By Stefan Kubus –
If you want to leave a lasting impression on something as a senior, look no further than Drew Palmisano of the Michigan State Spartans for the textbook example.
While he wasn’t on the victorious side of things, Palmisano’s spectacular performance in the 46th annual Great Lakes Invitational went down as arguably the best goaltending performance ever seen in the holiday tournament.
The masked man between the pipes for Michigan State stood tall in back-to-back GLI games, the first being a 3-1 victory over the host Michigan Tech Huskies, and the second a 3-2 heartbreaking overtime loss to their storied in-state rival, the University of Michigan.
Palmisano, an Ann Arbor native, certainly did all he could to help his team come out on top, making 45 saves in each outing. That’s just one shy of his career-best, which came back in his freshman year against the Wolverines, when he made 46 saves in a 5-3 defeat.
“As a goalie, I try to play my own game and not worry about the shots,” said Palmisano of his tournament performance following the championship game. “I like to think that when I make those saves early on, it gets in the opponent’s heads and makes them think twice before they just kinda throw (the puck) at me, and maybe overthink, which helps us out.”
The championship game saw Michigan pepper Palmisano with 24 shots in the third period alone, one more shot than the Spartans took over the course of the entire game.
Michigan State coach Tom Anastos had nothing but praise for the efforts of his senior goaltender.
“He was excellent,” Anastos said. “We thought he would be, and he was everything that we thought he would be. He came back to campus really focused.”
While Palmisano and his Spartans just fell short of capturing the championship trophy, his efforts weren’t completely fruitless. Palmisano was voted to the all-tournament team as the top goaltender. He easily could have taken home MVP honors for the tournament, as well, but that was given to Wolverines defenseman Kevin Clare, who scored the championship-clinching goal in overtime.
The MVP has only been given out to a member of a losing team six times, all between 1968 and 1980. Since then, the MVP has been awarded to a member of the GLI-winning team. Palmisano’s remarkable combined 90 saves for the tournament set a new GLI record that not been broken in over 40 years. The previous holder of that title, Geoff McMullen, made 89 saves for Colgate in 1970 en route to a third-place finish. McMullen wasn’t even named MVP that year, either. Mike Utisalo of Michigan Tech scored back-to-back hat tricks against Michigan and Colorado College to lead the Huskies to the GLI title that year in his first season, a rare feat in itself, so it’s hard to argue giving him the award.
Following the victory over Michigan Tech, Anastos said that many teams view the GLI as a springboard into the second half of the season. If his stellar performances at the Joe were any indication, the Spartans should be very excited about the second half of their season coming up. Anastos also added that without Palmisano’s play, the game might not have been as close otherwise.
“The guys play with confidence in front of him,” said the first-year head coach. “I thought he made some big saves tonight, especially timely ones, and that’s what we need to give us a chance to win. He gave us a chance to win tonight without a doubt…I was really pleased with his effort.”