With the lack of offensive production this season for the MSU hockey team, head coach Rick Comley said it’s going to be vital to bring players to MSU who bring offensive power and physical strength to the table.
When the puck isn’t bouncing your way, it’s easy to get bummed out. And that’s exactly what is happening to the MSU hockey team as it still struggles to find a good bounce or two to lift its spirits.
The No. 17 MSU hockey team has endured two eerily similar weekends in a row. Saturday night’s 3-1 loss to No. 10 Miami (Ohio) was the second straight weekend the Spartans were swept by a clustermate opponent they will face two more times before the end of the season. But the final result wasn’t the only strange similarity of the two losing weekends against two Ohio-based teams.
The No. 17 MSU hockey team got on the board first but allowed five unanswered goals in Friday’s 5-1 loss to No. 10 Miami (Ohio) at Munn Ice Arena.
The No. 17 MSU hockey team was only able to record one goal this weekend at Ohio State. Ironically, the last time the Spartans tallied only one goal in a weekend came against Ohio State five years ago.
Columbus — For the first time in six years, the No. 11 MSU hockey team was swept at Ohio State. Saturday’s 3-1 loss and Friday’s 3-0 loss combined for the first two conference defeats the Spartans have received all season.
Columbus — All four goals in Saturday night’s game between the MSU hockey team and Ohio State came in the third period.
Columbus — Coming into Friday’s game against Ohio State, the MSU hockey team’s opponents were averaging 29.4 shots a game.
Freshman forward Daultan Leveille has been named the CCHA Rookie of the Month. Leveille is leading the No. 11 Spartans hockey team in goals (3) and points (5) — including two game-winning goals in the past three games.
MSU head coach Rick Comley worries about his team’s offensive production. The Spartans (4-2-2 overall, 2-0-2-2 CCHA) are averaging 1.9 goals a game and only have been able to score 15 goals in their first eight games. With seven of his team’s next nine games on the road, Comley is well aware that the Spartans are going to have to find a way to put the puck in the net.
Four MSU athletes were named Big Ten players of the week for their efforts last week.
Kalamazoo — Freshman forward Trevor Nill didn’t even see his first collegiate goal squeak into the net.
Kalamazoo — For the second straight weekend, the No. 11 Spartans found a way to earn four points.
In the Halloween matchup between No. 11 MSU and Western Michigan, the Spartans didn’t fall for many tricks and instead earned a handful of treats.
Heading into this weekend’s home-and-home series against Western Michigan, senior goaltender Jeff Lerg is only 10 saves away from setting the all-time MSU saves record. The captain between the pipes is trying to pass Dave Versical’s (1975-78) record of 3,108 career saves.
The horn sounded throughout the latter half of Saturday night’s MSU hockey game at Munn Ice Arena, but it wasn’t the horn to signify a goal being scored — it was the horn to signify a fire. Thankfully Munn didn’t go up in smoke, and despite a few stoppages, the errant false alarm didn’t disrupt the No. 12 Spartans’ performance as they won Saturday’s game 2-0 and took 3-of-4 points during the weekend series against No. 18 Northern Michigan.
In the MSU hockey team’s first conference game the Spartans got a taste of the CCHA’s brand new shootout rule.
Sophomore MSU hockey defenseman A.J. Sturges was released from Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital on Tuesday after a weekend fight left him with injuries.
Last season, one-third of the MSU hockey team’s losses came against Northern Michigan. Four of the icers’ 12 defeats came at the hands of the Wildcats, including back-to-back losses to eliminate the Spartans from the CCHA Tournament.
A fight involving MSU athletes at an off-campus house where several hockey players live sent one MSU athlete to the hospital Sunday morning. East Lansing police Lt. Kevin Daley said “three, possibly four victims” suffered injuries during a fight involving “multiple” suspects at about 1 a.m. Sunday outside 130 Center St., which is located on a side street near Michigan and Harrison avenues.