It started as a day of sadness two weeks ago when hours before the opening ceremony, 21-year-old luger Nodar Kumaritashivili was tragically killed during a test run. When the opening ceremonies began, the accident was without a doubt on the minds of all who were competing as a tribute was paid to Kumaritashivili with a moment of silence.

Despite the tragic death coming from one of the Winter Olympics’ most famous sports, athletes from every country leaned on each other to get through the harsh start to the games and to move forward, making 2010 one of the most exciting and memorable Olympics ever.

Throughout the games, the United States notched 37 medals, setting a world record for most medals in a single Winter Olympics. Germany came in at number two with 30 medals and host country Canada rounded out the top three with 26 medals, winning the most gold at the games with a tally of 14.

By far, the United States’ brightest stars in the spotlight were Apollo Ohno, Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn.

Ohno continued a career of dominance by taking home three medals to push his total to seven. Miller racked up medals in alpine downhill skiing and alpine skiing’s “Super G”. Finally, also nabbing the spotlight was Lindsey Vonn or more specifically, her bruised shin–take your pick.

Vonn won a gold medal for alpine downhill skiing and the medal rematch fully lived up to expectations. After the US stunned all of North America by knocking off Canada last week, the Canadians were able to get the medal they hoped for on the last night of competition.

The win last week for the USA was a great way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice”, when the underdogs of the US took down the heavily favored Russian squad, who were supposed to easily take home the gold medal that year.

On the last day of the games, it came down the United States taking on Canada in a rematch of the hockey game that happened the previous Sunday. With NHL stars on both teams, the signs of sheer talent were seen from ever slapshot. Over 27.6 million viewers tuned in to make this event the most watched hockey game in nearly 30 years and although a bittersweet ending was in place for the US, a thrilling overtime match took place as Canada’s Sidney Crosby launched a goal with 7:20 left in overtime, sending Canada to the podium for a gold medal with a 3-2 win over the United States.

As the games drew to a close, the spectacular light show during the closing ceremony gave everyone a few minutes to reflect on everything that happened from the past two weeks. It reminded everyone that no matter how many disagreements this world may have, the isolated world of sports helps bring nations together in competition and prestige.

Team USA bombarded Finland Friday afternoon with six first period goals en-route to a 6-1 victory. Team Canada held off a late surge by the Slovakians and narrowly escaped with a 3-2 victory.

USA will meet Canada in a medal game for the first time since the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, when Mario Lemiuex, Joe Sakic, and company, defeated the USA for gold.

Saturday will be a day of game-planning and preparation for both teams as they enter Sunday’s matinee game at 12:15 local time.

It may not take a flawless effort from either team, but rather a few keys for each of them to come out on top of the hockey world.

Team USA:

1. Score Early and Often

The Americans have not lost a game in this tournament and there’s a big reason for that – they haven’t trailed.

Game 1 vs. Switzerland: USA jumped out 1-0 in the first, carried a 3-0 lead into the third and held off the Swiss 3-0.

Game 2 vs. Norway: USA was on cruise control from the beginning, jumping ahead 1-0 in the first, scoring three more in the second, and breezing past the Norwegians, 6-1.

Game 3 vs. Canada: Like games one and two, USA scored first at :41 and carried a 2-1 lead into the second. USA held off a blizzard of attempts from Canada’s impressive arsenal of snipers and held on to defeat Canada after an extraordinary effort by Ryan Kesler on his empty-net goal gave the Americans some breathing room.

Game 4 vs. Switzerland: The only game USA didn’t jump ahead early on their opponent; they needed two late third period goals from Zach Parise to hold off the Swiss, who only managed 19 shots and no goals. This was the first ‘win or go home’ game in the Olympics and Switzerland’s young netminder, Jonas Hiller, played like it, stopping 42 of 43 shots. The Americans still won in a shutout, but this game raised a few questions about whether they had what it took to take the gold.

