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Sports | Ice Hockey

ICE HOCKEY

Mason exits ice, leaves legacy

James Jahnke
March 25, 2002

Ann Arbor - It really was a pretty strange ending. As it turned out, longtime MSU head coach Ron Mason concluded his career Friday afternoon with a 2-0 loss to Colorado College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Yost Ice Arena. The loss, particularly so early in the tournament, was surely disappointing for Mason - a 62-year-old, super-competitive, old-school coach who will become MSU’s next athletics director on July 1.

ICE HOCKEY

Northern Michigan coach to lead icers

James Jahnke
March 25, 2002

Northern Michigan head coach Rick Comley will be named MSU’s next hockey coach at a press conference today, the university announced Sunday night.“Rick Comley is a fierce competitor,” retiring MSU head coach Ron Mason said in a written statement.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartans have high hopes for tournament

James Jahnke
March 22, 2002

Junior goaltender Ryan Miller is trying to inject his fellow Spartans with his personal postseason motto - national championship or bust. “You want to win and you have the will to win and you express that and hold it as an ideal,” Miller said.

ICE HOCKEY

Tigers present classic rematch

James Jahnke
March 21, 2002

Senior defenseman Jon Insana remembers being overwhelmed during MSU’s game against Colorado College in the NCAA Tournament West Regional in Madison, Wis., on March 28, 1999. MSU was trailing the Tigers 3-2 late in the third period and, with less than two minutes separating the Spartans from a disappointing end to their season, emotions started to burst out. “I remember (former defenseman Brad) Hodgins on the bench, literally in tears,” said Insana, who was a freshman at the time.

ICE HOCKEY

Line changes provide spark, but no title

James Jahnke
March 19, 2002

MSU head coach Ron Mason tried just about every coaching ploy in his repertoire this weekend, but it still didn’t equate to a CCHA Tournament championship. Mason overhauled his forward lines right in the middle of MSU’s 2-1 win over Northern Michigan on Saturday and the Spartans’ 3-2 loss to archrival Michigan in Sunday’s title game. By the end of the Northern game, MSU’s top line had a 67 percent turnover, with senior right wing Adam Hall as the only constant.

ICE HOCKEY

Wolverines sweep CCHA honors

James Jahnke
March 18, 2002

Detroit - The Spartans headed for their Joe Louis Arena locker room just seconds before being subjected to an unwelcome sight - archrival Michigan hoisting the Mason Cup, which is named after MSU’s longtime head coach Ron Mason. The trophy signified U-M’s CCHA Tournament Championship, which it won Sunday with an impressive 3-2 victory over MSU in front of 16,452 fans.

ICE HOCKEY

No. 3 seed reflects icer loss

James Jahnke
March 18, 2002

Detroit - After Sunday’s 3-2 CCHA Tournament championship game loss to Michigan, an irritated MSU head coach Ron Mason said he didn’t want to talk about the NCAA Tournament. “We don’t know who we’re playing, and we don’t know where we’re going to be,” Mason said. Well, now the Spartans know both.

ICE HOCKEY

CCHA honors two Spartans

James Jahnke
March 15, 2002

Junior goaltender Ryan Miller is the CCHA Player of the Year for the second straight season - capturing the honor at the CCHA Awards Banquet on Thursday night at Fox Theatre in Detroit. The league’s 12 coaches dubbed the East Lansing native the CCHA’s premier player after posting conference-leading numbers in goals against average (1.64), saves percentage (.941) and shutouts (eight). He ranked second in league wins (18) and minutes played (1,684:58). Miller is the second person to win the award back-to-back, after Michigan’s Brendan Morrison did so in 1996-97.

ICE HOCKEY

Icers look for conference title in Detroit

James Jahnke
March 15, 2002

No. 2 seed MSU heads into the weekend knowing it needs two wins to claim its fourth CCHA Tournament title in five years. The Spartans (26-7-5) just don’t know who they’ll have to beat to win the Mason Cup, named after MSUhead coach Ron Mason. Six teams still are alive as the second weekend of the CCHA Tournament starts today - up from the usual four.

ICE HOCKEY

Miller misses award

James Jahnke
March 14, 2002

Junior goaltender Ryan Miller found out Tuesday he missed the cut for the 72nd annual Sullivan Award - the highest honor for an amateur athlete in the nation.Miller, who is widely regarded as the best collegiate goalie in the nation, was one of 14 semifinalists for the Amateur Athletic Union’s Sullivan Award, but he wasn’t included in the list of five finalists released this week.The five finalists are: Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan, former Southern Cal pitcher Mark Prior, world champion gymnast Sean Townsend, high school track star Alan Webb, and California swimmer Natalie Coughlin.

ICE HOCKEY

Junior lends talents to multiple positions for Spartans

James Jahnke
March 13, 2002

Utility players are a rarity in hockey.The capable-at-all-positions players are better known in baseball, where fielding principles from second base to left field are similar.Hockey generally doesn’t lend itself to position-hopping, partly because players are taught to station themselves on the ice for offensive attacking and defensive coverage based on their assigned position.But don’t tell MSU junior forward Troy Ferguson there’s no place for a jack-of-all-trades in hockey.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartans reap CCHA honors over break

James Jahnke
March 12, 2002

Plenty of Spartans were honored by the CCHA during spring break, including junior goaltender Ryan Miller and junior defenseman John-Michael Liles making the All-CCHA first team. Miller leads the CCHA with a 1.75 goals against average, .937 saves percentage, 25 wins and eight shutouts.

ICE HOCKEY

Enforcer Maloney out for season

James Jahnke
March 11, 2002

Brian Maloney is as tough as anyone on the Spartan hockey team.The junior left wing from Bassano, Alberta is MSU’s enforcer on the ice - methodically antagonizing the other team and administering bone-rattling body checks.

ICE HOCKEY

CCHA Tournament: MSU bests Bowling Green in overtime win

James Jahnke
March 8, 2002

Fifth-ranked MSU was pushed to its limit by Bowling Green on Friday night, but the Spartans stormed back for a gritty 4-3 overtime victory in front of 5,408 fans at Munn Ice Arena. Senior right wing Adam Hall notched the game-winner 4:57 into overtime, giving MSU a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three CCHA Tournament first-round series.