The second-place Spartans make their second trip in a month to Ohio (isn't theresome sort of law against that? :-)) to face Bowling Green and Ohio State this
weekend in an attempt to hold their position and improve their chances at an
NC$$ bid.  The Spartans enter the weekend ranked #6 in both the College Hockey
USA and WMEB polls (and much more importantly, the Hockey-L poll).  The BG
game will mark the end of the first of two stretrches against the other top
teams in the CCHA.  So far the Spartans are 2-1 in this stretch with wins over
BG at home and Michigan on the road.  (The second stretch comes in mid-February
with two games at the Soo and one at the Joe vs. UM.)
 
The Spartans enter the weekend with no major injuries and a five-day rest after
splitting the weekend series with Michigan.  This should give MSU a slight ad-
vantage on BG, who is coming off a disappointing loss at Ann Arbor on Tuesday.
The Spartans will also follow-up the Wolverines in going to Columbus on Saturdayfor the second time in 1994, where they won 7-3 on 7 January.  (Actually, we're
quite content at the moment to have UM soften a few people up for us. :-))
 
Except for the 6-3 win at Michigan last Friday, the Spartan offense appears to
have fallen in to their third slump of the year.  Saturday's game against UM
saw the Spartans held scoreless for the last 53 minutes, due primarily to their
inability to finish off the play and, near the end, even to penetrate the
Michigan defensive zone.  Considering that the other two Falcon-Spartan contestshave seen a total of seven goals, don't expect a lot of scoring tonight.  MSU
leads the all-time series 35-17-5 (according to the Lansing State Journal) as
Ron Mason goes for win 690 vs. 300 losses and 48 ties.
 
In travelling to Columbus on Saturday, MSU faces a team that they've had a
large amount of success against.  MSU leads the all-time series 52-6-4 against
OSU.  The Buckeyes, however, appear to be improving, with ties this month at
Lake Superior and at home against Notre Dame.  As has been said on the listing
before, OSU may be one of the better 40-minute teams in college hockey.  Games
at home against two of their biggest rivals will surely test OSU's improving
status.
 
G. M. Finniss
Michigan State University
WVU '87, UTenn '92, MSU who the hell knows when?
 
P. S.  In a rather humorous sideline to this weekend's action, the Lansing State        Journal ran a story on Steve Suk entitled "On-Ice Quarterback: Spartan
        Junior Excels at Leading the Power Play."  In it, Neil Koepke gives us
        Suk's five options when he gets the puck at the point:
                1. Pass to Rem Murray near the right boards.
                2. Pass to Chris Smith near the left circle.
                3. Try to get the puck to Anson Carter in front of the net.
                4. Pass to Steve Guolla at the side of the net.
                5. Move in a few strides and shoot.
        This is not meant to be a flame or anything, but from my vantage point,
        Suk can't count higher than 4.  In fact, Suk has had :15 sequences where        he has managed to complete 1-4.  Earlier in the season against Kent (but
        don't quote me on the opponent), Suk completed 1, then 4, and while
        attempting 3, put the puck in the net (mainly because Carter never
        touched it and neither did the goaltender) all within 10 seconds.  While        to some, it appears good that Suk is patient at the point and waits for
        the defense to react, I have to disagree.  I mean, it is a POWER PLAY.
        To me, that's synonymous with target practice.  The other team made
        a mistake by commiting a penalty and you make them pay for it by abusing        their goaltender for two minutes.  If he isn't exhausted after the power        play (whether you scored or not), you haven't done your job.  So, to
        sum it up, from this Spartan fan, Steve, PLEASE SHOOT!!!!!