Game 5 vs. Finland: USA played probably their most impressive game in their gold medal tune-up Friday afternoon. They peppered Miikka Kiprusoff with seven shots and four goals in the first 11 minutes of the first period, before Kiprusoff voluntarily removed himself from the game. Insert Niklas Backstrom. Backstrom didn’t fair much better, allowing two goals at 12:31 and 12:46. USA held on to win 6-1.

2. Use Your Speed and Be Aggressive

The Americans are the fastest team of the two and they will need to use their speed to get greater scoring chances. They came out and turned every Finland turnover into a scoring opportunity and it showed as they scored a few times after a fast-break off of a turnover got the rush started.

To harp on the key of scoring early and often, the Americans need to be aggressive when they get opportunities. They should take shots on goal even when they may appear to not have a great look. Crash the net, get the puck on goal, and look for rebound chances.

3. Review Game Film

The Americans have already beaten Canada, so they obviously did something right in that game. Look at game film from that game, figure out where they were successful and mirror those successes in Sunday’s rematch.

Look at film from the Slovakia/Canada game. Slovakia gave Canada a run for their money and clearly put up a much better fight than Russia did.

4. Believe

Young team USA has come so far this Olympics, there is no reason to believe they can’t beat Canada. The Americans believe in themselves and know from the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ team, that anything can happen and they shouldn’t be scared of anybody. The Americans know they can beat the Canadians – they have beaten them once already and they have the best goalie in the World right now.

Roberto Luongo can be beaten. Canada has gone from Martin Brodeur to Luongo to Brodeur and back to Luongo. Brodeur was originally their number one goalie, until team USA picked him apart for four goals. Roberto Luongo, like Russian goalie Evgeni Nabokov, has proven to be shaky in clutch games. In last years NHL playoffs, Luongo couldn’t handle a young, surging Chicago Blackhawks team – a team much like USA with youth, speed and scoring. Oh, and Patrick Kane of the Blackhawks put up six goals against Luongo in those same playoffs last season.

Luongo has been solid, but not impressive, in his brief Olympic run this year, stopping just 21/23 vs. Slovakia; 21/23 vs. Germany; and allowing three goals to Russia.

Team USA has had no pressure this entire tournament and it remains that way entering Sunday’s gold medal game. Canada is playing on home soil and has been expected to win gold from day one. Team Canada knows their faithful contingent won’t be happy if Canada loses neighboring team USA.

Team Canada:

1. Score Early and Often

Probably more important for Canada, they need to get to Ryan Miller early and get team USA on their heels. If Canada can score first, they will have put USA in a position they haven’t been in the entire tournament – forced to come back. Also, by not placing themselves in a come-from-behind scenario, this can alleviate some of the pressure from their big time scorers to just relax and play their game and not have to worry about doing too much.

2. Be Physical

Canada needs to come out aggressive, especially on the defensive end. They need to impose their will on America by using fore-checking in the offensive zone. Fore-checking will help get Canada better looks in America’s zone, thus keeping the pressure on Miller and the USA defense.

3. Mental Tenacity

Team USA has a very young team that could try to get into the Canadians’ heads during Sunday’s game. Canada cannot let USA deter them from what they want to do. If they let this happen, this will mean frustration is setting in which inevitably leads to more penalties and more scoring chances for USA.

Team Canada needs to play the smarter game, but don’t play passively. Canada needs to stay aggressive and shouldn’t play a game of attrition. If they get ahead, keep the pressure on and if they get behind, don’t panic – there is plenty of depth and offense for Canada to come back at any given time.

The men’s ice hockey games in Vancouver this year are must-see-tv, not just for hockey fans, but for Olympic fans alike. Every Olympic year the NHL skips on hosting their usual annual all-star game, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one going on.  So to speak.

