FERRIS' TOM MUELLER TO COMPETE IN NCAA SKILLS CHALLENGE

Senior Goaltender Chosen As An Alternate For Inaugural Frozen Four Event

Ferris State's Tom Mueller has been named as an alternate for the year's inaugural NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge event.

Mueller is among 10 male alternates for the West team, which also includes Northern Michigan's Andrew Contois, Jon Horrell of Bowling Green State, Notre Dame's Mike Walsh, and Western Michigan's Brent Walton all from Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA)-member schools. The eight-member West squad features CCHA skaters Colton Fretter of Michigan State, Michigan's Brandon Kaleniecki, and Dave Caruso of Ohio State.

The competition will be held in an East versus West format with each team having six male position players, six female position players, two male goaltenders and two female goaltenders. An alternate list has been established in the event that players have to withdraw from the competition due to other commitments, such as their team's participation in the Men's Frozen Four.

To be eligible, all players must have exhausted their collegiate eligibility and be nominated by their head coach. The players were selected by representatives from the American College Hockey Coaches Association (ACHCA), the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee and the National Youth Sports Corporation. The competitions will include puck control relay, fastest skater, hardest shot, rapid fire shooting and penalty shot.

Tickets for the event are $10 and can be purchased at the Bradley Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com or by phone at (414) 276-4545. The Skills Challenge will begin at 7 p.m. (CDT) and will be preceded by the Hobey Baker Memorial Award presentation at 6 p.m. (CDT) and the Hockey Humanitarian Award at 6:30 p.m. (CDT).

Mueller, who transferred to Ferris State from Minnesota-Crookston following the 2001-02 season, posted a 3.19 goals-against average and an .882 saves percentage in 37:38 minutes of action during his three-year Bulldog career. Mueller's lone appearance in goal occured in the 2003-04 season at Notre Dame (2/14) when he registered 15 saves after entering the contest in the second period.

Ferris State concluded the 2005-06 season with a 17-15-8 overall record, which included a sixth-place tying 10-11-7 CCHA mark.