For the first time in about a month, MSU head coach Rick Comley bemoaned his team's effort after Friday's 5-3 loss to Miami (Ohio)."We had a lot of players that didn't work hard enough," Comley said.
Nobody on the MSU hockey team has played with more intensity since the semester break than senior left wing Brian Maloney. Overall, the 6-foot-1, 207-pounder has skated faster, hit harder and forechecked more fiercely and consistently than any of his counterparts.
The MSU hockey team fell flat on its face Friday night. But, to the Spartans' credit, they stood up, dusted themselves off and actually took a baby step forward in the CCHA standings this weekend. With a series split against Miami (Ohio), the Spartans rose from fifth to fourth place in the league.
This weekend is as good as any for the fifth-place MSU hockey team to take a significant leap in the CCHA standings. The Spartans (14-9-2 overall, 10-6-1 CCHA) start a two-game series with Miami (Ohio) tonight at Munn Ice Arena.
It's not a coincidence that no player has ever worn the jersey No. 13 in the history of MSU hockey. "I think a couple of kids asked me to wear it, and I just said 'no 13s,'" said former head coach Ron Mason, who ran the MSU program for 23 years.
Goaltenders, by nature, are set off on an island.They can't hide much. If the puck stays out of the net, it's a job well done.
South Bend, Ind. - Rick Comley's hockey team had just earned three points on the road - which usually is an acceptable outcome - but the coach wasn't happy. "Aw, nuts!" Comley said outside of the visitors' locker room at the Joyce Center on Saturday.
South Bend, Ind. - Like an old fisherman, the MSU hockey team will be talking about "the one that got away" for at least the next week.The Spartans led Notre Dame 3-1 with less than five minutes separating them from a seven-game winning streak, but the Fighting Irish stormed back with two goals within 18 second to force a 3-3 tie Saturday night at the Joyce Center.The tie, coupled with MSU's series-opening 2-1 win Friday, gave the Spartans a three-point weekend in South Bend.
MSU senior defenseman John-Michael Liles has plenty of friends on the Notre Dame hockey team - he was teammates with Fighting Irish forwards Connor Dunlop and John Wroblewski and defenseman Brett Lebda in the U.S.
South Bend, Ind. - It wasn't easy, but the Spartan hockey team scratched out its sixth straight victory with a 2-1 decision over Notre Dame on Friday night at the Joyce Center.Sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio was superb for MSU (14-9-1 overall, 10-6-0 CCHA), turning away 40 shots, including 19 in a hectic third period.The Fighting Irish (9-12-4, 7-9-1) hounded the Spartans in the third, keeping the puck in the MSU zone for most of the frame.
Brad Fast and John-Michael Liles get more ice than Jay-Z's girlfriend. The multitalented senior defensemen have been MSU's main workhorses this year, logging far more minutes than any other Spartan not wearing goalie pads. Fast and Liles are MSU's top defensive pairing in that they play most of the important 5-on-5 shifts every game.
MSU's most important players were dropping like flies against Nebraska-Omaha this weekend. But fortunately for MSU head coach Rick Comley and the vitality of Spartan hockey, no one was hurt too seriously. In Friday's first period, freshman left wing David Booth, senior defenseman John-Michael Liles and freshman defenseman Corey Potter all had to be helped into the locker room after incurring various injuries within a 73-second span.
There's no "I" in "team," but superb performances by individual players were the driving forces behind MSU's commanding sweep of Nebraska-Omaha this weekend at Munn Ice Arena.Senior left wing Brian Maloney, who had two goals in 21 games before the series, scored three goals and added an assist this weekend.
The MSU hockey team was firing on all pistons Saturday night - and Nebraska-Omaha was left looking like it was hit by a Mack truck.The Spartans finished off their second straight series sweep by demolishing the visiting Mavericks 7-0 in front of 6,652 fans at Munn Ice Arena.The Spartans won the series-opener 5-2 on Friday.
For two periods Friday night, the MSU hockey team was in a dead heat with Nebraska-Omaha. But for the second straight Friday, the Spartans used a three-goal third period to pull out a 5-2 victory.
With three straight wins under its belt, the MSU hockey team seems to be heating up after a stormy first half of the season. And senior left wing Brian Maloney hopes his scoring touch is next in line to be rekindled. Maloney has been one of the Spartans' biggest disappointments in a disappointing season.
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.
MSU head coach Rick Comley said senior defenseman John-Michael Liles was MSU's best player on the ice during this weekend's sweep of Alaska-Fairbanks. And for his efforts, Liles was named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
MSU head coach Rick Comley has endured plenty of surprises in his first year at the Spartans' helm.From shocking losses to player desertions to an unimproved offense, Comley's initial season hasn't exactly followed the script.But one of MSU's most pleasant surprises has been freshman left wing David Booth.
Minutes after the MSU hockey team completed its most dominating weekend of the season, some Spartans said they felt like they had turned the corner on their turbulent season.In beating Alaska-Fairbanks 5-2 on Friday and 6-2 on Saturday, MSU claimed its first series sweep since taking out Lake Superior State on Oct.