BREAKING: Red Wings Fire Lalonde, Name New Head Coach​

As Detroit Red Wings bench boss Derek Lalonde has just found out, the holiday roster freeze around the NHL doesn't apply to head coaches. But hey, at least they waited until after Christmas. The Wings have fired Lalonde and replaced him with NHL coaching veteran Todd McLellan.


McLellan has posted a career .581 win percentage, in 16 years as an NHL head coach, with the San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings.


Detroit is a disappointing 13-17-4 this season, after coming into the season hoping to snap an eight-year playoff drought.

Press release from MSU Athletics:

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Former Michigan State volleyball standout Kristen Kelsay has been named the eighth head volleyball coach in program history. One of MSU's career assist leaders, Kelsay spent the last two seasons as associate head coach at Minnesota.

"I'm thrilled to announce that Kristen Kelsay is returning to East Lansing to guide the Spartan volleyball program," said Alan Haller, Michigan State Vice President & Director of Athletics. "From her time as a Spartan student-athlete to her ascension through the coaching ranks, including nine seasons as a Big Ten assistant, her journey has brought her back home and prepared her well for the task at hand.

"Kristen has a passion for Michigan State University, Spartan volleyball and our entire community, and has first-hand experience with success at MSU both as a student-athlete and a coach. As a player, her work ethic, volleyball IQ, and team-first attitude helped her excel on the court, and those same qualities will be equally impactful as she mentors her student-athletes. She's an excellent recruiter who has strong relationships with volleyball clubs throughout Michigan and the surrounding states. I'm excited to watch her grow as a head coach and pour her heart and soul into building a successful Spartan volleyball program."

At Minnesota, Kelsay worked with the setters and led recruiting efforts for the Golden Gophers. In 2024, Kelsay helped Minnesota to its 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and regular-season Top 10 victories over then No. 1-ranked Texas and No. 7-ranked Wisconsin. Setter Melani Shaffmaster was named First Team All-Big Ten, AVCA All-Region and was an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention under Kelsay's coaching. Her 2025 recruiting class was ranked by multiple sites as a top-10 class nationally.

"I am honored to return to Michigan State University as our women's volleyball head coach," said Kelsay. "This program has shaped my life in remarkable ways. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to President Kevin Guskiewicz, Athletic Director Alan Haller, and Executive Senior Associate AD Julee Burgess for this opportunity to return to the Spartan Family.

"I love this University and my passion for all things Green & White is unmatched. I look forward to meeting with the team and reconnecting with our loyal fans, alumni, and Spartan community. Go Green!"

Kelsay had two Big Ten coaching stops prior to Minnesota, serving as an assistant coach at Northwestern from 2019-21 and at Michigan State under former head coach Cathy George from 2015-18.

In 2022, she worked as the associate director and recruiting coordinator of Volleyball Club Nebraska where she was the lead coach for the U16 and U18 Elite teams. Kelsay also assisted with the USA National Team Development Program where she worked with the U15/U16 age group.

As an assistant at MSU, Kelsay helped the team to a four-year record of 85-48 along with an Elite Eight appearance in 2017, the first regional finals appearance for the Spartans since 1996. Kelsay coached Michigan State's all-time assist leader and two-time All-American, Rachel Minarick.

A two-time team captain while wearing the Green & White from 2010-13, Kelsay ranks fourth in program history in sets played (473) and seventh in career assists (3,040). Kelsay set the Spartans to back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2012 and 2013. Following her senior campaign, Kelsay was awarded Michigan State Athletics' Chester Brewer Leadership Award and the Dr. James Feurig Achievement and Service Award. Kelsay also earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors and was a three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten selection.

After her graduation from MSU, Kelsay was awarded a Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship and served as a graduate assistant in MSU's Student-Athlete Support Services department where she served as an academic counselor and helped oversee the department's community outreach initiatives.

Originally from Wheaton, Illinois, Kelsay graduated from Michigan State with a bachelor's degree in psychology and obtained a master's in sports administration from Northwestern.

