Spartan hockey on an aircraft carrier?

By Sean Gagnier

They brought you the first outdoor hockey game, before the NHL's Heritage and Winter Classics and before it became a yearly event for college and professional teams alike. It was called the Cold War, held at Spartan Stadium between Michigan State and Michigan in 2001.

And current Athletic Director Mark Hollis has proven that he is anything but unimaginative having staged a basketball game between his school and North Carolina on the U.S.S. Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in San Diego, Cali., earlier this year. He has also been known to talk about the possibility of playing the University of Southern California Trojans in Greece.


So it should come as no surprise when Hollis says that the possibility of playing a hockey game on an aircraft carrier is there. He has said that he has been approached with the idea and with his hockey coach Tom Anastos having been the Commissioner of the CCHA who brought the Frozen Four to Detroit it seems that Hollis has leverage in his corner.

Anastos said that he would be in favor of dropping the puck on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

“I just think when you can create good, unique experiences for the student-athletes, it is definitely worth exploring," Anastos said.

The opportunity is there, it's only a matter of the Michigan State athletic department reaching out and seizing the opportunity and if Hollis has proven anything in his tenure - it's that he is willing to reach.

Spartans earn weekend split with Wolverines

By Sean Gagnier
 
Michigan State headed into the weekend looking to do battle with their in-state rivals and sweep the two game series. While a sweep wasn't attained the Spartans were able to gain a split against the Wolverines -  including a shootout victory at home.

In front of a sold-out crowd at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday the Spartans took home a shootout victory on the back of senior goalie Drew Palmisano.

Prior to his appointment as MSU head coach this season Tom Anastos served as the commissioner of the CCHA, instituting a controversial shootout rule in 2008. This rule would avoid tie games in games between CCHA opponents, something Anastos thought would entertain the crowds. 

On Saturday Michigan State benefited from the prior decision of their head coach, with the Spartans riding a hot Palmisano to a 4-3 overtime victory. The victory served as payback for a loss Friday night to the Wolverines at Yost Ice Arena.

"I was real proud of how hard our guys competed," said Anastos. "And you know, I was real happy for (Palmisano), in particular, shutting them down in the shootout.”

As was the case on Friday night, in Michigan's win over Michigan State, the scoreboard showed a closely contested game in which neither team seemed to gain the sustained upper hand on the other. The Wolverines held a 3-2 lead over the Spartans with a little under four minutes remaining in the game when MSU's Lee Reimer lit the lamp to tie the game at three apiece.

The two teams dueled in out during a five minute overtime session, without either being able to find the back of the net, leading to the deciding shootout. In the shootout Anastos chose to go with a lineup of Brett Perlini, Matt Berry and Greg Wolfe.

Perlini drove towards the net and Michigan goaltender Shawn Hunwick -  he missed on his attempt, but Palmisano was able to turn aside the Michigan attempt at the other end. Berry was able to deke around Hunwick to put the Spartans on the board while Palmisano kept Michigan off the board. In the final round of the shootout MSU's Greg Wolfe's shot was turned aside by Hunwick but Palmisano stoned Michigan's AJ Treais.

As Palmisano turned aside the final shot Munn Ice Arena exploded with the excited cheers of fans and the senior goaltender kicked the air before jumping against the glass in front of the MSU student section.

“The Michigan State-Michigan rivalry is the biggest in college hockey,” Palmisano said. “It always feels good to beat these guys at home.”

Michigan State will have a 16-day break over the holidays before heading back to East Lansing to get ready for the Great Lakes Invitational (Dec. 29-30 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit). Closing out the first half of the season the Spartans hold a 10-6-2 record while going 6-5-1-1 in CCHA games.  

The first half of the season could be considered to be a success for the Spartans as they were expected to finish in the basement of the CCHA and so far have defeated Minnesota, Western Michigan and Northern Michigan - teams all ranked in the top ten.

Spartans look to down Wolverines at Yost

By Sean Gagnier
 
After stumbling out of the gates this season the Spartans have caught their stride and haven't looked back, they have soared to No. 14 in the nation after going 8-1-1 over the past 10 games.

With the new regime of Tom Anastos in place Michigan State has adopted the montra, "100 percent, 100 percent of the time" and it has worked. After losing to Lake Superior State University earlier in the season, the Spartans have steadily climbed in the rankings and boast a 10-5-1 (6-4) record.

Although the Spartans sit in sixth place in the conference, they still have 18 conference games left to play and the upcoming home-and-home series with Michigan looms large.

The Wolverines have not maintained their power from last year, after winning the CCHA they currently sit in eighth place with a 8-8-2 (4-6) record, but any game between these two rivals tends to come down to the last period and tends to remain close.

Coach Anastos has preached that this game is more than just another on the schedule, saying there's something more to it than that.

"They say all games count the same," Anastos said. "True, but some games mean a little more."

The rivalry is strong with many of the players on the Spartans team, with captain Torey Krug saying that he lives for games like these against Michigan.

"You go to Michigan State to beat teams like Michigan,” Krug said. “You know, if you don’t have that hatred for Michigan, then I don’t think you’re a true Spartan. It’s just that confidence thing."

Over the past 11 years the two teams have played to an even 21-21-10 series record, while each game tends to be a tight battle. The two met in The Big Chill at the Big House and the Wolverines soundly beat the Spartans 5-0, but both teams broke even on the season with a 2-2 record.

The two teams are heading in different directions of late, with the Spartans having ripped off eight wins in their last ten games and the Wolverines having just one win since Nov. 5. Despite their trends, the two teams are close in their goals per game with Michigan State averaging 3.2 to Michigan's three.

Michigan State will head to Yost Ice Arena on Friday and hopes to continue their streak of late, the game will be televised on Fox Sports Detroit and Saturday's game between the two at Munn Ice Arena will be covered on Big Ten Network.