ICE HOCKEY
Icers look to finish 4-game series at Ohio State
It’s time to do it again. The setting shifts to Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, but the teams remain the same as No.
ICE HOCKEY
Enforcer commands respect
When Brian Maloney is on the ice, people take notice. And referees and opposing players have started to take extra notice. That’s because the 6-foot-1, 208-pound junior left wing has earned a reputation as one of the CCHA’s toughest enforcers. Maloney, 23, is the oldest and most-penalized player on the Spartans - the least-penalized team in the CCHA.
ICE HOCKEY
Peers praise Masons legacy
MSU head coach Ron Mason’s decision to leave the hockey program and become MSU athletics director surprised many of his colleagues across the nation. “We’re certainly going to miss him at a collegiate hockey level,” Boston College head coach Jerry York said.
ICE HOCKEY
Decision ripples through program
Ron Mason’s crossover from head hockey coach to athletics director will have profound implications for the world of Spartan hockey.
ICE HOCKEY
Replacement put on hold
Nobody really saw it coming, but now that hockey head coach Ron Mason has officially announced he’s 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.
ICE HOCKEY
Mason makes difficult decision
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 I’d be the right person for that position,’” Mason said.
ICE HOCKEY
Decision ripples through program
Ron Mason’s crossover from head hockey coach to athletics director will have profound implications for the world of Spartan hockey.
ICE HOCKEY
U wants Mason for A.D.
MSU hockey head coach Ron Mason will announce today that he’ll become the university’s 16th athletics director, ending a 23-year tenure at the helm of the hockey program.
ICE HOCKEY
Spartans sweep Buckeyes with strong weekend series
Overshadowed by the stunning announcement of head coach Ron Mason’s 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.
ICE HOCKEY
Mason leaves program in good shape
MSU’s 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 hadn’t 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.
ICE HOCKEY
BREAKING NEWS: Mason to be athletics director
MSU President M. Peter McPherson will recommend Spartan hockey head coach Ron Mason to become the university’s next athletics director at a Monday morning press conference. University officials made the announcement Saturday night while Mason’s team was playing Ohio State at Munn Ice Arena.
ICE HOCKEY
BREAKING NEWS: Mason by the numbers
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.
ICE HOCKEY
Icers prepare for Buckeyes
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.
ICE HOCKEY
Spartans move up in polls, play Buckeyes
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.
ICE HOCKEY
Bragging rights still unclaimed
Ann Arbor - Coming out of Saturday night’s 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 game’s 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. “It’s a great tie for Michigan State,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said.
ICE HOCKEY
Miller shines, despite weaker supporting cast
Ann Arbor - About 30 minutes after the book was closed on MSU’s 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 Miller’s comments dropped his tape recorder.
ICE HOCKEY
Miller in line for Sullivan
MSU junior goaltender Ryan Miller is a preliminary finalist for the 2001 James E. Sullivan Award, presented annually to the nation’s top amateur athlete by the Amateur Athletic Union.
ICE HOCKEY
Spartans, U-M ready for round two
The state’s 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.
ICE HOCKEY
Injury bug bites Spartans
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 doesn’t look quite as bad as it did at first.
ICE HOCKEY
Win gives icers sole ownership of CCHA
Big Rapids - Everything Chris Kunitz did Tuesday night, Adam Hall had an answer for. Kunitz, a Ferris State left wing and the CCHA’s 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.