Michigan State (8-2) heads down to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit to take on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (3-5).

Tonight's game is set to tip off at approximately 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Stay tuned here for live updates from LCA and game discussion.

@Ryan OBleness, @austenflores and I will be in attendance.

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So serious question how is the coach at Ferris not been given a higher level job?

Eastern Michigan LB transfer James Djonkam has apparently set visits with Michigan State, West Virginia, and Virginia Tech.

Djonkam started at Independence Community College, then had two seasons with Arizona State before transferring to Eastern Michigan.

The No. 15 Michigan State Spartans will look to stay undefeated in the West Palm Beach Classic when MSU opens play against Montana on Thursday.

@Caden Handwork breaks down the Lady Griz in the first-ever meeting between programs:

This is the only meeting between the two teams during the regular season. (As will be the case for every team but Michigan as the women only play an 18-game schedule)​

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 21/19 Michigan State women's basketball returns home to the friendly confines of the Breslin Center for the first time since Dec. 15, hosting Purdue on Wednesday, Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. for a New Year's Day battle. The game will be streamed on B1G+ with Alexis Ayala and Jack Stager on the call.

• After a 72-66 loss to No. 8 Maryland on Dec. 29, Michigan State suffered its second loss of the season and have lost back-to-back regular-season games for the first time since Feb. 8 and 11 last season. MSU now stands 11-2 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play.

• Purdue comes to town with a 7-6 overall record and are 0-2 in the Big Ten with losses to Iowa on the road and Maryland at home. The Boilermakers have played a very tough schedule facing, South Carolina, Notre Dame and Kentucky.

• MSU's defense forced 25 Maryland turnovers, registering 25+ turnovers by the opposition for the third game in a row after 29 vs. Alabama (12/20) and 30 vs. Montana (12/19) in back-to-back days. Overall, it was the Spartans' eighth game this season forcing 25+ turnovers.

• Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is 10th in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 16.7 ppg. She is also 15th in the league in rebounding with 7.7 rpg.

SCOUTING PURDUE
Purdue comes to East Lansing with a 7-6 overall record and an 0-2 mark in Big Ten contests. The Spartans and the Boilermakers have played the same two league teams. MSU defeated Iowa at home and fell to Maryland on the road. Purdue lost to Iowa on the road and fell to Maryland at home.

Purdue has two players in double figures led by Destini Lombard, who is averaging 12.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Reagan Bass is second in scoring with 11.9 ppg. The Boilermakers entered the Big Ten play battle tested with the second toughest NET strength of schedule in the league at 28, behind USC's 22.

Purdue head coach Katie Gearlds is in her fourth season as the head coach of the Boilermakers with a 58-51 record. Overall, she is in her 12th season as a head coach with eight seasons at Marian. Her overall record is 286-101.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue leads the overall series with Michigan State, 44-39. The series is getting closer over the years. Michigan State has won five of its last seven against Purdue. Last season, the Spartans defeated the Boilermakers twice. In East Lansing, MSU had a dominating win 97-70 on Jan. 24. In West Lafayette on Feb. 21, the Spartans came out on top 68-59. In East Lansing, MSU is on top in the series 25-16, while the Boilermakers lead 23-12 in West Lafayette. On neutral ground, Purdue leads, 5-2.

LAST TIME VS. PURDUE
Michigan State women's basketball captured the series sweep against Purdue with a 68-59 win over Purdue on Feb. 21, 2024 at Mackey Arena. The Spartans had five players in double figures in the win.

Michigan State won two-straight games after earning series sweeps over Michigan and Purdue.

The Michigan State bench once again led the way with 29 bench points. Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock topped MSU with 16 points, going 4-for-6 from long range.

Purdue was led by 14 points from both Jeanae Terry and Abbey Ellis.

