It's pretty clear that Scottie Hazelton thinks his defense has a chance to put its best foot forward going into the off-season with a strong performance against Pittsburgh. Whenever Hazelton is asked about the secondary, he always points out that the rush and the coverage need to work together. That's his way of challenging the guys he works with directly in practice - defensive ends - to elevate their play. Michigan State is always talking about next man up and playing with whatever hand its dealt, but I guarantee you that one of the things that Hazelton really wishes he had was real depth. His reaction to Comps question about getting Henderson back healthy says it all. Henderson played too many snaps by necessity and he wasn't the only one. Michigan State wore down as a defense this season and lack of depth was part of the problem. The thing that separates elite teams from very good teams is a quality depth and the ability to overcome injuries. Michigan State had as good a season as it could have had given the schedule and the roster. I am looking forward to seeing what this defense can do against a good Pitt offense. Can these guys get momentum going into off-season?

Here is my notebook from today.

It seems every year they get the top 2-3 prospects

What’s happening with the postponed games? Does it have to do with vaccine mandate? I’ve heard rumblings that Bertuzzi is what’s holding it up? I’m so out of the loop and not sure if that’s just tongue and cheek.

On a lighter note, it’s been very fun to watch this team. Larkins first Hat Trick was special to watch. Going to be exciting to see where this team goes in the next couple years.

I’m confused about the rules for earning points in overtime victories. The CHN website shows MSU only earning two of the possible three points last night. The Big ten website shows the standings where MSU earned three points. Googling Big Ten protocols suggests that CHN is right and Big Ten website standings are wrong. What gives?

Thats awesome

Put together this article on Michigan State recruiting in Georgia. MSU is there to stay from the looks of it. Tucker calling Georgia a primary recruiting area says it all.

Kiyaunta Goodwin announces he is still undecided and has no timetable for an announcement

4th in the country in Save Percentage
9th in the country in Goals Against Average

He needs to be playing every single night.

We learned other things too, but these are the six that struck me:

Here is my story on the late adds of Zion Young and Khris Bogle.


I've said this before, but I think adding Young and Bogle is big. MSU need DE's and signing these two guys in addition to Carter and Schott is important to this class.

This is about the players who were committed as of last night:

I caught up with current Archbishop Runnel head coach Nick Monica and former Runnel head coach Jay Roth to get some background on Michigan State transfer addition Aaron Brule. Neither of those two men wanted to comment on Brule's past season at Mississippi State, but both of them were more than happy to talk about what kind of person and player MSU is getting in Aaron Brule. Monica didn't say anything negative about Mississippi State, but he did say a couple of things that caught my ear.

First, he said that linebacker has increasingly become a position where players need to be able to run and cover ground as well as mix it up at the point of attack. The way he said it, made me wonder if he felt like Brule had bulked up too much at Mississippi State. That is the way it sounded to me during the interview.

Secondly, Monica said that Michigan State has a plan to use Brule in a manner that fits his skillset. Nothing negative about that Mississippi State-wise, but my inference based on the conversation was that maybe Brule didn't feel like he was beeing used the right way at Mississippi State.

Both Monica and Roth were surprised that Brule didn't make the jump to the NFL this year, and both of those guys believe he is an NFL talent. They've seen a lot of them coaching in the New Orleans Catholic League.

I am really looking forward to seeing what Brule can do with a good off-season with nutrition and in the weight room. We saw what it did for Walker and so many other Spartan players. If he is carrying some unecessary bulk, watch out.

The 5 minute major, game misconduct penalty was a joke. At most it should have only be a 2 minute minor. Then the slashing penalty at the end of the game when the ND player lost his stick when it got hit, not slashed, was another joke. There were several questionable calls that went against MSU.

This team is definitely improving.

Nice split.

Lewie with the winner.

I go to about 1 hockey game a year and I'm pretty excited . . . have never been to Notre Dame for a game. I appreciate the handful of posters who keep us up to date on hockey happenings . . . has been really helpful for this casual fan. GO GREEN!!!!