley's tenure when morale was at an all time low(until the end of the Anastos era)
I have quite a few thoughts about the game:
I really like what I saw. I saw a team with far more offensive flair than I anticipated and can move and possess the puck better than prior years. You can't truly predict what this team would be capable of had Anastos stuck around but his teams did not create scoring chance and pour pressure on like this team has in what few games we've seen. I especially like how strong our third periods have been. Once Scarsella tied it up we poured it on. You could feel the game winner coming. When's the last time any of us could say that?
With that being said, the Powerplay is still a work in progress. We did score one(technically 2 but their goalie was pulled) but most of our time on the PP was spent fetching it deep in our own zone after WMU threw it down ice. Our PK looked fantastic, and even dangerous. We had several scoring opportunities short-handed including a 3on1. Ironically, this actually led to WMU's first goal as it came back the other way with 3 of our players caught deep.
The Hirose-Khodorenko-Lewandowski line is fantastic. I also like the Sanford-Apap-Kamer combination which is something I certainly never would have predicted before the season. In fact, every line has their moments and pulls their weight. That is a great sign.
Hirose did get knocked around out there at times. He may have to put some beef on those bones if he wants to make a career our of Hockey. He's got some moves, though. ****.
Lethemon played fine, not great. Their 3rd and 4th goals i'm sure he'd like to have back but he made some big saves as well.
We were getting murdered in the faceoff circle the first 30 minutes. They were 18-6 WMU at one point and it was a big problem. It ended something like 32-26 MSU. That made a huge difference for us.
Congrats to Scarsella on his first goal. I think that shot really caught Blacker by surprise. He seems to have found a regular spot in the lineup which is interesting since he was most frequently the odd man out last year. He must have had a great summer.
Crowd was alright. I was hoping for more parade/Midnght madness runoff but apparently that doesn't happen.
Lastly, I am excited to report that the proper stick salute might be back. They did not play it in time as the team raised their sticks and began getting off the ice but Shadows then began playing. My hope is that this is the final nail in the coffin of this program's dark ages.
. Could be wee obtuse for the average 20-year old, but you never know ... MSU does have an accomplished jazz program.