FACING THE BEST
Michigan State suffered its second loss of the season and have lost back-to-back regular-season games for the first time since Feb. 8 and 11 last season, losing at No. 14/13 Indiana, 94-91, and No. 5/5 Ohio State, 86-71, which was also the last time the Spartans played ranked teams in back-to-back games, after losing to No. RV/24 Alabama, 82-67, last time out (12/20/24) and to No. 8/8 Maryland on Sunday.

RANKED BIG TEN TEAMS
Eight different Big Ten teams are ranked or receiving votes in the AP top 25 poll. UCLA leads the way at No. 1, followed by No. 4 USC, No. 8 Maryland, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 21 Michigan State, No. 23 Iowa and No. 24 Michigan. Nebraska and Illinois are also receiving votes in this week's poll.

JOINING THE 1K CLUB
Michigan State currently has four players who have scored at least 1,000 points in their collegiate careers. Most recently junior forward Grace VanSlooten joined the club against Vanderbilt on Nov. 27. She currently has 1,049 career points between Oregon and MSU. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault reached the 1,000-point club against Cal on Nov. 26. During her five years at MSU, she has scored 1,111 points. Graduate guard Nyla Hampton has scored 1,225 points during her time at Bowling Green, Ball State and Michigan State. Fellow graduate guard Jaddan Simmons also has 1,230 points during four seasons at Arizona State her time at MSU. Senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate is looking to be the next member with 899 points between her two seasons at Bowling Green and two at MSU.

NET RANKINGS
In the current women's basketball NET ranking, the Spartans stand No. 16. They are fourth among Big Ten schools behind No. 3 UCLA, No. 7 USC and No. 10 Ohio State. Texas stands No. 1. The Big Ten has six schools in the top 25 in NET rankings.

BY THE NUMBERS VS. MARYLAND
• The 12 rebounds against the Terps tied Julia Ayrault's season-high for the third time this season, matching the 12 boards from her last two double-doubles with a dozen boards both vs. Vanderbilt (11/27/24) and vs. DePaul (12/8/24). Ayrault now has four double-figure rebounding outings this season, all coinciding with her four double-doubles, with three of the four coming away from home, including the two aforementioned contests, along with 10 rebounds in double-double at Western Michigan (11/27/24).

• Graduate guard Nyla Hampton registered a career-high four blocks, posting all four of MSU's blocks. Sunday was Hampton's first game this season with multiple blocks after having one block in four different games this season. The four rejections topped her collegiate career-best of three blocks done twice during her Bowling Green career, last doing so on March 16, 2022 vs. Western Michigan.

YOUR STARTING FIVE
Against Maryland, the Spartan starting five of graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault, graduate guard Jaddan Simmons, junior forward Grace VanSlooten, senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate and junior guard Theryn Hallock was the second time with that starting line-up. It is one of five different line-ups for Michigan State this season. MSU is 1-1 with this lineup.

After coming off the bench in the previous four games, junior guard Theryn Hallock, last season's Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year, returned to the starting line-up since Nov. 27 vs. Vanderbilt and netted a season-high 20 points. Hallock had started the first eight games of the season before coming off the bench in the last four contests. Tate is the only Spartan to have started all 13 games this season.

NO CHARITY
Michigan State's defense made school history, as MSU did not allow Montana to shoot a free throw, as the Lady Griz were 0-for-0 at the free throw line on Dec. 19 with Michigan State only committing 11 fouls, its second-fewest of the season, behind only 10 fouls at Western Michigan (11/17/24).

DOUBLE TROUBLE
When graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault and junior forward Grace VanSlooten both recorded double-doubles against Western Michigan on Nov. 17, it was the first time since Dec. 17, 2023 against CMU. In that game, Ayrault had 13 points and 10 assists, while Theryn Hallock had 17 points and 12 assists. Ayrault and VanSlooten were at it again when they both had double-doubles in MSU's 78-70 win over Vanderbilt in the Championship game of the Acrisure Classic on Nov. 27. VanSlooten had 25 points with 10 rebounds, while Ayrault and 24 points and 12 rebounds en route to earning MVP honors. Overall, Ayrault leads the team with four double-doubles this season.

