Paula C. WestonFor a team that has averaged just over two goals per game in its last 11 outings, a hat trick and a power-play goal by stay-at-home defenseman were welcome gifts. Corey Tropp scored three in a row from the end of the second through the middle of the third to propel the Michigan State Spartans … Read more
Baby, It’s Cold Outside For the months of October and November and for the first few weeks of December this year, Flint resembled Columbus in climate. As much as I wanted to leave Ohio for Michigan — nothing personal, Buckeye State — I knew one week into November 2008 that I had been spoiled by … Read more
I Had That Feeling of Self-Pity I can’t take this anymore. Three correct picks two weeks ago. Four last week. I picked Michigan State to sweep in the College Hockey Showcase. I picked Ohio State to be swept in North Dakota. At least I picked Michigan to split. Is it too much to ask for … Read more
After scoring their first goal in over 108 minutes of hockey and keeping the Spartans at bay for another 26 minutes, the Minnesota Golden Gophers found themselves having to respond quickly to salvage their College Hockey Showcase weekend. Fortunately for Minnesota, Mike Carman stayed put at the end of a shift change late in the … Read more
In their first test against a ranked opponent this season, the Wisconsin Badgers issued a definitive statement. With two first period goals from defenseman Brendan Smith and three from the line of Jordy Murray, Derek Stepan and Michael Davies, the No. 15 Badgers cruised to a 7-3 win over the eighth ranked Michigan State Spartans … Read more
Thankful? You Betcha! As Wisconsin and Minnesota will be visiting the Wolverine State this week, that opening seems entirely appropriate. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! The holiday shortens the week, which shortens the column, so it seems the perfect time to take a look back on the early going this season and express gratitude for some of … Read more
Brave New World Until 350 BC, everyone in Western culture who thought about such things knew that Earth was flat. Until 1543, everyone in Western culture who thought about such things knew that Earth was the center of the universe, and everything orbited around it. Until 1932, everyone who was anyone knew that there could … Read more
A perfect game is one thing, but a perfect game against an archrival is nearly indescribable. After he stopped all 31 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season, a 2-0 win over Michigan, Spartans’ goaltender Drew Palmisano said that the weekend “was definitely up there” among the best of his career. “For … Read more
In a game that could have been decided by high drama and emotion, it was instead the mundane that did the trick. Three Wolverine mistakes combined with heads-up Spartan play led to a 3-2 Michigan State victory over Michigan, propelling the Spartans into a tie for first place in the CCHA standings. Andrew Rowe recovered … Read more
Old Business Last week, I registered my discontent with the issues surrounding the Oct. 30 shootout in Omaha, when Bowling Green was awarded the extra shootout point despite an ineligible player scoring the deciding shootout goal. To refresh the memories of those unfamiliar with the case, BGSU freshman Jordan Samuels-Thomas was the only one to … Read more
After Michigan State captain Nick Sucharski forced overtime with his third period power-play goal and the Spartans battled through an early penalty in OT to maintain a tie after 65 minutes, Nebraska-Omaha had the last say in a game that ended 3-3 with Terry Broadhurst scoring the second UNO shootout goal to give the Mavericks … Read more
He Shoots! He Scores! He Shouldn’t Have! There’s only one thing more exciting than a shootout, and that’s a shootout that helps to illustrate the idiocy of the shootout. When the game between Bowling Green and Nebraska-Omaha remained tied at the end of a five-minute overtime Friday, Oct. 30, a shootout ensued — as is … Read more
For the Western Michigan Broncos, one more tick of the clock would have sent this game to overtime, giving WMU a chance at a fifth straight win to open the 2009-10 season, equaling the best start in Broncos’ hockey history. “I wish we had an extra split second,” said WMU head coach Jim Culhane following … Read more
Scary Good The start of every new season is nothing but sweet potential, a potent elixir of hope and talent that has yet to sour into a reality as cold and hard — and sometimes as lingering — as an Alaskan winter. The first month of hockey is perfect, no matter what your team’s record. … Read more
Youth in a Young Season This season is a scant two full weeks old, and already some interesting tidbits — too early to call them patterns — have emerged. Last season, the CCHA seemed to have had a particularly promising freshman class. Notre Dame’s Billy Maday, Michigan’s David Wohlberg, Ohio State’s Ian Boots and Zac … Read more
Beginnings, Auspicious and Otherwise Not with a bang, but with a whimper. Or, maybe, a tiny yelp. Not very loud. A smallish hooray. It was the proverbial mixed bag in the opening weekend for the CCHA, with clear-cut winners, out-and-out losers, and teams that were somewhere in the middle. Congratulations to the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, this … Read more
With strong play from special teams and a 33-save performance from senior Bobby Jarosz, the Michigan State Spartans did something they hadn’t done since the end of the 2007-08 season: they swept a single opponent in a two-game set. Four different Spartans tallied, twice on the power play, to give MSU a 4-2 win over … Read more
If you love Spartan hockey, here are three words for you to embrace for the upcoming season: bigger, stronger, older. Last year’s tender young Michigan State team, picked third by the media and fifth by the coaches in the 2008-09 preseason CCHA polls, finished tied for 10th place with Lake Superior State at the end … Read more
Can the Bowling Green Falcons finally take a breath? And will the revolving door of assistants finally stop spinning? After rumors about the potential demise of the BGSU program were leaked to the press earlier this year — former head coach Scott Paluch heard about them as he was walking into Nationwide Arena in Columbus … Read more
For years, college hockey fans have been hoping that Dean Blais would return to the game we love, to the game we know he loves, and we CCHA fans are the lucky ones to welcome him back. “My best time of the day is spending that half-hour on the ice in practice,” Blais said at … Read more