The Setup:

• Group A: 1. Canada; 6. United States; 7. Switzerland; 12. Norway.
• Group B: 2. Russia; 5. Czech Republic; 8. Slovakia; 11. Latvia.
• Group C: 3. Sweden; 4. Finland; 9. Belarus; 10. Germany.

(The numbers represent each country’s IIHF world ranking after the 2008 world championships.)

Tournament dates begin Feb. 16 and conclude Feb. 28.

The Teams and favorites (with odds):

There are two clear-cut favorites in this year’s tournament: Canada and Russia.

Canada is even money to win the the Gold while Russia has 2-1 odds.

USA (6-1) and Sweden (6-1) comprise the next group of favorites to win Gold.

A couple of dark horses include Finland (15-1) and Czech Republic (16-1).

With a lack of time and space, we’ll break down the rosters for the four favorites: Canada, Russia, Sweden and USA.

The Rosters:

2 Gold, 7 Silver, 1 Bronze

http://www.usahockey.com/Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=TU_01_01_05&id=255346

Forwards (includes centers and wingers):

• Zack Parise (New Jersey Devils)
• Chris Drury (New York Rangers)
• Dustin Brown (Los Angeles Kings)
• Jamie Langenbrunner (New Jersey Devils)
• Paul Stastny (Colorado Avalanche)
• David Backes (Saint Louis Blues)
• Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
• Phil Kessel (Toronto Maple Leafs)
• Ryan Kesler (Vancouver Canucks)
• Bobby Ryan (Anaheim Ducks)
• Joe Pavelski (San Jose Sharks)
• Ryan Malone (Tampa Bay Lightning)
• Ryan Callahan (New York Rangers)

Defensemen:

• Brian Rafalski (Detroit Red Wings)
• Ryan Suter (Nashville Predators)
• Erik Johnson (Saint Louis Blues)
• Brooks Orpik (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Jack Johnson (Los Angeles Kings)
• Ryan Whitney (Anaheim Ducks)
• Tim Gleason (Carolina Hurricans)

Goaltenders:

• Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins)
• Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabers)
• Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles Kings)

Team USA enters the 2010 winter games not having won a gold medal since the “miracle on ice” championship in 1980 at the winter games in Lake Placid.

Strengths:

Team USA’s strengths lie in their young talent and veteran leadership. Patrick Kane (age 21), Phil Kessel (22), Zach Parise (25), and Bobby Ryan (22) highlight team USA’s young star power.

The elder statesmen on team USA are highlighted by Tim Thomas (35), Brian Rafalski (36), and Jamie Langenbrunner (34). Team USA has just five players over 30 years old.

Three of team USA’s players (Brown, Langenbrunner and Drury) are captains on their NHL teams, which will also allow for solid leadership that the young Americans will need.

Weaknesses:

Team USA’s weaknesses lie in their defense and lack of experience. Reigning Vezina Trophy (best goaltender) winner Tim Thomas won’t have much help in-front of him as Brian Rafalski is the only truly established defenseman the Americans will have playing in-front of Thomas.

Goalie Ryan Miller has been one of, if not the best goalie all season long, which is why we may see him toe the crease in place of Thomas sooner than later (that is, assuming he doesn’t start the games from the beginning.)

Team USA’s only medal experience is provided by Chris Drury, who won Silver in the 2002 games in Salt Lake City.

Team USA’s possible first line:

• LW – Zach Parise (26 goals, 35 assists, +- 20)
• C – Ryan Kesler (16 goals, 36 assists, +- 2)
• RW – Patrick Kane (24 goals, 40 assists, +- 17)
• D – Brian Rafalski (4 goals, 24 assists, +- 15)
• D – Ryan Suter (2 goals, 24 assists, +- 11)

6 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze

Forwards:

• Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames)
• Mike Richards (Philadelphia Flyers)
• Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks)
• Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks)
• Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks)
• Brenden Morrow (Dallas Stars)
• Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks)
• Dany Heatley (San Jose Sharks)
• Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes)
• Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
• Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)

Defenseman:

• Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim Ducks)
• Chris Pronger (Philadelphia Flyers)
• Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)
• Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings)
• Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks)
• Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks)
• Brent Seabrook (Chicago Blackhawks)

Goaltenders:

• Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils)
• Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks)
• Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Strengths:

Wow, where do we even begin with team Canada? They have more star power than the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard. And, their talent extends to all four lines.

