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Sports | Hockey

ICE HOCKEY

Icers receive praise from distant source

Eric Fish
April 10, 2007

Following the Spartans' 3-1 national championship-clinching win Saturday night over Boston College, junior defenseman Daniel Vukovic's voice mail in-box was completely full. The most important message was from his brother Nick who was watching the game on DirecTV from his home in Australia with friends. "He moved over there, I think two years ago, and I haven't seen my brother for the two years," Vukovic said Monday.

BASEBALL

MSU splits doubleheader

Tom Keller
April 10, 2007

Two runs. That's all that separates the MSU baseball team from a perfect start to conference play. The Spartans dropped the opener of Monday's doubleheader against Purdue, 1-0 — their second one-run loss in the conference — then blanked the Boilermakers, 3-0, in the back end to take the series at Kobs Field and improve to 13-10 overall, 5-2 in the Big Ten. Only once in the last decade have the Spartans gotten off to a better conference start — 2004, when they won their first six games. "The crazy thing is we're that close to being undefeated in the Big Ten," head coach David Grewe said, holding his fingers an inch apart.

BASEBALL

WEB EXTRA: Brookes stays hot on mound to help MSU beat Purdue, cold temperatures

Tom Keller
April 9, 2007

How cold was it on Sunday at Kobs Field? So cold that junior second baseman Steve Gerstenberger wore four layers of Under Armour under his jersey to fight the game-time wind chill of 23 degrees. "I can hardly move," he said, "but at least I'm warm." So cold that despite the grounds crew's attempts to clear the field before the game with leaf blowers, snow was still piled along the fences — something home-plate umpire Bruce Doane said he has never seen in 35 years. So cold that Purdue rented a microwave from the hotel it was staying at and used it to heat chicken soup in its dugout. But not cold enough to cool down senior pitcher Craig Brookes, who threw seven innings and allowed two runs — one earned — to lead the MSU baseball team to a 3-2 win against the Boilermakers. "Good old Brookesy," MSU head coach David Grewe said of his ace, who kept his conference-leading ERA at 1.29 on an afternoon that felt more like Christmas Eve than Easter Sunday. What was supposed to be the finale of a four-game weekend set ended up being the series opener because of the weather.

ICE HOCKEY

21 years in the making

Eric Fish
April 9, 2007

St. Louis — Justin Abdelkader wasn't even born when Mike Donnelly scored the game-winning goal in the 1986 NCAA championship game to earn the crown for the Spartans, but the sophomore forward will take his place in the hockey history books alongside him. Abdelkader, like Donnelly, scored the game-winning goal to give MSU the national title.

ICE HOCKEY

Comley answers critics, leads MSU to NCAA title

Eric Fish
April 9, 2007

St. Louis — MSU head coach Rick Comley has been picked apart by the media, fans and the public ever since he was named Ron Mason's successor in 2002. He has dealt with two seasons in which the team failed to meet lofty preseason expectations, ultimately falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid. But with Saturday's 3-1 victory over Boston College to give MSU its third national championship in program history, Comley has met those lofty expectations, silencing the critics in the process. "I want to publicly thank Ron Mason," Comley said of MSU's athletic director.

ICE HOCKEY

MSU receives fan support from families, league commissioner

Eric Fish
April 9, 2007

St. Louis — Ralph and Joanne Gentile weren't able to travel to the Czech Republic when their son Brandon, now a sophomore defenseman on the MSU hockey team, was playing in the biggest event of his pre-college career. As a member of the United States National Team Development Program out of Ann Arbor, Gentile and Team USA won a gold medal at the 2005 International Ice Hockey Federation's World Under-18 Championships in the Czech Republic. Mom and Dad were unable to attend. "I had been overseas, and they unfortunately couldn't make it," Brandon Gentile said. But that just made his parents' trip to St.

SPORTS

Izzo to Kentucky talk makes no sense

Other than "What the #$&% is up with this weather?" the question I've been hearing most often lately is, "Would Tom Izzo really leave MSU for Kentucky?" As hypotheticals go, that's a pretty heavy one — it's as unsettling a thought to MSU fans as "Would the pope convert to Judaism?" is to Catholics.

SPORTS

Defense controls 1st scrimmage of spring season

Matt Bishop
April 6, 2007

Head coach Mark Dantonio didn't have a real hands-on experience with his team during the squad's first scrimmage Saturday. Instead of coaching like it was a practice, the coaching staff stepped back and ran the scrimmage like a real game, with coaches manning the press box and plays being sent in via hand signals. "We got some good work in," Dantonio said Tuesday.

ICE HOCKEY

The comeback kids

Eric Fish
April 6, 2007

St. Louis — Resilient. It's the word MSU head coach Rick Comley has used again and again this season to describe his team. The Spartans continued to define the term Thursday in the Frozen Four national semifinal game when they found themselves down 2-0 to Maine less than four minutes into the game.

SPORTS

Coleman earns top gymnast honors

Michelle Ortlieb
April 6, 2007

The last time an MSU gymnast was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, the president of the United States was George HW Bush and "The Little Mermaid" was playing in theaters. Eighteen years later, George HW Bush's son is the president and the films like "300" are in theaters.