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 Jeff Caister is WSU's top scorer with 12 points this season. |
Jan. 2, 2008
GAME STORYLINES
Looking to end its six-game losing streak, the Wayne State University men's hockey team (3-13-2, 1-5-0 CHA) opens its 2008 schedule with a weekend series at 16th-ranked Minnesota (9-9-2, 5-7-0 WCHA). Both Friday's game and Saturday's rematch at Mariucci Arena are slated to begin at 8:05 p.m. ET.
Wayne State has been idle from competition since suffering a pair of defeats at College Hockey America rival Niagara three weeks ago. Minnesota hosted the Dodge Holiday Classic last week, losing 4-3 to RIT on Saturday but rebounding to tie Air Force 2-2 the following day and claim third place in a shootout, the first in program history.
The Warriors will conclude their nine-game road swing at Northern Michigan next weekend before returning to Detroit to host Niagara (Jan. 18-19), with the latter game being held at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
BEHIND THE BENCH
Bill Wilkinson is in his ninth season as Wayne State's head coach and his 26th year as a collegiate head coach. Wilkinson's overall record stands at 429-457-81, while his mark at WSU is 116-156-28. He entered the 2007-08 season ranked 23rd on the NCAA all-time wins list.
In his ninth season with Minnesota, head coach Don Lucia has a record of 229-105-31. His 21-year career record stands at 508-260-60, as he became the 17th coach in NCAA history to reach 500 wins Oct. 12 in the Golden Gopher's 4-3 season-opening victory over RPI.
THROUGH THE YEARS
Minnesota and Wayne State met for the first time last October, when the Warriors opened the 2006-07 campaign with two losses in Minneapolis. The Golden Gophers outscored the Warriors, 12-2, in that series.
IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was selected to finish fourth in the CHA preseason coaches poll, while Minnesota was predicted to finish second in the WCHA preseason coaches poll and is ranked 16th in the USCHO.com/CSTV national poll.
ON THIS DATE
On January 4, the Warriors earned a 4-2 victory against Lake Superior State in 2002 and skated to a 2-2 tie at Air Force the following season.
Wayne State is 2-2-0 on January 5 in its history, including a 5-0 loss to Alabama-Huntsville in 2001, a 3-2 win over LSSU in 2002, a 5-3 victory at Air Force in 2003, and a 3-2 setback at Bemidji State last season.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
The struggling Golden Gophers, reeling from the early departure of sophomore and fourth-leading scorer Kyle Okposo (7-4--11) for the New York Islanders, enter their series with the Warriors having won just two of their last nine contests. Minnesota has nine losses through 20 games this season, while last year's squad, an NCAA West Regional finalist, did not reach nine losses until March 10 in the first round of the WCHA Tournament.
Minnesota's scoring offense (2.55 goals/game) and power-play percentage (12.2) rank eighth in the WCHA, and its penalty-kill percentage (85.5) is seventh. Its opponents have been particularly successful in lighting the lamp late in games this season, as Minnesota has been outscored 25-12 in the third period.
Junior Blake Wheeler is Minnesota's top scorer with 18 points (9-9). He is one of four active Golden Gophers with double-digit point totals this season, along with senior Ben Gordon (6-11--17), sophomore Jay Barriball (3-10--13), and freshman Cade Fairchild (2-8--10).
Junior goaltender Jeff Frazee is 6-7-0 with a 2.93 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage in 13 starts. Freshman Alex Kangas has a 3-2-2 mark in seven starts with a 2.51 GAA and a .910 SV%.
LAST TIME OUT
Junior Matt Krug and senior Stavros Paskaris scored power-play goals 23 second apart in the third period of a 4-2 setback Dec. 14 at Niagara, marking Wayne State's first loss this season when scoring twice with a man advantage.
Paskaris extended his point streak to four games, his longest since ending the 2004-05 season with a five-game streak. Senior Tylor Michel and sophomore Jeff Caister assisted on Krug's marker, while sophomore Jared Katz and junior Derek Punches earned helpers on Paskaris' goal.
In the 300th game in WSU men's hockey history, the Warriors' skid reached six games after a 2-1 loss Dec. 15 to the Purple Eagles. Junior Jon Grabarek prevented a shutout with a power-play goal with 17 seconds remaining, assisted by freshman Jeremy Tejchma and Michel. Wayne State has lost 12 of its last 14 encounters with Niagara at Dwyer Arena.
WSU NOTES
Caister leads the Warriors and all CHA blueliners in scoring (1-11--12), while ranking sixth in the league overall in points and tied for first in assists. He is sixth all-time at Wayne State in both points (28) and assists (25) by a defenseman.
Tyler Ruel leads the Warrior freshman class and is third among CHA rookies with eight points. He has notched a point in six of the last seven series for Wayne State. Collectively, the WSU freshmen have accounted for 18 of the team's 89 points this season (20.2 percent).
Paskaris, Wayne State's active leading scorer, is second on the team in scoring this season (4-7--11). He is tied with Chris Vail (2000-04) for eighth all-time with 70 career points. Paskaris also ranks seventh all-time with 45 assists and 13th with 25 goals.
Grabarek's power-play goal on Dec. 15 was the 10th of his career, moving him into a tie with Jason Baclig (2003-07) for eighth all-time. Grabarek leads the squad with four this season.
Alabama-Huntsville (1.71) is the only team in Division I with a lower scoring offense than Wayne State (1.78). The Warriors have been held to two goals or less in 16 games this season and have a 1-13-2 record in those games.
Entering this weekend's series at Minnesota, the Warriors are 3-10-0 all-time against Western Collegiate Hockey Association opponents. Wayne State has a pair of 4-2 victories over Michigan Tech (Nov. 23, 2001 and Nov. 29, 2002) and a 5-4 win at Wisconsin (Oct. 19, 2001) to its credit, but has lost its last eight contests against WCHA teams.
LOOKING AHEAD
After completing its nine-game road trip next weekend at NMU, the Warriors will return to Detroit to host Niagara (Jan. 18-19), the latter of which will be played at the Palace of Auburn Hills as part of a doubleheader also featuring Michigan against Notre Dame. The Jan. 18 contest as well as the following weekend's series against Alabama-Huntsville (Jan. 25-26) will be played at the Taylor SportsPlex.