Mark Hollis named top AD by SBJ, but remains undervalued

The secret has getting out more and more, and if anyone didn't know before Wednesday night, they know now.

MSU athletics director Mark Hollis is one of the best at his job, and he's a steal for MSU. Hollis was named Athletic Director Of The Year by Sports Business Journal on Wednesday. He beat out Michigan's Dave Brandon, Arkansas' Jeff Long and Baylor's Ian McCaw.

The award wasn't a shock to those who have followed MSU sports over the last half-decade. Before he became MSU's top athletic official, Hollis engineered the Cold War ice hockey game at Spartan Stadium in 2001 and the Basketbowl game at Ford Field in 2003. Both events changed how games were played — literally.

He lived out his dream with the Carrier Classic in San Diego last year — an event that will continue in the coming seasons. Hollis continues to find new frontiers, with the goal on a basketball game in Greece possibly down the road.

Since taking over the reins of MSU athletics, Hollis has had unbelievable success in hiring coaches, including baseball's Jake Boss Jr. and hockey's Tom Anastos. Hollis also was a major part in the hiring of football coach Mark Dantonio and women's basketball coach Suzy Merchant. Since Hollis' promotion, MSU athletics is in the midst of one of its most successful eras. 

Off the field, Hollis' relationship with Nike has brought huge dividends to the department with the Spartan brand identity renewal in 2010. He helped the athletic department cut expenses and turn a profit after years of losing money. A few months ago, Hollis was named to the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee. 

But for all his accolades, Hollis is greatly undervalued. As part of a USA Today database released in Oct. 2011, it was revealed that Hollis receives the second-lowest salary among public Big Ten schools, ahead of only Nebraska's Tom Osborne. At $395,000, schools such as Minnesota, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois each pay their ADs more than MSU pays Hollis. Ohio State's Gene Smith and Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez each make more than $1 million. For more perspective, some other schools that pay their AD more (at the time of the database) include New Mexico, Florida International and SMU.

MSU has been lucky it has an alumnus like Hollis. From the USA Today story:

"We all have choices," Hollis says, "and as an AD, if you are not comfortable with your compensation, you have a choice. … Everybody knows where they rank and where they stand, and nobody likes to be in last place. With that said … my choice is, I want to be at Michigan State. I'm comfortable with what the president and the board have provided me. I know where it (ranks), but I also know the values that my family gets by being part of this community and that has a great value to me, as do the coaches. It's more than just compensation for me."

MSU came under some fire in the winter when football defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi was courted by Texas A&M with some big money. MSU stepped up and gave Narduzzi the money to keep him around, but there's only so much dough. Tom Izzo is one of the highest-paid basketball coaches in the country, and MSU doesn't bring in nearly the same amount of money that Ohio State and U-M do, while having a comparable number of varsity teams to pay for. The university is having its own financial problems with dwindling public funding.

If MSU can't pay Hollis a completive rate right now, what happens when MSU needs its next AD? What if Hollis becomes the next Big Ten commissioner? (A role most everyone agree he would excel in).

Wednesday night was just a confirmation of what those in East Lansing have known for a long time: Hollis is one of the best in the business. But MSU's past drama with athletics management should be a lesson for what can happen when people aren't on the same page.

Hollis always says he wants to consistently compete for Rose Bowls and Final Fours. At some point, MSU will have to compete with the big boys financially in order to compete on the fields. ADs like Hollis don't come around very often.

Torey Krug forgoes senior season, signs with Boston Bruins

In an unsurprising move, MSU hockey defenseman and captain Torey Krug announced Sunday he will skip his senior season after signing with the NHL's Boston Bruins.

The signing was first reported by the New England Hockey Journal.

"This obviously came quickly after our season ended, but it was a really difficult decision to make," Krug said in a release. "I love everything about Michigan State, my teammates, and our hockey program, and it was an outstanding place for me to grow and develop both as a hockey player and a person. It is very hard for me to leave, but I am incredibly thankful for the support shown to me by Coach Anastos as I went through this process. 

"I'm very proud to have worn a Michigan State jersey and serve as a captain. It's bittersweet, because we have worked hard to get MSU hockey back where we want it to be, challenging for conference and national championships."

As a junior this season, Krug finished with 12 goals and 22 assists and split the CCHA scoring title. He was later named CCHA Player of the Year and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. He also has been named the top offensive defenseman in the league the last two seasons. 