It’s impossible to highlight any particular players from team Canada’s roster to watch for, but let’s just put it this way – Canada’s fourth line could look something like this:

• LW – Brendan Morrow (14 goals, 19 assists, +- -1)
• C – Patrice Bergeron (12 goals, 25 assists, +- -1)
• RW – Corey Perry (21 goals, 36 assists, +- 2)
• D – Shea Weber (10 goals, 26 assists, +- 6)
• D – Dan Boyle (11 goals, 35 assists, +- 5)

Wow, looks a hell of a lot better than your ordinary fourth line to me.

Oh, and team Canada has arguably the greatest goalie of all time – Martin Brodeur.

Weaknesses:

Canada has no weaknesses that stand out. They have talent flooding the pool and a defense that incorporates a great balance of scoring (Doughty; Boyle; Keith), hitting (Seabrook; Weber; Doughty), shot blocking (Pronger, Seabrook, Keith) and speed. That being said, the biggest question to answer for Canada will be – can their stars play together?

Team Canada’s possible first line:

• LW – Patrick Marleau (38 goals, 26 assists, +- 23)
• C – Joe Thornton (16 goals, 59 assists, +- 18)
• RW – Jarome Iginla (25 goals, 30 assists, +- 3)
• D – Chris Pronger (8 goals, 33 assists, +- 20)
• D – Duncan Keith (11 goals, 40 assists, +- 23)

2 Gold, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze

Forwards:

• Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa Senators)
• Nicklas Backstrom (Washington Capitals)
• Loui Eriksson (Dallas Stars)
• Peter Forsberg (MODO of Swedish Elite League)
• Tomas Holmstrom (Detroit Red Wings)
• Patric Hornqvist (Nashville Predators)
• Fredrik Modin (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Samuel Pahlsson (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Daniel Sedin (Vancouver Canucks)
• Henrik Sedin (Vancouver Canucks)
• Mattias Weinhandl (Dynamo of Russian Superleague)
• Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit Red Wings)

Defenseman:

• Tobias Enstrom (Atlanta Thrashers)
• Magnus Johansson (Linkopings of Sweden Elite League)
• Niklas Kronwall (Detroit Red Wings)
• Nicklas Lidstrom (Detorit Red Wings)
• Douglas Murray (San Jose Sharks)
• Johnny Oduya (New Jersey Devils)
• Mattias Ohlund (Tampa Bay Lightning)
• Henrik Tallinder (Buffalo Sabers)

Goatenders:

• Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers)
• Jonas Gustavsson (Toronto Maple Leafs)
• Stefan Liv (Jonkoping of Swedish Elite League)

Strengths:

Only one team can say they are the reigning Olympic Gold Medal winners, and that’s Sweden.

Sweden’s experience, team chemistry and leadership in this tournament is unrivaled and will be their biggest asset entering the games. Team Sweden returns 13 players from its Gold medal team in 2006.

Sweden has no lack of star power either. They, along with Russia, carry in a solid combination of NHL players along with a few from international leagues. Nick Lidstrom and Nic Kronwall bring plenty of experience and talent to the ice for Sweden. It helps that both play on the Red Wings too.

Alfredsson, Zetterberg, Backstrom and the Sedin twins highlight the star list of forwards for team Sweden. The Sedin twins also play together in… hold it… Vancouver, for the hometown Canucks.

Goalie Henrik Lundqvist is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. If he’s hot, Sweden could find themselves back in the finals.

