MSU kept its top spot in both of this week’s national polls after sweeping a two-game series with Lake Superior State by a combined score of 11-1 last weekend.
The Spartans (2-0-1 overall, 2-0-1 CCHA) garnered 31 first-place votes and 587 points in the USCHO.com poll, keeping them well ahead of No. 2 North Dakota’s one first-place vote and 531 points.
No. 3 Minnesota earned six first-place votes, and No. 4 St. Cloud State and No. 5 Michigan each got one.
In the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll, MSU amassed 16 first-place votes and 277 points. Minnesota ranks No. 2 with three votes and 261 points, and North Dakota, St. Cloud and U-M round out the top 5.
“Early polls like that don’t mean so much to me,” sophomore defenseman Joe Markusen said. “Obviously, things change throughout the year.
“It’s more of something we got from how we played last year - kind of what we did last year and the guys we have coming back, more so than what we’ve done so far this year.”
Besides MSU and U-M, the only other CCHA team in the polls is Nebraska-Omaha (1-1-0, 0-0-0), which ranks 12th in USA Today and 15th in USCHO.
Ohio State, Alaska-Fairbanks and Miami received votes in both polls, and Northern Michigan and Western Michigan received votes in the USCHO rankings.
Cool shots
This weekend, the Spartan hockey team will receive even more national exposure stemming from “The Cold War.”
The outdoor hockey game will be featured on the cable TV series “NHL Cool Shots” at 3 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2 and at noon Saturday on CBC.
For two days, host Dan Moriarity and the show’s crew filmed the preparation and build-up to the game, which ended in a 3-3 tie between MSU and U-M on Oct. 6.
The crew recorded MSU head coach Ron Mason’s pregame speech and also conducted interviews with Mason and Hobey Baker Award-winning junior goaltender Ryan Miller.
Fan inflation
Through three games this season, MSU’s average home attendance is 29,244 - inflated substantially by “The Cold War” record-breaking crowd of 74,554 in Spartan Stadium.
After the massive season-opener, the Spartans drew 6,523 and 6,656 fans to Munn Ice Arena for two games against Lake Superior State last week.
Last year, MSU averaged 6,632 fans per game in 17 home contests at Munn - its second-highest attendance average ever. The MSU single-season record for home attendance is 6,722 per game, set in 1986-87.
The (lonely) 900 Club
Mason, whose lifetime record stands at 899-371-79, would become the first college hockey coach ever to reach 900 career victories with a win Saturday against Ferris State.
Bob Peters retired from Bemidji State after last season with 744 wins - good for second all-time.
Wisconsin’s Jeff Sauer ranks second among active coaches and fourth overall with 639.
Line dancing
Junior right wing Troy Ferguson is practicing with yet another line this week - alongside sophomore center Tim Hearon and freshman left wing Mike Lalonde - after playing with different units in each Lake Superior game.
Ferguson skated with senior left wing Joe Goodenow and freshman center Lee Falardeau in the first Lake Superior game and with Lalonde and freshman center Ash Goldie in the second game of the series.
Goldie has also been bumped around this season and was skating with freshman left wing Kevin Estrada and junior right wing Steve Jackson at Wednesday’s practice.
