Sports: The Iceman Comley
The Spartan icers finish strong as they adjust to new coach Rick Comley’s uptempo style.
Rick Comley’s inaugural coaching season was a tale of two halves as the Spartans stumbled at first, then surged to a formidable 23-14-3 finish.
From 10th-place in the CCHA in January, MSU clawed up to fourth by season’s end, earning home ice in the CCHA first-round playoffs. MSU’s young skaters, led by two senior defensemen, easily advanced to the CCHA’s Super Six, losing in the quarter finals to Northern Michigan.
In its first 18 games, the skaters posted a dismal 8-9-1 record including five losses by five or more goals. Within this early funk some flashes of brilliance emerged. Before a 7-1 thumping by Lake Superior State, the league’s worst team, for example, MSU beat CCHA leader Ferris State 6-2. Senior captain Brad Fast helped guide his teammates through the rough time with his leadership and fine play, notching eight goals.
MSU’s woeful start turned out to be an aberration. After the 7-1 drubbing by LSSU, the Spartans reeled off six straight wins, their longest winning streak of the year. In a 10-game span from Jan. 4-Feb. 8, MSU posted a 9-1-1 record, catapulting itself from 10th to fourth in a month’s time.
The turnaround was fueled by a stingy defense led by All-America candidates Fast and John-Michael Liles, and a rejuvenated offense headed by senior Brian Maloney and Liles. During the stretch, Maloney netted seven goals, while Liles posted 17 points (6-11-17).
Adding to the potency of the Spartan offensive attack was freshman David Booth and sophomore Jim Slater. Booth flourished throughout the 10-game span, tallying a hat trick against Alaska Fairbanks and netting two markers in a contest with Nebraska-Omaha. Slater was the ultimate playmaker, assisting on 14 goals and producing a career-best five points (1-4-5) against Nebraska-Omaha. Sophomore netminder Matt Migliaccio improved his goals-against average to 2.10.
MSU headed into a home-and-home series vs. rival Michigan with a 17-10-2 slate. After losing a 3-1 decision at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor, the Spartans returned home to Munn desperate for a victory. Led by Liles, a Hobey Baker Finalist, MSU posted a 5-3 victory over its fiercest rival. Liles delivered at the most crucial times scoring twice, including a marker he slipped past Michigan’s netminder as he was being dragged to the ice by a defender.
After splitting a weekend series with Northern Michigan, the Spartans squared off again with Michigan. MSU dominated every facet of the game en route to a 4-0 victory in the first game of the weekend series. Migliaccio was spectacular in net turning away 37 shots and silencing an otherwise raucous Yost Arena crowd. Several underclassmen stepped up in the win as they accounted for three of the team’s four goals. Sophomores Lee Falardeau and Mike Lalonde each had a goal, while freshman Corey Potter also added a marker in the win.
MSU lost a 5-4 decision vs. Michigan at Joe Louis arena the following night, but finished the season with a flurry winning four straight, including a first-round playoff sweep vs. Alaska Fairbanks. The Spartans stopped a very hot Alaska Fairbanks team dead in its tracks. The Green and White laid siege to UAF netminders in the first game of the series, scoring a season-high 11 goals in the 11-1 thrashing. In game two, MSU completed the sweep behind the marvelous play of Migliaccio, as he stopped 36 of the 37 shots he faced and made several highlight-reel saves.
MSU’s season-ending surge gives promise to next season, when the icers will have had a full year to get used to the Comley system.