Most Detroit Lions fans probably wish their M&M boys would just walk away from the mess they oversee at Ford Field.

But at the same time, a lot of MSU hockey supporters probably wish the Spartans' version of the M&M boys would come back to Munn Ice Arena.

Ron Mason and Ryan Miller are two major ingredients missing from this season's hockey stew.

And things have been a little bland without them.

Mason, college hockey's all-time winningest coach, manned his post behind the Spartans bench for 23 years before announcing last January that he would become MSU's athletics director.

Less than seven months into his job as the head honcho of the Athletics Department, he has already fired and hired head football coaches.

Miller played three seasons for MSU, where he arguably became the best college hockey goaltender of all time.

In August, he announced that he would forgo his senior season to play professional hockey.

After spending most of the season in the minor leagues, the East Lansing native is now enjoying his second stint with the NHL's Buffalo Sabres.

Miller has started six of Buffalo's last seven games, and he earned his first-career shutout against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

He said he doesn't regret pursuing his childhood dream of playing in the NHL, even though it has prevented him from seeing his former teammates in East Lansing.

"I've been keeping track, keeping in touch with the guys, but I haven't been able to watch a single game," Miller said last week. "I still talk to most of the guys in my senior class, and I know they're disappointed."

The Spartans' disappointment stems from an 11-9-1 overall record, a 7-6-0 CCHA mark and a seventh-place slot in the conference standing - all of which is below MSU's lofty standards. One of the team's problems this season has been inconsistent goaltending, although sophomore netminder Matt Migliaccio has, on the whole, played better than expected.

"I usually talk to Migs every week, just to see where his head is at," said Miller, who set numerous collegiate goaltending records from 1999-2002. "We bounce stuff off each other.

"He's really working on the mental part of the game."

Miller said he doesn't feel guilty for leaving the Spartans a year early, even though his future in Buffalo is clouded by a stockpile of goalies and the team's recent filing for bankruptcy protection.

"It was a wise decision that I made for the advancement of my career," Miller said. "I had a good experience in the (American Hockey League) and now in the NHL. My decision was not based on what the immediate after-effects would be.

"Feeling guilty has not even crossed my mind. It's not my doing. I'm not part of that team anymore - it's a different team. There are a lot of factors weighing on that team, but it's not time to pull the chute on the season. They'll work their way through this."

Mason acknowledged that his departure coupled with Miller's early exit compounded MSU's problems this season. In March, Mason hired Northern Michigan's Rick Comley to succeed him.

Although Comley is a proven coach with more than 600 career wins, the Spartans still endured a nasty transitional phase earlier this season.

"I think I was more realistic about what it was going to take this year," said Mason, who attends hockey games whenever possible. "In a normal year, a coach has to learn four or five new players - the freshmen. This year, Rick had to learn 26 new players - not only how they play, but how they think and react.

"He's done a masterful job in getting the team back on track after a loss this year."

Comley said he and Mason talk often about the team's woes, as well as detecting the nuances of individual players.

"What I try to fall back on him for is finding out what's different from last year," Comley said. "His feedback has been very helpful. He's hasn't come to me and said, 'Rick, you should be doing this.' Nothing like that.

"He was excellent about calling and keeping your spirits up when we were really struggling."

Aside from the loss of Miller, Mason also noted the departure of last year's senior class - forwards Adam Hall and Joe Goodenow and defensemen Andrew Hutchinson and Jon Insana - as a reason for the Spartans' rough start.

He doesn't think the team would be much better off if he were at the helm instead of Comley.

"We'll never know," Mason said. "But I think maybe we would have been better in the first half dozen games or so because the system would have been the same as last season. But I don't think it would have made much difference after that."

Like Miller, Mason is optimistic about the rest of MSU's season.

"I think guys are playing a lot better now," Mason said. "Who knows how far they can go? They just have to take it a game at a time and realize that there's not a huge gap between first and 10th in the standings.

"They lost a lot of leadership from last year, but I think they're starting to settle down."