Keep an eye on veteran Mattias Weinhandl, who has accumulated 615 points in 555 games (not including NHL play.)

Weaknesses:

Not much in the way of weaknesses for the defending Gold medal winners. Health could be a concern for Sweden, but just as a possibility. Although a few of their prime time players have battled injuries, they look pretty healthy entering Olympic play (with the exception of Kronwall, who currently is day-to-day.)

Alfredsson, Zetterberg and Kronwall have all been injured this season, but are healthy entering the Olympics. And of course, future Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg, who has dealt with feet injuries his entire career, is always an injury risk.

Team Sweden’s Possible First Line:

• LW – Henrik Zetterberg (16 goals, 31 assists, +- 5)
• C – Nicklas Backstrom (26 goals, 49 assists, +- 33)
• RW – Daniel Alfredsson (17 goals, 31 assists, +- 6)
• D – Nicklas Lidstrom (6 goals, 28 assists, +- 20)
• D – Magnus Johansson (7 goals, 27 assists for Atlant Moscow in 2008-09)

7 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze (Some of these medals as Soviet Union)

Forwards:

• Maxim Afinogenov (Atlanta Thrashers)
• Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings)
• Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League)
• Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers)
• Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Ufa of Kontinental Hockey League)
• Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan of Kontinental Hockey League)
• Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
• Alexander Radulov (Salavat Ufa)
• Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals)
• Danis Zaripov (Ak Bars Kazan)
• Sergei Zinoviev (Salavat Ufa)

Defense:

• Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton Oilers)
• Dmitri Kalinin (Salavat Ufa)
• Konstantin Korneyev (CSKA Moscow of Kontinental Hockey League)
• Andrei Markov (Montreal Canadiens)
• Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan)
• Fedor Tyutin (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa Senators)

Goaltenders:

• Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix Coyotes)
• Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose Sharks)
• Semyon Varlamov (Washington Capitals)

Strengths:

The ever competitive team Russia enters Olympic play as, arguably, Canada’s biggest threat. Their talent level rivals Canada’s and if they met in the finals, should be a dandy to watch.

Here are some names to chew on: Alexander Ovechkin (the greatest hockey player in the world), Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, Alexander Semin, etc., etc., etc. We could be here all day. Just a few stars Russia will throw at the world in the coming weeks.

When it comes to goaltending, it will be interesting to see who starts for Russia. Both Bryzgalov (32 wins, 2.3 GAA) and Nabokov (34 wins, 2.24 GAA) have had very solid seasons and great success in their NHL careers. I’m going to give the slight edge to Nabokov, although I’m not so sure the Sharks want to see their star goaltender get too overused.

Weaknesses:

Like with Canada, Russia has plenty of star power and great balance. Much of their success will lie in coaching and again, whether everyone can play together or not.

Team Russia’s possible first line:

• LW – Alexander Ovechkin (42 goals, 47 assists, +- 43) Yikes!
• C – Pavel Datsyuk (16 goals, 31 assists, +- 12) Datsyuk will likely play first line center if Fedorov plays defense.
• RW – Alexei Morozov (32 goals, 39 assists for Ak Bars Kazan in 2008-09)
• D – Sergei Gonchar (8 goals, 27 assists, +- -1)
• D – Ilya Nikulin (7 goals, 26 assists, +- 22) Nikulin is +90 for his career and has only accumulated one negative +- rating in a single season.

Final Predictions:

I have been picturing a Canada – Russia final for months now and I’m sticking with it. There is just too much talent and balance there for them not to follow through. I know it’s the most logical and probably the most widely predicted final, but isn’t it the one every wants to see?

Canada vs. Russia also means Crosby vs. Ovechkin. They get to spill their budding rivalry onto the Olympic stage which would be enough to keep anyone’s eyes glued to the television.

You could be sure to see some goals scored as well, as all four lines would feature some of the most prolific snipers the NHL has to offer: Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Fedorov, Semin for Russia; Rick Nash, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley, Eric Staal, and even young Drew Doughty.

