Daniel Vukovic Class: Senior Hometown: North York, Ont. Height / Weight: 6-3 / 230 Position: Defense Birthdate: 02/19/1986 Previous Team: St. Michael's Buzzers (OPJHL)

A stay-at-home defenseman who added an offensive touch in his junior campaign to bring a more well-rounded game to the ice ... Uses his strength and physical play to be effective ... Has been a contributor on the penalty kill ... Has worked to improve his speed, which has helped develop his overall skills ...

2006-07 (Junior): Voted team's Most Improved Player after enjoying a breakout junior season ... One of four skaters to appear in all 42 games ... Posted seven goals and five assists after one goal and two assists in his first two varsity seasons combined to tie for second among full-time blueliners ... Led the team with a +19 ... Finished second among defensemen in postseason scoring with 3-2-5 in eight games ... Collected his first assist of the season on Tim Kennedy's goal against Sacred Heart (10/28) ... Had points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career in the Miami series in Oxford (1/5-6). He assisted on a Tim Crowder goal Friday, then Saturday night, he scored his second career goal :56 into the third period. It sparked a four-goal final frame for the Spartans ... Named CCHA Defensive Player of the Week (1/8) for his play in the Miami series, where he was a +5 and helped the penalty kill go 9-for-9 on the weekend ... Tallied his second goal of the season and third of his career with just 23 seconds remaining in the second period of MSU's 4-0 shutout of Lake Superior State (1/20). Followed that up with a goal with just 1:01 left in the first period of the Spartans next game, a 5-1 route of Nebraska-Omaha (2/2), to create the first goal-scoring streak of his career ... Tallied his first career power-play goal - and fourth goal of the season - in game one of the Western Michigan series (2/16) ... Played in both games of the Nebraska-Omaha series in the CCHA quarterfinals, and was a +2 ... Had the most prolific offensive day of his career in the CCHA consolation game against Lake Superior (3/17), scoring a goal in each of the first two periods and assisting on Tyler Howell's overtime game-winning goal. It was the first two-goal/three-point game of his career. Also finished the game with a +4 rating ... Pinched in from the blue line and netted the fourth goal in Michigan State's 5-1 rout of Boston University in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal (3/23) ... Collected an assist on Chris Mueller's empty-net marker with 1.2 seconds remaining in the NCAA title-game victory over Boston College (4/7) ... Finished the postseason with a plus/minus rating of +8, good for second on the team and first among blueliners.

2005-06 (Sophomore): Appeared in 43 of 45 Spartan contests ... Collected his first point of the season, an assist, in a 7-4 loss to Nebraska-Omaha (11/11). The assist was his first in the Spartan uniform ... Contributed two assists to a 5-1 victory over Wayne State (1/7). His performance was the first multiple-point game of his career ... Skated in his 50th career game as a Spartan during a 2-1 win over Notre Dame (2/3).

2004-05 (Freshman): Played in 18 games with one goal and six penalty minutes ... Tallied first career goal in 5-0 win over Nebraska-Omaha (3/17) in CCHA Super Six Quarterfinals.

PRIOR TO MSU: Spent two seasons with the St. Michael's Buzzers of the Ontario Provincial Junior "A" Hockey League (2002-04) ... Tallied six goals and 18 assists for 24 points in 39 games in 2003-04 ... Also recorded 61 penalty minutes ... Appeared in 42 games in 2002-03, recording 15-15-30 totals ... Also finished with 68 penalty minutes ... Earned St. Mike's Rookie of the Year honors ... Prior to St. Mike's, played in the Minor-Midget Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) ... Won the Bantam All-Ontario Championship with the Toronto Red Wings in 2001-02 ... Won the PeeWee All-Ontario Championship with the Toronto Marlies in 1999-2000.

PERSONAL: Born Feb. 19, 1986 ... Finance major ... Enjoys playing competitive soccer, boxing and working out ... Graduated from St. Michael's College School in Toronto, Ontario ... Selected as the school's Outstanding Graduating Athlete ... Completed an internship with Voutsara's Financial in the summer of 2006, learning the basics of financial advising ... Favorite NHL team: Toronto Maple Leafs ... Favorite NHL player: Jim Slater ... Says his parents are his idols because "they encourage me to do my best" ... Son of Joe and Isabelle Vukovic ... Sister Natalia played varsity field hockey at York University ... Brother Matthew is in the Canadian Army Reserve and recently completed an eight-month tour in Afghanistan ... Says his parents are his biggest hockey influences because "they have always supported me in all my decisions."

career statistics

YEAR	GP	G	A	PTS	PPG	SHG	GWG	+/-	PEN-MIN
2004-05	18	1	0	1	0	0	0	-3	4/8
2005-06	43	0	4	4	0	0	0	+7	7/14
2006-07	42	7	5	12	1	0	0	+19	9/18
TOTALS	103	8	9	17	1	0	0	+23	20/40