Michigan State Men's Hockey Back to No. 1

Michigan State has regained the top spot in both the USCHO.com and USAHockey.com NCAA Division I men's college hockey polls this week after splitting with archrival Michigan, the former No. 1, last weekend. 

MSU garnered 30 of 50 first-place votes in the Feb. 9 USCHO.com poll, and 18 of 34 first-place votes in the corresponding USA Hockey poll. Rounding out the top five in both rankings were Michigan, North Dakota, Western Michigan and Quinnipiac.

MSU fell, 4-3 in overtime, at Michigan last Friday, but rebounded to earn its third consecutive "Duel in the D" trophy with a 6-2 victory the next night in Detroit. The Spartans (22-6-0 overall) return to Big Ten action this weekend against Notre Dame.

MSU Hockey Tops Both Polls Again

Michigan State University remained atop the major NCAA Division I men's hockey polls for a fourth straight week. The Spartans earned all 50 first-place votes in this week's USCHO.com poll, and also again topped the USA Hockey poll while garnering all 34 of those first-place ballots.

No. 1 MSU is coming off a two-step sweep of visiting Big Ten rival Penn State over the weekend, winning by 2-1 and 5-0 scores at Munn Ice Arena. Tiernan Shoudy notched the game-winning goal in overtime in the opener, before Charlie Stramel scored two goals and set up two others in the clincher. Spartan netminder Trey Augustine stopped 60 out of 61 shots against on the weekend, including 36 saves for the shutout in the second contest.

MSU (7-1-0 overall, 2-0-0 Big Ten) returns to conference action on Nov. 14-15 with two games at Notre Dame.

Wisconsin No. 1 in Men's Hockey Polls

Despite not playing this past weekend, Wisconsin is the new number one team in this week's USCHO.com NCAA Division I men's hockey poll. The Badgers are also first overall in the most recent USA Hockey/The Rink Live Poll. 

Wisconsin, who is 9-1-0 overall under new head coach Mike Hastings, and previously swept former No. 1 Minnesota this season, garnered 32 out of 50 first-place votes in the Nov. 13 USCHO poll to move up from third place the week before. The Badgers also earned 28 of 34 first-place votes in this week's USA Hockey/The Rink Live Poll, and it's the first time since the fall of 2006, when it was the defending NCAA champion, that Wisconsin has been ranked first overall in either poll.

Rounding out the USCHO.com top five this week are North Dakota (7-2-1), Denver (7-2-1), Boston College (7-2-1) and Providence (8-1-2), while the USA/Rink poll listed Denver, BC, North Dakota and Providence sequentially. BC fell from the top spot in both polls after two weeks, following a loss and a tie at Hockey East rival Maine last weekend.

Wisconsin returns to action this weekend with two games at No. 11 Michigan State in Big Ten play.

Brian Bellgraph 1972-2020

Rest in peace, my friend. Say hello to Ron Mason and Jerry Marshall from Michigan State for me. You are and will be greatly missed
#sticksoutforbrian #USAHockey #WesternMichigan

Jim Johannson 1964 – 2018

USA Hockey Assistant Executive Director Jim Johannson (Wisconsin) was memorialized Thursday in Colorado Springs. The general manager of the 2018 U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team, he passed away in his sleep on Jan. 21. He was 53.

A native of Rochester, Minn., Johannson played for the University of Wisconsin from 1982 to 1986, helping the Badgers to the NCAA title as a freshman. Drafted by the Hartford Whalers in the seventh round of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, he played one year in Germany before going on to seven seasons in the International Hockey League with Salt Lake, Indianapolis and Milwaukee.

Johannson’s best professional scoring season came with Salt Lake in 1988-89, when he tallied a career-high 35 goals and 75 points. He also earned the IHL's Ironman Award in 1990, according to HockeyDB.com. A center, he was also a member of the U.S. National Team that finished seventh at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, plus the American squad that finished fourth at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, according to sports-reference.com. He also skated for the U.S. at the 1992 IIHF Men’s World Championship in Czechoslovakia.

Johannson joined USA Hockey in 2000 after spending five years as general manager with the Twin Cities (Minn.) Vulcans of the USHL, leading them to a national Junior "A" championship in his final campaign. According to USAHockey.com, during his watch with the national governing hockey body, American teams garnered 64 medals in major international competition, including 34 gold, 19 silver and 11 bronze. He also served as general manager for the gold-medal-winning U.S. National Junior men’s teams in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

The U.S. Men’s National Team will begin competition at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Feb. 14.

Preliminary U.S. World Juniors Roster Announced

Minnesota-Duluth led all NCAA Division I schools with five selections among the 28-man preliminary U.S. National Junior Team roster for this season's IIHF World Junior Championship, as announced today.

Boston University, Harvard and Michigan had three players selected apiece, while Minnesota had two players picked and Boston College, Maine, Notre Dame, Penn State, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan, Wisconsin and Yale had one each chosen. The full roster is available here.

A total of 24 of the 28 players chosen came from the current NCAA ranks, including three goaltenders, 10 defensemen and 11 forwards. Six college players also return from last year's triumphant American squad that won gold in Quebec by defeating runner-up Canada in a shootout for Team USA's fifth-ever WJC title.

The roster will be pared down to its final total of 23 players following training camps in Columbus, Ohio and Jamestown, N.Y., along with two preliminary games, later this month, according to USA Hockey. The U.S., which will again be helmed by head coach Bob Motzko (St. Cloud State), will seek to defend its WJC title at the 2018 competition in Buffalo, which begins Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 5, 2018.

Granato to Guide Team USA at 2018 Olympics

Wisconsin head coach Tony Granato will lead the U.S. men's ice hockey team at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. The announcement was made late last week by USA Hockey.

Granato's assistant coaches will include Keith Allain (Yale), Chris Chelios (Wisconsin), Ron Rolston (Michigan Tech) and Scott Young (Boston University). Jim Johannson (Wisconsin) of USA Hockey operations will serve as Team USA's general manager, while former U.S. Olympic Coach Ben Smith (Northeastern) will be the director of player personnel.

Team USA has yet to be assembled, but will likely consist of NCAA players and players who have been skating for European clubs. NHL players are not expected to compete en masse in the Olympics for the first time since 1994, as an agreement could not be reached with the IIHF for the 2018 games.

Jeff Sauer 1943-2017

The college hockey world lost a giant last week when former Colorado College and Wisconsin head coach Jeff Sauer passed away at age 73.

Sauer, a Minnesota native who played at CC and led Wisconsin to the 1983 and 1990 NCAA titles, went 655-532-57 from 1971 to 2002 behind the bench with the Tigers and Badgers, according to USCHO.com. He was later a championship mentor with the USA Hockey National Men's Sled Hockey team, with six straight international championships in just under six years, according to usahockey.com.

I had the honor of meeting Coach Sauer on several occasions when I worked at Michigan State in the mid-1990s. May he rest in peace.