Olympic games being played on Canadian soil means team Canada will have to keep their emotions in check and get it done as a unit. They certainly have the balance of scoring, passing work ethic and goaltending to get it done. It’s gold or bust for Canada this winter, and I predict the former for Canada.

They’ll be dancing in the streets of Vancouver come the end of February. Russia will take Silver and Sweden will take Bronze.

I’ll certainly be pulling for my Americans and I pray they can get it done. Either way it’s gonna be very enjoyable to watch. Even if you’re not a big hockey fan, take the time to tune in for a few games – you won’t be sorry.

Game on.

The Hoosiers defeated the North Dakota State University Bison by a convincing margin of five goals to two, bringing their record against the Bison to 4-0 this season.

“I didn’t think we played as well as we could have, but we came out here and we took care of business,” commented senior forward Mike Vaughan after the game.

The teams played a well-rounded game in the fourth and final meeting between the two clubs. The game remained scoreless entering the first intermission as both the Hoosiers and the Bison played solid defensively and didn’t make many mistakes.  NDSU goalie Tim How delivered a number of impressive glove saves to keep the score tied at zero.

IU struck first 1:10 into the second period when Hoosier forward KC Madock fought off two defenders and buried the puck on a breakaway opportunity.

The Hoosiers continued to set the tone of the game as the second period grew older.  IU employed a strong offensive effort, creating many scoring opportunities.  The Hoosiers were able to keep control of the puck in the offensive zone, which enabled them to outshoot the Bison throughout the game.

Forward Mike Vaughan put the Hoosiers ahead 2-0 with 2:49 remaining in the second period.  Vaughan executed a beautiful move and slipped the puck past How on the glove side.

NDSU was able to take advantage of their power-play opportunities in the third period.  The Bison tied the game on two power-play goals, putting the pressure on the Hoosiers in the final period of play.

“We blew a two-goal lead, and everyone realized that’s not how we want to go out, we only have a few more home games left.  So everyone needed to fight back hard,” said Vaughan.

“We showed some good persistency being able to come back and finish.”

Vaughan had yet another impressive two-goal performance Saturday afternoon with his second goal being the deciding factor as it put the Hoosiers ahead for good.

“Our D did a good job of keeping the puck in the zone, and our forwards did a great job of putting the puck in the net,” commented Vaughan on the Hoosiers’ ability to keep possession.

IU never looked back as the game moved into the final minutes.  The Hoosiers were able to shut the Bison down with fancy stick handling in front of the net, scoring and regaining a two-goal lead with 2:30 to go in the game.

The Hoosiers scored a shorthanded goal with 2.3 seconds remaining in the game, putting the exclamation point on a very well-played game.

The Hoosiers look to continue their on-ice domination as they travel to Oklahoma on Feb. 5.

The victory upped the Hoosiers’ record against the Bison this season to 3-0. The Hoosiers controlled the tempo early by dominating in the hits department.

The Hoosiers out-hit and out-shot the Bison in the first period and entered the first intermission with a 1-0 lead and each team tallied two penalties.

The lone Hoosier goal came courtesy of a deflection off of a Brandon Dornish blast from the blue line.

Nick Williams would provide the game winner at 1:57 of the second period to make it 2-1. This was the first of three goals for the Hoosiers in the first 10 minutes of the second period.

Goalie Dan Abramson had a strong effort Friday night, allowing just one goal. Abramson credited the power play for his success.

“We scored a few PPG’s tonight which was really nice,” Abramson said. “We’ve struggled on the power play lately.”

The Bison couldn’t match the intensity and physical play of the Hoosiers all game, but according to Hoosier head coach Tom Orr, we can expect them to come out physical on Saturday.

“Yeah, we can expect more of the same from them tomorrow,” coach Orr said laughing.

