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March 28, 2007
NCAA Tournament
Frozen Four Capsules | First Semifinal
Thurs., April 5 • St. Louis, Mo. • 4 p.m. ET • ESPN2

Second Semifinal Capsules

MAINE BLACK BEARS | East Regional Champion

Location: Orono, Maine
Record: 23-14-2 (14-12-1 Hockey East, tied for fifth)
Qualified: At-large bid
NCAA Championships: Two (1993, 1999)
NCAA Appearance: 17th (most recent, 2006)
Frozen Four Appearance: 11th (most recent, 2006)
Head Coach: Tim Whitehead
Key Players: Michel Léveillé, Sr., F (39 GP, 19-25—44); Josh Soares, Sr., F (39 GP, 19-24—43, 9 PPG); Teddy Purcell, Fr., F (39 GP, 16-27—43, 5 GWG); Ben Bishop, So., G (21-8-2, 2.08 GAA, .925)

What You Need to Know: The Black Bears, losers of four straight in back-to-back weekend trips to face Massachusetts late in the season, seemed destined to fade from college hockey's consciousness. Once they made the NCAA Tournament field, however, the Bears played like they had nothing to lose, upsetting St. Cloud State fairly easily before avenging those UMass losses to reach the Frozen Four. If February belongs to BU, March and April are all Maine.

Gamebreaker: Michel Léveillé, who dons a stylish pair of thick-rimmed glasses away from the rink, has a bit of a Superman thing going on when he takes the ice. The senior, who will turn 26 on Tuesday, obviously brings experience, but his best qualities are those that can't be learned over time. He has terrific vision and uncanny patience, a combination that makes him an even more dangerous passer than a shooter.

Achilles Heel: Maine's sustained late-season struggles came at a time when goaltender Ben Bishop was sidelined with a groin injury, something that has to remain a concern even after his performance last weekend. Even with a healthy Bishop, the Black Bears have been susceptible to occasional stinkers at the defensive end,

Overachiever: His detractors may scoff at this designation, but as he heads to his fourth Frozen Four in six seasons as head coach, it's long past time to give Tim Whitehead his due. Whitehead consistently gets the most out of his players, especially at this time of year.

Secret Weapon: Mike Lundin's numbers are solid, but don't dazzle — the senior defenseman has 20 points in 39 games. While junior Bret Tyler is the Black Bears' most gifted offensive defenseman, Lundin shines in all three zones. He's smart, steady, and experienced, appearing in his third Frozen Four and leading the team with 159 career games played.

Speed: Freshman Teddy Purcell's probably doesn't get enough credit for his speed, because he's such a well-rounded player with many talents. His size, reach, and hands are noteworthy but his skating makes it all possible. He'll lure a defender into watching the puck, and then blow by him for a scoring chance.

Skill: You will see few displays of skill in St. Louis as impressive as Maine's power play. The unit can fold a penalty-killing box like origami, clicking at a 25.7% rate, tops in the nation. Seven players have at least five power-play goals, proof that it's not just the first unit doing the damage.

Grit: It's an often-overlooked quality, but one that corresponds closely with playoff success, so it's not surprising that Maine teams through the years have boasted tremendous grit. The Black Bears' defense is big and strong, but most notable here are third-line wingers Brent Shepheard and Rob Bellamy. That duo brings energy and an edge to every shift and makes life miserable for opponents.

Most Recent Maine Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
18-J. Soares	11-M. Léveillé	12-K. Johnson	In 10 career NCAA Tournament games, Léveillé has scored four goals and added five assists.
14-B. Ryan	22-M. Hamilton	26-T. Purcell
29-B. Shepheard	28-D. de Kastrozza	16-R. Bellamy
37-C. Hahn	24-W. Clark	55-V. Laise
Defense	Defense	Goalies
2-M. Lundin	21-M. Duffy	30-B. Bishop	Outside of 5-foot-9 Bret Tyler, the other Maine defensemen are all 6-foot-2 or taller.
44-B. Tyler	27-T. Ramsey	33-D. Wilson
10-B. Plaszcz	79-S. Danis-Pepin	31. S. Foley

MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS | Midwest Regional Champion

Location: East Lansing, Mich.
Record: 24-13-3 (15-10-3 CCHA, fourth)
Qualified: At-large bid
NCAA Championships: Two (1966, 1986)
NCAA Appearance: 25th (most recent, 2006)
Frozen Four Appearance: 11th (most recent, 2001)
Head Coach: Rick Comley
Key Players: Tim Kennedy, F, So. (40 GP, 17-23—40, 9 PPG); Bryan Lerg, F, Jr. (39 GP, 23-13—36, 8 GWG); Justin Abdelkader, F, So. (36 GP, 14-16—30); Jeff Lerg, G, So. (24-13-3, 2.46, .911)

What You Need to Know: It’s Michigan State’s first trip to the Frozen Four since 2001, and first by any CCHA team since Michigan went in 2003. The Spartans lost to Maine, 5-4, in last year’s East Regional final in Albany, N.Y., which was the same site as their last Frozen Four appearance. This will be coach Rick Comley’s fourth Frozen, but first since 1991, when he won the national championship with Northern Michigan.

