Hockey awards: Who was most dominant in 2014-2015
One of the biggest reasons for MSU hockey’s late-season success was its ability to find contributions from different players every week.
Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of The State News' archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query. You can also try a Basic search
1000 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
One of the biggest reasons for MSU hockey’s late-season success was its ability to find contributions from different players every week.
It was almost the story of two seasons for MSU hockey, or even the story of two years. The Spartans struggled with offense and consistency through the 18 games in 2014, going 7-10-1 in mostly non-conference schedule.
While MSU ice hockey (17-16-2, 11-7-2 Big Ten) didn’t accomplish all of its goals this season, it was still a step in the right direction — a big step.
It was hard to put into words. The fresh wound of a season-ending loss mixed with the overwhelming pride of where this team came from.
“We think that we can kind of see the corner,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “Now it's a challenge for us to try to turn it.”
When MSU hockey (17-15-2 overall, 11-7-2 Big Ten) laid out its goals at the beginning of the year, some might have thought they were a little arbitrary. This has been the case for most of the season, particularly the second half as the Spartans proved their critics wrong.
MSU hockey's junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand was named the Big Ten Player of the Year on Monday. The Butler, Penn. native was also given the honor of Big Ten Goaltender of the Year.
Teams from across the country competed for the title, but MSU came out on top.
Stakes could not have been much higher Friday night at Munn Ice Arena. Sitting in first place of the Big Ten, MSU hockey (16-15-2, 10-7-2-2 Big Ten) welcomed in-state rival Michigan on the Spartans Senior Night.
Not since the first week of the Big Ten season has MSU hockey (16-14-2, 10-6-2-2 Big Ten) laid claim to first place, but 15 weeks later it can do exactly that. The Spartans defeated Wisconsin 3-0 for the second night in a row in front of a spring-break crowd of 6,994 at Munn Ice Arena.
It wasn’t long ago that MSU hockey was searching for consistency and confidence. After another 3-0 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday night, the Spartans find themselves at the top of the Big Ten standings with just two games to go.
In front of a sold-out crowd of 6,042 at Munn Ice Arena, MSU hockey (15-14-2, 9-6-2-2 Big Ten) picked up an important win with just three games left in the season. The Spartans beat Wisconsin 3-0 on Friday night behind junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand’s fifth shutout of the season.
With just four games left in the regular season, MSU hockey (14-14-2 overall, 8-6-2 Big Ten) finds itself in contention for its first conference title since the 2000-2001 season.
MSU hockey (14-14-2, 8-6-2-2 Big Ten) had not lost a game when scoring three or more goals since its first loss of the season against Massachusetts on Oct. 18. It looked like that streak would stay intact Thursday as the Spartans stormed out to a 3-0 lead over Minnesota in the first 10:34 of the game.
MSU hockey (13-14-2, 7-6-2-2 Big Ten) let a golden opportunity slip away Thursday night against No. 14 Minnesota (18-10-3, 9-3-3-0 Big Ten). The Spartans built a 3-0 lead in the first period just to watch Minnesota score five unanswered goals to win 5-3 and remain at the top of the Big Ten standings. Had MSU won, it would have been sitting all alone in first place in the conference.
When head coach Tom Anastos took over the MSU hockey program on March 23, 2011, he knew what he was in store for. No fan ever likes to hear the term “rebuilding,” but that is exactly what Anastos was tasked with.
Since their last meeting in early December, Michigan State hockey (13-13-2, 7-5-2-2 Big Ten) and No. 14 Minnesota (17-10-3, 8-3-3-0) have been in the process of turning their seasons around. The Spartans have gone 9-4-1 since their shootout win against the Gophers on Dec. 6, while the Gophers enter the weekend series having gone 6-1-1 over their last eight.
MSU hockey (13-13-2, 7-5-2-2 Big Ten) rebounded from a 2-1 loss on Friday with a 3-0 shutout over Wisconsin (4-20-4, 2-10-2 Big Ten). Junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand finished with 31 saves and junior forward Ryan Keller notched two goals in the victory.
It’s been an unpredictable year so far for Big Ten hockey with many over performing teams and players. On the other end of the spectrum sits MSU’s next opponent, Wisconsin.
The basic principle of sports is to score more points than the opponent. It’s a crazy concept, for sure, but it has been scientifically proven to work. For MSU hockey (12-12-2, 6-4-2-2 Big Ten), putting pucks in the net has not been one of its strong suits this season. Sitting second-to-last in the Big Ten for goals scored, the Spartans have relied on their top-ranked defense to win most games this season.