(Sorry, forgot the other ")" up there.)
 
Anyway, as many of you may recall, while I did not specifically state it, the
family (all two of us) headed to BG for Saturday's MSU-BG game.  The trip down
was fairly uneventful, except for the three accidents on I-475 in Toledo (which
began to make me wonder whether Ohioans don't do any better in the snow than
Michiganians do).
 
We arrived in BG at roughly 4:00pm and after making sure that the Ice Arena was
where everybody told me it was, we headed into downtown BG for a bite to eat,
ending up at the EasyStreet Cafe (good food, BTW), all the time getting sus-
picious looks from everyone else in the restaurant since we were glad in Green
and White.
 
Upon heading out to the Ice Arena at around 6:00, we did notice the huge crowd
all jammed into the vestibule on the West side of the arena (I think it was
the West, the sun was down and I didn't bring a compass).  They weren't going
to let people in until 6:30, but enough complaints about the people behind us
holding the doors to the vestibule open, FOR NO DAMN REASON, made them decide
to let us in early.
 
(A little sidebar here:  Bg fans, could you kindly ask the arena to ditch that
general admission crap?  I'm sorry, but that policy really bites.)
 
Anyway, to the game.  Since I was sitting in Section H, I will only comment on
goals which I had a fairly decent vantage point on.
 
BG took a 1-0 lead on a faceoff goal from Punchard.  Holzinger was able to
draw the puck back to Punchard, who beat Buzak in the 5 hole (I don't think
Mike saw it until the last minute).  The Spartans came back to tie it and take
a 2-1 lead until BG tied it late in the first.
 
The second period saw one of the nicest goals I've seen in a while.  Taylor
Clarke, on a superb individual effort, was able to fight off two Falcons and
lift the puck over Will Clarke's shoulder, giving the Spartans a 3-2 lead.
BG tied it later in the second on what ended up being a good play gone bad for
MSU.  Ackerman's shot at the point was blocked by Clarke, but the puck deflectedright back to Ackerman, who put it on net.  Vanstaalduinen was not able to clearone of the Falcons from in front of the Spartan net, and, as a result, I don't
think Buzak ever saw it.  The period ended 3-3 with the Spartans having a 1-man
advantage.
 
At this point, neither team had looked good on the power play.  BG's PP was
virtually non-existent near the end of the first period, as I believe they were
held without a shot on the last two PP's of the period.  MSU had fared no
better, as the Spartan power play has been struggling of late.
 
Meanwhile, some of the geniuses behind me (and I use that term VERY loosely)
were complaining that 2 of MSU's goals were flukes, and that Buzak wasn't makingthat many good saves since the Falcons were shooting from 50 feet.  One Einsteinkept calling us Michigan, since in his opinion, BG fans treat them the same
anyway (which almost tempted me to yell back that it was nice to be down here
playing Toledo, but I held myself back).  Anyway, none of them complained about
fluke goals in the third, when all three BG goals were flukes.
 
As I stated above, the Spartans began the third on the power play.  Mishandling
of the puck at the point (by Suk or Smith, I don't remember which) led to a
2-on-1 BG break.  Johnson ended up getting the puck below the left faceoff
circle and put a shot on net when he was maybe 5 feet from the goal line.  As
Buzak slid back to the post, he actually lifted the net up, and the puck either
went between his body and his arm or his arm and the post, since he had opened
up a space.  The Falcons now had a 4-3 lead.
 
From my vantage point, Petterle seemd to bury his whistle for most of the third
while BG did their best Lake Superior imitation.  Carter's third penalty may
have been more frustation at Petterle for not calling anything than at Eldred
for holding him down on the ice for 10 seconds.
 
BG added a PP goal with about 5 minutes left in the third on another fluke.
Ackerman's shot from the point deflected in front off of Gaskins' stick (sorry,
Bob) and over Buzak's shoulder to give BG a 5-3 lead.  Originally, when I saw
the puck go in, I thought that one of the Falcons in front of the net had
tipped it in.  But when Ackerman was announced as the goal scorer, I figured
it deflected in off of a Spartan.  Only on seeing the replay the next day did
I find out it was Gaskins.
 
Carter's penalty followed the goal, after Eldred had held him down and after
Eldred had taken a shot at Vanstaalduinen while Bart did not have the puck.  The"check" was more of a bump, which Eldred did a good job of falling down on.
The Falcons scored on the ensuing power play when a shot from the point which
went wide of the net came right back on goal and Buzak misplayed it (it seems
like I've seen that happen before).  The Spartans added a rather meaningless
goal on a 5-on-3 to make it 6-4.  With the Spartans still having a one-man
advantage, Mason elected not to pull Buzak, which drew complaints from the
Einsteins behind me that Mason was a bad coach because he'd rather lose by 2
than have a chance to win (which may also explain why Ron has 716 more wins
than the BG fans do).
 
(Don't read into this that I don't think BG deserved to win.  Either team could
have won this game, but the luck of the puck, as happens more often than not in
hockey, seemed to go BG's way.  The Spartans put in a much better performance
than they did in their last trip to BG.)
 
Anyway, near the end, many were saying it would be a long trip back to Lansing.
(Like it never is a long trip after losing a close one on the road.)  However,
this turned out to be literally correct more than figuratively correct.  It
took FOREVER.  We left BG at 10pm and did not make it back to Lansing until
1:10.  The roads were absolutely horrendous.  On roads were the speed limit
was 65, I was going anywhere between 50 and 55 and lapping people like they
were standing still.  (BTW, we drive a 1991 Mercury Tracer SW, which isn't
exactly one of the more powerful machines on the road.)  The worst spots were
right around Ann Arbor and I-96 from Brighton to Lansing (fortunately, part of
that road is 3 lanes).  Lane markers meant nothing; you just followed the tire
tracks of the cars in front of you.  I just hope the weather's better for the
next road trip, Saturday to Kalamazoo to play WMU.  (Anybody know any good
restaurants down there?)
 
G. M. Finniss
Michigan State University 11-3-2, 16-6-2
WVU '87, UTenn '92, MSU (in first place in the Baker's Ten after the 73-71 win
in Ann Arbor over Michigan on Sunday) who the hell knows when?