Junior forward Mike Lalonde says his game of hockey is simple.
He doesn't have to be the fastest skater, nothing about his game is flashy - it's the little things he does that make him the Spartans' leading goal-scorer with 18, tying him for the lead in the CCHA with Miami (Ohio) freshman Matt Christie.
Overall, his 31 points rank second behind junior captain Jim Slater, who is the Spartans' candidate for the Hobey Baker Award, given to Division I hockey's top college player.
Even with a handful of underclassmen searching for their role on the team, Lalonde, an assistant captain, doesn't feel the pressure from others to perform a notch higher - he puts plenty on himself.
"I don't feel as much pressure as much as I put on myself to have a solid, clean game," Lalonde said. "I'm a very simple player, and if I'm not doing simple things, I'm not effective."
This, at times, means he might try to do too much.
"If you get out of your game and start making mistakes, it looks worse than what you're doing if you just make small little plays to make your team better," Lalonde said. "I put a lot of pressure on myself to do that."
On a team overshadowed by All-Americans John-Michael Liles and Brad Fast last season, Lalonde put up 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points.
He's matched last season's point total and is just two goals shy of 20. Brian Maloney finished last season with 19, which was the team's highest.
But this season hasn't come too easily for the Chetwynd, British Columbia, native. As the team struggled for consistency, Lalonde did as well. In one nine-game stretch from Jan. 3 to Jan. 31, where the Spartans went 4-5, Lalonde posted just two goals and one assist.
But with four games remaining and the first-round playoffs inching closer, Lalonde knows he only can look ahead.
"I haven't been as dominant like I can be, like I was in the first 11, 12 games, but I'm trying to play a little bit stronger, a little bit harder," Lalonde said. "I'm happy with my overall play for points - I think I could've done a lot more, now that I look back on it, to help this team win more games.
"I can't look back on it, but I can learn from it. That's all I can do."
Pretty prospect
Slater is listed as the No. 46 prospect in The Hockey News' Top 50 prospects list, released in its Feb. 17 issue.
The center from Lapeer, Mich., was the 30th overall draft pick of the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He's listed as the third best prospect for Atlanta, behind goaltender Kari Lehtonen and defenseman Braydon Coburn.
Slater leads the team in points with 39, which ranks second in CCHA scoring behind fellow Hobey Baker candidate Derek Edwardson from Miami (Ohio).
"He's one of the Top 10 players in the league," head coach Rick Comley said. "What he does on this team, he can do on any other team."
Slater is the highest CCHA player on the list, with Michigan forward Eric Nystrom rounding out the list at No. 50.
Former MSU goaltender Ryan Miller is listed as the No. 3 prospect.
