The Spartan hockey team’s year-end awards banquet starts at 5:30 p.m. today at the Holiday Inn South, 6820 S. Cedar Street in Lansing, and I’m here to tell you not to go.
No, I don’t hate the Ralph Young Fund, which sponsors the event. No, I haven’t developed a weird spitefulness toward Ron Mason, who will take part in his final awards banquet as MSU’s head coach tonight.
As a matter of fact, I’d love to see you all there. But I’m telling you that you don’t have to go.
Why? Because you don’t need to spend $50 to find out who was named the team’s Outstanding Rookie. Everything you need to know about the season that was, can be found in the following installment of “Spartan Hockey Superlatives.”
The traditional stuff
Most Valuable Player: Ryan Miller
Outstanding Offensive Player: Adam Hall
Outstanding Defensive Player: John-Michael Liles
Most Improved Player: Ash Goldie
Outstanding Rookie: Jim Slater
Best goal
• Freshman center Slater’s game-tying tally with 47 seconds left in “The Cold War” on Oct. 6 in Spartan Stadium.
Less than a minute separated MSU from a loss to archrival Michigan in front of the largest crowd ever to watch a hockey game. Things looked bleak for the Spartans until Slater, playing in his first collegiate game, backhanded a loose puck past U-M goalie Josh Blackburn.
Slater’s goal tied the game 3-3, and without it, MSU would have been remembered as the loser of an historic game.
Best save
• Junior goaltender Miller’s no-look glove save with 1:40 left in the third period of a 1-1 tie at U-M on Jan. 19.
The Wolverines mercilessly peppered Miller throughout the game, but the Spartan netminder turned away a career-high 42 shots to preserve the tie - and no stop was better than this one. Miller was screened on a shot from the slot and fell to his knees to cover up the lower portion of the net. He never saw the shot, but the puck landed harmlessly in his glove, which was appropriately positioned above his left pad.
Best check
• Slater’s open-ice destruction of a Lake Superior State player gliding through the neutral zone Oct. 11.
It was MSU’s second game of the season, and when Slater lowered his shoulder into the Laker’s sternum, it cemented his reputation as being a little ball of terror.
Biggest win and best comeback
• MSU’s 4-2 victory over Northern Michigan on Dec. 7 in Marquette fills both categories.
The Spartans fell behind 2-0 to the host Wildcats, but rallied with four goals in the second half of the game. Junior left wing Brian Maloney notched three points and Miller made 38 saves.
MSU won 3-0 the next night to sweep Northern.
Worst loss
• It’s tough to look past the 3-2 setback to Notre Dame on Feb. 9 at Munn Ice Arena - which broke MSU’s 33-game home unbeaten streak - but the 3-2 loss at Ferris State on March 1 was even worse.
The Spartans came into the final weekend of the season tied atop the league with U-M, and they controlled their destiny for a second-straight CCHA regular-season championship. But the Spartans came out uninspired and lost to the flimsy Bulldogs, ultimately throwing away their share of the crown.
Biggest distraction
• MSU head coach Ron Mason’s January announcement that he would retire at the end of the season to become MSU’s next athletics director.
Mason didn’t want to make the announcement in the middle of the season, but he was forced to when the news started to leak. No matter what anyone says, the hoopla was a distraction to the team - and you need look no further than MSU’s 8-4-2 post-announcement record.
James Jahnke, State News hockey reporter, dubbed himself the Most Improved State News hockey reporter this season. Find out more by writing to jahnkeja@msu.edu.
