Three Spartan Hockey Players Earn All-Conference Honors: Tropp, Petry, and Palmisano Selected by Conference Coaches

 EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Three Michigan State hockey players have been selected to the CCHA All-Conference Teams, as selected by a vote of the conference’s

 

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Three Michigan State hockey players have been selected to the CCHA All-Conference Teams, as selected by a vote of the conference’s 12 head coaches. The teams were released on Wednesday, and three Spartans have earned Second-Team honors: junior forward Corey Tropp (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.), junior defenseman Jeff Petry (Farmington Hills, Mich.), and sophomore netminder Drew Palmisano (Ann Arbor, Mich.). It is the first All-Conference honor for each of the student-athletes. 

 

It is the most All-Conference selections to the first or second team in a single year for MSU since the 2002-03 campaign, when John-Michael Liles, Brad Fast, and Jim Slater comprised half of the First Team. MSU had two selections after the 2007-08 season: Jeff Lerg (First Team) and Tim Kennedy (Second Team); an additional three were Honorable Mention picks (Justin Abdelkader, Michael Ratchuk, and Daniel Vukovic). 

 

Tropp has spent all season as one of the league and nation’s top scorers. He finished the regular season with 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points, including nine power-play markers and five game-winning tallies. Tropp, who has recorded a pair of hat tricks this season, was recently named Team MVP and Outstanding Offensive Player at the team banquet.

 

Petry, a 2008 All-Rookie Team pick, received three first-team votes. He is Michigan State’s top-scoring blueliner, with a 4-22-26 scoring line and a pair of power-play strikes. Petry is a dynamic rearguard with a dynamic offensive game; he plays in all special-teams situations and has been on MSU’s top defensive pairing since his freshman season.

 

Palmisano continues a rich Michigan State goaltending tradition: since the 1980-81 season, all but one Spartan starting goaltender has earned All-League honors (MSU has competed in both the Western Collegiate Hockey Association or Central Collegiate Hockey Association during this stretch). The sophomore backstop is ninth nationally in save percentage (.922), and is 13th in GAA (2.27).  He was also announced as MSU’s representative to the CCHA All-Academic team earlier this week. 

 

In addition, both junior forward Andrew Rowe (Muskegon, Mich.) and freshman defenseman Torey Krug (Livonia, Mich.) received votes for the All-Conference team (Krug received one first-team vote as well.). Rowe has exploded for a career- best 15 goals this season, while Krug recorded 16 points from the blue line and was the league’s top rookie defenseman in scoring. Krug was named to the CCHA All-Rookie Team.