Dimondale - MSU’s coaching staff worked three long days this weekend while scouting some of the nation’s best junior players at the North American Hockey League’s second annual Face-Off at The Summit.
But while the Spartans searched for their next prized recruit, the two guys MSU has already landed were able to prove their worth on the ice.
Capital Centre Pride left wing Drew Miller tallied a hat trick and an assist Saturday, while his future Spartan teammate Tommy Goebel put in two goals for the Cleveland Barons during the second day of the three-day, season-opening NAHL event.
All of the NAHL’s 11 teams, plus the Under-18 U.S. National Development Team, played at The Summit, 9410 Davis Highway, this weekend. The impressive congregation of junior-hockey talent in one place drew more than 100 scouts from college and pro teams to Lansing.
MSU officials watched almost every game this weekend, but they also had to be salivating at the thought of Miller and Goebel wearing green and white next season. Miller, the younger brother of former MSU goaltender Ryan Miller, signed a National Letter of Intent with MSU in November. Goebel verbally committed to MSU last month, and said he will sign a letter of intent in November.
By NCAA rule, MSU coaches can’t comment on players until they have signed a National Letter of Intent.
Although both are the captains of their respective teams, Miller and Goebel are quite different in their styles of play. Miller, a 6-foot-2, 165-pounder, gets his big frame to the right place, keeps his stick on the ice and muscles the puck into the net. Goebel, a 5-foot-6, 153-pounder from Parma, Ohio, is fast, agile and inventive despite his small stature.
One scout in the stands Saturday even called Goebel “the best player in the league.”
“I like the big-school thing,” said Goebel, a right wing who chose MSU over Michigan, Ohio State and Boston University. “When you think about college hockey, it’s a school you think about. You can win a national championship there - it’s a good fit for me.
“I use my size to my advantage. Maybe the guys don’t see me when I go in front of the net because I’m so small. But I hope to be a big-time player.”
Goebel, 17, is expected to help the Spartans compete with speedier teams from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Miller, 18, is the latest in a long lineage of Millers playing hockey for MSU. He led the Pride with 18 goals last season and already has three goals and two assists in two games this year. Although he’s already been committed for a year and has another year to go before joining the Spartans, he said the waiting period won’t be too tough.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life, so it’s not that bad for one more year,” Miller said. “A lot of my friends are going right now and doing their thing at college, and I’m taking a year off. But I’m just learning the little things that are going to get me by when I get to college.”
Ryan Miller, who left Sunday for Buffalo Sabres training camp, said his brother can be a productive collegiate player, especially after spending an extra year in juniors.
“The extra year helped me,” Ryan Miller said of his second year with the NAHL’s Soo Indians in 1998-99. “I could’ve played for MSU after my first year of juniors, but I couldn’t have competed. Drew could’ve played this year, but this just means that next year, he’ll be somebody (MSU head coach Rick) Comley can turn to. I believe in him, he’ll be a hell of a forward.”
So far, Drew Miller and Goebel are the lone members of MSU’s 2003 recruiting class. MSU assistant coach Dave McAuliffe said he hopes to land three more players, and he expects the bulk of the class to be committed by November’s early signing period.
