Mike's comment about MSU having a better second line than any in HE or ECAC
reminded me that I forgot to send to the list the lineups that MSU used
against BG in the opener (this may change, as Ron Mason said on his radio
show last night, as he doesn't think he'll be able to keep an all-freshman
line intact).  Anyway, here's how they lined up against BG:
 
1st line:  Steve Guolla, Anson Carter, Brian Clifford
2nd line:  Rem Murray, Steve Suk, Dean Sylvester
3rd line:  Brian Crane, Steve Ferranti, Tony Tuzzolino
4th line:  Mike Watt, Richard Keyes, Sean Berens
 
This is a little bit of a change from last year.  With the loss of Kelly Harper
I was almost expecting that Sylvester would move up to play wing with Guolla
and Carter (man, what a line that would be).  Last year, Suk centered between
Burkett and either Tuzzolino or Wiegand, while Ferranti was between Murray and
Clifford.  I'd expect that beyond the first two lines, nothing will be certain
this year.  Expect Matt Albers and Josh Wiegand to get some PT (Vitalisms find
their way into hockey) throughout the season.
 
Ferranti has replaced Chris Smith as the second point on the first power play
unit, making that a five-forward squad (Murray and Guolla on the wings, Carter
getting the crap beaten out of him in front, and Ferranti and Suk at the
points).  Ron was playing Berens and Watt on the second unit with Sylvester
and two of the defensemen (Harlton, Sullivan, Smith, Slater) on the point, but
he'll probably rotate some people in and out of that one.  If he gets some
more 30% nights out of the PP team, I don't think he's going to be too upset.
 
Ron on his show last night also said he wanted to get Chad Alban in between the
pipes during one of the two games this weekend, to get him some experience.
Chad's about 5-8, 160 and makes Eric Kruse look big, but he's very fast with
the glove and seems to be able to cover the net pretty well.  I'd tend to
expect him in on Saturday, but what the hell do I know.
 
G. M. Finniss
Michigan State University
0-0-0, 1-0-0
WVU '87, UTenn '92, MSU who the hell knows when?
 
BTW, didn't Claude Morin (Kent's other big gun) end up at either Colgate or
Cornell after the demise of KU's program?