Hockey reporter Eric Fish spent the evening in South Bend, Ind., where MSU has not lost when he covers a game. Friday's MSU hockey game took me to the historic campus of Notre Dame.

Unfortunately, while Notre Dame's football stadium and Touchdown Jesus are such treasured parts of the campus, it's almost like the athletics department forgot about the hockey team while building the complexes. They just threw a sheet of ice in an abandoned building, threw up a curtain to split it in half and wheeled in nearly 3,000 seats worth of bleachers. It makes you really appreciate what we have here at Munn Ice Arena.

Another comical part of the trip was the Notre Dame sports information student "cheerleader" sitting two seats down from me in the press box. There was a power play in the second period when David Booth's stick broke so he kept possession of the puck by kicking it (because playing it with a busted stick would result in a penalty). The kid jumped out of his seat screaming for a penalty.

Apparently, not only does Notre Dame have poor hockey facilities, but the people have poor hockey knowledge.

I also found it rather humorous how the public address announcer named the residence halls of Notre Dame's starting lineup.

It's kind of like, "Watch them on the ice now, then be sure to stop by their dorm room for the 'OC' party on Thursday."

Last fall when traveling to South Bend for MSU football, we ran into MSU head coach Rick Comley (who was going to the game, too) at the Hardee's rest stop along Indiana Toll Road I-80. I made it a point to stop at the same rest stop Friday for good luck.

Both trips resulted in MSU wins.

Coincidence? I think not.

Reach Eric Fish at fisheric@msu.edu.