John Haeussler wrote:
>Carter's name is certain to surface in most discussions
>of potential All-CCHA, All-America and Hobey Baker
>candidates.  In 30 games, Carter has 27-13--40, 36 PIM
>and is +5.  Of his goals, 13 are on the power play and 7
>are shorthanded.  He's been very cold of late, as have
>the Spartans as a team.
 
This might be the understatement of the century.  Unless I'm mistaken, Anson
hasn't scored since the Western Michigan game on Jan. 28 in Kalamazoo (he missedthe Western game on Feb. 17 at Munn).  He (and everybody else on the top two
lines, with the exception of Rem Murray) have been pretty invisible since
Groundhog Day.  Most of the scoring (what little we've had) has come from the
third and fourth lines.
 
>He's one of the most exciting players in college hockey,
>but I think that most people that have seen him play at MSU
>the past three years will acknowledge that this season
>has been disappointing...even with 27 goals and counting.
 
I'd love to have seasons as disappointing as his. :-)  Actually, it's just been
this month that he's really been disappointing.  He's got low assist totals due
to the fact that right now Steve Guolla isn't scoring either, and the power
play has been dreadful as of late.
 
I think Carter and Guolla both lost their rhythm with the loss of Kelly Harper
to graduation.  Until recently, Ron Mason has had a different player almost
every other night on the RW on that line (it appears he's keeping with Mike
Watt from now on).
 
>If Carter, currently a junior, returns to MSU next season
>he'll again be tabbed a leading HB candidate from the
>get go.
 
From all indications, he's staying.  I think the only reason he'd leave early
would be if he knew he had a shot at the NHL.  Since he's Quebec's draft pick
and the Nords are loaded with forwards right now, the chances of him going to
the pros would be slim.
 
>He'll likely find the going very tough given that
>Michigan State graduates four of their top five forwards
>this season (Steve Guolla, Rem Murray, Steve Suk,
>Dean Sylvester).  MSU will still have talent with Richard
>Keyes, Mike Watt, Sean Berens, etc, but it will nonetheless
>be much easier for opposing teams to concentrate on
>stopping Anson.
 
They're not having a lot of trouble now stopping him, because all of the other
"big guns" you've mentioned have been relatively silent.  I'm one who doesn't
believe that will continue much longer.  For MSU's sake, it can't.  For the
moment, it appears that Mason will attempt to play more of a defensive style
until the offense decides to show up.  Before the second Miami game, it appearedthat they were trying to go on talent alone, and weren't working hard enough
to win.  During the 1-0 loss to Miami and the 4-1 win over WMU, they tried
hard work alone and had a helluva time getting the puck in the net.  On the
18th, neither talent nor hard work showed up.
 
Next year....?  Who knows?  It will depend a lot on what the freshman class
looks like.  The defense should be relatively stable, but that will depend on
how serious Jon Gaskins' injury is.  We're going to have to come up with anothergoaltender.  While I think Chad Alban has the ability to be a great goaltender
in this league over the next few years, I don't think he'll be the workhorse
that Mike Buzak was.  We're going to have to replace essentially six forwards
(Guolla, Sylvester, Murray, Suk, Albers to graduation and Wiegand).  The big-
gest loss, without question, will be Rem Murray.  While the stats may not
totally back it up, he may be one of the best two-way players in the league.
 
>This is why I think MSU is (or, at least *should* be) primed
>for a run this season.
 
Fortunately, the season's not over, YET.  We haven't screwed up so bad that we
still don't have a legitimate shot at the NC$$ Tourney.  They've basically got
four games to prove their worthiness to the Committee.  IMHO, they cannot afford
to finish fourth.
 
I keep hoping I'll see a different team come out than the one that's been on
the ice the past few outings.  For them to have a legitimate shot, the offense
MUST get on track.  Fortunately, we have Notre Dame tonight, who always seems
to help Michigan's offense get on track.  And we need all the help we can get
right now.
 
G. M. Finniss
Michigan State University 13-7-3, 18-10-3
WVU '87, UTenn '92, MSU who the hell knows when?