The Bison’s lone goal of the game came just 12 seconds into the third period, courtesy of a Justin Wren fast break. This cut the Bison deficit to 4-1.

Soon after, Mike Vaughn would cap the scoring off for the night with a goal at 4:40.

Notes: The Hoosiers look to go 4-0 against NDSU Saturday afternoon at 2:30 at Frank Southern Center… Casey Christensen and Adam Logue also added goals for the Hoosiers.

BLOOMINGTON, IN. – The Indiana Hoosiers men’s club ice hockey team (9-16-0) took the ice against the Michigan State Spartans Division II team Saturday at the Frank Southern Ice Arena.  The Hoosiers played a physical game but fell short by a score of 3-2.

The Spartans struck first Saturday afternoon off a rebound shot within the first ten seconds of the game, and a strong defensive effort allowed them to hold the lead.  With 15:55 remaining in the first period, MSU scored again, this time off a shorthanded goal that raised their lead two to nothing.

The Hoosiers began to pick up the hitting as the first period continued but did not have many quality scoring opportunities.

Michigan State took a commanding three to zero lead off of a beautiful deke by forward Anthony Casali.  Casali came wide across the net and took Hoosier net minder Jason Burriss five hole for the Spartans last goal of the game.

MSU played a disciplined game in their own zone and with the aide of some very fancy stick handling, was able to bury three pucks before the first intermission.

From the opening of the second period on,  IU stepped up the intensity and found their hitting game.  Junior Chris Benz felt the physical aspect of the Hoosiers’ game was their strongest asset. “We play best when we are physical, and a lot of skilled teams get frustrated when they get hit,” Benz said.

However, in the game of hockey, excessive hitting can lead to many costly penalties.  The Hoosiers were on the penalty kill seven times throughout the game, but were able to fend off any goals when down a man with solid defensive play in their own zone.  Burriss also displayed his skill in net with some very remarkable saves that kept the Hoosiers in the game.

“We work on the penalty kill every week in practice, and it is a focus all season long.  Obviously killing off penalties is a big facet of the game and can rattle the opposing team by not scoring with the man advantage,” said IU senior offenseman, Mike Vaughn.

Vaughan got the Hoosier offense going by cutting the lead to two with 12:13 left in the second period.  Vaughan had an impressive two goal performance in Saturday’s game as he was the only IU player to net a goal.  “There was a lot of mucking around in front of the net and the puck found its way to my stick.  It was nice to get the team on the board and pick up some momentum,” said Vaughan.

The Hoosiers made the game interesting and exciting by coming within one goal to tying the game.  Vaughan’s second goal came with 8:16 left in the second period on a rebound chance in front of the net.

IU continued to play impressively on defense in the third period, but due to constantly being a man short, was not able to come away with a third goal.  Up next, the Hoosiers play host to North Dakota State University on Jan. 29.

The first period wasn’t much of an indication for things to come, as IU out-shot the Raiders just 13-8 and entered the first intermission scoreless.

But IU came out smoking hot in the second period, scoring eight times.  Alex Cook got the party started for the Hoosiers with the first goal of the game coming at 17:34.

IU’s third goal, which proved to be the game winner, came courtesy of Matt Gainda, with the assists to Adam Logue and Joe Fornari.

IU scored on a multitude of scenarios, including 4-on-4, 5-on-5, short handed and on the powerplay.  IU would win the shots-on-goal battle 39 to 21.

The Raiders finally showed signs of life in the third period by adding their first and only two goals of the game.  Shane Garan would supply the first goal and Aaron Archibald, the second.

Mike Vaughn would tally IU’s ninth and final goal towards the end of the third period.

Game Notes: IU’s eight goal second period was their highest single period goal total this season… Wright State has fallen to 1-15 on the season… IU’s Chris Benz scored his team leading tenth goal of the season shorthanded in the second period… IU’s next home game is against Wright State Saturday, November 21 at 2:30 p.m.