Tim Hearon is ready to close the book on his hockey career - one year earlier than most people expected.The versatile junior forward from Southgate decided last month to skip his senior season, choosing instead to take his finance degree into the real world.
Kris Koski's senior season has been filled with uncertainty.Sometimes he plays forward in practice, sometimes he plays defense.
The Nanooks are coming to town.After sweeping Western Michigan this weekend to close out the regular season, the MSU hockey team earned a first-round CCHA Tournament matchup with ninth-place Alaska-Fairbanks starting Friday at Munn Ice Arena.It's been quite a turnaround for the Spartans (21-13-2 overall, 17-10-1 CCHA), who bottomed out at 10th place in the league in early January.
Kalamazoo - The MSU hockey team is 2-for-2 in terms of spoiling opponents' senior nights this season.A week after the Spartans pounded Michigan 4-0 on its senior night, MSU sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio shut out Western Michigan by the same score in the Broncos' last game of the season at Lawson Arena.The Spartans (20-13-2 overall, 16-10-1 CCHA) used three first period goals to dispose of the Broncos (15-18-2, 13-13-1) on Friday.
The MSU hockey team's seven departing players played well on Senior Night, but a pair of sophomores upstaged all of them in the Spartans' regular-season finale. Second-year center Jim Slater, who has been battling a shoulder injury, scored a goal in each period for his first career hat trick Saturday night at Munn Ice Arena.
Two things are on the Spartans' minds as they wrap up their regular season against Western Michigan this weekend - to get on a roll heading into the playoffs and to honor their seven departing teammates.MSU (19-13-2 overall, 15-10-1 CCHA) and the Broncos (15-17-2, 13-12-1) play Friday at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo and Saturday at Munn Ice Arena.
Detroit - When the MSU hockey team smacked No. 8 Michigan 4-0 on Friday night, almost every bounce of the puck went its way. But the Spartans'puck luck ran out in Saturday's rematch at Joe Louis Arena. U-M head coach Red Berenson notched his 500th career win with a 5-4 victory infront of 20,058 fans. "You know me, it's not a big thing until it's all over," Berenson said of his milestone mark.
Ann Arbor - Nothing could go wrong for the MSU hockey team Friday night at Yost Ice Arena. In thumping archrival No.
Here we go again. Just two weeks after archrivals MSU and No. 8 Michigan split a hard-fought, home-and-home hockey series, they'll bump heads two more times this weekend - tonight in Ann Arbor and Saturday in Detroit.
Michigan left wing Jeff Tambellini played so well against MSU two weeks ago that, when asked to describe the dynamic freshman, Spartan head coach Rick Comley said he didn't have a big enough adjective to do the job. One suggestion would be "dominating," considering Tambellini scored four of U-M's six goals against the Spartans that weekend.
MSU head coach Rick Comley's second go-around with Northern Michigan still felt weird. However, it wasn't quite as strange as his first encounter with the team he coached for 26 seasons before coming to East Lansing this year. This weekend, Comley and his family reacquainted themselves with several old friends from Northern who traveled to MSU for the teams' two-game series. Of course, he saw many of the same people when the Spartans traveled to Marquette for a series in October.
It's OK by Lee Falardeau if no one ever confuses him with Jaromir Jagr or a similarly skilled, speedy hockey player.The 6-foot-4, 211-pound sophomore center knows his role on the MSU hockey team extends beyond racking up goals and assists.There's defense to be played.
Rick Comley doesn't claim to be a soothsayer, but he made a prediction Saturday night: The MSU hockey team is in big trouble. After the Spartans dropped a lackluster 4-2 decision to Northern Michigan on Saturday, the MSU head coach said he doubts his team can still get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. "I couldn't imagine (getting in) now unless we win the CCHA Tournament," Comley said.
By six days, "The Simpsons" beat Munn Ice Arena to No. 300. Fox's famous animated sitcom aired its 300th episode Sunday.
The MSU hockey team was good, bad and then good again Friday night at Munn Ice Arena. In the end, it added up to a 7-4 win over Northern Michigan.
As the MSU hockey team traipses toward the postseason, sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio is showing signs of resiliency that were missing at times earlier this year. Twice during this weekend's series with archrival Michigan, Migliaccio found himself in trying situations.
Near the end of any sport's season, fans and analysts usually look at where teams would be in the playoffs "if the season ended today."Well, if that were the case, the MSU hockey team would be fine in the CCHA Tournament.
Corey Potter's first goal since Oct. 24 had all the makings of an insurance tally. The freshman defenseman's slap shot from the right point gave MSU a 4-1 lead over archrival Michigan with 11:33 to play Saturday night at Munn Ice Arena.
Traditionally, the Michigan hockey team is comprised of fast, skilled players, while the Spartans have a bunch of big, tough grinders. For the most part, that's true.
Better luck, an edge in puck possession and a lively home crowd buoyed the MSU hockey team to a 5-3 victory over archrival No.