Troy Ferguson's mind-set is shifting from body checks to books.
Ferguson played his final hockey game for MSU in a 7-5 loss to Northern Michigan on Thursday. The senior forward was drafted by Carolina in 2000, but he decided not to pursue a professional hockey career after his college days.
He'd rather get a medical degree.
During the next few months, the kinesiology major will enroll in a few preparatory classes and then retake the MCAT to improve his marketability to medical schools. He plans to start medical school in the fall of 2004.
"I'm really early in the application process right now, but I'll probably apply to five or six schools," said Ferguson, 22. "I'm going to take a year away from the rink and let my mind and body settle down a little bit and then go from there."
Ferguson, a native of Kitchener, Ontario, hasn't decided whether to stay in the United States or return to Canada to get his Ph.D.
He's considering several universities, but has only applied to two so far - archrivals MSU and Michigan.
Ferguson spent two years in Ann Arbor while playing junior hockey, so he's familiar with the U-M area. And he said being surrounded by maize and blue wouldn't be too odd for him.
"It would be weird if I were going there and playing a sport or something," Ferguson said. "But I'd just be going to school.
"I'll still be bleeding green. Even when I was in Ann Arbor before, going to their football and basketball games, I sure didn't feel too bad when they lost."
Delightful docket
MSU's 2003-04 schedule hasn't been released yet, but head coach Rick Comley confirmed several intriguing matchups for next season.
The Spartans will host the annual IceBreaker tournament in the second week of October at Munn Ice Arena. The field will include MSU, Boston College, Minnesota-Duluth and Findlay.
MSU will also play home, nonconference series against UMass-Lowell and Wayne State, and will host College Hockey Showcase contests against Minnesota and Wisconsin.
MSU and U-M will play twice in East Lansing, once in Ann Arbor, and once at Joe Louis Arena. The Spartans will also play Lake Superior State once at Joe Louis.
Long shot Liles
Senior defenseman John-Michael Liles is in sixth place in the final stage of online fan voting for the Hobey Baker Award.
Liles is one of 10 semifinalists for the trophy, given annually to college hockey's outstanding player. His vote total is roughly half that of the leader, forward Peter Sejna of Colorado College.
Fans can vote only once in the final phase of balloting, which ends Monday.
To vote, log on to www.voteforhobey.com
The champion of the fan balloting gets one of 25 votes determining the award winner.
Three finalists will be announced April 2 and the Hobey recipient will be announced April 11 in Buffalo, N.Y.
Raves of Renfrew
Comley has nothing but good things to say about Brian Renfrew, MSU's new assistant coach. Renfrew, 30, is coming to East Lansing after spending two years each at Alaska-Fairbanks and Northern Michigan.
"He's a very bright, young hockey mind," Comley said. "He's had to recruit at difficult places in his young career. I think with the opportunity to work at a program like this, he'll just blossom."
Renfrew, a former goaltender, will replace Dave McAuliffe on MSU's staff.
McAuliffe was released this week after 11 years as a Spartan assistant, partly because Comley wanted to have a full-time goalie coach.
"I'm a great believer in positional coaches," Comley said. "Today's game is predicated on the ability of goaltenders, and part-time (coaches) don't do it. It's like coaching a football team and not having a quarterbacks coach. Goaltenders separate teams right now.
"It's something I did at Northern that worked, and I wanted to do it here. Because of the transitional state of our program, goaltending is going to be critical."