"I couldn't be happier for Torey. He's had an incredible season, an outstanding career at Michigan State and is ready to take the next step in his hockey career," head coach Tom Anastos said in the release. "While I know that we will certainly miss his talent and leadership next season, he will be back to complete his degree, and has left a lasting impression on his teammates that will most certainly continue to have a long term impact on our program."

Given the success Krug has had in recent seasons, it was not surprising an NHL team finally came calling. Anastos said about half of the NHL teams expressed "serious interest" in Krug. The defenseman's size has always been an issue with scouts, but his success on the ice made it impossible for teams to ignore him. It also made sense for Krug to leave whenever he could, because his stock couldn't get much higher as a prospect. 

Krug is the eighth player to leave MSU early for the pros since the end of the 2008 season, joining Derek Grant, Corey Tropp, Andrew Rowe, Jeff Petry, Justin Abdelkader, Mike Ratchuk and Tim Kennedy. A major reason Rick Comley's tenure at MSU ended with so many losses was because top players were leaving school early much more frequently than in the past. Krug said he will immediately get a chance to practice with the Bruins, instead of going directly to a minor league affiliate. 

With Krug's departure, MSU loses four defensemen from its regular lineup this season. Those spots will be filled by incoming recruits, current players and two transfers. I detailed this in an earlier post.

"There are so many people to thank," Krug said in the release. "To all of my teammates, our coaches and staff, the athletic department, and the university, thank you for making my three years as a part of this program such a special time in my life. I will always be a proud Spartan, and will do my best to represent Michigan State University in a way that you will all be proud."

Icers fall to Union in NCAA Tournament, but future is bright

(Box score here, radio highlights/photos here)

One year ago to the day, Tom Anastos was introduced as Michigan State's sixth head hockey coach in the program's 70-year history.

It was an unprecedented move. The conference commissioner taking what looked like a lesser role as a head coach. Some thought it was Anastos abandoning the sinking CCHA ship with an eye for an executive role with the Big Ten and its new hockey conference. I didn't believe that, but I didn't know what to think.

One year later, MSU made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in four years, and although it ended in a 3-1 loss to No. 1 seed Union, the program clearly is back on the road to where it belongs, and the future is bright.

MSU hockey earns first NCAA Tournament berth since 2008

(Bracket here, ticket information here)

It came right down to the wire and was the difference by a couple thousandths of a decimal, but the MSU hockey team earned a berth in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, the program's first appearance since 2008.

The Spartans will take on No. 1 seed Union, which is the No. 3 overall seed, in the East Region in Bridgeport, Conn. The game will take place Friday at 3 p.m. MSU is the No. 14 overall seed, although the Spartans were actually the last at-large team. (Cornell moved down to No. 15 because Michigan is No. 2 overall).

After Union's and Air Force's wins last night, MSU finished tied with Northern Michigan for 15th in the Pairwise rankings. But MSU was ahead of NMU by .0047 in the RPI, which put MSU ahead by .0121 in the Pairwise. MSU will keep playing, while NMU's season is done. You really can't get much closer than that.

As close as it was, you can officially say the first season of the Tom Anastos era was a major success. Under Rick Comley, MSU won the national championship in 2007 and reached the regional final in 2008, but the program quickly fell into irrelevance with second-to-last place finishes in the CCHA in 2009 and 2011. Anastos inherited a team with more seniors than any MSU team in decades, but the job he did to get MSU back into the tournament really was incredible. It is MSU's 27th tournament appearance, which is fourth-most all-time.

The crowds at Munn Ice Arena are getting better, too. One of the most prolific programs in college hockey is back on the upswing. (Honestly, this is quite comparable to what Brady Hoke did with Michigan football).

That senior class was in danger of becoming the program's first since 1981 to never reach an NCAA Tournament (Ron Mason's second season and MSU's last in the WCHA), but they got the job done.

I wrote when Anastos was hired that no one could predict how he would be as a head coach. A conference commissioner moving into a head-coaching role was such an incredibly rare thing. But Mark Hollis once again has struck gold with a coaching hire, and MSU hockey is back where it belongs.

Icers sweep Alaska, move into CCHA top four (w/ highlights)

(Friday box score here, Saturday box score here)

MSU's senior class has had the definition of up-and-down careers.

Their first season came after MSU had made three straight NCAA Tournaments, but the Spartans lost 23 games and finished 11th in the CCHA in 2008-09 — the worst season in decades for MSU. In 2009-10, they rebounded to finish second in the CCHA. But a late-season collapse (including a home sweep to Michigan in the CCHA Tournament) left them out of the NCAA Tournament. Last season was another disaster — a 10th place finish with head coach Rick Comley retiring after the season.

