St. Louis — Justin Abdelkader wasn't even born when Mike Donnelly scored the game-winning goal in the 1986 NCAA championship game to earn the crown for the Spartans, but the sophomore forward will take his place in the hockey history books alongside him. Abdelkader, like Donnelly, scored the game-winning goal to give MSU the national title.
St. Louis — Jeff Lerg gave the Spartans a chance to win the game. Early in the third period, he denied forward Brian Boyle on a two-on-one rush with a glove save that could have given Boston College a 2-0 lead. That save was ranked the fourth best play of the night on SportsCenter and was arguably the turning point in the game. "Coach Newton said on the bench after he made that save, he's like, 'We're going to score two goals and win it.
St. Louis — MSU head coach Rick Comley has been picked apart by the media, fans and the public ever since he was named Ron Mason's successor in 2002. He has dealt with two seasons in which the team failed to meet lofty preseason expectations, ultimately falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid. But with Saturday's 3-1 victory over Boston College to give MSU its third national championship in program history, Comley has met those lofty expectations, silencing the critics in the process. "I want to publicly thank Ron Mason," Comley said of MSU's athletic director.
State News sports editor Eric Fish kept a running blog of his journey this past weekend with hockey reporter Zack Colman and photographer Mike Itchue at the Frozen Four in St.
St. Louis — Boston College registered 13 shots in the first period in Saturday night's national championship game.
St. Louis — Still in his hockey gear, senior captain Chris Lawrence leaned his right hand against a locker room wall.
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.
Other than "What the #$&% is up with this weather?" the question I've been hearing most often lately is, "Would Tom Izzo really leave MSU for Kentucky?" As hypotheticals go, that's a pretty heavy one — it's as unsettling a thought to MSU fans as "Would the pope convert to Judaism?" is to Catholics.
Craig Brookes' statistical profile is the kind of thing that keeps opposing hitters awake at night. He leads the Big Ten with a paper-thin 1.29 ERA.
The MSU softball team hosts Ohio State at 4 p.m. today in hopes of earning its first conference win.
Head coach Mark Dantonio didn't have a real hands-on experience with his team during the squad's first scrimmage Saturday. Instead of coaching like it was a practice, the coaching staff stepped back and ran the scrimmage like a real game, with coaches manning the press box and plays being sent in via hand signals. "We got some good work in," Dantonio said Tuesday.
Twenty-eight sacks. Think about that for a second. Twenty-eight sacks. In 11 games. The MSU football team had a long list of problems in 2006, but no group was more disappointing than the offensive line.
St. Louis — Resilient. It's the word MSU head coach Rick Comley has used again and again this season to describe his team. The Spartans continued to define the term Thursday in the Frozen Four national semifinal game when they found themselves down 2-0 to Maine less than four minutes into the game.
The last time an MSU gymnast was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, the president of the United States was George HW Bush and "The Little Mermaid" was playing in theaters. Eighteen years later, George HW Bush's son is the president and the films like "300" are in theaters.
Hockey reporter Zack Colman and sports editor Eric Fish predict how the Spartans will fare in the Frozen Four. North Dakota vs.
Jeff Lerg got up at 6 a.m. for a month straight after Maine eliminated MSU in last year's East Regional final.
Boston College: The Eagles are the hottest team in college hockey right now as winners of 12 straight games.
Maine's offense vs. MSU's defense Although Maine is ranked 12th in the nation with 3.36 goals per game, the ranking is misleading.
The State News recently caught up with former MSU All-American and current Colorado Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles.
I've got a terrible secret. I've never had a favorite team. With the exception of rooting on the Spartans (which comes by default), I have no partisan in the world of sports. This was never a problem in football and basketball.