Every Tuesday, FanHouse discusses the top NHL prospects found in college hockey.Last year, he was vilified. Fans wanted to run him out of college hockey. Instead of finishing his sophomore season at Michigan State, forward Corey Tropp (NHL rights: Buffalo) found himself looking for a place to play hockey. A vicious assault of Michigan's Steve Kampfer (Anaheim) got Tropp suspended by the school for the rest of the season. What's happened since is a great story of redemption.
MSU head coach Rick Comley believed all along that Tropp's behavior was out of character, and this incident would be an isolated one.
Tropp first planned to spend the rest of last season playing with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League. The USHL, however, imposed a suspension of their own on Tropp, and then he eventually decided to return to school without playing a game for the Stampede.
Only time will tell if Comley's hunch is correct, but so far, he and the MSU program have been rewarded for the decision to reinstate Tropp.
The players have welcomed Tropp -- now a junior -- back with open arms. Tropp was named an assistant captain for the Spartans this year, and Comley didn't waste time putting him on the ice.
Last week, Tropp scored once and had three assists in the Spartans' season-opening sweep of Clarkson. When MSU traveled to Orono, Maine, this past weekend, Tropp was even more explosive. The forward picked up a hat trick in Friday's 5-3 Spartan win, as he scored once five-on-five, one power-play goal, and added a short-handed tally. Tropp chipped in another goal and an assist on Saturday, as Maine won 5-3 to split the series.
After making headlines for the wrong reasons last year, Tropp has been to the sin bin just once this year, more in line with his normally disciplined style of play. Tropp had 16 penalty minutes in 42 games during his freshman season, then 45 in 21 games last year. He totaled 97 penalty minutes in 100 games with Sioux Falls before going to college.
The five-point weekend gives Tropp nine points (four goals and five assists) in just four games this season. He's tied for the NCAA lead with Minnesota Duluth forwards Jack Connolly and Justin Fontaine (both undrafted).
While there is no denying the awful nature of Tropp's behavior that fateful night in Ann Arbor, there is also no question that he accepted his punishment and has worked hard to win the trust of his teammates once again. None of this is going to change how Tropp is treated by Michigan fans when the Spartans visit Yost Ice Arena Nov. 13.
Tropp's hot start does show that some people can take advantage of their second chances. For him to get a chance in the pros, he needs to continue playing with discipline. His goal-scoring touch is clearly developing, but no one will care about that if he isn't behaving himself on the ice. Tropp's story may lead some to wonder why he's still allowed to play college hockey, but it will be gone and forgotten as long as he doesn't come close to repeating what he did to Kampfer.
(Kampfer, by the way, is a senior defenseman for the Wolverines this season. He was in the lineup for each of Michigan's two games so far, but has not registered a point.)
Other Players to Watch
If you're going up against Minnesota Duluth, stay out of the box. UMD has scored seven of its 13 goals with the man advantage. Fontaine and Connolly are responsible for a mind-boggling ten goals, with six of them coming on the power play. Fontaine scored four goals and assisted on another in the Bulldogs' weekend sweep of Minnesota State, Mankato.
St. Cloud State fans can't complain about the start they've had in goal. Yes, the team is 1-2-1, but freshman Mike Lee (Phoenix) has a 1.97 goals against and a .933 save percentage over his first three career starts.. He's been a star at every level he's played at, and there's no reason to think Lee will falter in college.
Alabama-Huntsville doesn't have a conference to play in after this season. College Hockey America is disbanding, and UAH is the only school yet to find a home. In other words, the future of the program is -- at best -- uncertain. After splitting with CCHA power Notre Dame in their opening weekend, the Chargers visited Air Force this week. They came away with back-to-back 4-2 wins. 3-1 Huntsville is led by junior goaltender Cameron Talbot (undrafted), who has posted a .947 save percentage in four starts. It should be an interesting weekend coming up, as UAH plays their home opener against Western Michigan, a CCHA team.
Freshman Curtis McKenzie (Dallas) of Miami had four points for the RedHawks in a weekend set at New Hampshire. Miami won the first game 6-3 before rallying to gain a 5-5 tie Saturday. Junior Carter Camper (undrafted) had two goals in the Friday win.
