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.
One game past the halfway point of the season, the MSU hockey team has a .500 record (9-9-1 overall, 5-6-0 CCHA). For a team that hasn't had a losing season since 1991, the players and coaches agree it's a mark teetering on the edge of unacceptability. Dissecting MSU's problem is a continuous process for head coach Rick Comley.
It's no longer just paranoid conspiracy theory. It's now in the realm of a full-fledged phenomenon. This year's MSU hockey team is 2-6-1 in the first game of a series and 7-2-0 on the second night.
Brandon Warner, a 6-foot, 170-pound defenseman from Huntertown, Ind., verbally committed to the MSU hockey team Wednesday.Warner has four goals, nine assists and 54 penalty minutes in 32 games this season for the Pittsburgh Forge of the North American Hockey League.
By nature, Steve Clark is usually quick with a quip. And the talkative senior hockey player apparently amused head coach Rick Comley with a comment during a game this weekend at Lake Superior State. "We all laughed because he said he played more that particular night than he did his first three years here," Comley said with a chuckle. Of course, that's a huge hyperbole on Clark's part.
Senior defenseman Brad Fast is one of 15 finalists for the eighth annual Hockey Humanitarian Award, which will be awarded at an April 11 ceremony at the Frozen Four in Buffalo, N.Y. The award recognizes college hockey's "finest citizen" for his or her contributions to society.
It's the new year, and as "Auld Lang Syne" says, it's time for old acquaintances to be forgotten.That motto rings especially true nowadays for the MSU hockey team, which saw two defensemen leave the team in December.
Sault Ste. Marie - The only constant with the MSU hockey team this year has been its inconsistency. The Spartans (9-9-1 overall, 5-6-0 CCHA) went 3-3 in their six games during semester break, including a split at woeful Lake Superior State (4-15-1, 1-13-0) this weekend.
Detroit - Playing in its first Great Lakes Invitational consolation game in six years, the MSU hockey team salvaged some pride with a 6-2 win over Michigan Tech on Sunday afternoon at Joe Louis Arena.The Spartans didn't score a single 5-on-5 goal, but they scored twice 4-on-4, and also notched three power-play goals and a short-handed marker in defeating the Huskies.Freshman goaltender Justin Tobe made 29 saves for the Spartans (8-8-1 overall, 4-5-0 CCHA) on Sunday.