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Sports | Ice Hockey

ICE HOCKEY

Icers start strong

After just starting full practices Saturday, MSU hockey coach Rick Comley said he saw what he expected to see during the Spartans’ annual Green and White intrasquad scrimmage Sunday inside a sweltering Munn Ice Arena.

ICE HOCKEY

Comley eager to begin year, defend title

Coming off the program’s first national title in 21 years, MSU head coach Rick Comley said he’s more driven now than he’s ever been. “That’s the feeling I have sitting here, right now,” Comley said Tuesday at MSU Media Day. “These are golden years for me … it’s such a great school and a great program, there’s so much pride taken from winning a national championship, I’m just hungry to do it again.”

ICE HOCKEY

Jeff Lerg named Player of the Month

Sophomore goaltender Jeff Lerg was named CSTV: College Sports Television/Hockey Commissioners' Association National Division I Player of the Month on Monday for March and April for his performance in the postseason. Lerg posted a .919 save percentage and a 2.24 goals-against average in those two months.

ICE HOCKEY

Bright future in store for MSU

The MSU hockey team has barely had time to appreciate this year's national championship, but it's already looking ahead. With five seniors graduating, including captain Chris Lawrence, the Spartans will lose valuable leadership and character players.

ICE HOCKEY

NHL playoffs fun for all

State News sports reporter and hockey fanatic Matt Bishop talks about the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs, which kicked off Wednesday with four games. Question: So, opening thoughts on this year's playoffs? Answer: I am like a kid in a candy store right now.

ICE HOCKEY

Coach's title dreams fulfilled

MSU head coach Rick Comley walks around the concourse on occasion at an empty Munn Ice Arena, desiring to be a part of the rich history that former coaches Amo Bessone and Ron Mason built. His attention focuses on the concourse walls.

ICE HOCKEY

Icers receive praise from distant source

Following the Spartans' 3-1 national championship-clinching win Saturday night over Boston College, junior defenseman Daniel Vukovic's voice mail in-box was completely full. The most important message was from his brother Nick who was watching the game on DirecTV from his home in Australia with friends. "He moved over there, I think two years ago, and I haven't seen my brother for the two years," Vukovic said Monday.

ICE HOCKEY

MSU receives fan support from families, league commissioner

St. Louis — Ralph and Joanne Gentile weren't able to travel to the Czech Republic when their son Brandon, now a sophomore defenseman on the MSU hockey team, was playing in the biggest event of his pre-college career. As a member of the United States National Team Development Program out of Ann Arbor, Gentile and Team USA won a gold medal at the 2005 International Ice Hockey Federation's World Under-18 Championships in the Czech Republic. Mom and Dad were unable to attend. "I had been overseas, and they unfortunately couldn't make it," Brandon Gentile said. But that just made his parents' trip to St.