Blue no more! MSU goes green with lines at hockey rink

Michigan State has eliminated the blue lines at Munn Ice Arena.

At the request of athletic director Mark Hollis, they were painted green when the ice was re-installed recently in the hockey rink. He said he didn’t think it would be an issue with the NCAA and he was “comfortable” with the decision.

Why did he want the lines green?

“It is about the heritage and the color of the school without taking any of the integrity of the game away,” Hollis said. “It just gives a unique story to a program that is very proud of its heritage, its logo, its color, and gives us something that is kind of unique.”

Hollis said it isn’t the same magnitude as Boise State’s blue football field.

“Any time you can put fun into college sports without jeopardizing integrity, I think that’s what separates college sports from everything else,” Hollis said.

Michigan coach Red Berenson — whose school colors, of course, are maize and blue — isn’t too keen on the idea of having any color other than blue for the blue lines.

“I don’t know that there’s a rule against it,” Berenson said. “But it sounds a little out of the norm. I’m not going to overreact to it one way or another.”

Berenson did say he was a traditionalist.

“I’m always trying to do the right thing for the game and not upset it,” Berenson said. “I also consider myself an innovator, always looking for better ways. But I’m not looking for gimmicks.”

He said he would reserve judgment until after his team played at Munn. The Wolverines’ first trip to East Lansing comes Jan. 8.

“If at the end of the year we look at and say that it’s not good for college hockey, then I’ll have a strong opinion about it,” Berenson said. “But right now it’s premature. I haven’t seen it. We haven’t played there.”

According to the NCAA Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations, Section 5 a. states: “The ice area between the two goals shall be divided into three parts by lines 12 inches in width and blue in color.”

A message left for the NCAA seeking comment was not returned.

Ferris State coach Bob Daniels, an MSU alum, said he heard about the green lines and thought it was a great idea.

“I think it spices up the game. I’m all for it,” Daniels said, adding that he had kicked around the idea of adding Ferris State’s Bulldogs logo into the face-off dots at Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids.

Hollis is no stranger to creative ideas or events. He came up with the oft-imitated 2001 Cold War hockey game at Spartan Stadium, 2004 BasketBowl game at Ford Field, 2011 Carrier Classic basketball game on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson and 2012 basketball game inside an air base hangar in Germany. He almost landed a basketball game on the White House lawn.

Daniels said he didn’t think changing the color of the blue lines would be an issue for the players.

“I think the difference between the blue and the green is so minimal, it won’t have any effect on the players, zero,” Daniels said. “I see nothing wrong with it. In fact, I think it’s a pretty neat idea.”

In a bit of irony, the Spartans' official hockey booster organization is the MSU Blue Line Club.

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple.