Paula C. Weston

As the Big Ten continues to evolve, the season continues to be interesting in unexpected ways. 1. First, two important sweeps — one probably more so than the other. Congratulations to Michigan State for its first sweep of an opponent in two seasons. The Spartans beat the visiting Lake Superior State Lakers, 4-3 and 6-0; … Read more

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Lake Superior State scored three goals in the third period but it wasn’t enough to overcome Michigan State’s four-goal lead as the Spartans beat the Lakers, 4-3, to open this nonconference series. “I thought we were really poor to start the game, really poor,” said Lake Superior State coach Damon Whitten. … Read more

For the Big Ten, the weekend begins Thursday with the series between Nebraska-Omaha and Notre Dame. Here’s how Drew Claussen and I are doing with the picks through the third week of October. Last week Drew: 9-5-0 (.778) Paula: 10-4-0 (.833) This season Drew: 18-13-3 (.574) Paula: 22-9-3 (.691) Both Drew and I were bitten … Read more

On two goals by Jake Slaker in the final five minutes of regulation, Michigan skated past Vermont, 3-2, to secure a home sweep of the Catamounts. With the Wolverines down 2-1 at 15:07, Slaker fired from the right circle and hit the glove of Vermont goaltender Stefanos Lekkas before the puck found the back of the … Read more

With Mitch Lewandowski’s first collegiate goal at 18:34 in the third period, Michigan State reclaimed a lead over Western Michigan and added an empty-netter for a 6-4 win. Six of the 10 total goals scored in the contest came within the first or last two minutes of each period, and for long stretches of this … Read more

There are two B1G schools hosting Thursday-Friday nonconference series and everyone plays this weekend. First, a look at how Drew Claussen and I are doing with our picks so far this season. Last week Drew: 4-3-3 (.550) Paula: 5-2-3 (.650) This season Drew: 9-8-3 (.525) Paula: 12-5-3 (.675) Poor Drew was bitten by that wrong-way … Read more

Before I get into the three big takeaways from this weekend of B1G hockey, congratulations to Danton Cole for his first win as Michigan State’s new head coach. The Spartans beat visiting Bowling Green, 3-2, Saturday night. It was good to see a game reminiscent of old-school CCHA play in nearly every way, and I’ll … Read more

It’s only mid-October and already there are games on the schedule that could have significant conference implications five months from now. Six of the league’s seven teams play this weekend, including a two-game Penn State-Minnesota series. First, though, a look at how Drew Claussen and I did last week with our first picks of the … Read more

And just like that, it’s a brand new season. While Drew Claussen and I were otherwise engaged in writing our Big Ten season preview last week, Wisconsin was busy beating Michigan Tech, 3-2. We’re not counting that game in our picks blog. Here’s how we finished the regular season last year: Drew: 82-50-15 (.609) Paula: … Read more

“I think it’s going to be a great hockey game if both teams play up to their capabilities,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said.