On March 3, 1993 Shawn Walsh, head hockey coach at the University of Maine, looked on from the bench as his Black Bears skated to their first ever national title.
Under the trappings and new gimmicks of a newly renovated Munn Ice Arena, MSU Hockey picked up right where they left off last season by defeating Western Ontario 2-1 Sunday evening. It didn’t take long for the Spartans to break the ice on the fresh season as freshmen center Cody Milan gave the Spartans an early lead just two minutes into the opening period.
If there’s any green paint left over from the “green line” experiment at Munn Ice Arena, MSU Hockey might just want to use it to scrawl “NCAA Tourney or Bust” on the walls of the locker room. That was the sentiment from many of the players during MSU Hockey Media Day Wednesday at Munn Ice Arena.
MSU Hockey already knows its talent depth but now two of the team's top returners have garnered some early conference recognition. The Big Ten Conference today released its 12 member deep Preseason Players to Watch List, and two Spartans grace this year’s list.
On a Friday morning two days before official move in for freshmen, a group of alumni gathered in a familiar spot on MSU's campus.
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman and former MSU hockey player Duncan Keith has won the Conn Smythe trophy as the MVP of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Keith scored a goal in Monday's series clinching 2-0 victory as the Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4 games to 2 in the best of seven series in the Stanley Cup Finals.
MSU Hockey head coach Tom Anastos announced on May 29 that defenseman Josh Jacobs would not be returning for the 2015-2016 season, instead choosing to pursue professional interests elsewhere.
Just one week after Providence won the NCAA championship, MSU hockey head coach took some time to look back on the Spartans season.
All-American junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand has saved himself a spot in MSU history.
Of the five MSU hockey seniors this year, nearly all of them are moving on to the next level.
One of the biggest reasons for MSU hockey’s late-season success was its ability to find contributions from different players every week.
It was almost the story of two seasons for MSU hockey, or even the story of two years.
While MSU hockey (17-16-2, 11-7-2 Big Ten) didn’t accomplish all of its goals this season, it was still a step in the right direction.
It was hard to put into words.
“We think that we can kind of see the corner,” head coach Tom Anastos said.
Teams from across the country competed for the title, but MSU came out on top. After an intense competition, the MSU Division 3 Hockey Club won the 2014-15 ACHA National Championship game in Pelham, Alabama on March 14. The tournament had the Spartans facing off against the University of Alabama (4-4), Colorado State University (5-3), Pitts-Johnstown University (2-9) and Bryn Athyn College (7-6 OT) for the semi-finals.
MSU hockey's junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand was named the Big Ten Player of the Year on Monday.
When MSU hockey (17-15-2 overall , 11-7-2 Big Ten ) laid out its goals at the beginning of the year, some might have thought they were a little arbitrary.
Stakes could not have been much higher Friday night at Munn Ice Arena.
Not since the first week of the Big Ten season has MSU hockey (16-14-2, 10-6-2-2 Big Ten) laid claim to first place, but 15 weeks later it can do exactly that.