But with this weekend's sweep of Alaska, the Spartans now sit in fourth place in the CCHA and are getting closer to their first NCAA Tournament. MSU won Friday's game 3-2 in overtime and shut out the Nanooks 3-0 in Saturday's game, sending out its largest senior class (nine) since 1977-78 on a high note.

Icers split weekend with rival Michigan

(Friday box score here, Saturday box score here)

With only three series left, the Spartan hockey team was running out of opportunities to pick up ground in the CCHA standings.

This weekend, the Spartans nearly came away with six points, and they nearly came away with no points. They finished the weekend with three points in a series split against Michigan, winning in East Lansing on Friday and losing in overtime in Detroit on Saturday.

On Friday, the Spartans fell behind 2-0 in the second period, but then Torey Krug took over. A one-time shot from the blue line got through a crowd and past Michigan goalie Shawn Hunwick to cut the deficit to 2-1. In the third period, Krug scored a powerplay goal on a delayed shot from the point to tie the game. On another powerplay a few minutes later, a backhanded shot by Krug in the slot deflected over to Matt Berry, who buried the puck to give MSU a 3-2 lead. The Spartans killed a penalty in the final minutes and held on for the win. Will Yanakeff made 28 saves for MSU.



Saturday's game at Joe Louis Arena was a high-energy back-and-forth affair. The Wolverines led 1-0 after the first period, but Greg Wolfe tied the game up 3:32 into the second. Brett Perlini scored a powerplay goal a few minutes later to give MSU the lead. But U-M evened things up heading into the third. The third period was full of scoring chances on both sides, but, Yanakeff and Hunwick kept coming up with big saves.

Torey Krug's awesome practice goal

MSU had a skills competition in practice today. According to head coach Tom Anastos, forward Brett Perlini had a 100 mph shot and defenseman Torey Krug scored this awesome goal.



There seems to be some debate as to whether or not this goal would be legal in a game. Hand passes in the opposing zone are illegal, but the NHL rulebook doesn't say anything about a pass like that to yourself. Either way, I'm not totally sure if Krug did hit it with his hand. It looked like he wanted to, but might have missed.

Hockey picks up win, tie on weekend vs LSSU (w/ highlights)

Last week against Northern Michigan, MSU's inability to prevent late goals nearly cost them dearly.

It continued to be a problem this weekend, as they allowed a game-tying goal with less than five minutes left in both games against Lake Superior State. On Friday, MSU struck back, winning 4-2. On Saturday, they fell in a shootout.

On Friday, LSSU scored 28 seconds into the game. Midway through the first period, MSU scored two goals two minutes apart from Mike Merrifield and Brett Perlini, respectively. The Lakers tied it up with three minutes left in the game when a Matt Crandell pass from behind his net hit an LSSU player and went past Will Yanakeff for the tying goal.

But Kevin Walrod gave MSU the lead with 1:10 on a rebound and Torey Krug added an empty-netter to seal the win. LSSU carried the play for much of the night and outshot MSU 47-27.




Saturday was a similar script. LSSU took a 1-0 lead, but Dean Chelios tied the game about a minute later. In the third period, Greg Wolfe scored to give MSU the lead, but the Lakers tied the game on a fluky goal when a puck bounced off an LSSU player and past Will Yanakeff with less than five minutes left.

Icers pick up five points on weekend vs NMU

Coming into the weekend on a three-game losing streak, the MSU hockey team picked up a big five points with a shoot-out win Friday and a regulation win Saturday against Northern Michigan.

The Spartans and Wildcats are now tied in the conference standings.

Friday's game was a high-scoring. NMU(6-7-5-2 CCHA) took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but MSU (7-7-4-2) responded with four straight goals in less than seven minutes from Chris Forfar, Mike Merrifield, Anthony Hayes and Kevin Walrod. It was Merrifield's first game back since getting injured against Michigan in the final home game of 2011.

Spartans fall to U-M in GLI final

They were 50 seconds away, now they're 365 days away.

The MSU hockey team lost a lead with 50 seconds to go and lost the game in overtime as Michigan took home its 15th Great Lakes Invitational Championship and its second straight.

The Wolverines tied the game with a powerplay goal on a very questionable penalty call, but U-M had dominated the period, so the Spartans can hardly say they were robbed. 

The game was scoreless after one period, and Taylor Sorenson gave MSU the 1-0 lead in the second on a simple shot from the top of the circle that seemed to surprise U-M goalie Shawn Hunwick. It was his first collegiate goal.