Decision ripples through program
Ron Masons crossover from head hockey coach to athletics director will have profound implications for the world of Spartan hockey.
Ron Masons crossover from head hockey coach to athletics director will have profound implications for the world of Spartan hockey.
Nobody really saw it coming, but now that hockey head coach Ron Mason has officially announced hes vacating his post of 23 years, coaches across the country are expected to start printing out their résumés and sending them to East Lansing.Current MSU assistants Tom Newton and Dave McAuliffe have clearly stated they want the job, but those outside the Spartan hockey program face a stickier situation if they are interested.Rumors have Denver head coach George Gwozdecky, an MSU assistant from 1984-89, in the pole position for the job, but his No.
After meeting with university officials three months ago to discuss possible candidates for athletics director, Ron Mason walked out of the meeting and everything suddenly clicked. I walked away from that meeting and said, You know, I think Id be the right person for that position, Mason said.
Overshadowed by the stunning announcement of head coach Ron Masons promotion to athletics director was the fact that his Spartans earned four meaningful CCHA points this weekend at Munn Ice Arena.Fifth-ranked MSU (19-5-3 overall, 15-4-2 CCHA) topped No.
MSUs two oldest players - junior left wing Brian Maloney and sophomore center Tim Hearon - were infants when Ron Mason took over the reins of the Spartan hockey chariot. The rest of the 27-man roster hadnt even been born yet. While the current players were growing up, losing their teeth, playing floor hockey in gym class and passing notes to childhood crushes, Mason was building the framework for a college hockey dynamo. Under his watchful eye and signature mustache (which has whitened a bit through the years), the Spartan program flourished into one of the elite programs in the country. He arrived from Bowling Green in 1979 and suffered through a pair of losing seasons right off the bat.
MSU hockey head coach Ron Mason will announce today that hell become the universitys 16th athletics director, ending a 23-year tenure at the helm of the hockey program.
MSU President M. Peter McPherson will recommend Spartan hockey head coach Ron Mason to become the universitys next athletics director at a Monday morning press conference. University officials made the announcement Saturday night while Masons team was playing Ohio State at Munn Ice Arena.
MSU hockey head coach Ron Mason is expected to leave behind an impressive record on the ice to accept the post of MSU athletics director.
MSU begins a four-game odyssey with No. 14 Ohio State - its first four-game stand in 31 years - with two contests at Munn Ice Arena today and Saturday. The teams also play Feb.
In the wake of a 1-1 tie with archrival Michigan, MSU climbed up a spot in both national polls this week. The Spartans (17-5-3 overall, 12-4-2 CCHA) are now ranked No.
Ann Arbor - Coming out of Saturday nights showdown with No. 8 Michigan at Yost Ice Arena, fifth-ranked MSU is still where it wants to be - alone in first place in the CCHA. Things could have been better for the Spartans - they took a 1-0 lead into the games final seven minutes - but they sounded more pleased than disappointed after the 1-1 tie with U-M kept them two points up on the Wolverines in the CCHA standings. Its a great tie for Michigan State, MSU head coach Ron Mason said.
Ann Arbor - About 30 minutes after the book was closed on MSUs 1-1 tie with Michigan, Ryan Miller stood amid a group of reporters in a makeshift interview room in the bowels of Yost Ice Arena. Without warning, a U-M writer listening to Millers comments dropped his tape recorder.
MSU junior goaltender Ryan Miller is a preliminary finalist for the 2001 James E. Sullivan Award, presented annually to the nations top amateur athlete by the Amateur Athletic Union.
The states two biggest college hockey powers have some unfinished business to take care of - and the game that has been circled with both blue and green ink for the past three and a half months is now just a day away. Sixth-ranked MSU (17-5-2 overall, 12-4-1 CCHA) and No.
MSU head coach Ron Mason has been shooing it away all season, but the injury bug finally bit Tuesday night in Big Rapids. And although it bit hard, the sting doesnt look quite as bad as it did at first.
Big Rapids - Everything Chris Kunitz did Tuesday night, Adam Hall had an answer for. Kunitz, a Ferris State left wing and the CCHAs leading goal-scorer, put the Bulldogs up 1-0 and 2-1, but MSU senior right wing Hall provided the equalizer each time. And just when a scoring duel seemed to be shaping up between the two players, MSU freshman center Jim Slater gloved a bad clearing attempt deep in the Bulldog zone, and banged home the game-winning goal to lift No.
The sixth-ranked Spartans are in the midst of a rare eight-day, three-game stretch against three different schools at three different arenas. Behind MSU is a 2-0 loss at Western Michigan on Saturday night. Looming on the horizon is a main event showdown against the co-first-place Michigan Wolverines at Yost Ice Arena this Saturday. But for the only time this season, Tuesday is a game-night this week.
Kalamazoo - Sixth-ranked MSU had the pedal to the metal in Fridays 6-3 win over Western Michigan, but the Spartans offensive fuel tank went dry a night later as they sputtered to a 2-0 loss in Kalamazoo.The Spartans (16-5-2 overall, 11-4-1 CCHA) seemed to get all the bounces in the series opener at Munn Ice Arena, but MSU players and coaches were left scratching their heads after their luck took a 180-degree turn Saturday at hostile Lawson Arena.Western (12-9-3, 6-8-2) packed 4,575 rowdy fans into Lawson for a Black Out promotion Saturday, and the arena continued to be an Achilles heel for the Spartans.
Its hard to believe, but only four players on MSUs roster have ever won a game against Western Michigan. All four - right wing Adam Hall, left wing Joe Goodenow, and defensemen Andrew Hutchinson and Jon Insana - are seniors now.
Quick, who leads sixth-ranked MSU in goal scoring?No, its not senior captain Adam Hall, sensational freshman center Jim Slater or even thunder-shooting junior wing Brian Maloney.Its John-Michael Liles - a 5-foot-10 defenseman from the renowned hockey hotbed of Indiana.Against Quinnipiac on Saturday, Liles became the first Spartan to notch 10 goals this season.