ENDING STRONG
Despite scoring only four points in the fourth quarter against Montana on Dec. 19, the final period has been one of the strongest quarters this season for the Spartans. The four points were the least scored by MSU in the fourth quarter in school history.

Overall, MSU has scored 306 points in the fourth period, which is the most of any quarter. The Spartans are averaging 23.5 ppg in the final 10 minutes of the game. Conversely, their opponents have scored 172 points in the fourth period, which is 13.2 ppg.

AROUND THE BIG TEN
Michigan State is fourth in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 84.1 points per game, just ahead of Ohio State's 85.9 ppg, Maryland's 85.0 ppg and USC's 84.5. MSU is also second in the league in blocks (5.6). MSU is second in steals with 14.0 and fifth in assists with 18.5 apg. The Spartans are second in turnover margin (+9.6).

Individually, graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is 10th in the league in scoring (16.7 ppg). Graduate guard Nyla Hampton is fourth in the league in steals (2.3 spg).

BIG TEN OPENERS
MSU won its Big Ten Conference opener, against Iowa and is now 21-22 all-time in B1G openers, having won eight of their last 14. The win against Iowa was the first time that the Spartans opened league play with the Hawkeyes since 2021-22 season, and the win avenged that 88-61 loss. Last season, the Spartans fell to Nebraska at home 80-74 on Dec. 9. During the 2022-23 season, the Spartans fell to Purdue at home 76-71 in overtime. During the 2020-21 season, the Spartans won their opener in Minneapolis, 81-68 over the Gophers.

LAST TIME OUT
Trailing by as many as 17 points in the first half, the No. 19/19 Michigan State women's basketball team couldn't complete the comeback, falling to No.8/8 Maryland, 72-66, Sunday at the XFINITY Center.

Michigan State had two players in double figures led by a season-high 20 points from junior guard Theryn Hallock, who returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench the previous four games. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault posted her fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and a season-high tying 12 rebounds. Senior forward Jocelyn Tate was huge on the boards with 10 rebounds, which is a MSU career-high. Tate also added a team-high four assists and three steals.

The Spartans have now had eight-straight games forcing at least 20 turnovers, as MSU defense forced the Terrapins into 25 turnovers.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athetlics.

I missed this one a few days ago, but I have confirmed that Michigan State running back Joseph "Jojo" Martinez entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer on Dec. 23.

He joined the Spartans as a walk-on out of nearby Holt High School in 2020.

Martinez appeared in 11 games throughout his career, and recorded six carries for seven yards.

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Here's a recap of Michigan State Gymnastics' season opening win with photos by Marvin Hall for Spartans Illustrated. The Spartans continue to set program highs even as new faces join the team:

Sect 210, Row 11, Seats 103-104
Upper bowl -Mid court

Face value $70 for the pair, plus $15 parking pass, total value $85.

Asking $75, or best offer.

If interested, call or text Joe at (313) 671-5953.

Go Green!

Michigan State remains perfect in Big Ten play after taking down Ohio State in Columbus Friday night.

Szymon Zapala led Michigan State in scoring with a season-high 15 points. Full game recap by @CarterElliott available now:

As an early Christman present to the Spartan (and other Big Ten fans) out there, this is part two (of two) of my annual simulation-based analysis of the Big Ten basketball race. Here I break down MSU's schedule, forecast the total number of wins, predict BTT seeding, I even know the odds and most likely record needed to hang a banner. Check it out:


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our subscribers!

With a new head coach in place in Jonathan Smith, and a new coaching staff currently being assembled, it's time to refresh the Michigan State football offers thread.

For offers under the previous regime from Dec. 27, 2022 to Nov. 27, 2023, click here.

We don't mind if you post comments here, but note that this is purely a thread to posy offers, not a discussion thread per se.

I would love to see an article that goes over players lost versus players obtained in the transfer portal. A synopsis of where we have improved or digressed. I don't know a lot about any of the incoming players so hearing from the experts would be great. And Happy New Year to all at Spartans Illustrated.