Nothing that happens this weekend will show up on the MSU hockey team’s record, but the pair of exhibition games on the docket still are quite important as the Spartans prepare for the start of the regular season next week. MSU officially opens its schedule today with the Green and White intrasquad scrimmage.
The names Matt Migliaccio and Justin Tobe had might as well be superglued together for the next several months, because rarely will you hear one mentioned without the other.The young goaltenders have almost morphed into one entity in the minds of Spartan fans this fall.
Among the changes made by new hockey head coach Rick Comley this season is the segmentation of duties for assistant coaches Tom Newton and David McAuliffe. In the past Newton and McAuliffe worked with former head coach Ron Mason on all aspects of the team, but Comley wants the duo to focus their attention on smaller factions.
Although Ron Mason’s fingerprints are all over the MSU hockey team, new head coach Rick Comley appears to have a more hands-on approach than his predecessor.With one week of practice already in the books - and another underway - both the MSU players and assistant coaches are raving about Comley’s interpersonal skills.“Coach Comley has really gone out of his way to break down the communication barriers,” assistant coach Tom Newton said.
New hockey head coach Rick Comley was understandably anxious to get training camp under way Tuesday after six months of studying the MSU roster on paper.
Some of the MSU hockey team’s upperclassmen are feeling like freshmen during the first practices of the season this week.With new head coach Rick Comley at the helm, every player has the proverbial “clean slate” to work with during training camp.
Three-quarters of the Spartans’ eight-player freshman class finally got to practice with their new team Tuesday, but there also were two noticeable absences.Rookie forwards Colton Fretter and David Booth missed the season-opening practice because of ailments.
Practice starts today for the MSU hockey team and, for the first time in 24 years, Ron Mason will not be presiding over the squad.
The MSU football team might be struggling, but sports fans will have something to cheer about on campus this week - guaranteed. The Stanley Cup is making its way around Lansing starting today at the Capitol and ending at the MSU vs.
Both the CCHA’s media and coaches, voting in polls released Tuesday, picked the MSU hockey team to repeat last year’s second-place league finish.Archrival Michigan was named by both polls as the preseason favorite, but this could also be the first year since Lake Superior State won in 1995-96 that a team other than MSU or U-M claims the conference title.The CCHA playing field has seemingly been leveled, thanks to early defections from the league’s perennial powers.
Right wing Steve Jackson and forward Pat Brush have both left the Spartan hockey team, MSU head coach Rick Comley confirmed Monday.Jackson, who would have been a senior, and Brush, who would have been a junior, are the third and fourth players to prematurely leave the team since Comley replaced Ron Mason in March.Last month, junior goaltender Ryan Miller left the Spartans to sign with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and sophomore defenseman Aaron Hundt transferred to Wayne State.Both Jackson and Brush voluntarily quit the team, Comley said.
Dimondale - MSU’s coaching staff worked three long days this weekend while scouting some of the nation’s best junior players at the North American Hockey League’s second annual Face-Off at The Summit.But while the Spartans searched for their next prized recruit, the two guys MSU has already landed were able to prove their worth on the ice.Capital Centre Pride left wing Drew Miller tallied a hat trick and an assist Saturday, while his future Spartan teammate Tommy Goebel put in two goals for the Cleveland Barons during the second day of the three-day, season-opening NAHL event.All of the NAHL’s 11 teams, plus the Under-18 U.S.
Although former goaltender Ryan Miller is on his way to western New York to play professional hockey, his parents are still rooted in East Lansing - and that seems to be good news for members of the MSU hockey team. During the past three years, Dean and Teresa Miller have become something of local guardians to the Spartan players, who hail from places as far away as British Columbia, Alberta and North Dakota.
Slapshots, MSU hockey’s student cheering organization, will begin selling tickets for its expanded and relocated section tonight. The section, which is run by the Student Alumni Foundation, has upped its membership by 30 this year, bringing the total number of available Slapshots season tickets to 144.
Seven of the Spartan hockey team’s eight freshmen are on campus, going to class, skating at Munn Ice Arena and generally getting acclimated to college life. The only rookie missing is Nenad Gajic, a skilled forward from Burnaby, British Columbia, who is still with his club lacrosse team that’s fighting for the Canadian junior national championship. Gajic, who is also a forward in lacrosse, is pursuing the Minto Cup with the rest of his Burnaby Lakers teammates.
One would assume that Matt Migliaccio and Justin Tobe would be feeling a little pressure now that the unenviable task of replacing Ryan Miller has officially begun. After all, Miller was one of the most prolific goaltenders in college hockey history before signing with the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
Ryan Miller was back in his hometown of East Lansing Tuesday after spending the previous day in Buffalo - the city he hopes to call his hockey home in the near future. The 22-year-old star goaltender met with local media Tuesday to explain his decision to forgo his senior season at MSU in favor of professional hockey.
Not long after the announcement that MSU goaltender Ryan Miller had signed with the Buffalo Sabres, forgoing his senior season, Spartan hockey fans weren’t bashful with their opinions. Miller had arguably done everything a player could do at MSU.
The first day of fall semester classes brought beginnings for most MSU students, but it signaled the end of Ryan Miller’s collegiate athletic career. Miller, a two-time All-American goaltender, forfeited his senior year of eligibility and signed a contract with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
Evidence continues to mount that Spartan goaltender Ryan Miller will forego his senior year of eligibility in order to turn professional. Miller, reached at his parents’ house Sunday afternoon, pleaded the fifth on the issue, as he has all summer.