Minnesota, MSU to Face-Off

What goes around comes around. At least that's what the Michigan State and Minnesota men's hockey teams will find out when they face off tomorrow night in Detroit for a berth in Saturday's NCAA championship game.

Last year, Michigan St. and Minnesota each defeated their eastern opponents in the quarterfinals and met head-to-head in the Final Four.

This year, the exact same thing has happened, as the Golden Gophers slipped past Boston College and the Spartans dumped Maine in last weekend's quarterfinal action, setting up a rematch of last year's NCAA semifinal.

Both teams have strong motivation to win tomorrow night's contest. Michigan St. wants to defend its 1986 NCAA title in front of its home fans in Detroit, and Minnesota wants to avenge its 6-4 loss to the Spartans last year in Providence.

Both teams have additional motivation to win tomorrow's game. In 1981, the WCHA lost four of its teams to a rapidly expanding CCHA--one of which was Michigan State. The Spartans' conference defection curtailed a rivalry spanning 55 years and 127 games.

But after a four-years hiatus, the rivalry was renewed last year when the Spartans and Golden Gophers met in the NCAA tournament for the first time ever.

It was also the first meeting since a memorable WCHA playoff victory by Minnesota in 1976. The Gophers won the two-game, total-goals series, 9-8.

Michigan St. will not have the services of last year's tournament MVP, Mike Donnelly, who graduated last June. But the Spartans do have three potent scorers in right wing Mitch Messier (43 goals, 47 assists, 90 points), center Bill Shibicky (42-36-78) and left wing Kevin Miller (24-54-78). The Michigan St. attack averages 5.02 goals per game, one of the best in the CCHA.

Minnesota will look to two of its heroes from the Boston College series, goalie John Blue (21-8-1,.897 save percentage) and left wing Dave Snuggerud (29-28-57).

If the Golden Gophers get a man advantage, look for the defensive pair of Todd Richards and Gary Shopek to take control. The pair has amassed 73 assists among them, most of which have come on the power play.