Paula C. Weston

What a weekend. 1. If you don’t like the CCHA standings, stick around for a week because they’re sure to change. At the end of the first half of the season, I was worried that the CCHA may fall into its old trap of becoming a two-tier league with a handful of teams huddled together … Read more

The theme for Michigan State’s 5-3 win over Penn State tonight? Toughness. After exchanging five goals within a 10-minute span in the middle of the second period, the Spartans and Nittany Lions were tied 3-3 heading into the final 20 minutes of their first-ever meeting. But the Spartans took advantage of a major penalty late … Read more

My second-half swoon is temporarily on hold. Last week: 8-5-0 (.615) Season to date: 85-61-23 (.571) Any week above .500 is a very good week for me, indeed. This week Everybody plays this week. There are five conference series and one Big Ten Hockey preview in East Lansing. All series are Friday-Saturday. Times are local. … Read more

It was an interesting weekend in the CCHA, one that resulted in two teams sharing the top spot. 1. Sweeping is hard to do, but sometimes you don’t need a broom to move ahead. Alaska, however, had no problem sweeping Notre Dame and thereby helping Western Michigan slide into a tie for No. 1 in … Read more

With goals by Cory Kane and Travis Ouellette and C.J. Motte’s 27 saves, Ferris State edged Michigan State 2-1. It was a faced-paced, back-and-forth game in which the Bulldogs had plenty of power-play opportunities, but could manage to solve MSU’s Jake Hildebrand the two times, both even strength. Hildebrand had 33 saves in the contest. … Read more

Now these are the kinds of picks that I make that everyone knows, loves, and mocks. Last week’s record includes the Tuesday night game between Notre Dame and Bowling Green Last week: 4-5-2 (.455) Season to date: 77-56-23 (.567) The Buckeyes and Bulldogs split … but neither won on the night I predicted. Of course. … Read more

Another Tuesday, another game. No. 5 Notre Dame at Bowling Green. The Irish lost to Minnesota in Minneapolis last Tuesday (Jan. 8) and split with Michigan State in East Lansing Friday and Saturday. The Falcons had the weekend off, having last played last Tuesday, a 5-1 road win over Michigan. The Irish are 7-1-0 versus … Read more

In an interesting weekend of conference competition in the CCHA, everyone played except for Bowling Green. Here’s what we learned. 1. It was tough to score, even for the top teams in the league. On Friday night, six of the 10 teams playing were held to one goal or fewer; in Saturday’s action, four teams … Read more

When the final buzzer sounded in this 4-1 Alaska win over Michigan, the Nanooks had recorded program history. With two goals each from forwards Cody Kunyk and Adam Henderson and 30 saves from John Keeney, the Nanooks beat the Wolverines for the second night in a row – for the first time. Ever. “John Keeney … Read more

At the end of this 1-0 Notre Dame win, there was a simple consensus: Michigan State was on the short end of a stick that wasn’t that long to begin with. “I thought we competed hard,” said Fighting Irish coach Jeff Jackson. “Michigan State’s a tough team. They play hard. They compete hard and they … Read more

Talk about rock bottom. Tuesday: 0-2 (.000) Season to date: 73-51-21 (.576) Oy. This week There are five conference series this weekend. Bowling Green is idle. All series are Friday-Saturday and everything is Eastern Standard Time. Alaska at Michigan. The Nanooks have been off for a month and the Wolverines probably wish they’d been. Alaska’s … Read more