Gamebreaker: No Spartan comes close to the playmaking ability of leading scorer Tim Kennedy (17-23—40), a sophomore from Buffalo. The 5-foot-11 wizard is quick, skilled and creative, and needs to be effective for MSU to generate offense. His end-to-end rush against Michigan in November was lifted right from a video game and should make every year-end college hockey highlight package.

Achilles Heel: The thread that links Michigan State’s six leading scorers is that they comprise Comley’s top two forward lines. Offensive depth is a major concern for Sparty fans. MSU’s defensemen aren’t all that dynamic, and the third and fourth forward lines usually don’t find the score sheet. The lack of balance puts an inordinate amount of pressure on the top six forwards, and it also doesn’t leave the team much margin for error nor capacity to come back from a deficit.

Overachiever: Sophomore goaltender Jeff Lerg isn’t necessarily exceeding expectations this season, he has overachieved his whole life. Listed at 5-feet-6 and saddled by severe asthma, Lerg wouldn’t seem to have the makeup of a premier athlete, but he’s the undeniable heartbeat of the Spartans. He’s fourth among CCHA netminders in goals-against average (2.46) and fifth in save percentage (.911), all while playing almost every meaningful minute of the season. And, to a man, the Spartans say that the Livonia, Mich., native is better than his stats indicate.

Secret Weapon: Nick Sucharski is about the only forward not on MSU’s top two lines who might worry the opposition when he hits the ice. The sophomore center from Toronto has amassed eight goals and 15 assists this season while playing with a myriad of grinding wingers. At 6-feet-1, 180 pounds, the Blue Jackets draft pick is among MSU’s better defensive forwards despite being barely 19 years old.

Speed: While the Spartans don’t have a lot of offensive flair on the blue line, forward-turned-defenseman-turned-forward-turned-defenseman Tyler Howells adds zip to the back end. The senior from Eden Prairie, Minn., has bounced back and forth throughout his career, but for the postseason, Comley likes his quickness in his own zone and his ability to put some pep in the transition game. He is seventh on the team in scoring with 25 points (4g, 21a), and he’s a threat at the point on the power play.

Skill: It’s well-known that junior left wing Bryan Lerg originally committed to Michigan, his father’s alma mater, before switching his allegiance to East Lansing. And Lerg, the cousin and former Livonia neighbor of the MSU goalie, is one of the handful of Spartans who can skate, stride-for-stride, up and down the ice with fleet squads such as the Wolverines (or Boston College, North Dakota, or Maine). The deceptively strong Lerg leads the country with eight game-winning goals, and he is right behind Kennedy on the team’s scoring chart.

Grit: When junior wing Jim McKenzie steps over the boards, it’s easy to picture him playing on one of Ron Mason’s final teams. At 6-2 and 205 pounds, McKenzie is a bruiser who likes to get to the front of the net on offense and defend the honor of his goaltender at the other end. And while he’s tough enough to chew glass for kicks, he also has developed a knack for scoring the greasy goals that a team like MSU needs. The Woodbury, Minn., native has 11 tallies and 17 assists this season — the same numbers he accumulated last year.

Most Recent Michigan State Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
11-B. Lerg	19-C. Mueller	25-J. McKenzie	State usually dresses just one senior (left wing Chris Lawrence) up front, but there's typically only one freshman, too (right wing Jay Sprague).
10-T. Kennedy	9-J. Abdelkader	40-T. Crowder
24-M. Schepke	22-N. Sucharski	17-J. Sprague
20-C. Lawrence	14-Z. McClellan	Goalies
Defense	Defense	1-J. Lerg
4-E. Graham	15-J. Dunne	35-B. Jarosz	MSU has dressed seven defensemen for three of the last four games.
6-B. Gentile	3-C. Snavely	Extra Defense
16-T. Howells	28-D. Vukovic	44-M. Ratchuk