True team of destiny: Spartans focused on title, not individual accolades

ST. LOUIS - Individual honors were very few for Michigan State this season.

Team honors, however, were a different story.

No one was named an all-star, and nobody won any league or national honors. Still, MSU is carrying around the Frozen Four championship trophy.

The Spartans are now the poster children for team play and what can be accomplished when group goals supersede individual ones.

MSU's character, grit and chemistry were on full display Saturday night in one of the greatest victories in school history - a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Boston College in the Frozen Four championship game at the Scottrade Center.

"We didn't have any players on the CCHA all-league teams or get any awards, but we're a hard-working team that cared about each other all season,'' junior defenseman Daniel Vukovic said. "We said before the game that this was going to be the day of our lives.''

While Spartan players often said they're a team without superstars and talked all season about hard work and resiliency, that's not really correct.

Jeff Lerg is definitely a superstar, a brilliant goaltender who is capable of stealing games or giving his team a chance to win.

And MSU had a superstar captain in senior Chris Lawrence, a great leader and motivator who is loved and respected by his teammates and coaches.

So, too, is Lerg, who had an outstanding Frozen Four. In Friday's 4-2 win over Maine, he kept MSU in the game through the first two periods. The Spartans trailed 2-0 early but scored four unanswered goals, including two in the third to move into the title game.

On Saturday, Lerg made two clutch saves with the Spartans trailing 1-0. He stopped a breakaway by Nate Gerbe in the second period with a left pad save. And his biggest was a highlight-reel glove save on Brian Boyle early in the third period.

On a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush, BC's Joe Rooney slid the puck to Boyle in the slot on the right. But Lerg moved to his left to snag the shot. The save ended up on Saturday's ESPN Plays of the Day.

That gave the Spartans a chance to come back - and they did on goals by Tim Kennedy to tie it and Justin Abdelkader to win it with 18.9 secondds left.

"Jeff is the most focused, most determined athlete that I've ever been around,'' Lawrence said. "His drive to succeed is unprecedented. That save on Boyle, he made the same play against New Hampshire last year.

"We do that drill every Thursday before practice, so he will say it's luck. But it's hard work. Jeff deserves everything he gets. There can't be any more doubters.''

Lerg's size (5-feet-6) has been an issue throughout his career, with skeptics saying he's too small to be a top-level goalie. While he didn't have as great a season as last year (17-6-6, 1.96 goals-against, .928 saves percentage), Lerg rebounded from uneven start and was back in top form beginning in December.

He was the MVP of the NCAA Midwest Regional and made the Frozen Four All-Tournament team.

"This is what I've waited for my whole life. I've been too small for every level of hockey, and I've been turned down by schools along the way,'' he said. "I'm really fortunate Coach Comley gave me this opportunity.

"Along the way, we've played top goalies in every game. I wanted to send a message and try to out-play them.''

Lerg said he had added motivation to blank the Eagles in the third period.

"I told myself that I can't let one in. I had to do that for Chris (Lawrence) and all the hard work he's put in this year,'' he said. "During the week here, we did 21 pushups before practice, because it had been 21 years sine the last title.

"I've grown up watching Michigan State with players like Ryan Miller, who never won a national championship. Those caliber of players, who are now NHL All-Stars, didn't get the bounces or maybe didn't have the camaraderie to put it all together.''

Said Comley, "You cannot imagine the inspiration this kid is. There is not a minute on that ice that is easy for him (because of Lerg's asthma). He respects being able to breathe every day. There's not enough good things you can say about him.''

Lawrence, 25, a former walk-on who plays on MSU's fourth line and doesn't get a lot of ice time, is admired for his leadership and positive and caring attitude.

"He's the best captain I've ever played for on any team,'' Abdelkader said. "He's meant so much to this team.''

Playing his last game as a Spartan, Lawrence said he was tears soon after he got to the rink on Saturday.

"I sat down and just started bawlin'. I know that tonight was my last game as a hockey player, and it hit me when I walked into the (locker) room. Guys were ripping on me,'' said Lawrence, who probably will not play professional hockey next year.

"Twenty years of your life, you're doing one thing, and then it's taken away. But what a way to go out. I'm so happy for these guys because, without them, I probably wouldn't be here right now.''